An Awareness Session on Understanding Impact of Quality Control Orders (QCOs) on MMF Textile Products was organised by Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) and The Southern India Mills Association (SIMA) in association with Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). The session was to make the industry understand the nuances of forthcoming QCOs applicable to MMF Textile Products.
T Rajkumar, Chairman, CITI stated that the Government has mandated BIS to develop new standards for textile products so that Indian products have greater acceptability and recognition in international markets. Though the QCOs do not apply to the goods that are exported, domestic standards will surely have a positive bearing on the positioning of our products internationally too.
He pointed out that QCOs will help to protect the users of these products from sub-standard imports thus safeguarding the interests of the consumers related to cost, quality, reliability, health, environment, etc.
At present, over 1,400 standards are available for the textile industry, most of which are voluntary in nature and are used for ensuring premium quality products. However, since 2022, QCOs have been brought in several textile products, which are mandatory in nature and hence require greater understanding and compliance by the entire industry.
J.K. Gupta, Head – Textiles, BIS made a detailed presentation on the ‘Technical Requirements of the forthcoming QCOs for MMF Textile Products’. He stated that the domestic manufacturers have been granted 66 licenses for the said QCOs.
He highlighted that BIS has already granted licenses to the four domestic manufacturers of VSF. However, under normal practice, an applicant can obtain the license in a period of six months. He further stated that the Indian Standards are the best in the world and at par with any other international standards.
On the query of not having availability of testing facilities for MSMEs, he said that BIS has outsourced many of its testing facilities in major clusters in India. J K Gupta stated that the idea behind developing standards for textile products and QCOs is to boost domestic manufacturing of quality products and strengthen the ecosystem within India.
