In news
Recently, the Union government directed Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to reduce testing fees for MSMEs, start-ups and women entrepreneurs to encourage them to get their products certified
About Product Certification Scheme of BIS
- The scheme aims at providing third party assurance of quality, safety and reliability of products to the customer.
- Presence of BIS certification mark, known as Standard Mark, on a product is an assurance of conformity to the specifications.
- The manufacturer is permitted to self certify the licenced products after ascertaining its conformity to the Standard.
- Through its surveillance operations, the Bureau maintains a close vigil on the quality of certified goods.
- The certification scheme operates through a network of 32 Branch Offices set up in State capitals or major industrial towns and 5 Regional Offices overseeing the work of the Branch offices.
- Although, the scheme itself is voluntary in nature, the Government of India, on considerations of public health and safety, security, infrastructure requirements and mass consumption has enforced compulsory certification on various products through Orders issued from time to time under various Acts.
- In order to ensure enhanced consumer safety & compliance to statutory provisions, some products like gas cylinders, regulators and valves, BIS certification scheme requires each lot or batch to be inspected by BIS certification officers before release of the product.
- BIS, empowered through the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016, operates a product certification scheme by which it grants licences to manufacturers covering practically every industrial discipline from Agriculture to Textiles to Electronics in accordance with BIS Rules, 2018 and Bureau of Indian Standards (Conformity Assessment) Regulations, 2018 under the Act
- It is applicable for tangible products; with some products classified under compulsory certification.
Processes for Grant of Licence:
Under the product certification scheme 1, the licence is granted to the applicant for the varieties of product covered under a given Indian Standard, if he has the capability to manufacture and test the product at the specified location and the sample drawn for testing in independent laboratory conforms to the relevant Indian Standard. Applicants are also required to agree to operate the prescribed Scheme of Inspection and Testing (STI) and pay the Marking Fee as given in Schedule II of the BIS (conformity Assessment) Regulations, 2018 during the course of operation of licence.
BIS has established two procedures for grant of licence under Scheme 1:
- Normal Procedure: In this procedure, grant of licence is considered provided the preliminary inspection is found to be satisfactory, samples drawn during this inspection are found to be
- Simplified Procedure: In this procedure, the applicant is required to submit test report(s) from specified laboratories along with the application. conforming and the applicant agrees to implement the defined scheme of testing and inspection and pay the prescribed marking fee.
