Importing From India to the Philippines

Medicine is where India and the Philippines already trade in volume. India shipped US$442.8 million of pharmaceutical products to the Philippines in 2024, by one trade-data service's count (Trading Economics, from UN Comtrade (opens in a new tab), Reported). For a Philippine buyer that's the useful clue. The Indian goods that do well here are the ones where the importer sorted out the Philippine regulator before the first order.

This page covers only what's specific to the Philippines. The shared AITIGA rules, the origin test and the review are on the ASEAN bloc page. The honest caveat - the Bureau of Customs site blocked our reader, so the Philippine tariff and VAT positions below come as questions for your broker, not answers.

Last researched 28 September 2026 · Next review 24 November 2026 · Written by SourcingFrom

The decision in brief is in the playbook: Exporting and trade → /india/#trade. The shared rules are on the ASEAN bloc page.

1. The Separate Schedule Is Not Your Schedule

India's commerce site posts a separate Indian schedule that applies to the Philippines, alongside the member schedules (commerce.gov.in, India-ASEAN agreements (opens in a new tab)). People read that and assume the Philippines has a special deal on Indian goods. It doesn't work that way. That schedule sets what India charges on goods coming from the Philippines. What you pay on Indian goods sits in the Philippine schedule, which we haven't read.

There's no bilateral India-Philippines goods agreement, so AITIGA is the only preference.

2. The FDA Licence Comes Before the Supplier

For food and drugs, the Philippine Food and Drug Administration wants the importer licensed before anything moves. Its citizen's charter lists a valid License to Operate among the documents for a food import permit, along with a certificate of analysis or free sale, the proforma invoice and the packing list, all filed per shipment (FDA Philippines, import permit (opens in a new tab), read 28 September 2026). Drug importers need a License to Operate and product registration too (FDA Circular 2014-026 (opens in a new tab)).

So if you're bringing in Indian spices, snacks or supplements, get your own licence in place first, then ask the Indian supplier for the certificate of analysis on the exact batch. Good Indian food exporters issue one routinely. The ones who hesitate are telling you something. Test plans by product are on Quality control.

3. Back to the Medicines

The Indian pharma trade works in the Philippines because the importers did the regulatory work up front, and the tariff was never the story. Do the same with whatever you buy. Licence first, schedule checked by your broker, certificate asked for before the goods ship. If you'd like someone to handle the certificate and the booking from the Indian side, SourcingSync (opens in a new tab) does that.

Next Step

Every Indian agreement is on India's trade agreements.