Any importer that imports any pre-packed commodities commodity to distribute or sell, then needs to apply for the packer/manufacturer registration under rule27 of the Legal Metrology Packaged Commodities Rules, 2011.

The registration must be applied within 90 days from the date when the import has been commenced.

Compliance with packaging commodity rules has to be done before the goods are imported into India. Under these rules, the importer has to ensure that certain mandatory declarations are made on the pre-packed commodities.

Under the packaged commodity rules, a certain mandatory declaration like country of origin, manufacturer name and address, importer address, month and year of manufacturing, month and year of import, etc. has to be made. The scope of declarations to be made on pre-packed commodities varies from product to product; say declarations to be made on food products will be different from non-food items.

Importers of pre-packed commodities should obtain the LMPC Certificate before making any import, as it happens most often that custom authorities tends to stop the clearance of goods for want of LMPC certificate, this creates panic situation for importer.