New Delhi, Sept 7 (KNN) Textiles and Textile Articles originating from specific countries has been exempted from testing of samples for presence of Azo Dyes, Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has said in a notification.
 
According to Appendix 2-X “Testing of Textiles and Textile Articles for presence of Azo Dyes will not be required for imports originating from the following countries - European Union (EU) Countries; Serbia; Poland; Denmark; and China.”
 
The Appendix–2X is being introduced in the Appendix and Ayat Niryat Forms of FTP 2015 -20 listing the countries wherefrom import of Textiles and Textile Articles is exempted from testing of samples for presence of Azo Dyes, DGFT said.

Import of textile and textile articles is permitted subject to the condition that they shall not contain any of the hazardous dyes whose handling, production, carriage or use is prohibited by the Government of India under the provisions of clause (d) of subsection (2) of Section 6 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (29 of 1986) read with the relevant rule(s) framed thereunder.
 
“For this purpose, the import consignments shall be accompanied by a pre-shipment certificate from a textile testing laboratory accredited to the National Accreditation Agency of the Country of Origin,” DGFT said.
 
In cases where such certificates are not available, the consignment will be cleared after getting a sample of the imported consignment tested & certified from any of the agencies - Textiles Committee of Ministry of Textiles and its various testing facilities; Central Silk Technological Research Institute (CSRTI) (located at Bangluru, Karnataka) and Eco Testing Laboratory Central Silk Technological Research Institute (located at Bhagalpur, Bihar, and Varanasi Uttar Pradesh); of the Central Silk Board.
 
Further, the parameters on the basis of which sampling would be done are - At least 25 per cent of samples are drawn for testing instead of 100 per cent; while drawing the samples, it will be ensured by Customs that majority samples are drawn from consignments originating from countries where there is no legal prohibition on the use of harmful hazardous Dyes; and the test report will be valid for a period of six months in cases where the textile/textile articles of the same specification/quality are imported and the importer, supplier and the country of origin are the same.
 
However, the DGFT said that the procedure, regarding testing of Textiles and Textile Articles for presence of Azo Dyes, will not be applicable for imports originating from the countries as listed in Appendix-2X, where the use of Azo Dyes in Textiles and Textile Articles is banned. (KNN Bureau)