While buying electrical appliances, gold jewelry or any other valuable items for ourselves we always prefer the best of the quality. We all know the fact to check for the purity and quality check signs and marks on the label. It is a surprising fact that hardly anyone knows who evaluate those products for us and puts those marks there; we are going to find out the same in this article.
BUREAU OF INDIAN STANDARDS (BIS)
During the initial period of the independence of India, the major problem facing the country was to build up a stable industrial infrastructure. It was then that the need for standardization of common consumer products was recognized by the countries engineers and thus they came up with the Indian Standards Institution (ISI). Initially, the role of the institution was to standardize consumer products and grant license to the manufacturers producing and labeling goods complying with the set standards.
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) was established on 01st April 1987 under the BIS Act, 2016. BIS has a wider range of responsibilities, powers, and scope compared to the former ISI. The government felt the need to establish an environment of consciousness and quality concern among the consumers in the economy by implementing these national standards. The BIS is the National
Standard Body of India.
ROLE OF BUREAU OF INDIAN STANDARDS (BIS)
The primary function of BIS is to set national standards for consumer products and to check on their compliance with the manufacturers. BIS takes care of the activities like standardization of the products manufactured, marking of the goods, quality certifications, and other incidental matters.
The BIS provides traceability as well as tangibility benefits to the Indian economy. It ensures the reliability of the consumers and gaining more confidence from them by providing quality products with minimized health hazards and promoting import substitutes and exports. The BIS controls the proliferation of varieties of goods through its methods of standardization, certification, and testing.
The government made it mandatory for the products and companies to be BIS-certified. The companies need to put a “BIS-certified” label and mark on their specified products.
BUREAU OF INDIAN STANDARDS (BIS) PRODUCT CERTIFICATION SCHEME
As per the rules and regulations of the BIS Act, 2016 the BIS is authorized to take conformity actions for product assessment, certification of the product, and assessment of production processes and other services. In the product certification scheme of BIS, it grants licenses to the manufacturers' products to use the standard compliance mark or grants a certificate of conformity of compliance with the set standards. The BIS mark present on the products is known as a Standard Mark. The standard mark is an assurance of conformity to the standards and specifications set by the BIS Act,2016.
BUREAU OF INDIAN STANDARDS (BIS) COMPULSORY REGISTRATION SCHEME
The product certification scheme provides third-party conformity and assurance about the quality, standard, reliability, and safety of the product to the consumers. The manufacturers can self-certify their products after establishing conformity to the standards and the BIS also keeps close surveillance on the quality control of the products through surprise inspections.The product certification scheme is however voluntary in nature but considering the interest, safety, infrastructural requirements and mass consumption of the public the Central Government made it mandatory.
BUREAU OF INDIAN STANDARDS (BIS) REGISTRATION CONSULTANCY
One of the many functions of BIS is to provide BIS consultancy services to the companies. It provides companies with strategies and policies for higher compliance with the standards. There are various agents of BIS providing consultancy and registration services all across India. They research the market and company history thoroughly to provide them with the best plans for efficient compliance with the standards.
BIS CERTIFICATION SERVICES FOR STEEL PLATES
Recently the government of India has notified certain steel and steel products to be added under mandatory BIS certification list these products include mild steel wire rods, cold reduced low carbon, and hot-rolled carbon sheets and strips, and many more. This enables the government to bring a wide variety of products and services under the ambit of standardization.
The main aim of a BIS license is to provide a third-party guarantee regarding the quality, safety, reliability of the products and services to the customers. According to the rules and regulations of BIS, any manufacturer or seller, of the steel and steel products listed under the order of quality control, makes any sale or distribution transaction, without complying with the requirements and norms of standardization provided under such order and do not bear a BIS mark, shall be prohibited.
All domestic and industrial steel and steel products are listed under the quality control order. The seller/ manufacturer has to obtain a license by making an application to the appropriate authority of BIS and maintain and use the BIS mark thereafter. The BIS certification has become mandatory for all the products imported in India.
This will not only protect the interest of the manufacturers against low-quality products but also ensure consumer interest by eliminating deceptive practices and maintaining standards. The introduction of these steel and steel products under BIS certification might cause impacts on steel industry such as rise in prices of steel, curtailing steel imports, slowing down steel production, etc.
However, this shall be very beneficial at the consumer-end by providing them quality assurance through the elimination of sub-standard products from the market.
