It’s time to embark on Mission “One Nation One Standard” and make India the leader in setting global benchmarks in setting standards, highlighted the Food and Consumer Affairs Minister.

One Nation One Standard

• The purpose of setting standards and enforcing them is not to bring back “inspection raj” but to ensure that quality products are made available to consumers.
• The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the only national body that frames standards, has come out with more than 20,000 standards for various products and services so far.
• Besides this, there are about 50-odd agencies that have framed about 400 standards in the country.
• There are multiple standards in the country for a single product/service. The new mission is to converge such standards with the BIS.

Main objectives:

• No one should feel the need to go abroad to get the quality certification.
• Lab testing in India should be of world standards. Modern equipment and the latest technologies would be used there.

Why such a move?

• Having uniform national standards will help in making it mandatory for more products.
• The government proposes to set Indian standards in line with the global benchmarks, just like other countries enforce their standards on imported products.
• The Centre, through this move, wants foreign goods coming into India to comply with Indian standards.

Try this PYQ:

Consider the following statements:

1. The Standard Mark of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is mandatory for automotive tyres and tubes.
2. AGMARK is a quality Certification Mark issued by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Back2Basics: Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)

• BIS is the National Standards Body of India working under the aegis of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution.
• It is established by the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986 which came into effect on 23 December 1986.
• The organisation was formerly the Indian Standards Institution (ISI), set up under the Resolution of the Department of Industries and Supplies in September 1946.
• The ISI was registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
• A new Bureau of Indian standard (BIS) Act 2016 has been brought into force with effect from 12 October 2017.
• The Act establishes the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) as the National Standards Body of India.

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