The Bureau of Indian Standards
The Bureau of Indian Standards is the National Standard Body in India which had been incorporated under the BIS Act, in the year 2016. This Bureau was primarily incorporated to harmonize the development of all such activities which relate to the standardization, marking as well as deciding upon the quality of the certification of goods and all other matters which may relate to the above. The BIS has been providing traceability and tangibility benefits to the national economy in numerous ways which includes the provision of safe and reliable goods of high quality, the minimization of any health hazards which may affect consumers, promotion of exports and substitution of imports and the control over the proliferation of varieties through the standardization, certification and testing procedure.
Standardization by the BIS
The Ministry of Commerce has identified 371 imported tariff lines, which includes Chinese products as well. This has been done to ensure a maximum standard for the quality of goods and a necessary curb on the import of unnecessary products especially due to the current global crisis of Covid-19. Thus it is the duty of the BIS to frame and implement strong standards and make them mandatory for improving the enforcing of such standards in the future as well.
Every such Ministry concerned with each of the 371 items wherein such standardization shall be imposed are now put to task to identify and churn out the important products from this list which has been provided by the Ministry of Commerce so that they can approach the BIS with this informed and final list for making the standards for the same.
This move is especially important in view of the Government’s “Make in India” policy which encourages home grown and manufactured products and exports rather than the increase of imports into the country. Some of the new products which have been identified for such standardizations and restrictions are given below:
- Television set of screen up to 36 cm.
- Television set of screen exceeding 36 cm but not exceeding 54 cm.
- Television set of screen exceeding 54 cm but not exceeding 68 cm.
- Television set of screen exceeding 68 cm but not exceeding 74 cm.
- Television set of screen exceeding 74 cm but not exceeding 87 cm.
- Television set of screen exceeding 87 cm but not exceeding 105 cm.
- Television set of screen exceeding 105 cm.
- Liquid crystal display television set of screen size below 63 cm.
Sectors in focus for such standardization
- Several measures have been undertaken to identify the primary sectors where such standards will be mandatorily imposed so as to increase their local manufacturing. Certain sectors which have become the forerunners for acquiring these standards are the pharmaceutical sector, furniture sector and the leather sector. These sectors have been identified for the purposes of revamping their process of production in order to focus more on local manufacturing of such goods.
- Further the crisis of Covid-19 has further made it important for India to rely more on its local manufacturing capabilities as is evident from the several schemes and subsidies such as PLI and SPECS introduced by the Government to enourage local manufacturing. This has been done to ensure stronger local markets and a better developed supply chain. The focus will entirely be on the growth of the Indian industries and further their exportisation and recognition amongst global markets.
- Several other important ministries such as those of steel, chemicals and petroleum have also been asked to identify the important products which require standardisation as well. However, the BIS already has certain standards in place for some out of these 371 products which have been identified which will now be enforced more strictly to ensure that such standards are fully complied with.
- Actions undertaken by the BIS
- One of the main actions which has been undertaken by the BIS is the strengthening of the surveillance system by posting several officers at all important ports in order to monitor and work closely with the customs department.
- These officers have been trained and ordered to derive the market samples of all such imported products and test them at the port itself, in order to make it easier to impose any refusal or restraint.
- The vigilance by the BIS is to be increased from the meagre number of 20,000 checks in a years to now, over a lakh.
- The BIS has also now launched an app as well as two strong portals for the BIS certification and standards which shall be of great benefit to the consumers and the several industry stakeholders who can now easily check and report for any standardisation violation and import dissatisfaction as well.
Procedure for obtaining BIS licence
The applicant may choose to apply for the BIS license through two means. These have been explained below:
1. The Normal procedure
- Under this procedure, the applicant has to send the completed application form along with the required documents and a demand payment to the branch, under whose authority the production company is under the authority.
- Then a BIS officer performs a preliminary assessment for testing the applicant’s ability in accordance with the process in accordance with the relevant Indian standard and to confirm the technical availability of the workforce and test facility as well.
- These samples are then tested ina factory as well put to independent tests. It is necessary to pass an independent test to obtain a license.
- If the initial assessment is satisfactory and the applicant agrees to carry out the test and control scheme and thereafter pays a fixed labelling fee, the license shall be granted within 4 months of registration of the application by BIS and 6 months for all India as the first product license therein.
2. The Simplified procedure
- Under this process, the applicant must submit test reports from specific laboratories together with the application. After this, a verification visit is made to the staff members and if it is found to be satisfactory and the applicant agrees to implement a specific test and inspection scheme and pay the indicated fee, the process is then proceeded with.
- As per this process, the license is granted within 30 days from submitting the application for the BIS certification along with all the necessary reports and the tests.
