Quality control orders (QCOs) for 45 more products, ranging from electronics to industrial machinery, are being considered by the commerce and industry ministry as part of a stepped-up crackdown on sub-standard imports.
The move is part of the ministry’s first-phase effort to develop standards/technical regulations or establish QCOs for 371 important products. In FY19, far before the epidemic, imports of these products totalled $128 billion, accounting for a quarter of total overseas purchases.
“The department for the promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) has been assigned 71 of the 371 products specified by the commerce ministry for the issue of QCOs. The DPIIT has notified QCOs for 26 of these, while the remaining 45 are being considered, according to an official source.
However, in order to maintain the idea of free and fair trade and to ensure that domestic customers have access to high-quality products, both Indian manufacturers and international suppliers must adhere to the same set of standards.
Concerned about some countries’ covert protectionism, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal last week requested industry organisations to identify non-tariff impediments that Indian exporters face in other countries so that New Delhi may formulate suitable measures when possible. According to industry sources, the responses might include putting rigorous quality controls on imports.
According to the source, QCOs has been issued for a total of 100 products under the BIS Act thus far. Air conditioners, toys, footwear, pressure cookers, and microwaves are among them. Separately, the Indian Explosives Act has notified the QCOs for additional 15 goods, including gas cylinders, valves, and regulators. According to the source, the government’s QCOs are in line with the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade.
Aside from the QCOs, the government has already established standards and technical regulations for hundreds of products in a variety of industries, including consumer electronics, steel, heavy machinery, telecom goods, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, paper, rubber articles, glass, industrial machinery, some metal products, furniture, fertiliser, food, and textiles.
Though the action isn’t targeted at Beijing, it might damage the country’s second-largest economy, which is India’s main supplier of low-grade goods. Officials claim that the goal of enforcing standards is not only to reduce low-quality imports but also to increase the domestic production of high-quality goods.
Non-tariff barriers aren’t necessarily targeted at reducing imports (for instance, safety, quality and environmental standards are put in place by all countries for imported products). However, economists have long been concerned that they could be exploited for trade protectionism.
Because substandard items are frequently imported at considerably lower prices, they not only endanger consumer health and the environment but also have a negative impact on domestic manufacturing due to price competition. As a result, many nations, particularly those with large economies, subject their imports to stringent technical standards as well as sanitary and phytosanitary precautions.
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