India Adds Guwahati Airport as Agarwood Export Gateway, CITES Permit Still Mandatory

DGFT amends agarwood export policy

On 30 October 2026, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) under India's Ministry of Commerce and Industry issued Notification No. 46/2026, amending the export policy of agarwood under Chapter 12 of Schedule II of the ITC (HS) Export Policy, 2022. Previously, shipments were allowed only through the ports of Mumbai, Nhava Sheva, Kolkata, Cochin, Delhi, Chennai, Tuticorin, Amritsar, Calicut, Thiruvananthapuram, Kandla and Mundra. The revised entry retains those points and additionally permits exports of agarwood oil, agarwood chips and allied products from Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport, Guwahati, subject to all applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.

CITES permit remains a hard prerequisite

The notification expressly retains the requirement that a CITES permit of export shall be required in respect of CITES-listed species, and that no additional information, NOCs or documents beyond the prescribed set shall be demanded from exporters. This "easier gateway, unchanged control" approach matters for practitioners worldwide: all species of Aquilaria and Gyrinops are listed in CITES Appendix II, a fact also recorded in China's forestry industry standard LY/T 2904-2017. Whether plantation-grown or wild-harvested, agarwood products are bound by the Convention at the cross-border stage.

Why it matters to Chinese traders

North-east India is a traditional agarwood (oud) producing region, and the new air gateway mainly serves exports of essential oil and chips from that region, shortening logistics chains and cutting transit time. For Chinese companies, two implications follow: watch how incremental international supply transmits into domestic raw-material pricing, and keep in mind that domestic export procedures still require forestry pre-approvals, customs registration, the CITES permit, non-detriment findings and, where needed, fumigation certificates before declaration. Several local authorities advise reserving roughly 90 calendar days for the full export cycle.

This article is industry observation and educational summary only; it does not constitute trading or investment advice. Purchase agarwood through legal channels and look for traceable, testable sources.