How businesses in India can leverage BIS certification

Learn how Indian businesses can navigate BIS certification to access markets, ensure compliance, and improve trust through regulatory alignment support.

Key takeaways

BIS certification is now mandatory for many products in India, impacting both manufacturers and importers.
Indian customs authorities are strictly enforcing BIS compliance, rejecting non-certified imports at entry points.
Businesses should proactively obtain BIS certification to ensure regulatory compliance and avoid penalties.

Quality standards are here to stay. As India advances, BIS certifications will ensure consumer safety, regulatory compliance, and global competitiveness for businesses.

Agneshwar Sen

Associate Partner and Leader, Trade Policy, EY India

For your convenience, a full text transcript of this podcast is available on the link below:

Jayashree Parthasarathy

A very warm welcome to all of you to the EY India Insights podcast. I am your host, Jayashree Parthasarathy, Partner, Indirect Tax, EY India, and in this episode of the IDT Insights series, we will discuss the Bureau of Indian Standards Certification, or BIS certification, as we all know it. What we are going to discuss is what this certification is all about, when does it apply and how does one get the certification?

Joining me in today's podcast is my colleague partner, Agneshwar Sen, Associate Partner, Tax and Economic Policy (International Trade), EY India. Agneshwar is a seasoned professional in foreign trade, customs and regulatory matters. His experience includes being associated with the government as an Additional Director General at Directorate General of Trade Remedies, and we now have the good fortune of having him with us at EY. I do look forward to an engaging discussion on BIS with you today.

Agneshwar Sen

Thank you, Jayashree. Happy to be here.

Jayashree Parthasarathy

Could you tell us a little bit about why BIS has gained so much of popularity and significance in the recent past? We keep hearing about it in the context of various products and its reach seems to be increasing as well. What are your thoughts on why this is happening and what is it that our audience needs to know about the BIS certification and standards?

Agneshwar Sen

BIS, as all of us know, is India's national standard setting body. As every country develops, we need to have quality standards, performance standards to ensure that that what the economy is manufacturing, what the economy is selling, what the consumers are consuming – they meet a particular quality standard. That is what this BIS does.

So far, if you remember, we used to have the Indian Standards Institute (ISI) marking, which used to tell us that the product is of a particular quality. Well, BIS is the body which sets those standards.

Coming to your next question about why it has become important all of a sudden or at least in the last few years is because a lot of these standards in India which were earlier voluntary now have become mandatory or are no longer voluntary. Earlier, as a manufacturer, you could go to BIS and pick the standard to apply, but now the government is now mandating that products which are covered under various quality controls should be mandatorily taken by anybody selling those products, including manufacturers or importers in India.

Jayashree Parthasarathy

I understand. How is this different from the International Organization of Standardization (ISO) or even what the European Union uses as CE certification? Most of these, I understand, also cover similar profile of products as BIS does in India. Does one still need a BIS certification even if the product is ISO or CE certified?

Agneshwar Sen

Every country in the world – China, US, the entire European Union – all of them have their own standards. They base their standards based on their understanding of what their people need. ISO, for example, is the International Organization of Standardization based out of Geneva, which comes out with standards across the board.

We have all heard about ISO certification which various organizations get, and it covers a wide swathe of products and services, but ISO standards specifically are voluntary. So, even if you are an Indian organization today, you would like an ISO certification for various reasons, including telling the world that you are a quality producer of goods or services.

You would go ahead voluntarily and get it. And once you get the certification, you can mark with your name – ‘ISO certified.’ The BIS standards apply only in India. So, any products which are being sold in India, which are facing the consumers of any kind – retail consumers to manufacturing to industrial consumers – all these products that they buy, they would have the BIS standard, typically.

And the government of India has now declared that all the products which are manufactured and sold in India, they would all have BIS standards. It is not very dissimilar to what you just mentioned regarding the European Union, where you see any product which is sold in the European Union will have that CE marking, which is the European Conformity marking. So, any product, India is exporting to Europe, which has the mandatory standard in Europe, you will also have to get that certification for selling it into European markets.

Jayashree Parthasarathy

Got it. So, BIS is for India as CE is for Europe is what you are saying. I have always thought whether it is ISO, ISI or BIS, it is more a consumer protection measure to ensure that products are of a particular standard and fit for market or consumption in that particular market. Now, strangely, this is more of a topic these days from a customs and regulatory standpoint. How did this happen, Agneshwar? What is the inter linkage between BIS, customs and regulations?

Agneshwar Sen

What happens is that once you set up a standard mandatorily to be applied in your market, any product which is brought into the country or manufactured in the country typically has to have the IS marking.

