Customer Advisory: HSS Bottle Type Seals Required on Shipments to India

Kindly be informed that per Indian Customs regulations that all containers discharged at India ports must have a bottle-type High Security Seal (HSS) affixed to the container doors, and the bottle seal’s number must be correctly declared in the Import General Manifest (IGM) and the Import Advance List (IAL). Strip or wire seals are not acceptable.

Export parties must include the bottle seal number on their shipping instruction in order for OOCL to properly manifest shipments destined to India. Any containers arriving an India port without a bottle-type HSS may not be allowed by India Customs to discharge, and or will be subject to additional handling fees.

In addition, any discrepancy or absence of information in the shipping instruction seal number declaration will require a Customs amendment to correct the seal number before India Customs will allow delivery of the containers from the port of discharge terminal. In case of any mismatch, discrepancy, or non-availability of the bottle seal numbers on the manifest, the said container will be segregated in a designated area in the terminal with delivery being permitted only after the Customs amendment is completed. The charges for the amendment and extra handling for these containers will be the responsibility of the cargo interest party.