DGFT Automates Free Sale and Commerce Certificate Issuance

What changed: The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has enabled automatic issuance of Free Sale and Commerce Certificates (FSC) on the DGFT portal for eligible exporters, via Trade Notice No. 24/2026-27 dated 31 August 2026. Applications that meet the prescribed parameters will be issued the certificate without manual scrutiny; only cases that need verification or fall outside the automated parameters will be routed to the concerned Regional Authority. For exporters who repeatedly need an FSC to satisfy overseas buyers and regulators, this should cut turnaround from days to near-instant.

What Happened

A Free Sale and Commerce Certificate is a document DGFT issues under the Foreign Trade Policy confirming that a product is freely sold in the Indian domestic market and is not prohibited for export — typically required by importing-country authorities as evidence of market acceptability. It is issued for products not covered under the Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940 (drug and cosmetic products are certified through the CDSCO/state licensing route instead).

Historically, an exporter applied through the DGFT portal and waited for a Regional Authority to review the application manually before the certificate was granted. Under the new mechanism, eligible applications that satisfy the system's validation parameters are approved automatically, in line with the prevailing regulatory framework. Applications that fail the automated checks, or that require additional verification, continue to be referred for manual processing. DGFT has positioned the change squarely within the government's Ease of Doing Business agenda.

Who Benefits

Exporters of a wide range of non-drug, non-cosmetic goods — food and agri products, engineering goods, chemicals, cosmetics-adjacent FMCG that fall outside the Drugs & Cosmetics Act, medical devices classified outside that Act, and similar categories — who need an FSC for registration or import clearance in destination markets. Buyers, distributors and destination-market regulators benefit indirectly from faster, standardised documentation.

Why This Matters

Documentation delays are a recurring, avoidable cost in exporting. A pending FSC can hold up buyer registration or product listing abroad, delaying orders and payment. Automating issuance removes a discretionary manual step, improves predictability, and frees Regional Authority bandwidth for genuinely complex cases. It also fits a broader 2026 DGFT trend of portal automation — the same period has seen enhancements to the PSIA/PSIC process, the Bank Guarantee Repository module, and other self-service workflows.

What Exporters Should Do Now

• Check your product's eligibility: confirm the good is outside the Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940, and is freely exportable (not in the Prohibited/Restricted lists).
• Keep your DGFT profile and IEC details clean and current — automated approval depends on your data passing validation.
• Apply through the DGFT portal and ensure product descriptions, HS codes and supporting details are accurate; mismatches are what push an application into manual review.
• Read Trade Notice No. 24/2026-27 for the exact eligibility parameters and the categories that still require manual processing.
• Retain the issued certificate and its verification reference for your buyer and destination-country regulator.

The Bigger Picture

Automated FSC issuance is a small but telling piece of India's digital-trade modernisation. Alongside faceless customs, auto out-of-charge, and eCoO 2.0 for certificates of origin, it signals a shift from officer-by-officer discretion toward rules-based, system-driven approvals. For exporters, the payoff is speed and certainty; the trade-off is that clean, accurate data is now essential — the system approves what validates and diverts what doesn't.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Free Sale and Commerce Certificate used for? It certifies that a product is freely sold in India and not banned for export, and is often required by overseas regulators or buyers before a product can be registered or imported.

Does automation mean every application is approved instantly? No. Only applications that meet the automated parameters are issued automatically. Others are referred to the Regional Authority for manual processing.

Does this cover drugs and cosmetics? No. FSCs under this route are for products not covered by the Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940. Drug and cosmetic exporters follow the CDSCO/state licensing certification route.

Where do I apply? On the DGFT portal, under the Free Sale and Commerce Certificate service.

Conclusion

DGFT's automated FSC issuance removes a routine bottleneck for exporters of non-drug/cosmetic goods. Keep your portal data accurate, confirm eligibility, and you should see certificates issued far faster than before.

This summary is for general guidance. Verify eligibility and process against DGFT Trade Notice No. 24/2026-27 and the DGFT portal before applying.