Quality Control Orders expanded from 14 to 156 in a decade: Minister

New Delhi, July 5 (IANS) The number of Quality Control Orders (QCOs) in the country has grown from just 14 covering 106 products in 2014 to 156 QCOs covering 672 products over the last decade, said Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.

Addressing the 75th anniversary celebration of SGS in India in the national capital, the minister said the government is working to introduce more horizontal and product-specific standards to ensure that all goods and services made in India meet global benchmarks.

Goyal also reaffirmed the Prime Minister’s vision of “Zero Defect, Zero Effect”, saying that with zero defect, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is reflecting on higher quality standards, high quality products, goods and services from India and with zero effect he is focusing on sustainability.

The Minister outlined three key focus areas for industry and stakeholders in India’s quality journey:

“Industry needs to identify areas where testing is required — BIS has ample funds. Larger industry body should support small MSMEs — upgrading their quality to global standards. Increase stakeholder consultations and participation of industry, including our innovators, academia, startups, so that India can be a pioneer in setting global standards,” said Goyal.

Goyal emphasised the government’s commitment to strengthening India’s quality infrastructure and fostering global trust in Indian products and services.

He stated that India is steadily moving towards a unified quality regime for both domestic and international markets.

“We gradually get into the mindset of having two quality standards — one a locally accepted standard and another an export quality standard. India today is focused and rapidly moving towards a nation which will have only one standard and that will be a high quality standard. A standard that will work in India and the same standard will be exported to the rest of the world,” he said.

Referring to India’s long dependence on foreign standards, Goyal noted that over decades India has been dependent on foreign standards for quality but now, India's space and progress will be decided by our own Indian standards.

He further added that Indian agencies like BIS, FSSAI, and various line ministries are working in coordination to harmonise Indian standards with global ones.

On the testing and certification front, the Minister said, “I would like to invite any and every industry in the country which requires more modern testing facilities, which requires testing facilities comparable to the best in the world, and I would like the industries to demand that India should have those facilities and BIS is willing to fund 100% of the amount required to bring those testing facilities in our country.”

He emphasised the importance of building trust through testing, stating, “Every test result should carry with it the weight of trust of 140 crore Indians. They trust a certificate of quality.”

Highlighting the government’s partnership with EFTA countries including Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland, Goyal said the recently finalised Free Trade Agreement will soon come into effect.

“We have come together to expand trade, investments, work together for the shared prosperity of the people. These MRAs will stand on the strength of high quality testing, high quality inspection, high quality compliance and I am sure SGS will continue to serve this partnership,” he noted.

—IANS

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