India Requires Veterinary Certificate for Feather Shipments to EU and UK

*TL;DR Exporters of feathers to the EU or UK must now attach a veterinary or shipment clearance certificate to each shipment, per India’s new Condition 5.

Context On April 10, 2026 the Ministry of Commerce and Industry issued Notification No. 08/2026‑27, amending the export policy for feather products covered under Chapter 5 of the Export Policy. The amendment, authorized by the Foreign Trade (Development & Regulation) Act 1992 and the Foreign Trade Policy 2023, introduces a new “Condition 5” for shipments to the European Union and the United Kingdom.

Key Facts - Condition 5 obliges exporters to obtain a veterinary or shipment clearance certificate for every consignment destined for the EU or UK. - The certificate must follow the EU/UK format, be issued by CAPEXIL (the Export Inspection Agency), and list the exporter’s name, address, plant address, Import‑Export Code (IEC) and plant approval number. - For HS code 5051090 (feathers used for stuffing or down), the policy now requires both the existing Condition 1 and the new Condition 5; previously only Condition 1 applied. - The same dual‑condition requirement now applies to other feather categories (HS 5059029 and 5059099). - After shipment, exporters must also provide the foreign buyer with a Production Process Certificate or Veterinary Health Certificate.

What It Means The added certification step raises compliance costs and processing time for Indian feather exporters targeting the EU and UK markets. CAPEXIL will become the bottleneck for certificate issuance, potentially delaying shipments during peak seasons. Exporters will need to update their documentation workflows to include the detailed exporter information mandated by the EU/UK format. For buyers in the EU and UK, the change aims to tighten bio‑security checks on feather imports, aligning Indian exports with European animal‑health standards. Industry observers will watch how quickly CAPEXIL scales its certification capacity and whether the new requirement affects trade volumes. The next notification from the Ministry could clarify whether similar conditions will extend to other animal‑product categories.