Quality Control Orders: Safety or Protectionism?

How India expanded mandatory quality control orders to hundreds of products from toys to chemicals, their effect on imports, and complaints from Indian manufacturers about input costs.

Quality Control Orders (QCOs) make BIS certification mandatory for specific products.

Expansion

From around 2019, the number of QCOs grew rapidly, covering hundreds of products, including:

Toys (2021).
Footwear (2024).
Steel products.
Chemicals and polymers.
Electronics and appliances.

Stated goals

Consumer safety.
Blocking substandard imports, especially from China.

Effects

Imports of covered products often fell.
Domestic producers gained market share.

Criticism

Foreign producers must get BIS certification, requiring inspections that can take months.
Indian manufacturers who used imported inputs, like polyester or chemicals, faced shortages and higher costs.
Some saw QCOs as non-tariff barriers (protectionism).

Rollback

In 2025, following reviews, the government withdrew or deferred QCOs on several raw materials and intermediate goods, such as some chemicals and polymers, to ease input costs.

Economic trade-off

Standards protect consumers, but applied to inputs they can hurt downstream industries and exports.

The yarn shortage

After a QCO on imported polyester fibre, a garment maker can't get certified supplies quickly. Input costs rise, and it loses an export order.

Thinking every quality order is purely about safety

Some also act as trade barriers, raising input costs.

Key takeaways

QCOs make BIS certification mandatory for specific products.
They grew to cover hundreds of products from around 2019.
They cut imports but raised input costs for some manufacturers.
Several input QCOs were withdrawn or deferred in 2025.