India charges USD 1,000 per category, USD 50 per variant
If your India entry quote was priced by the number of products, the arithmetic is probably wrong. CDSCO bills by Fourth Schedule category and by shade or fragrance variant, the registration certificate is perpetual rather than a three-year licence, and the duty that stays in your cost sheet is 22% of CIF.
India's import registration fee does not scale with SKU count. The Third Schedule sets USD 1,000 per category, USD 500 per manufacturing site and USD 50 per shade or fragrance variant, and pack sizes are not counted at all. A 60-SKU skincare line in one category from one factory lands at USD 1,500, while the same 60 SKUs as 60 shades cost USD 4,500.
The fee does not scale with your SKU count
India requires products to be registered before import. Rule 12(1) of the Cosmetics Rules, 2020 says so, the application is Form COS-1 and the certificate that comes back is Form COS-2. What surprises most brands is the billing unit. The Third Schedule sets USD 1,000 per category, USD 500 per manufacturing site and USD 50 per variant, with another USD 1,000 for each category added later.
Two lines with identical SKU counts can therefore cost very differently. Sixty skincare products in a single category from one factory come to USD 1,500. Sixty shades of one colour cosmetic product in the same category come to USD 1,000 plus USD 500 plus USD 3,000, or USD 4,500. CDSCO counts shades, fragrances and flavours, not stock codes, and pack sizes of the same formula are excluded from the count entirely.
| Unit | Fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Category | USD 1,000 | Fourth Schedule classification; same for each added category |
| Manufacturing site | USD 500 | Added later by endorsement |
| Variant | USD 50 | Different colour, fragrance or flavour |
| Pack size | None | Listed separately on COS-1 and COS-2 |
A kit holding several shades but sold as one retail unit counts as a single variant. If a quote arrived priced per product, rebuild it from categories and shades instead. The number can halve, or triple.
A perpetual certificate with a bill in year five
Plenty of brands budget India as a three-year renewal. The CDSCO FAQ says the opposite: COS-2 remains valid in perpetuity so long as the retention fee is paid. The three-year term attaches to the import registration number on Form COS-4A, a different document issued under Rule 17. Conflating the two puts a re-registration cost in the plan that nobody will ever invoice.
Perpetual is not the same as free of deadlines. The retention fee falls due before the completion of five years from the date of issue, and late payment attracts 2% of that fee for every month or part month. Once 180 days have passed unpaid, the certificate is deemed cancelled. Since the person holding the file in year five is rarely the person who filed it, set the reminder the week registration comes through.
The dossier stalls on the mandate and the correlation chart
Any of four parties may apply: the manufacturer, its authorised agent, an Indian importer, or an Indian subsidiary the manufacturer has authorised. The original COS-1 still carries the signature and stamp of the authorised Indian agent or the manufacturer, and two items have to be produced in Korea. The first is the manufacturer's authorisation in the First Schedule format under Rule 12(3), notarised and apostilled, with every page of the product list signed.
The second is the free sale certificate. It travels with a product list signed by the issuing authority and a correlation chart mapping each product to its serial number on COS-1. Around those sit the percentage ingredient list, original labels for every product and variant, specifications and test methods, a non-animal-testing undertaking, and a heavy metal and hexachlorophene declaration backed by test reports. The label then carries the certificate number prefixed "RC" together with the importer's name and address, which is why a change of distributor is a printing cost.
Note the change deadlines too. A change in the constitution of the firm means a fresh application within 180 days, a change of name or address an amendment within 60 days, and a change to labelling, composition or test method a notification to the Central Licensing Authority within 15 days.
What stays in the cost sheet is 22%
Basic customs duty on HS 3304 is 20% of CIF, and the social welfare surcharge is 10% of that duty, which works out to 2% of CIF. IGST at 18% applies on CIF plus duty plus surcharge, pushing total charges at the border to roughly 44% of CIF.
| Charge | Base | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Basic customs duty | CIF | 20% |
| Social welfare surcharge | 10% of BCD | 2% of CIF |
| IGST | CIF + BCD + SWS | 18% |
| Irrecoverable portion | — | 22% of CIF |
A GST-registered importer credits the IGST, so the figure that stays in landed cost is the 22%. A CEPA preferential rate would reduce it, though a Form AK certificate alone will not carry the claim. CAROTAR 2020 obliges the importer to hold origin information of its own, which makes it worth settling in the supply agreement how much factory-side data will travel.
Price too high and you compete inside 4.3%
Registration done, the price list still decides the outcome. India's beauty and personal care market was USD 28.0 billion in 2025 and is forecast at USD 42.1 billion by 2031. Premium and luxury together accounted for 4.3% of value in 2025, rising to a forecast 8.0% by 2031. Converting Korean shelf prices directly puts a brand into a slice worth roughly USD 1.2 billion, against the global houses already there.
Online took 10.0% of value in 2025 and is forecast to reach 20.5% by 2031. Read that alongside a fee structure billed per category and the opening move becomes clear. Going narrow on categories and deep on products inside them returns cash faster than spreading across categories and paying registration before the first order ships.
In short
- Fees are USD 1,000 per category, USD 500 per site and USD 50 per variant. Reprice any quote from categories and shades, not SKU count.
- COS-2 is perpetual; the retention fee is due before year five. The three-year term belongs to COS-4A.
- Korea-side paperwork is the apostilled mandate and the free sale certificate with its correlation chart. The importer's name goes on the label.
- Border charges run near 44% of CIF, of which 22% stays in cost. A CEPA claim needs origin evidence held by the importer.
Which ingredients are moving right now is on today's ingredient signal, and category price bands and cost structure sit in the product planner.
*Sources: CDSCO, Guidance Document on Registration and Import of Cosmetics into India, 19 January 2021 — Third and Fourth Schedule fees, First and Second Schedule documents, Chapter VI labelling / CDSCO, Frequently Asked Questions on Cosmetics — Q.15, 17, 18, 23, 25, 26, 27, 38, 39, 66, 78 / Cosmetics Rules, 2020 (G.S.R. 763(E), 15 December 2020), Rules 12, 13 and 17 / India cosmetics and skincare import duty, HS 3304, 2026 — dutiable.io / India Beauty and Personal Care Market, 2025 base year — Ken Research*
Questions people ask
No. The fee starts at USD 1,000 per Fourth Schedule category plus USD 500 per manufacturing site, with USD 50 added for each shade, fragrance or flavour variant. Selling the same formula in several pack sizes adds nothing, because pack size is not a variant.
The COS-2 certificate is valid in perpetuity. A retention fee falls due before five years from the date of issue, late payment adds 2% per month or part month, and after 180 days the certificate is deemed cancelled. The three-year figure belongs to the import registration number, Form COS-4A, under Rule 17.
The manufacturer can be the applicant, but in practice the original COS-1 is signed and stamped by the authorised Indian agent or the importer. The certificate number and the importer's name and address go on the label, so switching distributor means a new print run.
Rule 13 gives the Central Licensing Authority six months from the application date to grant or refuse, with reasons in writing. CDSCO set a 90-day processing target in a circular dated 30 May 2014, so plan for that plus the back-and-forth of query responses.
Basic customs duty on HS 3304 is 20% of CIF with a social welfare surcharge of 2% of CIF on top. Claiming an India-Korea CEPA preferential rate needs a Form AK certificate of origin and the origin information CAROTAR 2020 requires the importer to hold, so check the line-by-line schedule and write the obligation into the contract.