NEW DELHI, June 4: Acting on the request of Footwear Industry, the Government has deferred the quality control order mandating BIS (Bureau of Indian Standard) compliance for footwears made and sold in India by one more year.
The quality control order would now kick in from July 1, 2023.
Delhi-based Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) had made multiple representations to Government functionaries to defer the plan arguing that it would be difficult for the tiny and micro footwear makers to comply with the higher quality standard in absence of cash crunch.
The traders’ lobby stated that 85% of the population of the country consumes cheaper footwear and about 90% production of footwear is done largely by small and poor people or cobbler in home-made industry or cottage industry and maximum usage is by low and medium income group.
“Hence it is impossible to apply BIS standards on larger part of the footwear manufacturing in India,” CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said.
He said that analysing the structure of manufacturing of footwear in India where 85% manufacturers are very small scale in nature, the BIS standards prescribed by the Government will be impossible to comply with.
As per the order issued by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), the new quality norms would remain in abeyance for footwears such as industrial and protective rubber knee and ankle boots, PVC sandals, rubber hawai chappal and unlined moulded rubber boots among others.
The order does not apply to goods or articles meant for export.
(UNI)
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