India to put restrictions over 370 Chinese goods

suman
suman
9:24 AM
INTRODUCTION

To check imports of sub-standard and
non-essential goods,The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) on Monday said it is framing mandatory quality standards for 371 items identified by the commerce ministry.Most of the items are imported from China.The list of 371 tariff lines includes several segments, ranging from steel, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and electrical machinery to furniture and toys.The concerned ministries are identifying the important products from the list given by the commerce ministry and approaching BIS for making the standards mandatory.

DEADLINE FOR IDENTIFICATION?

BIS Director General Pramod Kumar Tiwari told,“Standards for some products will be made by December and the rest by March 2021.“The cabinet secretary is also reviewing the matter closely.For some products, ministries have decided not to have standards because of insignificant import volumes,While for certain items, there are already standards in place, he added.

HOW BIS IS ENSURING QUALITY CHECK?

BIS is strengthening its surveillance system and has posted officers at major ports to work closely with the customs department.The officers will take the market samples of the imported products and test at the port itself.The organisation was formerly the Indian Standards Institution (ISI).A new Bureau of Indian standards (BIS) Act 2016 which was notified on 22 March 2016, has been brought into force with effect from 12 October 2017.The Act establishes the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) as the National Standards Body of India.So far, it has set 20,866 standards and mandatory standards for 358 products.To ensure quality products are imported and sold in India,BIS is making efforts to increase its surveillance visits at factories and markets to more than a lakh a year from the current 20,000 visits.

IMPACT OF RECENT MOVE

• It will hugely impact goods imported from China.
• New quality standards may keep a lot of Chinese products out of the Indian market.
• Lowers the outflow of dollars.
• Aatma Nirbhar Bharat.