220 goods to get quality norms

New Delhi: About 220 products, including goods manufactured in India and imported from other countries, will have to comply with Quality Control Order (QCO) norms by May 2027 and majority of them, 218 products, would have to adhere to the regulations by the end of this year.

A large variety of products will come under the QCO purview, following a government notification, which has set 22 December as the deadline by which the government will bring all newly added products under the purview of QCO.

The products include safe deposit locker cabinets, reverse osmosis-based point of use water treatment system for drinking purposes, cotton bales, cabinet hinges, block boards, rice bran fatty acids, coconut fatty acids, digital television receiver for satellite broadcast transmission, etc. The government has set a target to bring over 2,000 products under the QCO in the coming years.

Queries sent to the commerce ministry and Bureau of Indian Standards remained unanswered till press time.

The QCO enforcement will start from 21 January and the products brought under it are hexagon head bolts, flush bolts, screws and nuts, fasteners, etc.

India is attempting to improve its position in the global manufacturing and supply chain through its focus on improving quality control, which will enable India to compete with global players in international markets.

The move will also help India to become more competitive, given that it is negotiating free trade agreements (FTA) with many countries that will lower tariffs on manufactured items and put a check on import of sub-standard goods in the country.

QCOs are issued by various ministries under the central government after stakeholder consultations, and after the date of commencement of the order, products must comply with the norms.

Manufacturers of stainless-steel tubes for the food and beverage industry, aluminium alloy tubes for irrigation purposes and aluminium composite panels, etc, will have to comply with QCO norms by 25 March this year, the notification said.

The Centre also issued mandatory quality norms for electrical accessories such as switch-socket-outlets and cable trunking to curb the import of sub-standard goods and boost domestic manufacturing of these goods.

The Electrical Accessories (Quality Control) Order, 2023 was issued by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) on 1 January this year. So far, 156 QCOs have been issued, for 672 products.