Steel imports to India must now be registered
25. December 2019The import of steel and iron has been subject to a new control mechanism since 5 September 2019. The Indian government introduced the so-called “Steel Import Monitoring System (SIMS)”, which changes the existing free and unregulated import regulations to still free imports but with mandatory registration. Importers are now required to provide certain information for 284 product groups of iron and steel products in an online portal prior to import in order to obtain an automatically generated registration number.
Importers can enter the registration information into the system 60 days in advance, but no later than 15 days from the expected arrival of the goods in port. The validity of the registration number is 75 days. The only additional effort for the trader is the entry of the registration number and the expiry date in the import declaration. The aim of the new SIMS procedure is the prior collection of data on the import of relevant iron and steel products and to make them available to decision-makers in government and Indian domestic industry. It is hoped that this information will provide a better overview of the current market situation and enable reactions to new developments with possible measures.
India is the 15th steel-importing nation in the world. In 2018 the country imported 8.95 million tons of steel, mainly from South Korea, China and Japan. The value of imported goods amounted to 8.9 billion dollars, but this is only 1.7 percent of the total import of goods to India. The largest producers in India are Arcelor Mittal, Tata Steel and JSW Steel. According to a report by the World Steel Association, India replaced Japan as the world’s second largest steel producer in 2018. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is responsible for the standardization and quality control of iron and steel in India. Compliance with Indian standards or the labelling of products with the BIS certification mark is currently optional unless required by specific laws, rules and regulations. However, since 2016, the government has been eager to make the use of the BIS certification label mandatory in the public interest. We will be happy to advise you on any questions you may have about Indian certifications for your products.
If you need assistance with your BIS approval or have any questions, you can contact us any time. Call us directly: EU: +49-69-2713769261, UK:+44-2071931135, US: +1-773-654-2673 or send us an email.
For more information regarding the BIS certification, please read our free information booklet “BIS Certification – The Booklet“.
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