Where tariff item 0305 79 00 sits in the schedule
| Level | Description |
|---|
| 03 | Chapter 03: Fish and crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates |
| 0305 | Heading 0305: Fish, dried, salted or in brine; smoked fish, whether or not cooked before or during the smoking process |
| 0305 79 00 | Other. Unit: kg.. Import policy: Free |
Heading 0305 holds 28 tariff items in this dataset and every one of them carries the same standard rate of 30%, so within this heading the choice of eight digit line does not change the duty.
Duty on an import of this item
Put your own assessable value in and the whole stack re-works on this line's own rates: basic customs duty at 30%, the Social Welfare Surcharge charged on that duty rather than on the value, and integrated tax at 5% on the value plus both. Assessable value is cost, insurance and freight plus landing charges where they apply, not the invoice value on its own.
| Rate | Levy | Amount |
|---|
| 30% | Basic customs duty, of the assessable value | ₹3,00,000 |
| 10% | Social Welfare Surcharge, of the basic customs duty | ₹30,000 |
| 5% | IGST, of value plus the duties above | ₹66,500 |
| 39.65% | Total duty and tax, as a share of the assessable value | ₹3,96,500 |
₹3,00,000Payable with a duty-credit scripOf this, the basic customs duty of ₹3,00,000 can be paid with duty credit scrips. The remaining ₹96,500 is paid in cash. RoDTEP on this tariff line, the export side
The same eight digit code decides what an exporter earns. Appendix 4R to the Handbook of Procedures gives tariff item 0305 79 00 a RoDTEP rate of 2.5% of FOB value, capped at ₹24 per Kg, notified by Notification 32/2024-25 and in force from 10 October 2024. Appendix 4R is the schedule for exports from the Domestic Tariff Area.
The cap is not a footnote. The entitlement is the lower of 2.5% of FOB value and ₹24 per Kg multiplied by the quantity exported, so a figure worked from the rate alone overstates it on every shipment where the cap binds.
An exporter under an Advance Authorisation, an Export Oriented Unit or a unit in a Special Economic Zone reads Appendix 4RE instead, which puts this line at 1.5% capped at ₹14.4 per Kg. Which schedule applies is a fact about the exporter, not about the goods, so this page does not choose between them.
Notification 74/2025-26 ran the scheme to 30 September 2026, which has passed, so check DGFT for a continuation notification before relying on the figure above. Rates come from Appendix 4R and Appendix 4RE as DGFT publishes them. Work the entitlement on your own FOB value and quantity.
Preferential rates by origin
Where a trade agreement covers this line, the preferential rate replaces the basic customs duty rate, and it pulls the surcharge and the integrated tax down with it. At 0% for APTA countries, the whole bill on ₹10,00,000 falls from ₹3,96,500 to ₹50,000.
APTA countries0%
ASEAN countries0%
Japan0%
Least Developed Countries0%
Malaysia0%
Nepal0%
Philippines0%
SAFTA (LDC) countries0%
Singapore0%
Sri Lanka0%
United Arab Emirats0%
SAFTA countries5%
the republic of Korea5%
Australia12.9%
A preference is never automatic. It applies against a valid certificate of origin, and the Customs (Administration of Rules of Origin under Trade Agreements) Rules, 2020 put the burden of proving origin on the importer. These are the 2025 schedule.
Other tariff items under heading 0305
| Code | Description | Duty | IGST | Export rate |
|---|
| 0305 20 00 | Livers, roes and milt of fish, dried, smoked, salted or in brine but not smoked | 30% | 5% | 2.5% |
| 0305 31 00 | Tilapias (Oreochromis spp.), catfish (Pangasius spp., Silurus spp., Clarias spp., Ictalurus spp.), carp (Cyprinus spp.,Carassius spp., Cteno- pharyngodon idellus, Hypophthalmichthys spp., Cirrhinus spp., Mylopharyngodon piceus, Catla catla, Labeo spp., Osteochilus hasselti, Leptobarbus hoeveni, Megalobrama spp.), eels (Anguilla spp.), Nile perch (Lates niloticus) and snakeheads (Channa spp.) | 30% | 5% | 2.5% |
| 0305 32 00 | Fish of the familes Bregmacerotidae, Euclichthyidae, Gadidae,Macrouridae, Melanonidae, Merlucciidae, Moridae and Muraenolepididae | 30% | 5% | 2.5% |
| 0305 39 00 | Other edible fish offal | 30% | 5% | 2.5% |
| 0305 41 00 | Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka, Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, Oncorhynchus keta, Oncorhynchus tschawytscha, Oncorhynchus kisutch, Oncorhynchus masou and Oncorhynchus rhodurus), Atlantic salmon (Salmo Salar) and Danube salmon (Hucho hucho) | 30% | 5% | 2.5% |
| 0305 42 00 | Herrings (Clupea harengus, Clupea pallasii) | 30% | 5% | 2.5% |
| 0305 43 00 | Trout (Salmo trutta, Oncorhynchus mykiss, Oncorhynchus clarki, Oncorhynchus aguabonita, Oncorhynchus gilae, Oncorhynchus apache and Oncorhynchus chrysogaster) | 30% | 5% | 2.5% |
