What is BIS Certification for Import?

Every country has its own standards for manufacturing and selling goods. Similarly, in India, all imported and manufactured products are required to meet Indian standards as specified by BIS.
BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) certification for imports is a crucial quality and safety assurance mechanism enforced by the Indian government. It ensures that products brought into India from other countries adhere to the specified Indian standards and regulations. This certification is mandatory for various imported goods, including electronics, machinery, chemicals, and more. It involves a rigorous testing and verification process conducted by accredited labs to verify product compliance. Obtaining BIS certification is essential for importers as it guarantees that their products are safe, reliable, and meet Indian market requirements, fostering consumer trust and facilitating smoother entry into the Indian market. BIS Certificate for Import in India is required to ensure the quality of goods and use the standard mark.

Before moving forward, let's take a closer look at what is BIS?

What is BIS?

BIS is an acronym for Bureau of Indian Standards. BIS is a national standard-setting body responsible for developing standardization, marking and quality certification of goods.

Bureau of Indian standards run various certification programs to issue BIS licenses to Indian and foreign manufacturers to use the standard mark on the product. These programmes ensure product quality, safety and reliability. The BIS certification scheme ensures that the public receives high-quality, reliable, safe, and risk-free products.

Let's take a look at the reasons Why BIS certificate is required for Import in India?

What is the importance of a BIS certificate for the Import of goods?

Any product being imported into India must have a BIS certificate for Import for the following reasons:

• To ensure that the product is safe, reliable and of good quality
• Ensure that the product complies with applicable Indian standards.
• Gain a competitive edge over competitors
• To ensure that the public gets high-quality, reliable, safe, and risk- free products.
• To sell the product in the Indian market.
• Provide evidence that the product has been tested and certified.
• Ensure the product quality and use the standard mark on the product.
• BIS certification is required if the product is on the mandatory certification list.

Now, since you know why a BIS is required for import in India, let's go over the different types of certifications an importer will require.

What are the types of BIS Certificates for Importers?

Importers import various products to sell and distribute in the Indian market that a foreign manufacturer manufactures. As per Indian Standard, the imported product must be BIS certified and must comply the required Quality Standards. A BIS Import certificate is required by the manufacturer to use the standard mark (ISI Mark) on products and sell them in the Indian market. The importer shall have to ensure that their foreign manufacturer must get BIS certification under various certification schemes of BIS to sell products in the Indian market

There are two types of BIS certification for importers depending on the product type.

1. The foreign manufacturer certification scheme (BIS FMCS)
2. Compulsory registration scheme (BIS registration for electronics and IT products)

To obtain BIS certification for Import in India under the BIS FMCS scheme or BIS Registration for Import under the CRS scheme, all foreign manufacturers need to appoint an Authorized Indian Representative (AIR). AIR will apply for the BIS certificate on behalf of a foreign manufacturer. AIR will be responsible for compliance with the provisions of the Indian BIS act, Rules, Regulations, and Terms & Conditions given in the BIS Licence guidelines.

Let's first understand the foreign manufacturer certification scheme of BIS for the foreign manufacturer.

Foreign Manufacturer Certification Scheme for Import of goods in India

Bureau of Indian standards run a foreign manufacturer certification scheme to grant a BIS license to the foreign manufacturer use the standard mark (ISI Mark) on their product. It applies to all products except electronics and IT goods. As the product is exported to India, the foreign manufacturer must ensure that it meets the requirements of Indian Standards rather than the standards of their country of origin to sell it in the Indian market. The foreign manufacturer must obtain BIS certification under the FMCS scheme if the exported product is other than electronics and IT goods.

Let's understand how to get a BIS import certificate in India under the FMCS scheme of BIS.

What is E-Waste/E-Waste Management?

How to get BIS certificate for Import any product except electronics and IT goods?

The process of BIS certification for Import in India is as follows:

1. Documentation: The applicant must prepare all the relevant documents before submitting the application.
2. Application Submission:The application form with relevant documents will be submitted after documentation.
3. Scrutiny of Application: BIS officials will scrutinize the submitted application.
4. Audit of manufacturing premises: BIS will nominate an auditor to audit manufacturing premises after scrutiny. During the inspection of manufacturing premises, a sample will be drawn for testing in BIS approved laboratory.
5. Sample testing: Sample testing will be done in BIS approved laboratory,
6. Grant of BIS Licence: If the product complies with the specified standard, BIS will grant a BIS licence (FMCS certificate) to the manufacturer.

Compulsory Registration Scheme?

A compulsory registration scheme is also known as BIS registration for electronics and IT goods. BIS runs it for marking and quality certification of electronics and IT products. As per the CRS order, no one is allowed to manufacture, sell or distribute goods in the Indian market without BIS registration. All products must meet specified Indian standards and bear the standard mark with the unique registration number.

A BIS registration certificate is required before releasing any electronics and IT goods in the Indian market. If you are a manufacturer or importer of electronics and IT goods, you need to get BIS registration for your product. To get BIS registration for importing electronics and IT goods, you must ensure that your product meets applicable Indian standards.

BIS issue BIS registration certificate for electronics and IT goods manufacturers to use the standard mark with a unique registration number.

If you want to export your electronics and IT goods in the Indian market, you shall have to obtain a BIS registration certificate under the CRS scheme of BIS. BIS CRS certificate will be issued based on self-declaration of conformity of goods and articles as per Indian standards.

Let's understand how to get BIS certification for importers in India.

BIS Registration for Chemicals | Certification Process

How to get BIS certification for Import of electronics and IT goods?

The process of BIS registration for the Import of electronics goods are as follows:

1. Application submission: Applicants need to submit online applications through the BIS portal.
2. Generation of test requests: A test request will be generated for product testing.
3. Testing of product: The product will be tested in BIS approved laboratory.
4. Submission of application with test report: After testing completion, an online application with all relevant documents and test reports will be submitted to BIS.
5. Scrutiny of Application: After submission of the application with the test Report, BIS officials will scrutinize the application.
6. Grant of BIS Certificate: If the test report and documents are as per specified standards, then BIS will grant a CRS certificate to the product manufacturer.

How to import goods without a BIS certificate?

Anyone can import product samples without BIS certification only for testing purposes. You have to assure customs that the goods you import are used to be tested, researched and developed. You can import the sample only once for the same model, and you shall have to follow the custom clearance procedure.

BIS Registration isn't necessary for you if you're importing products for personal purposes. According to the Department of Electronics & Information Technology (Deity), There are no restrictions on the products brought in by the end-user. If you have any problem with BIS approval, you can reach us.

Conclusion:

We are confident that your doubts regarding obtaining a BIS certificate for Import in India is clarified. As you know, a BIS certificate is required to import goods in India. However, obtaining BIS certification is not as simple as it appears because it requires cooperation with officials and custom clearance of samples, as well as meeting BIS requirements. Therefore, it is advised to seek professional assistance.

Aleph India is a leading BIS consultant that assists manufacturers and importers in obtaining BIS certification for their products. We assist importers in obtaining BIS certification and completing custom clearance procedures for their products so that product to be imported and sold in the Indian market. Our BIS experts will assist you at every step of the process to ensure your business runs smoothly.