Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is a national standards body for the harmonious development of the activities of standardisation, conformity assessment and quality assurance of goods, articles, processes, systems and services.
To provide safe and reliable goods and minimizing health hazards for consumers, among others, BIS has been providing tangible and traceable benefits to the national economy. The bureau runs conformity assessment schemes through which it grants licenses/ certificate of conformity to manufacturers, encompassing different industrial disciplines right from agriculture to textiles. And although the BIS standards are voluntary in nature, the Government of India has imposed mandatory certification on certain products for which many quality control order are being issued. The products which are covered under quality control order shall conform to the Indian Standard which makes mandatory to have BIS licence/compulsory registration to import a product in India. So BIS licence is mandatory for the products which are covered under quality control order issued by Government of India.
Foreign Manufacturers Certification Scheme is one such arrangement that the Bureau of Indian Standards has been running since 2000 to grant a licence to the manufacturer located outside India.
What is FMCS?
FMCS is a scheme under which the Bureau of Indian Standards grants a license to a foreign manufacturer for the use of the BIS “Standard mark” on a product which shall conform to the relevant Indian Standard(s). The license is granted by Foreign Manufacturers Certification Department (FMCD) at BIS headquarters in New Delhi. The detailed procedure for grant of licence is mentioned on BIS website under Foreign Manufacturer Section.
The Foreign Manufacturers Certification Scheme is applicable to all products, with Electronics and IT Goods notified as exceptions under the Registration Scheme of BIS.
Who is it for?
Manufacturers with factories located outside India can apply for BIS standard mark to FMCS. However, to be eligible for this certification, they should: –
Application process
For grant of licence, the manufacturer has to submit a complete application against relevant Indian Standard to FMCS. The checklist of the application form is to be attached with the application form. Few important steps are to be followed during submission of application are mentioned below:-
Grant of Licence
The timeline for grant of licence in FMCS is of maximum 180 days. The licence initially granted for at least one year and up to two years. The licence is granted to the manufacturer to mark their product with a standard mark in their premises only.
Renewal of License
Licenses under FMCS are initially granted for a minimum of one year or a maximum of two years; hence a renewal of the license will be required after the said period. The renewal of license is considered for a period of one to five years based on whether the advance minimum marking fee and the annual license fee have been paid and operation of license is satisfactory.
In case the application for renewal is submitted after the due date of validity, the licensee will have to pay a late fee as applicable.
For renewal of license, licensee has to submit renewal application along with the month-wise production details including consignee addresses authenticated by Chartered Accountant.
As of date, FMCS is having 936 operative licenses from 51 various countries against 104 different Indian standards. The various product including Cement, Steel products, Tyre and Tubes, Electrical Equipment are covered under licenses granted by FMCS.
Written By: Sachin Choudhary, Scientist ‘B’, FMCD
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Comments
Title : 10 thoughts on “Do you require BIS license to import a product?”
Dear Sir,
Thanks very much for this informative article. I wish to import eReaders from China.
Can you please let me know whether BIS certification is needed for Importing eReaders? (HSN code of the product is 85437099)
Thank you
Dear sir,
Kindly inform whether this certificate is required for
Importing Stainless Steel strips/ sheets in coil form.
If yes then is there any standard format of it who is the authority in their country who is recognised by BIS. Kindly also advise whether supplier’s own MTC ( test certificate) can be accepted as certificate for customs clearance.
We now wait for your replyasap.
Thanking you
with best regsrds- k k save
Hello,
Stainless steel strips/sheets conforming to IS 6911 or IS 15997 or IS 5522 are to be imported with BIS certification mark (ISI Mark) as the product is under mandatory certification scheme of BIS as per Steel and Steel Products (Quality control) order, 2018 issued by Ministry of Steel, Government of India. For further details, please contact our office on email ID: cmd2@bis.gov.in.
Thank you
You really make it appear so easy together with your presentation but I in finding this topic
to be really one thing which I think I would never understand.
It sort of feels too complex and extremely broad
for me. I am taking a look ahead for your subsequent submit, I will
try to get the hold of it!
Where can I find the list of products that require BIS certification if imported into India?
Dear Sir,
The information about products under compulsory BIS certification and details thereof are available on our website https://www.bis.gov.in/ under the following path:
Conformity Assessment >> Product Certification >> Products under Compulsory Certification
Dear Mr Sachin,
Thanks for your article, I have one Query, As a company based in Singapore, we intend to export LED outdoor Lights to India, We are sourcing the product from China. The Company declares that the product has BIS certification. What is the procedure for us now to carry out to ascertain this and complete the deal? Please clarify, Your reply would be highly appreciated.
Thanking You
Naveen
Hello,
It is not clear whether the product is LED Street light/ floodlight or any other LED luminaire notified for Compulsory Registration with BIS. You may check the firm’s BIS certificate and verify its details on BIS website mentioning the firm’s registration number.
https://www.crsbis.in/BIS/Lims_registration.do?hmode=getLimsData
Thank You
Nice blog
Dear Sir,
Please let me know if I need to have BIS for import of Lithium Ion Ferro Phosphate Storage Batteries for E Rickshaw application.