Before you buy anything, what comes to your mind is can you trust the product or the producer company. Is there any criterion by which one can estimate the level of quality of the product to be bought? If there is some criterion of estimation then, who decides these criteria? How can the user trust your product and the brand? That is where BIS Certificate comes into the picture. In India, BIS Registration is the mark of trust for the users.
What is the BIS Certification?
BIS Certificate stands for Bureau of India Standards. BIS Registration ensures quality, genuineness, and product safety to the customer. The Government of India while considering the consumer’s health and safety has declared the BIS Registration mandatory for a few products.
It is essential to ensure the customer that the products they are using in their regular lifestyle are of exceptional quality and are safe to use. Acknowledging this truth, a foreign agency in Geneva established an organization named ISO (Global organization of standardization) that ensures that products provided to the customers are of outstanding quality and appreciation after use.
India is also a member of this Global Organization of Standardization with the name of BIS (Bureau of Indian standard)[1]. The BIS Certified products are devoted to the standards and one may rely on those products. The BIS reviews the product standards once in five years to observe the quality of the products the company is offering.
Basic Standards for BIS Certificate:
Below mentioned are the basic standards for obtaining a BIS Certificate –
Indian standard Specification- The Product shall meet the criteria of Indian Standard Specification.
- Registration only to the manufacturer of finished products-The Registration is issued to the Distributor/Retailer.
- Separate Applications for each product and factory– In this case, if multiple factories are owned by the manufacturer and each factory is located at a distinct geographical address, the manufacturer must file a separate application for each product and factory location.
- Fully-equipped Laboratory– The Laboratory should be fully-equipped with product testing equipment. Also, it must have qualified quality control personnel to test the product following the applicable ISS.
- Meet the ISS Norms and SIT-All testing facilities, and the machinery should be located on the premises as per Indian Standards norms and respective Scheme for Inspection and Testing.
- The complete process of manufacturing in the same factory- The entire process of manufacturing products should be completed in the same factory.
Complying with the technical guidelines is available for all the products.Also, the BIS – ISI Certificate, helps the companies and their products in ensuring the following purposes.
- Gaining consumer trust
- Guaranteeing the consumers health
- Ensuring that the product is safe and free from harm.
Is it mandatory to obtain a BIS-ISI Registration in India?
BIS-ISI Certification is mandatory for more than 150 products. In general, it is voluntary to get BIS Registration. However, the BIS made it compulsory to obtain the certificate on certain products as it helps in assuring the safety of the consumers from substitutes and fake products.
Types of BIS-ISI Registration
Under the BIS – ISI Registration, there are two types of Registrations-
Mandatory Registration– The Mandatory BIS Registration includes factory inspection
Voluntary BIS Certificate -This Registration is required to gain the trust of the consumers.
Timeline for grant of BIS Certificate –
The average time for BIS Registration under Voluntary license is generally one month.
However, in the case of Mandatory Registration-The average time taken is four months from the date of receiving the complete application and its recording.
However, it may vary because of various reasons like-
- Delay in response to queries raised,
- Delay in organizing inspections;
- Delay in sample deposition, and
- Delay in fee dues, etc
Validity of BIS Certificate –
BIS Certificate under Scheme-I may be granted initially up to two years which is valid only for the varieties mentioned in the license.
However, an extension can be granted by applying with the requisite fee and documents under the existing license. The license may be renewed up to five years from the last date of validity of the BIS license.
What is the Product Registration Scheme of BIS?
Under the Product Registration Scheme of BIS, Technical guidelines are available for all the products which are termed as ‘Product Manuals’. Product manuals include-
- Sampling guidelines,
- List of test equipment,
- Scheme of Inspection and Testing (SIT),
- Description of scope etc.
What is Surveillance of BIS Certificate?
Once the BIS Certificate is granted to the manufacturer, BIS carries out a surprise visit to the factory premises for surveillance and inspections. The surveillance is carried out by the Registration officers of BIS or by personnel of the Agents appointed by BIS. During such surprise visits, it is examined that the manufacturer continues to maintain the manufacturing equipment, process and quality control, testing capabilities, and consistency of the product to the specified standard(s).
Further, the Testing of the product samples in the factory is also witnessed during the inspection, and Samples are drawn from the factory for verifying conformity to relevant ISS through third-party laboratory testing.
Conclusion-
BIS Certificate protects public health and enhances confidence among the customers. It is the responsibility of the BIS Holder to offer co-operation to the Registration officers of BIS and shall also maintain the relevant records and information for future purposes. In case of non-compliance, the certificate issued gets canceled by the BIS.
Read our article:Know all Documents required for BIS Registration: Complete Outlook
