Centre asks BIS to prescribe standards for imported goods to curb non-essential Chinese imports

The central government has asked the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for prescribing the mandatory standards for imported goods, in line with the international norms for quality. The move is expected to impact the import of non-essential Chinese goods.

As per the senior official at BIS, which is India’s National standards body under the Consumer Affairs department, the commerce ministry has given the list of imports and has asked to frame the standards in accordance with the international norms to filter quality imports.

BIS which deals with the certification and marking of goods will be examining the existing norms. The body is also revamping its website, incorporating quality standards, and the information about the international norms that must be followed while importing goods.

Key Highlights:

• The new-look website which will be launched soon will help the manufacturers and importers to know the norms and procedures that must be followed to market any product in India.

• BIS has more than 25,000 quality standards for different services and products but under mandatory certification, there are only around 150 products.

• Most products have been under voluntary registration only, allowing the imports of products not conforming with the quality standards.

• Every year, India imports around 11,500 types of goods such as gold, crude oil, electronic goods, machine tools, fertilisers, metal, toys, plastic goods, and pharmaceutical products which tops the chart.

New standards for imported goods:

Under the new standards, more products may come under mandatory certification to discourage the import of non-essential goods. It will also promote the mission of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ by relying more on domestic production.

As per the official from BIS, the government body has been formulating technical regulations for at least half of the imported products for the quality imports and around 400 are already on the priority list.

Under the new standards, China will be the most affected country under the stricter norms as most of the cheaper imports are from China.