DGFT revises timeline for issuance of PSIC to 2 days, grants one-time 7-day relaxation for clearing backlog PSICs

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, through Trade Notice No. 28/2026-27 dated September 16, 2026, has announced revisions to the Pre-Shipment Inspection Agency (PSIA)/Pre-Shipment Inspection Certificate (PSIC) process. The notice refers to Trade Notice No. 22/2026-27 dated August 25, 2026, which had earlier introduced enhancements to the PSIA/PSIC process, and provides relaxations to facilitate smooth implementation of the revised module.

As a transitional measure, DGFT has granted a one-time relaxation of seven days from the date of issuance of Trade Notice No. 28/2026-27, allowing recognised PSIAs to clear backlog PSICs relating to inspections conducted prior to August 25, 2026, where certificates could not be issued because of system restrictions introduced pursuant to the earlier trade notice.

DGFT has also revised the timeline prescribed under Para 2(ii) of Trade Notice No. 22/2026-27. Under the substituted provision, the PSIC is required to be generated and issued within two days from the date of inspection, with the system permitting generation and issuance of the PSIC only within this prescribed timeline. The revised provision further stipulates that PSIC uploading must be undertaken from the same geographical location or country where the inspection is carried out.

All other provisions of Trade Notice No. 22/2026-27 dated August 25, 2026, remain unchanged. The trade notice has been issued with the approval of the Director General, DGFT, and is signed by Manoj Kumar Meena, Deputy Director General of Foreign Trade.

The latest changes build on Trade Notice No. 22/2026-27, which had earlier standardised the inspection date format, restricted PSIC generation to the date of inspection, enabled authorised PSIA users to upload signature and stamp images for automatic embedding, increased permissible inspection photograph attachments from 5 to 10, and expanded the mandatory video attachment limit from 10 MB to 50 MB, as part of DGFT’s broader push to reduce manual intervention and strengthen transparency in the pre-shipment inspection system.