Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)

BIS norms are important with respect to quality of manufacturing, export readiness and global supply chain management. Further UPSC may focus on the importance of these standards with respect to safety of children and pollution standards in India.

Content:

What is BIS?

• BIS is the National Standard Body of India established under the BIS Act 2016.
• It is working under the aegis of Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Government of India.
• As a corporate body, it has 25 members drawn from Central or State Governments, industry, scientific and research institutions, and consumer organisations.
• Its headquarters is in New Delhi.
• The organisation was formerly the Indian Standards Institution (ISI), registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
• It is set up for the harmonious development of the activities of standardization, marking and quality certification of goods and for matters connected therewith.

The following schemes of certification are covered under BIS –

1. Product Certification Scheme – Applicable for tangible products; with some products classified under compulsory certification.
2. System Certification Scheme – Applicable for systems/ process
3. Foreign Manufacturers Certification Scheme – Applicable for foreign manufacturers who are engaged in the sale of their products in India.
4. Hallmarking – Applicable for articles made from precious metals like gold and silver
5. ECO Mark Scheme – Applicable for products affecting or related to the environment

So far, it has set 20,866 standards and mandatory standards for 358 products.

Recent review of BIS norms:

• To check imports of sub-standard and non-essential goods, including from China, the BIS is framing mandatory quality standards for 371 items identified by the commerce ministry.
• The process would be completed by March 2021. 
• The list includes several segments, ranging from steel, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and electrical machinery to furniture and toys.
• The concerned ministries are identifying the important products from the list given by the commerce ministry and approaching BIS for making the standards mandatory.
• For some products, ministries have decided not to have standards because of insignificant import volumes.
• BIS has strengthened its surveillance system and has posted officers at major ports to work closely with the customs department.
• BIS is making efforts to increase its surveillance visits at factories and markets to more than a lakh a year from the current 20,000 visits.

Importance of BIS norms:

BIS through its core activities of standardization and conformity assessment, has been benefiting the economy by

• providing safe and reliable and quality goods;
• minimizing health hazards to consumers;
• protecting the environment;
• promoting exports and imports substitute;
• controlling proliferation of varieties etc…
• certification and testing

The standards and certification scheme of BIS also support various public policies especially in areas of product safety, consumer protection, food safety, environment protection, building and construction, etc…

Quality Council of India:

• The Quality Council of India(QCI) is an independent National Accreditation Body (NAB) in India which regulates the maintenance of Quality across different industries in India.
• It was established in 1997 with a tagline and vision ‘Creating an Ecosystem for Quality’.
• The QCI was registered under the Societies Registration Act of 1860 after the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), submitted its recommendations on the formulation of such a council.
• It looks after quality management in industrial fields and laboratory practices. 
• It aims at spreading awareness among all the stakeholders about achieving the Quality of products, services in India in the form of a national campaign – National Quality Campaign, to protect the interests of Indian citizens.

Zero Defect Zero Effect (ZED) and its impact on Make in India:

• As a part of Make in India, ZED scheme for MSMEs with ideology of Zero Defect and Zero Effect ideology was put forth in 2016. 
• Following this will encourage improved quality products produced in the MSME sector.
• The awareness to use proper ZED manufacturing will lead to elevated product production alongside reducing waste.
• The scheme assesses and evaluates MSMEs efficiency in curbing pollution, Production capability, Financial status, Product and service quality, power usage efficiency, HR, Design, etc…
• Zed assessment in MSMEs goes through 50 parameters and issues the certificate only after MSMEs utilise the tools to reduce wastage and improve efficiency.

Scheme endeavours to attain the following key goals:

• To promote and encompass ZED manufacturing processes in the MSMEs.
• Encourage to attain a continuous momentum in improving the sector that contributes to the success of Make in India initiative.
• Reassure to adapt Quality tools and systems, thus promote energy-efficient manufacturing.
• Make sure that the MSMEs are constantly upgrading their tools and process to obtain better products.
• The acclimatization to ZED protocol to have a minimalist impact on the environment.
• Develop professionals in the area of ZED manufacturing and certification.

The scheme is an extensive drive to create proper awareness in MSMEs about ZED manufacturing and motivate them for assessment of their enterprise for ZED and support them. After ZED assessment and adoption of proper tools, MSMEs can reduce wastages substantially, increase productivity, expand their market as IOPs, become vendors to CPSUs, have more IPRs, develop new products and processes etc.. To maintain uniformity of certification, final certificates for ZED will be issued by QCI based upon the findings and recommendation of the rating agencies.