Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Act Comes into Force

New Delhi OCT 14: The New Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Act has come into Affect from Oct 12.The parliament has passed the BIS bill in March 2016 to replace the BIS Act of 1986.

"The new law will further help ease of doing business in the country," Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said.

The main Provisions of the Act are

# The Act enables the government can bring under compulsory certification regime any goods and service which it considers necessary in the public interest or for the protection of human, animal or plant health, safety of the environment, or prevention of unfair trade practices or national security.

# Hallmarking of the precious metal articles mandatory.

# The central government can appoint any authority/agency, in addition to the BIS, to verify the conformity of products and services to a standard and issue certificate of conformity.

# Repair or recall, including product liability of the products bearing Standard Mark but not conforming to the relevant Indian Standard.

# The current Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) will be known as National Standards Body of India.