CBIC Eases EMI Scheme Documentation; Sets Mandatory Import Checklists for Cosmetics, Drugs & Medical Devices

The Story

On the same day, CBIC made life easier for one group of importers and considerably more precise for another. Manufacturer-importers applying for deferred customs duty now have three documents to gather instead of ten. Anyone bringing cosmetics, drugs or medical devices through an Indian port now has a checklist that spells out, down to a percentage of shelf life remaining, exactly what an officer will check before releasing the goods.

Circular No. 39/2026-Customs, dated 3 September 2026, amends the earlier Circular No. 08/2026-Customs (dated 28 February 2026) governing the Eligible Manufacturer Importer (EMI) Scheme — the mechanism that lets eligible manufacturers defer customs duty on imported inputs without paying interest or furnishing a bank guarantee. The number of documents an EMI applicant must upload has been cut from 10 to 3 in the revised application format, effective for applications filed from 15 September 2026. The revised Appendix-I retains the substantive eligibility declarations — including whether the applicant qualifies as a “manufacturer” under Section 2(72) of the CGST Act, 2017, and job-work provisions under Section 143 of the CGST Act — while stripping out the documentation burden around them. Separately, CBIC has revised Appendix-III, the Chartered Accountant’s Certificate accompanying an EMI application: where an applicant has negative net worth or negative net current assets, the certifying Chartered Accountant must now furnish specific reasons for that position as part of the certificate.

Sidebar: that last change is easy to skim past, but it is a real, new professional obligation for certifying Chartered Accountants — not just a box to tick. A CA signing off on an EMI application for a client with negative net worth or negative net current assets now has to put a documented, defensible explanation on record, in a certificate that CBIC will rely on to approve deferred-duty status. That’s a meaningfully higher due-diligence bar than simply reporting the figures.

On the same date, Circular No. 40/2026-Customs prescribes mandatory compliance checklists that Customs officers must verify before granting out-of-charge on PGA-facilitated Bills of Entry for cosmetics, drugs and medical devices — products that already require licences, permissions and registration certificates under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Rules made thereunder. The Circular follows measures taken by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) to improve facilitation for these products, in line with the Government’s Ease of Doing Business objective. It sets tiered minimum Residual Shelf Life (RSL) requirements based on a medical device’s total shelf life: at least 40% residual shelf life for devices with a 90-day total shelf life, 50% for devices with a shelf life between 90 and 365 days, and 60% where total shelf life exceeds 365 days. Separate, lighter provisions apply to medical devices imported specifically for clinical investigation, testing, evaluation, demonstration, training, patient treatment, or personal use. For raw materials and components intended for medical device manufacture, the importer must hold the relevant manufacturing licence — Form MD-05 for Class A and B devices, or Form MD-09 for Class C and D devices. CBIC has directed field formations to issue Public Notices implementing the checklists and has advised importers to upload the required documents on e-SANCHIT in advance for expedited clearance.

Why It Matters

The EMI Scheme change directly reduces the compliance burden and turnaround time for MSME manufacturer-importers seeking duty deferment — a real, practical easing for a client base that CA firms serve heavily — but it comes paired with a genuinely new professional-liability consideration for the CA certifying Appendix-III, who must now put a substantive, documented rationale on record whenever a client’s balance sheet shows negative net worth or negative net current assets. The cosmetics/drugs/medical devices checklist, by contrast, tightens rather than eases compliance: importers who have historically relied on ad hoc port-level queries about shelf life or licensing now face codified, numeric thresholds that leave far less room for a favourable discretionary call at the port.

Key Takeaways

• CBIC’s Circular No. 39/2026-Customs (3 September 2026) cuts EMI Scheme application documentation from 10 to 3 documents, effective for applications filed from 15 September 2026, while retaining core eligibility declarations under Section 2(72) and Section 143 of the CGST Act, 2017 in the revised Appendix-I.
• The revised Appendix-III Chartered Accountant’s Certificate now requires the certifying CA to furnish specific, documented reasons wherever an EMI applicant has negative net worth or negative net current assets — a new, substantive disclosure obligation, not merely a reduced paperwork exercise.
• CBIC’s Circular No. 40/2026-Customs (also 3 September 2026) prescribes mandatory checklists, including tiered Residual Shelf Life thresholds (40%/50%/60% depending on total shelf life), that officers must verify before releasing PGA-facilitated Bills of Entry for cosmetics, drugs and medical devices.
• Medical device raw materials/components require the correct manufacturing-licence form — MD-05 for Class A/B devices, MD-09 for Class C/D devices — as a precondition for import clearance under the new checklist.
• Both circulars direct supporting documentation to be uploaded on e-SANCHIT in advance, and direct field formations to issue implementing Public Notices, meaning practical rollout details may still emerge zone-by-zone in the coming weeks.

