The Centre on Tuesday said the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) have increased engagement with Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), with the intent of addressing their “concerns” about the implementation of Quality Control Orders (QCOs). The department said it is planning to conduct regional conferences to interact and engage with MSMEs.
“QCOs help in building capacity of domestic industry, particularly MSMEs, making them export-ready and facilitating their access to global markets. MSMEs often obtain BIS certification by choice, in order to be able to put the ISI mark on their products and assure the consumers about their product quality. It is important to note that out of about 50,753 product certifications issued by BIS, about 40,000 (80%) have been issued to MSMEs, and 24,625 licensees have obtained BIS certification voluntarily,” the DoCA said in a statement.
QCOs are legal orders issued by departments or ministries under the BIS Act, which make it mandatory for domestic and imported products to conform with certain quality standards.
Listing the steps taken by the department and the BIS, the statement said, “With the intent of addressing the concerns of MSMEs about the implementation of QCOs, the Department of Consu-mer Affairs and BIS have increased the engagement with MSMEs.”
The BIS has digitised the certification process and ensures time-bound grant of certification to domestic industry, including MSMEs within 30 days under the simplified procedure option covering more than 750 products, the statement said.
“Besides Open House through Jan Sunwai thrice a week, in which anyone can log in and ask queries, Branch Offices of BIS have put in place an initiative called Manak Manthan to have a closer engagement and provide handholding to MSMEs at the field level,” it said.
As per the statement, the certification system of the BIS is being further “streamlined”. “The Department of Consumer Affairs is planning to conduct regional conferences to interact and engage with MSMEs and address their concerns about certification,” the statement said.
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According to the statement, QCOs help in uplifting the quality ecosystem in the domestic market and boosting consumer confidence; presence of ISI mark indicates compliance with safety, quality, performance and environmental standards.
“QCOs also help in curbing sub-standard imports, particularly dumping of goods and give a boost to Atmanirbhar Bharat. QCOs reflect the nation’s commitment to strengthening the quality ecosystem,” it said.
The DoCA said special dispersions have been provided to MSMEs. “It has been made optional for MSMEs to set up in-house laboratories and they are permitted to share test facilities in clusters or utilize services of recognized/empaneled laboratories. Further, in order to ease compliance and incentivize quality adherence, MSMEs are offered concession in marking fee, 80% to micro scale units, 50% to small and 20% to medium scale units,” it said.
“These benefits to the MSMEs have reduced any additional compliance burden on them and have made it easier for them to obtain BIS certification and benefit from enhanced market credibility and consumer trust,” it said.
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The DoCA’s statement comes at a time when MSMEs have complained to the government that the QCOs are akin to non-tariff barriers, and have raised the cost of inputs for them. NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Suman Bery recently said QCOs are “malign interventions” that have restricted imports of certain inputs, forcing MSMEs to procure them at a higher cost.
