Madras High Court permits Gillette to take possession of imported dental floss consignment without registering it as a medical device

The Madras High Court has permitted Gillette India Limited to take possession of two consignments of dental floss, imported by it in July 2024, without registering them as a non sterile, non measuring medical device under the Medical Devices Rules of 2017.

Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy allowed a writ petition filed by the company and set aside the orders passed by Deputy Drugs Controller (I), Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation refusing to issue no objection certificate (NOC) for the release of the goods.

The judge directed the Deputy Drugs Controller under the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation as well as the Deputy Drugs Controller at Chennai airport to ensure that the goods were released forthwith after issuance of NOC by the appropriate authorities.

The court pointed out that the notification based on which the officials insisted on registering dental floss under Medical Device Rules was only in the draft stage and that the petitioner had imported the goods much before the notification was issued on January 6, 2025.

Justice Chakravarthy also recordeed the submission of the petitioner’s counsel Thriyambak J. Kannan that the dropdown menu in the medical devices online portal does not contain the option of registering dental floss and therefore, it was impossible to register it.