Practical Implications

CA firms handling EMI Scheme applications for MSME manufacturer clients should update their internal application checklists now to the new 3-document Appendix-I format ahead of the 15 September 2026 effective date, and should specifically prepare to issue the revised Appendix-III certificate with a properly reasoned negative-net-worth/negative-net-current-assets disclosure wherever applicable — treating this as a genuine professional-judgment exercise rather than a template fill-in. Firms advising importers of cosmetics, drugs or medical devices should audit shipment timelines against the new tiered Residual Shelf Life thresholds before goods are even dispatched from the country of origin, since a shipment that fails the RSL test at the Indian port is a costly and largely avoidable failure if caught earlier in the supply chain. Firms should also confirm that any client importing medical device raw materials or components holds the correctly classified manufacturing licence (MD-05 or MD-09, matching the device class) well before the Bill of Entry is filed.

Action Checklist

• Update EMI Scheme application templates and internal checklists to the new 3-document Appendix-I format, and calendar 15 September 2026 as the effective date for the revised process.
• For any EMI applicant client with negative net worth or negative net current assets, prepare the Appendix-III Chartered Accountant’s Certificate with a specific, defensible, documented explanation — not a generic statement.
• For clients importing cosmetics, drugs or medical devices, build Residual Shelf Life verification into pre-shipment quality checks, not just port-of-entry documentation review.
• Confirm the correct manufacturing-licence form (MD-05 for Class A/B, MD-09 for Class C/D) is held and current for any medical device raw material or component import.
• Ensure all checklist-mandated documents are uploaded on e-SANCHIT well ahead of Bill of Entry filing, and watch for zone-specific Public Notices implementing Circular 40/2026 in the coming weeks.

Relevant Sections / Rules / Notifications

• Circular No. 39/2026-Customs, dated 3 September 2026 (CBIC — amends Circular No. 08/2026-Customs dated 28 February 2026; EMI Scheme documentation)
• Circular No. 40/2026-Customs, dated 3 September 2026 (CBIC — mandatory compliance checklists for cosmetics, drugs and medical device imports)
• Section 2(72), CGST Act, 2017 (definition of “manufacturer,” relevant to EMI Scheme eligibility)
• Section 143, CGST Act, 2017 (job-work provisions, relevant to EMI Scheme eligibility declarations)
• Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, and Rules made thereunder (licensing/registration framework for cosmetics, drugs and medical devices)
• Medical Devices Rules — Forms MD-05 (Class A/B manufacturing licence) and MD-09 (Class C/D manufacturing licence)

FAQs

Q: From when can EMI Scheme applicants use the simplified 3-document format?
A: Per Circular No. 39/2026-Customs, the simplified documentation applies to applications filed from 15 September 2026 onward.

Q: What exactly must a Chartered Accountant now disclose under the revised Appendix-III certificate?
A: Where an EMI applicant has negative net worth or negative net current assets, the certifying Chartered Accountant must furnish specific reasons for that position as part of the certificate — a documented explanation, not merely a disclosure of the figures themselves.

Q: What Residual Shelf Life is required to import a medical device with a 200-day total shelf life?
A: Since 200 days falls between 90 and 365 days, the applicable minimum Residual Shelf Life requirement under Circular No. 40/2026-Customs is 50%.

Internal Links

• Today’s Intelligence — 7 September 2026 (this cycle’s Today’s Intelligence, Section 8 below)
• GST/Customs hub — /category/gst/
• Compliance Calendar hub — /category/compliance-calendar/

Related Articles

None this cycle — first Finoscape coverage of both circulars.

Author & Disclaimer

Prepared by Finoscape Editorial Team — hello@finoscape.com. This article is for general informational purposes and does not constitute legal or professional advice, and is based on professional-press reproduction (A2Z Taxcorp LLP, TaxGuru) of CBIC’s Circular Nos. 39/2026-Customs and 40/2026-Customs, rather than direct retrieval from cbic.gov.in, since neither circular had been independently located on CBIC’s own circulars page at the time of this cycle’s research. Practitioners should independently verify both circulars’ full text before relying on them for client advice, particularly the precise RSL thresholds and licensing form requirements.