Customs Clearance for China Imports in India: What Happens Between the Vessel and Your Warehouse

1. Before the Vessel Sails: Registrations and Documents

Clearance begins in India weeks before the goods do. The importer needs an Importer-Exporter Code from DGFT, GST registration, registration on ICEGATE, and an AD code (the bank's authorised dealer code) registered at the port of import, without which the Bill of Entry cannot be filed. A licensed customs broker (customs house agent, CHA) is appointed to file on the importer's behalf. From the supplier you need the commercial invoice, packing list and bill of lading, and for some goods a certificate of origin, test reports or certificates such as BIS registration for electronics and toys. The import documents checklist lists them; the import from China to India guide covers the registrations in order.

2. The Import General Manifest

The carrier or its agent files the import general manifest (IGM) electronically before the vessel arrives, listing every consignment on board by bill of lading. Your consignment's IGM number and line number are what the Bill of Entry is filed against. A mismatch between the manifest and your documents (consignee name, container number, weight) must be corrected by the carrier's agent before the entry can proceed, and that correction takes time; ask your forwarder to confirm the IGM details as soon as they are filed.

3. The Bill of Entry

The Bill of Entry is the importer's declaration of the goods, their classification, value and the duty self-assessed, filed by the broker on ICEGATE. It can be filed as a prior Bill of Entry up to 30 days before the vessel's expected arrival, and should be: it lets assessment happen while the vessel is at sea. If the entry is not filed by the end of the day after the goods arrive, a late filing charge accrues per day. The entry carries the invoice, packing list and bill of lading as uploads, together with any licence or certificate the product needs. Errors here, in classification, value or quantity, are what later becomes a query, a reassessment or a penalty.

4. Assessment: Risk-Based and Faceless

The Risk Management System reads the entry and either facilitates it (no assessment, no examination, straight to duty payment) or marks it for assessment, examination or both. Since 2020 assessment has been faceless: an officer in an assessment group anywhere in India, not at the port, reviews the entry for the commodity group and may raise a query about the value, the classification or a missing certificate. The broker answers the query on ICEGATE with documents; the officer finalises the assessment and the duty becomes payable. Facilitation rates are high for importers with a clean record and straightforward goods; new importers and sensitive goods are assessed more often.

5. Examination

Where the system or the officer orders it, the container is moved for physical examination and the goods are checked against the declaration: quantity, description, marks, and sometimes samples drawn for testing. Examination adds a day or more and is charged by the custodian. The best protection is a packing list that matches the goods carton by carton and a description detailed enough that the examiner recognises what is in front of them. Goods under the single window for other agencies (food safety, drugs, wireless, standards) are released only after the agency's clearance is recorded.

6. Duty Payment and Out of Charge

Once the assessment is final the duty is paid online through ICEGATE, by the importer or the broker on the importer's behalf, against the challan generated for the entry. The China import duty article explains what is being paid. After payment, and after any examination, the officer records "out of charge": customs has released the goods. The IGST paid appears in the importer's GST records for credit.

7. Delivery Order, De-stuffing and Delivery

Customs releasing the goods is not the same as the goods leaving the port. The carrier's agent issues the delivery order once the original bill of lading is surrendered (or the telex release is confirmed) and the destination charges are paid. For a full container the trucker collects it from the terminal; for LCL the container is moved to a container freight station, de-stuffed and your cartons released against the delivery order. Containers must be returned within the free days to avoid detention, and cargo collected within the custodian's free days to avoid demurrage. The freight charges article lists these charges and who bills them.

8. What Holds a Consignment

• No AD code registered at the port, or the IEC not linked to the GSTIN.
• IGM details that differ from the documents.
• A value query, usually on goods declared well below comparable imports.
• A classification dispute, often where the duty rates of two candidate headings differ widely.
• A missing certificate: BIS registration for electronics and toys, WPC approval for wireless devices, FSSAI for food contact items, drug or cosmetics licences.
• An anti-dumping duty the importer did not know applied.
• Original documents not available for the delivery order.

Each of these is cheaper to fix before the goods sail than at the port. When we source an order through the China import consultation or the China sourcing service, the documents are prepared for clearance from the first invoice and the broker files the prior Bill of Entry while the vessel is at sea.