India introduces quality control for steel products
10. December 2020The Indian Ministry of Steel has established a technical commission consisting of representatives of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and experts from the industry. The committee is to examine whether applications for the import of steel products are subject to the current quality controls and standards. Following the Committee’s investigation and recommendation, the Department will send appropriate requests to applicants for clarification of their imported goods. Since July 27, 2020, the Ministry has received 472 applications for the import of steel products.
The Indian steel industry is also affected by the global economic crisis due to the Covid 19 pandemic. Domestic consumption of steel fell to a six-year record low of 35.86 million tons, while production of steel products decreased by 25 percent to 38.6 million tons. As a result, the Indian government has recently restricted imports of steel products, especially from China, to support the domestic economy. Penalty tariffs were also introduced to prevent the import of cheap steel. Imports from the USA, China, South Korea, the EU, South Africa, Taiwan and Thailand are affected.
In October, the Indian government also imposed temporary countervailing duties on imports of stainless steel from Indonesia. This excludes blade steel and coin blanks. The regulation is to apply for four months initially. The government’s decision was made due to a complaint by Indian steel producers accusing Indonesia to subsidize steel exports to India. According to the conditions of the World Trade Organization (WTO), member states may impose such duties in this case. Both India and Indonesia are members of the WTO. Indonesia is India’s second largest trading partner within the ASEAN countries. However, the trade balance on the side of Indonesia is positive. A member of the aforementioned technical commission for the quality control of steel products is the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). The BIS is the national Indian certification body under the umbrella of the Indian Ministry of Consumer Protection, Food & Public Distribution. In India, steel products must be certified voluntarily or mandatory according to BIS guidelines.
Since 2012, the BIS has been gradually expanding the certification catalog and continuously adding additional goods. BIS certification mandatory for many electronic products for industrial and consumer uses. Factory inspections are also required for some products.
If you are interested in understanding what requirements are needed for your product to be imported into India, please do not hesitate to contact us by email or phone at +49-69-271 37 69 261. There is no cost or obligation for us to check for you. If a certification need is discovered we can provide a quotation to make sure that all your certification needs are covered.
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For more information about BIS certification, please refer to our free brochure “BIS Certification Made Easy“.
