New Delhi (NVI): To accelerate the import of cylinders and pressure vessels for storage and transportation of medical oxygen amid COVID pandemic, the government today eased the existing norms for granting approval to global producers for importing oxygen cylinders by Petroleum and Explosive Safety Organization (PESO), under Gas Cylinders Rules, 2016.
These relaxations shall be valid for a period of 6 months or till further orders of Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, whichever is earlier, the ministry said.
PESO shall not carry out physical inspection of global manufacturers’ production facilities before grant of such approval, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement today.
Now, such approvals shall be granted online without any delay on submission of manufacturer’s particulars; ISO certificate of manufacturer; List of Cylinders their specifications, drawings & batch number; Hydro test certificate and Third-Party inspection Certificate, it said.
Every foreign manufacturer and importer who wants to import oxygen cylinders is required to apply for import permission through PESO online system.
In view of emergent situation, procedures are relaxed and the following process is to be followed wherever due to unavoidable circumstances or urgencies, the Ministry said.
The consignment of oxygen cylinders, ISO containers or PSA plants or its related equipment have already arrived in India, without taking import permission from PESO.
The filling permission for these cylinders will be issued based on the following relaxation in the rules. Same procedure will apply for import of further such equipment in case the online approvals have not been taken.
As such, Certification of PESO will not be mandatory pre-shipment. However, the certification of PESO will be required before use of the oxygen cylinders which entails weight and hydro testing, the statement said.
The Indian Missions should however ensure that the oxygen cylinders should comply with India or International standards before shipment. In case of filled cylinders, the agency exporting to India shall certify that the oxygen filled in the cylinder is of such purity and concentration that is fit for medical use.
The certification shall be attested by the Indian Mission in the exporting country. Further, soon upon receipt in India, such filled cylinders shall be inspected on sample basis by an empanelled agency of PESO and certified as fit for medical use, it said.
All the filled cylinders must be verified for quality of gas filled therein under the supervision of medical/ Food and Drugs Controllers and if quality of gas conforms to their requirement of medical oxygen, cylinder may be sent directly to hospitals for use.
On emptying out the oxygen, cylinder shall be sent to filler and the process as given above shall be followed, it added.
