The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is a regulatory body for quality and safety checks in India. The registration under BIS is a mandatory requirement for entities like manufacturers, importers, distributors, or brand owners to register their products under BIS. It ensures the quality, safety, and reliability of the product. The significance of quality checks is important for the steel industry. Steel products have to obtain certification to ensure safety and quality checks. The Ministry of Steel, through the Steel and Steel Products (Quality Control) Order, 2024, took a step on June 16, 2024, and has mandated that the input materials used in the manufacturing of steel must comply with Indian standards. The input materials and the final steel products manufactured are accountable to the Steel Monitoring System (SIMS). 

What is the New BIS Certification for steel? 

Indian BIS is the national standards body for safety, quality, and reliability compliance. It is responsible for ensuring compliance across various sectors, including the steel industry. Steel is used in automotive, construction, infrastructure, and manufacturing industries, and therefore, it requires quality controls. The new rule introduced by BIS has extended the scope of Quality Control Orders (QCOs) to include raw materials along with the final steel products for certification. Moreover, the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) has warned about the high compliance costs for businesses and disruptions in supply chains. The new mandate has affected entities such as distributors, importers, manufacturers, and end-users of steel products. Let's delve deeper into the new directive for steel raw materials.

Understanding the scope of the New BIS Mandate:

The Steel and Steel Products (Quality Control) Order, 2024, also known as the Quality Control Order (QCO), covers 151 Indian Standards related to steel and steel products with sections 72 and 63 of the ITC (HS) codes. The QCO guarantees the quality of all the BIS Certificate for steel products. The QCO stipulates: 

  1. Slabs, billets, sheets, and coils are mandatory under the new mandate and must comply with regulatory standards. 
  2. Any non-compliant shipment that was dispatched months ago or was even ordered is now unfit for use in QCO-bound production. 
  3. The new directive will apply to all the imports carrying invoices dated on or after June 16, 2025. 

Benefits of New BIS Directive: 

The new mandate ensures quality and safety checks at every step as it necessitates the BIS certification of raw materials, which is the initial step in the production process. The key benefits of the new mandate are as follows: 

  1. High-quality product: The Steel products, from raw materials to final products, are BIS-certified. Hence, it makes a high-quality product. 
  2. Gain consumers' trust: Trusted products are always in demand, and the new mandate has ensured quality at every step. Hence, it builds trust among consumers for a reliable product. 
  3. Ensures safety: BIS-certified products undergo rigorous testing before certification. The new mandate includes certification of raw materials that make a product safer. 
  4. International Reputation: If a product complies with Indian standards, it indicates that it is registered under BIS, which is a national standard body for quality and safety. Hence, the New QCO mandate builds global recognition and reputation. 

Why does the New BIS Directive face criticism? 

The New QCO Update has impacted the large and small businesses. Let's discuss the criticism in the following ways. 

  1. Those who manufacture steel, import it, or are involved in raw materials are affected by it.
  2. In addition, small businesses are at risk because they find the BIS Certification process difficult. 
  3. The supply chain is also affected as the new directive requires increased compliance, resulting in delays. 
  4. Shipments that were already compliant are now unfit and are leading to delays and causing problems. 
  5. The high compliance cost for raw materials makes the BIS Certification process unaffordable for small-scale businesses and end-users. 
  6. The New Update has certain standard guidelines for entering the Indian market, hence it restricts the imports. 
  7. Imported raw materials that were kept in stock are now useless as they do not meet the specific imported steel grade. 
  8. Industrial sector businesses claim that national large-scale steel producers have benefited from the New QCO Order. 

Conclusion: 

The Indian market is consumer-centric, and Consumers trust quality and safety assured certified products. Similarly, entities dealing in steel materials or end users trust BIS-registered products. The New BIS Mandate improves the quality of steel materials and maintains a reputation in the International steel market. Despite seeing all the benefits of the new mandate, let's not ignore the consequences it has brought up. Quality assurance should not come at the cost of reducing survival chances in the competitive market, as MSMEs, exporters, and steel traders are in a state of panic. A sudden shift in the BIS steel norms has faced criticism. 

Hence, a strong, regulated game plan is needed immediately. It is mandatory to understand the new BIS steel norms in all aspects. For more details regarding the Indian BIS, the licensing process, how to obtain certification, and the new QCO mandate for steel, contact the best BIS consultants, ERCS Pvt Ltd. The firm is a global compliance partner with a team of professionals who will make the process seamless.