Quality inspection in India for importers in the United Kingdom

What the UK buys from India

India reported exports to the UK of about US$2.66 billion across the product groups Clear To Load inspects in 2025, up 5% on 2024 (UN Comtrade). Unlike the US trade, which leans on home goods, the UK trade is led by clothing and footwear: home goods were US$620 million, under a quarter of the total.

In handicrafts, the UK took US$302.9 million in FY 2024-25, 7.7% of India's total and up 5.9% on the year before (EPCH Annual Report 2024-25).

Where UK orders are made, and what we inspect there

• Clothing. Tirupur (a Town of Export Excellence for hosiery) for T-shirts and knit tops; Faridabad, added for apparel under Foreign Trade Policy 2023, in Delhi NCR where we have inspectors. We also inspect woven shirts and dresses and resortwear.
• Footwear and bags. Agra, Kanpur and Ambur, all Towns of Export Excellence for leather products, for leather shoes, sandals and handbags.
• Home textiles and rugs. Panipat and Karur for cushions, throws and bed linen; Bhadohi and Mirzapur for tufted and hand-knotted rugs.
• Furniture and stone. Jodhpur for solid wood furniture; Dholpur district in Rajasthan for the red sandstone paving.

UK checks we add at the factory

UK product law puts most duties on the business that first places the goods on the GB market. When the maker is in India, that is usually you. These checks put evidence in your file before the goods leave:

• Fire safety labels. On sofas, chairs, cushions and other upholstery for homes, the permanent label and the display label required by the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988, with text matching your test reports.
• Producer and batch marks. Your name, address and a product or batch reference on the item or its packaging, as GPSR 2005 asks of the producer.
• Fibre labels on clothing and home textiles, and UKCA or CE marks on lamps and other products under specific regulations.
• Timber. The species on the line against your UK Timber Regulations due-diligence file, and ISPM 15 marks on pallets.
• Origin. That origin marks and the exporter's paperwork match the goods, if you plan to claim the CETA rate.

Packaging weights for EPR and Plastic Packaging Tax

Two UK schemes make the packaging around Indian goods your reporting problem. Under packaging extended producer responsibility (EPR), a UK business with a turnover of £1 million or more that imports more than 25 tonnes of packaging a year is an obligated producer. Above £2 million and 50 tonnes it is a large producer: it reports packaging data every six months and pays waste disposal fees to PackUK for household packaging. Separately, a business that imports 10 tonnes or more of finished plastic packaging, filled packaging included, must register for Plastic Packaging Tax.

Both schemes run on the weight of each material: cardboard, plastic film, foam, paper, wood. The cheapest place to get those figures is the factory. Ask your supplier for a packaging specification per SKU, and we check the packed cartons against it at inspection: the materials, the number of components and their weights on sampled units. A cushion in a polybag inside a carton already has two materials to report; a packed sofa can carry film, foam, cardboard and wood.

Rules that apply and the trade agreement

The UK–India Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement entered into force on 15 July 2026. UK guidance says many tariffs were removed on that date and others are phased out over several years. We do not state rates: look up your commodity code on the UK Trade Tariff and keep the exporter's origin declaration or certificate with your records. The customs and safety checklist, with EORI, GPSR, timber and documents, is on importing from India to the UK. For the product rules, see UK furniture fire safety regulations, UKCA and CE marking and country of origin labelling.

Working hours and report timing

India Standard Time is UTC+5:30 and has no daylight saving, so India is 5:30 hours ahead of London in winter and 4:30 in summer. Our office hours, 9:30 am to 6:30 pm IST from Monday to Saturday, run from 4:00 am to 1:00 pm GMT, or 5:00 am to 2:00 pm BST. That covers the whole UK morning: a WhatsApp message sent at 9 am reaches someone who can answer it, and a problem found on the factory floor can be discussed with you while the inspector is still there. The report follows within 24 hours of the inspection, after supervisor review, with a verdict of Cleared to load, Hold or Not cleared.

Booking and price

A man-day is US$249 for one inspector at one factory for eight hours, report included. Travel adds nothing in Jodhpur, US$99 per man-day in Jaipur, Saharanpur, Moradabad, Delhi NCR and Kolkata, and actual cost elsewhere, quoted first: Tirupur, Agra and Panipat are in that band. Prices are in US dollars, and the fee is the same whether the lot passes or fails. See pricing or book an inspection, and attach your fire-label artwork and packaging specification.

Sources

1. UN Comtrade: India's exports by partner and HS heading, 2025
2. EPCH: 39th Annual Report 2024-25 (country-wise handicraft exports)
3. Business.gov.uk: Tariffs and customs for imports from and exports to India (UK–India CETA)
4. GOV.UK: Extended producer responsibility for packaging, who is affected
5. GOV.UK: When you must register for Plastic Packaging Tax
6. legislation.gov.uk: Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988
7. GOV.UK: General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (Great Britain)
8. DGFT: Appendix 1B, Towns of Export Excellence
9. PIB: Foreign Trade Policy 2023 announced (new Towns of Export Excellence)
10. MSME-DI Jaipur: Brief Industrial Profile of Dholpur District
11. timeanddate.com: India Standard Time