Threat to All eBay International Sellers - ADC NOC Issue

[real.phoenix]

Dear Friends,

I have been selling Herbal Medicines and Skin Care products on eBay since last 5 years. I started from 1 order and in a week and grew to 50 orders per day in a span of 5 years.

Every year,  there is a customs issue at Mumbai where the shipments are detained and people selling herbal products are asked to provide an ADC NOC. This issue arises whenever there is a new Customs Commissoner who would ask for these details. Until January 2014, such issues got resolved by meeting the concerned officer, discussing our mode of business with them and showing the samples of the products that we sell on eBay. However, this time, the issue is just not getting resolved.  It has been more than 60 days and we are still unable to sell.

I have visited multiple times, the Mumbai Customs Office at Sahar, Ville Parle and Ballard Pier, Mumbai FDA Office, CDSCO Office at Mumbai and CDSCO Office at Ahmedabad and met all the highly placed influencial Govt. Officers to seek an answer to this issue. However, I have not received any correct response from any of these offices.

As per AYUSH, an ADC NOC is needed for every shipment containing chemical, medicines, herbal products or medical device. Hence, an ADC NOC is applicable to all the Dabur, Himalaya, Zandu, Baba Ramdev products etc.

Now, in order to get an ADC NOC, following things are needed: Drug License, Export License, Purchase Bills and Most Importantly, a COA giving the details that the Heavy Metals are within permissible limit. The product label should also not mention that it is for sale in India only.. Due to these requirements, it becomes impossible for a small scale online seller to obtain an NOC.

The ADC NOC can be waived off solely upon the discretion of the Customs Officer or an ADC himself can endorse that an NOC is not needed for such products.

However, the Mumbai Customs is not willing to waive off the ADC NOC requirement and at the same time the ADC asks for the COA to issue an NOC.

Due to this, it is now not possible for any eBay seller from Gujarat, Maharashtra, MP, AP or Goa to do a cross border trade of herbal products. Along with me, several other online  seller and eBay sellers have met the Customs as well as the CDSCO repeated number of times but there is no resolution so far.....

Since an ADC NOC is a legal requirement, sooner or later, it can impact other ports also.

Hence, take care before you venture into this segment...

Kind Regards,

Mustufa Baldiwala

[amitava123gems]

They are vested with powers. If they decide to ruin business, they can do it. My experience says that it is a temporary phase. It will pass. You will have to have patience.

Thanks,

Truly,

Amitava

[loveindia2003]

Hi Everybody!

I am a seller from Tamilnadu, facing the same problem for the past 2 weeks. All the packages (72 Registered Letters) booked through Post got returned back to me with a note to produce ADC - NOC and IEC.  I do not know what to do further and I feel the help of ebay is needed in this regard. They have to sort this issue with the Govt. Customs Dept. As said by real.phoenix, this problem will be transmitted to all the ports soon.  Let us see what ebay India will do?! I have talked with the officials of ebay India and waiting for thier reply. I will let you know as soon as their reply is received (if it is useful to all). I request real.phoenix to communicate about any outcome of this issue, please!

Regards,

loveindia2003 

[satishkc]

I am an ebay international seller from Chennai selling Automobile products. My Registered Airmail parcels were returned by Chennai Air Customs (post) meenambakkam. When I met the Superindentent at the Chennai Postal Customs office Meenambakkam, the reason he said was that the mode of Registered Airmail cannot be used for online sales and can only be used for bonafide gifts and free samples. He advised to use private couriers for online sales, I explained to him that the courier tariff will not be viable for low value items. He said that there is no other go.

Can somebody clarify, many international and Indian seller are using this channel for export. Had to stop all my international listing.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Satish

[real.phoenix]

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@loveindia2003 wrote:

Hi Everybody!

I am a seller from Tamilnadu, facing the same problem for the past 2 weeks. All the packages (72 Registered Letters) booked through Post got returned back to me with a note to produce ADC - NOC and IEC.  I do not know what to do further and I feel the help of ebay is needed in this regard. They have to sort this issue with the Govt. Customs Dept. As said by real.phoenix, this problem will be transmitted to all the ports soon.  Let us see what ebay India will do?! I have talked with the officials of ebay India and waiting for thier reply. I will let you know as soon as their reply is received (if it is useful to all). I request real.phoenix to communicate about any outcome of this issue, please!

