DGFT Replaces October 31 Raw Sugar TRQ Deadline With Two-Month Bill-of-Entry Window
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade has replaced the fixed 31 October 2026 deadline in its raw sugar Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) scheme with a two-month window that runs separately for each consignment. The change was made by a corrigendum dated 24 August 2026 to Public Notice No. 27/2026-2027, issued by the Director General of Foreign Trade under paragraphs 1.03 and 2.04 of the Foreign Trade Policy.
What the corrigendum changed
Public Notice No. 27/2026-2027 dated 20 August 2026 set out the modalities for applying for and distributing the TRQ for import of 10 lakh MT of raw sugar, and a one-time conversion from the Advance Authorisation (AA) scheme to the TRQ scheme. Its paragraph 7(c) originally read:
Raw Sugar imported under TRQ shall be processed into White/Refined Sugar within a reasonable period after import and sufficiently in advance to enable sale in domestic market by 31 October 2026.
After the corrigendum, the raw sugar must still be processed within a reasonable period after import, but the conversion into white or refined sugar and its sale in the domestic market must take place within two months from the date of filing the bill of entry. All other terms of the public notice remain unchanged.
| Point | Before 24 August 2026 | After the corrigendum |
|---|---|---|
| Deadline for processing and domestic sale | 31 October 2026 for all imports | Two months from the bill of entry date of each consignment |
| How the deadline is tracked | One calendar date | Consignment by consignment |
Later DGFT notices on the same TRQ
DGFT's public notices listed on the APEDA DGFT public notice page show that the scheme was adjusted further after the corrigendum:
- Public Notice No. 28/2026-27 (1 September 2026): modalities for application and allocation of the balance quantity under the TRQ for import of 10 lakh MT of raw sugar.
- Public Notice No. 29/2026-27 (3 September 2026): extension of the timeline for one-time conversion of Advance Authorisations under SION E-52 to the TRQ.
- Public Notice No. 30/2026-27 (14 September 2026): extension of the timeline for surrender of unutilised TRQ quantity allocated under the 10 lakh MT quota.
Mills and refiners holding TRQ allocations should read these notices with Public Notice No. 27/2026-2027, since each changes a timeline or quantity in the original scheme.
What it means for importers and their advisers
The corrigendum does not increase the quota. It changes the compliance clock. Instead of working to one date, each import lot now has its own deadline, fixed by the date its bill of entry was filed. A shipment cleared late in the season gets a full two months, but an early shipment can no longer wait until 31 October.
Procurement, customs, production, finance and tax teams therefore need to link every bill of entry with the matching refining records and domestic sale invoices, so that completion within two months can be shown for each lot. CAs reviewing these units should check that internal trackers compute the deadline per bill of entry and that the evidence of processing and sale is kept consignment-wise for any later verification by DGFT or Customs.
Updated on 27 September 2026: Verified the corrigendum text against the DGFT document, quoted the original paragraph 7(c), and added the later Public Notices 28, 29 and 30 of 2026-27; removed scheme details that could not be checked against a readable official copy of Public Notice 27.
