India’s ministry of steel is working on a mechanism for intervention and scrutiny of shipments of steel products that are not covered under quality standards laid down by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), government sources said on Thursday, October 10.
The government sources said there has been a rise in imports of certain auto-grade and capital good grades of steel that are not covered under BIS standards and that the ministry is evolving a mechanism through which these imports could be scrutinized and restricted.
The ministry’s initiative follows a meeting held on October 4, during which discussions were held on products that were being imported which were not covered by Indian standards.
The ministry has communicated to the department of revenue which monitors customs administration seeking a reduction in the number of ‘no objection certifications’ issued for imports of such non-standardized steel products, the sources said.
It was pointed out that such no-objection certificates were usually issued for products not covered by standards such as those for cold rolled grain oriented (CRGO) steel used in transformers and electrical devices, several auto-grade steel and certain steel alloys used in capital goods manufacturing.
Under the mandatory quality control order (QCO), 151 steel products are covered which cannot be manufactured, stored, traded or imported without quality certification issued by BIS.
The ministry has established a technical committee to review applications for clarification on whether non-BIS-certified products fall under the Quality Control Order (QCO). Importers lacking a BIS license are required to seek clarification for each imported steel consignment via the QCO portal.