INTRODUCTION

Anything a person buys from food to cars, clothes to electronics, branded to unnamed products there is always a question that wanders in one’s mind that how to know if he/she can trust the product or the company with the name product comes from. Are there any parameters by which one can estimate the luxury, quality, or grade of the product about to be bought, and if there is some kind of parameters then who decides these parameters? How is your customer going to know that they can trust your brand and its products? This is where BIS Certification comes into play. BIS Certification in India is considered to be the mark of trust for the buyers.

Let's first look at what is BIS Certification?

BIS Certification stands for Bureau of India Standards, under the BIS Act, 1986, the government of India established this national Indian certification body under the Indian Ministry of Consumer Protection, Food and Public Distribution. The organization is the largest Indian certification body and having an increasingly important role in managing, grading, and standardizing the quality standards of several consumer products. In this role, BIS as an agency is responsible for a number of key certifications in the Indian market. Moreover, it gives the BIS certification to the companies after confirming the standards of their products. Additionally, this process conducted by Bureau of India Standards certification helps the companies to put up a reputed brand image in the industry. From all these years, the BIS has become the second name of quality and genuineness. Whereas the products with BIS Certification in India also can use ISI symbols.

BIS - ISI Certification

Under the product certification scheme – I, BIS grants license to use the standard mark or grants certificate of conformity as per conformity assessment schemes given in BIS (Conformity Assessment) Regulations, 2018. BIS license is only given to the factory (manufacturer of finished products), not to the Distributor/Retailer. If you have multiple factories located at a different address geographically, you need to apply for the BIS license respectively from those factories separately. The factory must have Complete Testing facilities as per ISS norms and respective SIT. The Competent testing personnel should be employed in the lab to test the product(s) as per applicable Indian Standard. There should also have all manufacturing machinery/facilities at their factory premises and all arrangements/equipment in their factory premises for testing of the product(s) as per applicable ISS (Indian Standard Specifications). From receiving the raw materials to final packing, all procedures should be done in the same factory in case of any out Sourcing is required, permission from Bureau may be requested. The technical guidelines are available for all the products covered under the Product Certification Scheme as ‘Product Manuals’. Product manuals include sampling guidelines, list of test equipment, Scheme of Inspection and Testing (SIT), description of scope etc. The applicant can refer to this Product Manuals for BIS Certification to prepare for the audit and application submission so that chances of rejection can be avoided.

With the BIS – ISI Certificate, the companies and their products simply unlock the following motives.

• Attaining consumer trust
• Assuring consumers health
• Consumers get aware that the product is safe and out of physical harm.

Do you know that BIS-ISI Certification is mandatory in India for more than 150 products? Even though it is voluntary to get BIS, the BIS made it compulsory to attain the certificate on certain products to make sure the safety of the consumers from counterfeits and fake merchandise. Under the BIS – ISI Certification, there are various requirements which are broadly classified into two types: The mandatory BIS Certification which includes factory inspection There is voluntary BIS Certification just to achieve trust in the hearts of consumers.

Down are the products which are mandatory for BIS Certification :

Normal Procedure

Steps that take place under this procedure are the following:

1. First, the applying party has to prepare for the BIS Certificate requirements, especially setting in-house labs and preparing products as per Indian Standards with other required documents.
2. Afterward, the BIS official will conduct an inspection process of products along with the factory/industry.
3. Once the inspection gets completed, the sealed samples of the goods are further sent for testing at the BIS approved laboratories.
4. If the product passes all the test parameters, then only it gets approved from the BIS, and the authority issues the BIS certificate for Indian Manufacturers in 35-40 days from the submission of the application.

Simplified Procedure

This procedure of BIS Certification is much faster than compared to the regular procedure.

1. Initially, the applying party submits the report of the samples already tested and approved by BIS as per Indian Standard.
2. Afterward, the applicant has to submit an application and BIS Certification Cost along with other required sets of documents.
3. During scrutiny of application documents, the BIS official will conduct an inspection process of products along with the factory/industry.
4. Once the inspection gets completed, the sealed samples of the goods are further sent for testing at the BIS approved laboratories.
5. Then, if verified and approved according to the commended standards, the certificate is granted by the BIS within 60 to 65 days of application.

Documents Requirement

Documentations requirement is very specific and generic for the BIS Certification application which includes:

1. Laboratory Test Reports as per Product Standard
2. Factory Registration Documents
3. Manufacturing process flow chart
4. In-house Testing Facilities
5. Details of Authorised Signatory and other related documents.

Conclusion

At last, it is compulsory for the manufacturers or importers of products to take BIS – ISI Certification if their product is covered in the scope of the BIS Conformity Assessment Scheme. In case of violation of conditions of the license, the license may be cancelled by the Bureau as per provision of Regulation 11 of BIS (Conformity Assessment) Regulations, 2018.

We at Aleph INDIA, being a single-window operator for all product regulatory compliance, have been serving the industry since 2013. With a deeper knowledge and vast experience, we are able to assist the importers or manufacturers in complying with all requirements so that they can easily import or sell the product in Indian Market and can make more profits.