The government will bring in at least 58 quality control orders (QCOs) for products such as aluminium, copper items and household electrical appliances in the next six months, with an aim to prevent and promote import of substandard goods. domestic industry, a senior government official said. , Photo credits: Mustafa. K.K.
The government will come out with at least 58 quality control orders (QCOs) for products such as aluminium, copper items and household electrical appliances in the next six months, with an aim to prevent and promote import of substandard goods. domestic industry, a senior government official said.
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is working hard to promote manufacturing of high quality products in the country.
“Since 1987, only 34 QCOs have been issued. But now we are coming up with 58 QCOs in the next six months. The main objective is to stop import of substandard goods. These mandatory norms will be for domestic and foreign players. In DPIIT Joint Secretary Sanjeev told PTI.
315 products will be standard under these orders. Goods under these orders cannot be produced, sold/traded, imported and stored unless they bear the BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) mark.
“These QCOs will be notified within a year after following due process,” he added.
He said the move would also help in providing a global market for household goods.
He said that to facilitate smooth implementation of these orders, provisions for additional time period are being considered for obtaining BIS license and upgrading their testing facilities, especially for micro and small scale industries.
Similarly, exemption to very micro units (investment in plant and machinery up to Rs 25 lakh) is being considered on a case to case basis.
“With the notification of the CCO, the manufacture, storage and sale of non-BIS certified products is prohibited as per the BIS Act 2016,” the official said.
Violation of the law can lead to imprisonment of up to two years or a fine of at least Rs 2 lakh for the first offence, which increases to a minimum of Rs 5 lakh for the second and subsequent offences.
Recently, BIS seized 18,600 non-BIS certified toys during raids at several retailers including Hamleys, Wh Smith, Archies and Kids Zone in malls, airports and markets.
These orders have been issued by the department in consonance with the WTO (World Trade Organisation) Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) for industries falling under its domain.
The agreement recognizes that no country shall be prevented from taking measures necessary to ensure the quality of its exports or to protect human, animal, or plant life or health, the protection of the environment, or the prevention of deceptive practices.
As a policy, the standards of BIS have been formulated in conformity with the relevant standards laid down by the International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission, as far as possible.
The standard issued for any product is for voluntary compliance unless notified by the Central Government to make it mandatory primarily through notification of QCO and Compulsory Registration Order (CRO) of BIS Conformity Assessment Regulations, 2018 is done.
Till March 1 this year, BIS has issued around 22,228 standards, of which 9,774 are product standards. So far only 404 standards have been made mandatory through notification of QCO/CRO.
Saniv said QCO for toys has changed the face of that sector.
Due to the quality norms for toys, there has been a significant reduction in the import of toys and there has been a boom in exports.
According to government data, the country’s toy exports have reached Rs 1,017 crore during the April-December period of this fiscal. Exports stood at ₹ 2,601 crore in 2021-22. During April-December 2013-14, the shipment was ₹167 crore.
In 2018-19, toys worth Rs 2,960 crore were imported into India. Total import of toys in India to drop by 70% to Rs 870 crore in 2021-22.
These orders will help in promoting the sale of quality products through ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce) protocol being prepared by DPIIT.
During April-January this fiscal, India’s imports increased to $602.2 billion from $494 billion in the same period last year.