The Indian government has exempted textile imports from China, EU, Serbia, Poland and Denmark from testing of samples for presence of Azo Dyes. The move could help importers in reducing transactions cost. “Textiles and textile articles originating from specific countries…Are exempted from testing of samples for presence of Azo Dyes,” Director General of Foreign Trade said in a notification. Azo Dye is mainly used for colouring fabric. Use of this dye in textiles and textile articles are banned in these countries, it said. As for imports from other countries, at least 25 per cent of samples are drawn for testing instead of 100 per cent. According to the notification, Customs will ensure while drawing the samples that majority samples are drawn from consignments originating from countries where there is no legal prohibition on the use of harmful hazardous dyes. 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.
