Importing into India starts with paperwork that has nothing to do with your supplier. Before a Bill of Entry can be filed, duty paid or money remitted, a set of registrations must exist and agree with each other. This checklist runs them in dependency order — it is the same Section A we execute internally before any first-time import across our group companies.
1. Importer Exporter Code (IEC) — the Foundation
The IEC is a ten-character code issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), linked to your PAN. No import consignment clears customs without one. The application is online on the DGFT portal, the fee is nominal, and issuance is typically within days.
Two details trip people up. First, the IEC is issued once with lifetime validity, but it must be electronically confirmed on the DGFT portal every year between April and June — miss the window and the code is deactivated, which surfaces at the worst possible moment: with cargo on the water. Second, the details on the IEC (entity name, address, bank) must match your other registrations; mismatches between IEC, GST and bank records are a classic source of clearance queries.
2. GST Registration — Not Technically Mandatory, Practically Essential
You can hold an IEC without GST registration. But IGST paid at import — usually the largest single line in the duty stack — is only recoverable as input tax credit if you are GST-registered, with your GSTIN quoted on the Bill of Entry. For any commercial importer the arithmetic is decisive: without GST registration, 18% IGST is a cost; with it, a cash-flow item. Register first, import second.
3. AD Code — the Banking Leg
Your Authorised Dealer (AD) Code identifies the bank branch that will handle your foreign-exchange remittances. For imports it is the rail on which payment runs: outward remittances to your supplier, matching of payments against Bills of Entry, and closure of entries in the bank's IDPMS (Import Data Processing and Monitoring System). Obtain the AD Code letter from your bank early, and while you are there, negotiate the forex markup, commission and charges — on regular import volumes, half a rupee on the exchange rate is real money, and it is negotiable.
4. ICEGATE Registration — Your Window into Customs
ICEGATE is Indian Customs' electronic gateway. Registering your IEC there gives you duty e-payment, document upload through e-Sanchit, Bill of Entry status tracking, and the message trail between you, your broker and customs. Your customs broker files on your behalf, but the account should be yours: the importer who can see their own BOE status is never hostage to anyone's phone availability.
5. The Product-Side Checks Before Any Purchase Order
Entity registrations are half the checklist. The other half belongs to the product, and it decides whether the goods are importable at all:
- Import policy status — most goods are freely importable; some are restricted (licence required), canalised or prohibited. Check before committing money, not after.
- HSN classification and duty — the code drives the duty rate and every compliance requirement attached to it.
- Compulsory Compliance Requirements — BIS for electronics, CDSCO for cosmetics, FSSAI for food, WPC for wireless devices, AERB for certain instruments. These take weeks to months and cannot be fixed port-side.
- LMPC registration — packaged goods for retail need the importer registered under the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, and labels compliant before shipment.
- EPR obligations — electronics, batteries, plastic packaging and tyres carry Extended Producer Responsibility registrations.
- FTA eligibility — if the origin country holds a trade agreement with India, a valid Certificate of Origin can cut the duty substantially; the paperwork must be arranged with the supplier before shipment.
The Order That Saves Time
Run it as a sequence: PAN and entity documents → GST → IEC → bank AD Code and forex terms → ICEGATE → product-side checks → then the purchase order. Done in parallel where possible, a clean first-time setup takes two to four weeks. Done in the wrong order — or discovered mid-shipment — each gap costs storage, demurrage and launch dates.
We run this exact checklist as a service for first-time importers, and for companies that would rather not build the function at all, our outsourced imports programme operates the whole cycle end to end. Tell us what you plan to import and we will map the registrations and compliance pathway before you commit to a supplier.
Common Setup Mistakes We See
Four patterns account for most first-shipment delays. Entity mismatches — an IEC in the proprietor's name while the GST registration carries the firm's, leaving the Bill of Entry and the input tax credit pointing at different entities. The dormant IEC — obtained years ago for a one-off, deactivated for want of the annual confirmation, discovered only when the broker tries to file. The missing bank leg — goods cleared smoothly, then the outward remittance stuck because the AD Code paperwork and supplier bank details were never set up, with the supplier chasing payment and IDPMS entries ageing. And compliance-last ordering — a purchase order signed before anyone checked that the product needed a BIS registration with a three-month lead time. Every one of these is free to avoid at the checklist stage and expensive to untangle with cargo on the water.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is an IEC alone enough to start importing?
No. The IEC lets you be named as importer, but a first consignment also needs the banking leg (AD Code, remittance setup), usually GST registration for the IGST credit, and any product-specific licences — which for regulated goods take far longer than the IEC itself.
Does an IEC expire?
The code has lifetime validity, but DGFT requires an annual electronic confirmation between April and June each year. An IEC that misses the update window is deactivated until it is confirmed — check yours before every peak season.
Can I import without GST registration?
Legally yes, for many goods. Commercially it rarely makes sense: IGST paid at import is only recoverable as input tax credit with a GSTIN on the Bill of Entry, so unregistered importers carry the full IGST as cost.
What is e-Sanchit?
ICEGATE's paperless document facility — invoices, licences and certificates are uploaded once, receive a reference number, and are cited in the Bill of Entry instead of being couriered around. Your broker uses it daily; having your own ICEGATE access lets you see the same trail.