In a significant legislative move to bolster biosecurity and streamline agricultural import guidelines, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare released two official notifications updating Schedule VI of the Plant Quarantine (Regulation of Import into India) Order, 2003. Issued under Section 3 of the Destructive Insects and Pests Act, 1914, these amendments establish mandatory quarantine declarations and specialized post-harvest conditions for specific plant categories entering the country.
The Tenth Amendment Order, 2026, expands the allowed imports for tissue-cultured aquatic plants originating from Denmark. The gazette specifies a comprehensive list of 64 plant varieties - including popular aquatic species such as Anubias barteri, Bacopa caroliniana, Blyxa japonica, and multiple varieties of Bucephalandra, Cryptocoryne, Hygrophila, and Rotala.
Under the new regulations, importers must present a phytosanitary certificate verifying that these tissue-cultured aquatic plants are propagated from mother stock tested and certified free from viruses and other destructive pests.
Concurrently, the Eleventh Amendment Order, 2026, governs the import of Taxus wallichiana var. mairei, specifically dried needles intended for therapeutic and medicinal applications. Exported from the Netherlands with France designated as the country of origin, these dried leaves are subject to stringent health and safety standards.
Consignments must be certified completely free of quarantine weed seeds, soil, and organic plant debris, as well as destructive pests and pathogens such as Heterobasidion annosum, Phytophthora ramorum, and various weevil species. Additionally, the regulation mandates a specific post-harvest treatment requiring the material to be dried at 60 degrees Celsius for 18 hours, with explicit endorsement on the phytosanitary certificate prior to customs clearance.
Both regulatory orders come into immediate effect from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.