Law Updates

On 28 April 2022, the Bureau of Indian Standard published an update regarding the Surveillance to be conducted on all stakeholders registered with BIS

• According to the updated guidelines of market surveillance (BIS), the cost of samples and the testing fee of the sample drawn for surveillance shall be paid by the licensee.
• The charges associated with surveillance shall be collected in advance (interest fee) from the licensee so that the implementation process of Surveillance can be more effective and hassle-free.
• The surveillance cost for the product will be retained by BIS and refunded only at the time of expiry/cancellation of the license. 
• Actual invoices will be raised to the licensee/Authorized Indian Representative upon completion of procurement, packaging/transportation, and submission of samples to BIS/BIS recognized labs, against which payment will be made by the manufacturer/Authorized Indian Representative to replenish the cost incurred by BIS along with applicable taxes.
• The cost of surveillance is subject to periodic adjustment by BIS. All licensees must comply with the revised surveillance charges if they are revised.
• BIS is authorized to draw the samples from the open market. But for the foreign Manufactures, their Indian representative has to submit all the details of their distribution channel(s) including warehouses, wholesalers, retailers, etc.
• Once the test reports are obtained and deemed to be non-conforming to the applicable Standard(s), BIS will notify the licensee/Authorized Indian Representative, and steps will be taken in accordance with the procedures for dealing with surveillance samples' non-conformity(s).
• Once the surveillance procedure is completed and the test report is passed, the Licensee/Authorized Indian Representative will be notified via the portal to collect the sample from the concerned laboratory where the sample was sent for testing.
• Only once the surveillance process is completed will the licensee/Authorized Indian Representative be given information about the testing lab. If the licensee/Authorized Indian Representative fails to collect the samples, laboratories can dispose of them according to the BIS's Laboratory Recognition Scheme (LRS) disposal policy.

In the recent update from BIS received on 17th March 2022, the amendment against the old regulation of Conformity Assessment 2018 was issued.

The Conformity Assessment Amendment Regulation 2022 includes the introduction of a new scheme that is BIS Scheme X. The main highlights of the issued amendment are

• The Bureau may grant a certificate of conformity instead of a licence in case the product is not desired to be manufactured on a continuous basis and in such a case, the manufacturer shall not be authorised to use the Standard Mark.
• The manufacturer may opt for a demonstration of conformity of the management system to the specified requirements given in standard  
• Each product or the package or both shall be marked with the Standard Mark in case of licence
• The licence shall be granted initially for not less than three years and up to six years

The GOI of India on 13th April released an official notification stating that the customs duty on the import of cotton will be removed till 30th September 2022.

This will not only help boost our manufacturing and exports but also bring down prices benefiting consumers.

[TO BE PUBLISHED IN GAZETTE OF INDIA, EXTRAORDINARY, PART ||, SECTION 3, SUB-SECTION (1)]
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF FINANCE
(DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE)

New Delhi, the 13th of April 2022

                 G.S.R.   (E). In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 25 of the customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962) and section 124 of the finance Act, 2021 (13 of 2021) (hereinafter referred to as the said section), the Central Government, on being satisfied that it is necessary in the public interest so to do, hereby exempts goods of the description specified in column (3) of the Table below and falling within the Chapter, heading, sub-heading or tariff item of the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, (51 of 1975) as specified in column (2) of the said Table, when imported into India, from so Much of the duty of customs leviable thereon under the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975),  as is in excess of the amount calculated at the standard rate specified in the corresponding entry in column (4) of the said Table and from so much of the Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cass (hereinafter referred to as AIDC) leviable thereon Under the said section, as is in excess of the amount calculated at the rate specified in column (5) of the said Table, namely:-

The registration department of BIS has issued an amendment notification to the existing original circular published on Oct 1st, 2020, with the subject ‘’Regarding Test Reports and documents submitted by the applicant for grant of registration/inclusion”.

The following are the details updated in the amendment notification which shall be taken care of before filing the application/inclusion in the BIS portal.

• Additional 16 Product categories notified under phase V, Ministry of Heavy Industry and Public Enterprise & Ministry of Chemical & Fertilizer have been updated in Annexure-2 list.
• For product category “FIXED GENERAL-PURPOSE LED LUMINAIRES”: A total of 10 models can be incorporated in a single test report as earlier 20 models were the limit.
• For the product category “AC OR DC SUPPLIED ELECTRONIC CONTRLOGEAR FOR LED MODULES” it has been again clarified that single registration will be required. However, test report/submission of a single type/product either AC supplied control gear or DC supplied control gear shall be accepted at a time.
• For the product category “UPS/Inverter” it has been again clarified that single registration will be required. However, test report/submission of a single type/product either UPS or Inverter shall be accepted at a time.
• For the product category “Power Inverters for use in photovoltaic power system” separate registration will be required for Photovoltaic power inverters and grid-connected Photovoltaic inverters. Earlier, the types of inverters were not mentioned.
• For the product category “Wireless Headphone & Earphone” it has been clarified again that separate registration will be required for wireless headphones and earphones.
• For the product category “Wireless Headphone & Earphone” it has been clarified again that separate registration will be required for wireless headphones and earphones both
• For phase V products, a single license will be required for each category.
• For low switchgear products, series guidelines are currently under preparation.
• For “Orthophosphoric acid” single registration will be required for all varieties of Orthophosphoric acids.

In the recent update from BIS regarding the revised fee structure for the hallmarking of Gold and Silver articles. 

The department levied off Rs. 4.5/- on gold articles and minimum marking fees for a consignment reduced by Rs. 20/-

Similarly, the department levied off Rs. 3.5/- on silver article and minimum marking fees for a consignment reduced by Rs. 15/-

The Bureau of Indian Standard (Hallmarking) Amendment Regulations.2022 will be applicable from the date of publication of the official gazette that is 8th March 2022.

Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) will introduce a new health star rating (HSR)

• Under this, the packaged food products in India will soon be labelled officially with this HSR
• The rating will be the first such in India
• The objective of the HSR format is to guide consumers to opt for healthy food.
• The HSR format will rank packaged food items based on salt, sugar and fat content and the rating will be printed on the front of the package
• Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad recommended HSR as the most preferred format by Indian consumers under a new policy on front of Packaging Labeling in India