| 0305 44 00 | Tilapias (Oreochromis spp.), catfish (Pangasius spp., Silurus spp., Clarias spp., Ictalurus spp.), carp (Cyprinus spp.,Carassius spp., Ctenophar- yngodon idellus, Hypophthalmichthys spp., Cirrhinus spp., Mylopharyngodon piceus, Catla catla, Labeo spp., Osteochilus hasselti, Lepto- barbus hoeveni, Megalobrama spp.), eels (Anguilla spp.), Nile perch (Lates niloticus) and snakeheads (Channa spp.) | 30% | 5% | 2.5% |
| 0305 49 00 | Other or not salted but not smoked | 30% | 5% | 2.5% |
| 0305 51 00 | Cod (Gadus morhua, Gadus ogac, Gadus macrocephalus) | 30% | 5% | 2.5% |
| 0305 52 00 | Tilapias (Oreochromis spp.), catfish (Pangasius spp., Silurus spp., Clarias spp., Ictalurus spp.), carp (Cyprinus spp.,Carassius spp., Cteno- pharyngodon idellus, Hypophthalmichthys spp., Cirrhinus spp., Mylopharyngodon piceus, Catla catla, Labeo spp., Osteochilus hasselti,Lepto- barbus hoeveni, Megalobrama spp.), eels (Anguilla spp.), Nile perch (Lates niloticus) and snakeheads (Channa spp.) | 30% | 5% | 2.5% |
| 0305 53 00 | Fish of the families Bregmacerotidae, Euclichthyidae, Gadidae, Macrouridae, Melanonidae, Merlucciidae, Moridae and Muraenolepididae, other than cod (Gadus morhua, Gadus ogac, Gadus macro- cephalus) | 30% | 5% | 2.5% |
| 0305 54 00 | Herrings (Clupea harengus, Clupea pallasii), anchovies (Engraulis spp.), sardines (Sardina pilchardus, Sardinops spp.), sardinella (Sardinella spp.), brisling or sprats (Sprattus sprattus), mackerel (Scomber scombrus, Scomber australasicus, Scomber japonicus), Indian mackerels (Rastrelliger spp.), seerfishes (Scomberomorus spp.), jack and horse mackerel (Trachurus spp.), jacks, crevalles (Caranx… | 30% | 5% | 2.5% |
| 0305 59 10 | Mumbai duck | 30% | 5% | 2.5% |
| 0305 59 20 | Seer without head | 30% | 5% | 2.5% |
| 0305 59 30 | Sprats | 30% | 5% | 2.5% |
| 0305 59 90 | Other fish in brine, other than edible fish offal | 30% | 5% | 2.5% |
| 0305 61 00 | Herrings (Clupea harengus, Clupea pallasii) | 30% | 5% | 2.5% |
| 0305 62 00 | Cod (Gadus morhua, Gadus ogac, Gadus macrocephalus) | 30% | 5% | 2.5% |
| 0305 63 00 | Anchovies (Engraulis spp.) | 30% | 5% | 2.5% |
| 0305 64 00 | Tilapias (Oreochromis spp.), catfish (Pangasius spp., Silurus kg. spp., Clarias spp., Ictalurus spp.), carp (Cyprinus spp.,Carassius spp., Cteno- pharyngodon idellus, Hypophthalmichthys spp., Cirrhinus spp., Mylopharyngodon piceus, Catla catla, Labeo spp., Osteochilus hasselti,Lepto- barbus hoeveni, Megalobrama spp.), eels (Anguilla spp.), Nile perch (Lates niloticus) and snakeheads (Channa spp.) | 30% | 5% | 2.5% |
| 0305 69 10 | Mumbai duck | 30% | 5% | 2.5% |
| 0305 69 20 | Seer without head | 30% | 5% | 2.5% |
| 0305 69 30 | Sprats | 30% | 5% | 2.5% |
What this means in plain English
Bring in ₹10,00,000 of fish, dried, salted or in brine; smoked fish, other and customs will ask for ₹3,96,500, which is 39.65% of what the consignment is assessed at. That is not one charge. It is four, and each is charged on a base that includes the ones before it.
- Basic customs duty, ₹3,00,000 at 30% of the assessable value.
- Social Welfare Surcharge, ₹30,000 at 10% of that duty rather than of the value, under section 110 of the Finance Act, 2018.
- Integrated tax, the large one: ₹66,500 at 5% on the value plus the duties above it, under section 3(8) of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975. Carried under CBIC notification 009/2025, schedule I3.
Read the duty rate as a ceiling, not a bill. 30% is the standard rate in the First Schedule, before any exemption notification, and the total above carries no Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess, no duty stated per unit and no trade remedy duty.
What is and is not inside these figures, written once for the whole chapter.
Paying part of this with a duty-credit scrip
Of the ₹3,96,500 above, exactly ₹3,00,000 can be paid with a RoDTEP or RoSCTL duty-credit scrip instead of cash, because Regulation 6(1) of the Electronic Duty Credit Ledger Regulations, 2021 confines the credit in an e-scrip to duties of customs specified in the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975. The remaining ₹96,500 is paid in cash.
A scrip bought below face value therefore saves that discount on ₹3,00,000, not on ₹3,96,500. How the buy side works, or read what a duty-credit scrip is end to end.
Where these rates come from
The First Schedule states the duty on this line as "30%". Integrated tax is carried under CBIC notification 009/2025. How the figures in this chapter are checked, and when they were last checked is in the meta line at the top of this page.
This is the tariff arithmetic on a published rate, not an assessment. Goods are assessed by the proper officer under section 17 of the Customs Act, 1962, and valuation, exemption notifications, anti-dumping and safeguard duties can all change what is finally payable. A wrong tariff line makes every number on this page wrong together, so this is not classification advice.
