LMPC / Importer Registration

LMPC is packaging law in India, meant to regulate the packaging requirements of the pre-packaged commodity sale or distribution in India. The food items, pharmaceuticals items or any other items may have specialized requirements in their governing act say pharmaceutical products have to follow additional requirements given under Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940. Any importer that imports any pre-packed commodities to distribute or sell, then he needs to apply for the importer registration under rule27 of the Legal Metrology Packaged Commodities Rules (LMPC Rules), 2011. Under this registration, the importer needs to inform to the Government that what pre-packed products he shall be importing in India. The technical name of the LMPC registration is “Importer Registration under Rule 27”, some people call it “Legal Metrology Certificate”, some call it “Importer Registration under Legal Metrology”.  Since this registration is required under the LMPC Rules, 2011 the customs authority popularly called it “LMPC Certificate”.

Why do I require LMPC Registration? Do I need to register as an importer under Legal Metrology?

The Legal Metrology Pre-Packed Commodity Registration is mandatory for the importers of every pre-packed commodity. The compliance of packaging commodity rules has to be done before the goods are imported in India. Under these rules, importers have to ensure that certain mandatory declarations are made on the pre-packed commodities. Vide DGFT’s notification No. RE-44 of year 2000, the custom authorities were empowered by the Government to check whether the legal metrology compliances by the importers have been fulfilled or not, any non-compliance by the Importer under Legal Metrology may lead to the stoppage of the import shipment, which makes it crucial to the importers to obtain the legal metrology registration well before any imports.

What is a difference between Legal Metrology Certificate & an LMPC Certificate?

Any certificate of approval or registration under the provisions of legal metrology Act, 2009 is called a legal metrology certificate. LMPC Certificate is one kind of legal metrology certificate.

Any certificate of registration granted under the Legal Metrology Packaged Commodity (LMPC) Rules,2011 is commonly called as LMPC Certificate. Alternatively, people also call it a Legal Metrology Certificate or LMPC License or LMPC Registration Certificate etc.

The Legal Metrology Certificates can be categorized into two parts: –

1. Legal Metrology Certificates / Registrations / Licenses issued for the sale, import, manufacturing, repair and distribution of any weighing and measuring items in India, granted under the Legal Metrology Act, 2009.

2. Legal Metrology Registrations / Certificates / Licenses issued for the imports, packaging and manufacturing of any pre-packed commodity in India, granted under the Legal Metrology Packaged Commodities Rules (LMPC Rules), 2011.

My goods have been stuck with Custom Authorities, they are asking for LMPC, why & what is the solution?

Many importers have this question in their mind, that they have been importing for many years and they were never asked for LMPC Certificate.  The requirement of the LMPC Certificate is not the new one but the law was already enacted way back and the customs authorities had also got the power in Year 2000 vide notification No. RE-44.  Before the introduction of faceless assessment, the custom house agents could able to manage the clearance of the shipments by meeting them physically with the concerned officers & convince them by one or other way but at present after the introduction of faceless assessment, the requirement of LMPC cannot be done away with as once the query for the requirement of the Certificate, the only possible option left with the importer is to provide the copy of the certificate and then only the clearance of the shipment shall be possible.

Now in such a case when a query of LMPC Certificate is raised by the concerned officer then you should Immediately Apply LMPC Certificate, meanwhile you can try to convince the custom officer by submitting the proof of submission of application of LMPC or you can ask our custom agent to arrange the clearance of goods by filing the bill of entry u/s 49 of the Customs Act, 1962. By filing bill of entry u/s 49 you shall be able to clear the goods in custom bonded warehouse, once you will obtain the final registration you can find bill of entry u/s 47 for clearance for home consumption and finally the goods will be at your place.

What are the different kinds of LMPC Certificate?

There are two kinds of LMPC registrations under the Legal Metrology Pre-Packed Commodity Rules, 2011.

1. LMPC Importer Registration under rule 27: This registration shall be required by you if you are importing the Pre-Packed Commodities and sell them in India without any further Packaging and Labelling activity.

2. LMPC Packer & Manufacturer Registration under rule 27: This registration shall be required by you if you are manufacturing and packing the goods or you are getting manufacture of goods from third party and gets it packed in your own brand.

How can I Get LMPC Certificate?  Or How do I get a Legal Metrology Certificate for import?  What documents are required for LMPC Registration?

For obtaining valid Legal Metrology certificate you will be requiring to support your application along with the required documents which are listed below: –

• Copy of the tax registration of the business.
• Copy of the local municipal license.

• Import and Export Code (IEC)
• PAN of the Firm.
• PAN and AADHAR of the promoters.
• Business Address proof.
• List of names of Products to be covered under the License.

• Samples of the Package of your products.
• Inspection may be there by concerned Authorities.

Please note the above list is indicative, each state may have its own specific requirement.  In case of difficulty in arranging any documents or any confusion in drafting of application you may contact our legal experts and may avail yourself of professional help as we have one of the best Legal Metrology Consultants on our board.

What is the legal metrology certificate’s validity?

The numerous Licenses / Registrations under Legal Metrology have varying periods of validity. Since each state in India has its own set of Legal Metrology Enforcement Laws, each state has chosen its own rules governing the license’s validity length, renewal process, and so on. The certificate granted by the Central Government is valid for a lifetime; it will be a one-time process for you until you require any changes to the Certificate.

What if I failed to obtain LMPC Registration within the prescribed period of time?

The registration must be applied within 90 days from the date when the import has been commenced. If you failed to obtain the registration within the prescribed time period you may face penalties to be imposed on each Director in the case of your company and upon partners in the case of partnership firm and upon proprietor in case of proprietary firm

What declarations are to be made in commodities sold in packaged form?  What are the compliances that need to be done after the LMPC Registration?

Under the packaged commodity rules, certain mandatory declarations like country of origin, manufacturer name and address, importer address, month and year of manufacturing, month and year of import etc. have to be made. The scope of declarations to be made on pre-packed commodity varies from product to product; say declarations to be made on food products will be different from the non-food items. Further other aspects may also need to be taken care of like font size, numeral size, standard unit use for the measurement of the product, labelling compliances in the case of e-commerce websites etc. Contact our experts to Avail Labelling Consultation. 

Latest Amendments under the Legal Metrology Package Commodity Rules, 2011

On 2nd November, 2021 the Government has notified certain amendments under the Legal Metrology Package Commodity Rules, 2011 which shall be effective prospectively from the 1st April, 2022. Under the said amendments the Government has brought up provisions under the Law to increase transparency for the consumer of the products.  These amendments have led to industry making the necessary changes to the labels of the packaging of their products.  Contact our experts to Avail Labelling Consultation.

Click Here to see a sample copy of the LMPC Certificate

What further services can you get from us apart from obtaining Legal Metrology Certificate?

We provide a specialist service to our clients that are subject to Legal Metrological Laws. The following services are available to you:

1. Consultations on packaging and labelling

2. Audit of Legal Metrology Compliance

3. Nomination for your company’s board of directors

4. Legal metrology perspectives on e-commerce compliance

5. BIS Certifications, EPR plastic waste certifications, EPR e-waste certifications, Pollution Board Certifications, Wireless WPC ETA certifications, Telephone Equipment Certifications (TEC), Medical Device Registrations, Drugs & Cosmetic Licenses, Electronic Vehicle (EV) iCAT Certifications, Central Insecticide Board (CIB) registrations, Plant & Quarantine Registrations

6. Consultancy on Import and Export Regulatory Requirements, Customs Appeals and Litigations, and DGFT Consultancy

7. Trademarks, Designs, Patents, and Copyrights are all examples of intellectual property.