Regards,

loveindia2003 

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@loveindia2003 wrote:

Hi Everybody!

I am a seller from Tamilnadu, facing the same problem for the past 2 weeks. All the packages (72 Registered Letters) booked through Post got returned back to me with a note to produce ADC - NOC and IEC.  I do not know what to do further and I feel the help of ebay is needed in this regard. They have to sort this issue with the Govt. Customs Dept. As said by real.phoenix, this problem will be transmitted to all the ports soon.  Let us see what ebay India will do?! I have talked with the officials of ebay India and waiting for thier reply. I will let you know as soon as their reply is received (if it is useful to all). I request real.phoenix to communicate about any outcome of this issue, please!

Regards,

loveindia2003 

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[real.phoenix]

File an RTI. The officer is not correct. Since years, IndiaPost has been used for Export Import related cargo. Officer speaks nonsense.

[real.phoenix]

Hi,

The ADC NOC is a legal requirement even when a seller exports small quantities like 50g Henna Powder or 50ml Hair Oil. I have filed 9 RTIs in this regard and visited Delhi CDSCO an Ayush for this. This matter has been clarified by Dr. Dinesh Katoch, CPIO of Ayush via RTI and a Phone Call that ADC is a Mandatary for Drugs (Medicines) and Chemicals but there are no mandatory requirement for Herbal Products. However, for Herbal Products, the ADC may be requested or ruled out by the Customs Officers as well as the CDSCO Officer placed at the port. (Airport or Sea Port)

Hence, if teh seller is asked to furnish the ADC NOC, then the seller must visit the Customs Office at IndiaPost FPO, and explain the Customs Officers, their business model along with supporting documents as under:

1) IEC
2) Purchase Invoices
3) Selling Invoice or CN-22 Mentioning the CORRECT product name and value
4) Proof of Remittance (PayPal payment received page copy)
5) Bank Statement (that reflects the payments from PayPal)

Dos and Don'ts:

1) Please do not try to pay bribe. Officer has a right to ask for your documents and the ADC NOC. You need to explain them politely why an NOC is not needed for Hair Oil or Henna Cream. If they still force to get an NOC, then you must get it done. There is no other way.

2) Talk politely and respectfully to every officer. Do not ventilate your frustration on them. It will cause you loss.

What if you do not have documents such as IEC:
IEC is not mandatory. You can request the officer that you will apply for it and submit in next 30 days. It takes 14 days to get IEC

What if you do not have Purchase Bill
Then you must stop doing business on eBay

I have faced ADC NOC issues repeated number of times and most of the time, they used to get settled when I met the Customs Officer and politely spoke to them with the documents. They are not intersted in closing down any business. However, there is a huge Narco business going on and hence, they need to implement these checks in order to prevent the illegal exports of Prohibited Substances.

I trust the above information would help.

Kind Regards,

Mustufa Baldiwala

[satishkc]

Thanks very much for the clarification. They sent a letter that IEC need to be mentioned on the parcels and we have done so.

Hope everything moves smoothly.

Thanks,

Satish

[real.phoenix]

Hi Satishkc,

IEC is not mandatory requirement.

You just need to fill CN-22 correctly.

If any officer says that IndiaPost cannot be used for commercial shipment, either wants some money from you (as extortion) or he is insane.

There is a department called Business Post in IndiaPost. They have recruited officers to increase their international business.

More than 50% of exports of HandiCraft and Cotton Fabrics happen via Postal Channel.

[loveindia2003]

My sincere thanks to real.phoenix Mr Mustafa for sharing his experiences and valuable advises. It is very lucky to have him in this discussion forum. I too got a reply from Chennai customs requesting to ship the packages with IEC and ADC NOC. I just shipped a trial lot of 15 packages with just IEC sticker and they passed all the packages. When I talked with an officer working in customs, he advised me to use courier companies to ship all these articles. India Post is exclusively for sending samples and gifts alone. 

What I feel is that it is time for ebay to interveine in this situation and have to meet and explain the nature of e-com business with the customs officers. They simply urge the sellers to list more and more items to generate their revenue. 

Dear Satish and Mustafa, please don't forget to share your experiences in future. Thank you once again.