FSSAI : Online Food Import Clearance System

Name of the Organisation : Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (fssai.gov.in)
Type of Facility : Online Food Import Clearance System (FICS)

http://ics.fssai.gov.in/
https://fssai.gov.in/

Food Import Clearance System (FICS) :
Please enter your username and password. Or
Sign up (Custom House Agent)
Sign up (Importer)

Food Import Clearance System v3 ADD ONS :
List of Updates in FICS v3 :
*Not listed in priority

The updates related to CHA/IMPORTER shall be uploaded on the home page of the portal/application for their understanding.

CHA / IMPORTER :
1. New Home Page with all the statuses listed and direct links to various bins
2. Search Option provided on all important pages
3. Additional information captured while applying for NOC application (CHA/Importer) like Number of Packages, Type of Package, Storage type, End Usage Bond etc.

4. Briefcase Option for the CHA/Importer to upload common documents which can be readily used while applying for a NOC application. These documents need not be uploaded every time with a NOC application rather can be picked up from the briefcase.
Following documents can be kept in the briefcase:
** Narcotics Certificate
** Product Approval Certificate
** IE Code License
** FSSAI License
** Ministry of Agriculture Permit
** Ministry of Animal Husbandry permit

5. Provision to save NOC Application as draft for future
6. Provision to add multiple details of demand drafts while capturing payment details for sampling
7. List of payment receipts for all the payments made by the applicant for future reference

8. Provision for CHA/Importer to acknowledge/Request & Reschedule appointments given for visual inspection by authorized officer When an appointment is fixed by the AO, CHA/IMPORTER has to first confirm the date and time and only then the appointment will be listed to TO. CHA/IMPORTER can also request for a change in date and time, if the AO confirms, the appointment request will be directly sent to the TO else if the AO changes the date & time, the CHA/IMPORTER will again has to confirm the same.

9. Provision for applicants (CHA/Importers) to fix and update any rectifiable discrepancies observed during visual inspection AO has the option to take the sample and raise rectifiable discrepancies. The CHA/IMPORTER will have to update in the system that the discrepancies have been closed. Post his declaration, the AO can again ask the TO to visit the CFS location and confirm.

Visual Inspection User Manual v1.0 :
Disclaimer:
The data including CHA/IMPORTER/CONSIGNMENT/AO/INSPECTING OFFICER etc. shown in the snapshots is taken from a local system and does not relate to live data. The data is only used for explanation purpose. This User Manual has been prepared for the Authorised Officers to comprehend the Visual Inspection Process. A separate User Manual for CHA/IMPORTER has been prepared which shall be hosted on the portal/application only related to their activities in the system.

Background :
The appointment request given by Authorised Officer will be first forwarded to CHA/Importer for acknowledgement. If the CHA/Importer acknowledges that they will be available on the particular date and time as requested by the AO, they can simply acknowledge it else they can request for a new appointment to AO. If the AO approves the CHA/Importer request, the appointment will be fixed and cannot be changed. However, if AO changes the Date of appointment, the CHA will again have to acknowledge the same. During Visual Inspection the Inspecting Officer can raise rectifiable discrepancies. This v3 gives the option to fix the discrepancy and update the same in the system to assist the AO to issue NOC. If the discrepancies raised by the inspecting officer are not fixed/closed, the AO may not issue the NOC.

CHA/IMPORTER can acknowledge Appointment?
Menu Option: Appointment(s) & Payment(s ) –> Acknowledge Appointment(s) Refer the below screen.

CHA can either acknowledge the appointment given by AO by clicking on Acknowledge or click on Request New Appointment link to request for new appointment to AO. Click on Request New Appointment, below pop screen will appear. Select the new appointment date and time to forward the request to AO.

How CHA can update the Rectifiable Discrepancy Status?
Menu Option: Discrepancies & Clarifications –> Rectifiable Discrepancies during Visual Inspection CHA can update the status of a particular application as Fixed and the Date on which it was fixed.

Document Briefcase Use:
This is a section where permanent documents can be kept by the CHA/Importer and can be tagged with any NOC application. Following 6 documents can be permanently kept in the briefcase. Since these documents are not consignment specific, these documents will be available for CHA/IMPORTER to select at the time of filing NOC application.
** Narcotics Certificate
** Product Approval Certificate
** IE Code License
** FSSAI License
** Ministry of Agriculture Permit
** Ministry of Animal Husbandry permit

Following questions will be answered in this document:
How to manage documents in a briefcase?
Menu Option: CHA/IMPORTER –> Profile

Document Briefcase Home Page: You can view the summary of your documents with document type, files count and last updated date and time. For each document type, you can maintain multiple versions indicated by Files Count.

Click on View document link against a document type to view all the versions with a date and time stamp as shown in picture on the next page.

On the above page, in the bottom section you will see the below screen: You can upload more versions of the document from this section by entering the relevant fields and finally uploading the document.

How to Tag a document from Briefcase at the time of filing NOC Application?
While filing the application, on the second page of the application, you will see an option Select Document from Briefcase. Click on the link.

You will see a pop up screen displaying all the versions of the document that have been uploaded in briefcase till date with date and time stamp. Click on Attach link to attach the relevant version of the document with the application.