That being the case, anything which is manufactured abroad, which is being imported, those products also need the IS marking. Of course, BIS has a certification system by which they certify foreign manufacturers in foreign domains. For example, you are importing something from China, the Chinese factory itself has to apply for a BIS certification, and they get the marking and can only export once the standard we are talking about becomes mandatory in India.

They will have to ensure that whatever they are exporting in India has that marking and this enforcement takes place at the custom’s end. So, the customs, under law, required to ensure that anything that is cleared by them for sale into India has the IS marking.

And to the extent that if that Indian standard is not marked on those products, which have been mandatorily applicable, those products are not allowed to be entered into the country; they are simply sent back. It is not that you can adjudicate the matter in some way and get it in; that is why the customs have a very important role to play in this.

As you know, we are a fairly large importing country as well. So, a whole lot of these products which are getting covered by quality control order or getting covered by a mandatory BIS standard, all of those products, if they are imported into the country, they will be checked by the customs and returned if they do not have the marking.

Jayashree Parthasarathy

So, customs are more like a gatekeeper and an implementation agency so as to speak for BIS. Towards the end of your last response, you mentioned something about a quality control order. Can you tell us a little bit about how is this quality control order (QCO) issued?

Agneshwar Sen

QCO is the buzzword today. At the moment you hear a new QCO, a lot of industries get interested you know because it starts impacting their ability to manufacture and sell. QCO stands for quality control order, and these are typically issued by a central government ministry – there is Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Steel, Ministry of Textiles, Ministry of Mining, etc. Whatever product you are looking at, these ministries decide what is going to be the standard. They are the ones who issue the QCOs, saying from a particular date that particular standard is going to become mandatory in India. That is typically what a QCO is. It is simply a diktat from the concerned administrator, informing that a particular BIS standard is going to be implemented mandatorily in India.
Again, the QCO typically would cover the product, they would define the products that that get covered and the standard and the date from which that gets implemented. Following the QCO which is in the official gazette of the Government of India, thereafter, people have to apply and thereafter, from the date that they give, you have to ensure that your product has the ISO standard so that otherwise they will not be allowed to be sold in the country.

Jayashree Parthasarathy

How many QCOs have been issued by India so far and how many more do we expect in the coming months or years?

Agneshwar Sen

We did try to run through the number of QCOs. In the last few years, we have more than 600-700 QCOs, but the number of QCOs are not important because each one covers more than one product, which has various grades.

So, a single QCO could cover a variety of products under it and also identify which IS standard would apply to it. I do not have a specific number to quote but it is quite large, and it is likely to grow fairly rapidly given the government's statement that they would like any and all products which are being sold in India to be covered by the QCO.

For example, I was looking at what products are going to be covered soon, and the list includes things like nickel powder, electronic products, aluminum products, and aluminum ingots – variety of these products are likely to be covered in the next few months.

Also, the government is required before to inform the WTO before the QCO is implemented India for transparency purposes, so that any manufacturer who is interested in exporting to India gets an advance notice about it. So, we typically look at the WTO website and figure out which QCOs are likely to come into effect in the near future.

Jayashree Parthasarathy

What happens if a particular business is unable to comply with the BIS or QCO requirements? Is there monetary or some other type of consequence associated with non-compliance?

Agneshwar Sen

There is a very stringent consequence for non-compliance. If a QCO has come into effect and enforced in the country, and you are found to be possessing and selling those products, there is a two-year jail sentence, which is possible along with a monetary fine, which is INR2 lakh minimum and maximum could go up to ten times the value of the goods which have been found without the ISI marking in your possession, which have either been sold or in stock with you. So, yes, the consequences are fairly stringent.

Jayashree Parthasarathy

The general perception is that getting a BIS certification is a fairly long and onerous process. What is your take on this in terms of what this entails? What should businesses budget for in terms of timelines, complexities, etc. and are there any do's and don'ts that businesses need to consider while obtaining a BIS certification?

Agneshwar Sen

One is that if the Indian standard has been implemented for the product that you are manufacturing, and it is not mandatory, nothing stops you from voluntarily going ahead with that marking. So even if later QCO comes in and makes it a mandatory standard, you are already certified and cleared for sale in India. This is a good precautionary measure to take. So, run through the Indian standards that are available on the BIS website. There are people who can help you out with that.

