BUREAU OF INDIAN STANDARDS

Bureau of Indian standards (BIS) came into existence, through an act of parliament dated 26 November 1986, on 1 April 1987, with a broadened scope and more powers taking over the staff, assets, liabilities and functions of erstwhile Indian Standards Institution (ISI). Through this change over, the government envisaged building a climate for quality culture and consciousness and greater participation of consumers in formulation and implementation of national standards.

The Bureau is a Body Corporate consisting of 25 members representing both Central and State governments, Members of Parliament, industry, scientific and research institutions, consumer organizations and professional bodies with Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution as its President and with Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution as its Vice-President.

The Bureau has its Headquarters in New Delhi. It has a network of 05 regional offices, 34 branch offices, 04 inspection offices and 08 laboratories which act as effective link between BIS, government, industry and consumers.

The key activities of BIS are as follows:

Standards Formulation

BIS is formulating need-based Indian standards in line with national priorities in a time-bound manner. It also harmonizes national standards with international standards in order to facilitate adoption of international standards by all segments of industry and business.

Product Certification

BIS operates a Product Certification Scheme under the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986 and the Rules and Regulations framed there-under. Presence of Standard Mark (popularly known as ISI mark) on a product indicates its conformity to the relevant Indian Standard. Before granting license to any manufacturer, BIS ensures availability of the required infrastructure and capability of the manufacturer to produce and test the product conforming to the relevant Indian Standard on a continuous basis. Samples drawn from the production line as well as from market are tested in BIS laboratories/recognized independent laboratories to ensure conformance of the product to the relevant Indian Standard. The Certification Scheme is basically voluntary in nature except for 90 standards which have been made mandatory by the Government on consideration of health and safety of the consumer.

Certification of Imported Products

BIS is operating two schemes from 1999 for certification of imported goods - one for foreign manufacturers and another for Indian importers. Under these Schemes, foreign manufacturers can seek certification from BIS for marking their product with BIS Standard Mark and Indian importers can seek BIS certification for applying BIS Standard Mark on the product being imported into the country.

Hallmarking of Jewellery

Hallmarking of Gold Jewellery was started by BIS in April 2000 to provide third party assurance to consumers on the purity of gold jewellery or its fineness. Under the Scheme a jeweller has to obtain license from BIS to get his jewellery hallmarked.Assaying and Hallmarking (A&H) Centres where the purity of jewellery articles is assessed are recognized by BIS after ensuring that the Centres have required infrastructure for assaying and hallmarking of gold and silver jewellery articles.

Management System Certification

BIS also provides the following Certification services as per the corresponding standards for Management Systems:

• a. Quality Management System (QMS) Certification Scheme as per IS/ISO 9001:2008;
• b. Environmental Management System (EMS) Certification Scheme as per IS/ISO 14001:2004;
• c. Hazards Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) Scheme as per IS 15000:1998;
• d. Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OHSMS) Certification Scheme as per IS 18001:2007;
• e. Food Safety Management System (FSMS) Certification Scheme as per IS/ISO 22000:2005;
• f. Service Quality Management System (SQMS) Certification Scheme as per IS 15700:2005.

Laboratory Services

The purpose of establishing BIS laboratories is to support the activities of BIS product certification marks scheme wherein the samples generated from the licensees/applicants and also from the open market are tested in these BIS laboratories. The BIS laboratories have facilities for testing of products in the field of chemical, microbiological, electrical and mechanical discipline. In-house calibration facilities in the field of electrical discipline are operational at Central Laboratory, Sahibabad.

International Activities

The Bureau actively participates in various activities of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and International Electro Technical Commission (IEC). It also continued its activities in the field of regional and bilateral cooperation with other countries.

Awareness Programmes

Consumer Awareness Programmes: For promoting the concept of standardization, certification and quality consciousness among consumers, awareness programmes are organized on a regular basis through various Regional/ Branch Offices, sometimes in association with Consumer Organizations.

Hallmarking Awareness Programmes: To promote hallmarking in the country for effective consumer protection in gold jewellery trade, awareness programmes for jewellers/consumers are organized by BIS through its various Regional and Branch offices across the country.

Training Services

Bureau of Indian Standards has set up National Institute of Training for Standardization (NITS) in the year 1995 to meet the training needs of industry, government and service sector. The institute is operating from its campus at NOIDA since May 2003 and through its training centres at Bangalore, Jaipur, Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata. NITS organises In-house programmes, Open Programmes and Lead Auditors Courses in different Management Systems.

NITS also organizes International Training Programmes for participants from developing countries.

Publicity

To spread awareness of the activities of Bureau of Indian Standards among common consumer and create a consciousness for quality, BIS undertakes various publicity activities through different media.

official site : http://www.bis.org.in/bisIntro.htm