You can identify what is the standard, and if you find a standard which has been devised for your product specifically, then go ahead and obtain it. Otherwise, once the QCO is issued and it is gazetted, you typically get about six months before it comes into effect. Within those six months you have to go ahead and apply to the BIS and get the certification done. Now, I will not say that the certification process is simple; there is thorough testing done of your product; of your testing facilities; of your quality control measures; of the raw materials that you are using, and your production methods. Scientists from the BIS or BIS accredited lab visit your factory premises to check it out, and only after this whole process is over, the license or the certificate is granted.

While it may take one to two months to complete the process, there could be various other imponderable hindrances to this. For example, sometimes the product testing takes time; sometimes when they (scientists) come and see your testing facilities, your lab, your factory premises, they may find them inadequate, or you may not have the right equipment. But, for a domestic manufacturer, after submitting the QCO application, it should take a month or two to get the certification.

However, for a foreign manufacturer, this period could go up to six to eight months because the scientists have to go overseas; there could be language issues regarding the certifications that you already have and there could be various other complications as well.

As I mentioned earlier, it is important that you have to have the QCO or the IS marking with you. The sooner you act, the better. Not only in case you have an Indian standard, should you go ahead and get the certification, but if you are an importer, you should tell your foreign manufacturer to also apply for the BIS certification.

Jayashree Parthasarathy: Once we get the certification or license issued, what is the duration of its validity? Is it valid forever? Perpetually? Or is it a time bound certification and license that the government issues?

Agneshwar Sen

The initial certification is for two years. And then, you have to keep applying for renewal. You may renew one year at a time for a maximum of five years. This is because the products themselves evolve, so the standards also evolve.

If the Indian standard which is already been implemented mandatorily in India gets upgraded or changed or the products changed, one has to take into consideration those changes. If the change takes place, then you have to immediately apply for the recertification.

Jayashree Parthasarathy

Ok, this needs to be planned from a timeline standpoint and monitored from a renewal standpoint. So, it looks like, businesses have their work cut out for them in terms of constantly monitoring if their product is a part of the Indian standards, look at a voluntary certification, or at least pursuant to QCO, which then makes it mandatory, and budget for timeline. Any last words of precautions, considerations, do's and don'ts from a QCO, BIS regulation from your end?

Agneshwar Sen

Let us put it this way. The quality standards are here to stay. Any developing country as it moves up the value chain of development, quality standards will be across the board for everything that the consumers would be consuming in that country. Having said that, it becomes important for us to be mindful of this reality and take advance action to ensure that your products meet the quality standards and are recognized as such.

We have seen some quality manufacturers in India go ahead and seek a standard to be set up for the product that they are making, even if the standard does not exist. To be in this universe of standards is very important for your own reputation as a quality manufacturer of that product.

The quality consciousness should be a part of your management ethos, whatever line of business you are in. In case you are into some sort of a process management, there are quality certifications even for those kinds of activities. So, you have to be very conscious about this universe.

The WTO also permits this. So, a lot of questions are being asked whether all of this is some sort of a non-tariff barrier. Well, this is not a non-tariff barrier, but a non-tariff measure and a very important non-tariff measure, which is recognized by the WTO to ensure consumer health, consumer safety, consumer benefit, as well as to move forward on a higher value chain in terms of the quality of the products that you are manufacturing in your country and exporting.

So that being said, you have to build this quality consciousness into all aspects of your manufacturing process and keep seeking the kind of recognition that the certification system offers.

Jayashree Parthasarathy

Thank you so much, Agneshwar for your extremely insightful perspectives. Thank you for joining us in this session and providing us with your valuable insights. Thank you to all our listeners. Do stay tuned for more captivating discussions on the EY India Insights podcast. Do not forget to subscribe for the latest updates. And until next time, this is Jayashree Parthasarathy, your host, signing off.

Thanks again, everyone.

Presenters

Agneshwar Sen

Associate Partner and Leader, Trade Policy, EY India

Jayashree Parthasarathy

Partner, Indirect Tax, EY India

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21m 36s

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How businesses in India can leverage BIS certification

Key takeaways

Jayashree Parthasarathy

Agneshwar Sen

Jayashree Parthasarathy

Agneshwar Sen

Jayashree Parthasarathy

Agneshwar Sen

Jayashree Parthasarathy

Agneshwar Sen

Jayashree Parthasarathy

Agneshwar Sen

Jayashree Parthasarathy

Agneshwar Sen

Jayashree Parthasarathy

Agneshwar Sen

Jayashree Parthasarathy

Agneshwar Sen

Agneshwar Sen

Jayashree Parthasarathy

Agneshwar Sen

Jayashree Parthasarathy

Presenters

Agneshwar Sen

Jayashree Parthasarathy

If you would like to listen to our podcasts on the go:

In this series

Presenters