No imports will be allowed without HSN code into the country said the Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Railways, Piyush Goyal in New Delhi today. He was speaking at the 6th National Standards Conclave on the subject of Standards for Trade Facilitation.

Commerce & Industry Minister further said that henceforth there must be zero tolerance for substandard products and services from industry and consumers. He further stated that Government will support industry in every way to establish standards for Indian goods and services to meet international requirements so that brand India is recognized in the world as a provider of quality products and services. Unless Indian business and industry make standards its calling card, India will not be able to reach the target of a USD 5 trillion economy, said Piyush Goyal. The Government is committed to establishing standards of Indian products and services to world class levels which will enable our exports to be accepted globally due to the quality of goods and services, added the Minister. He said Made in India should carry the commitment of 130 crore people towards quality, sincerity, customer satisfaction and not be second best.

Commerce and Industry Minister further said that it is an unfortunate reality for India that the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) entered into with other countries has not led to the growth of India’s trade and business because the poor quality of the products and services that get restricted with non-tariff barriers when exported. He further elaborated on this point with the number of Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) in countries like US (8000), Brazil (3879), China (2872) and India with only 439 TBTs. This illustrates the fact as to the manner in which India and rest of the world are looking at the concept of quality in products and services, said the Minister.

Commerce and Industry Minister further stated that the time has come to get out of the mind set of subsiding exports and adopt the mantra of zero defect zero effect in order to ensure that emerging India will be the destination for quality products and services. He said that the need of the hour is to get cracking towards a zero defect policy, that Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has articulated a number of times. The Minister said that the quality standards must be accepted as the reality of an emerging India, an India that wishes to be recognised as a country manufacturing quality products.

Commerce and Industry Minister informed that the new Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Act is relooking at all standards for goods and services in order to balance the interest of consumers with that of the industry which will enable the culture of quality to take root in the country and production or import of substandard products and services will not be tolerated any longer.

Commerce and Industry Minister urged BIS, FSSAI and other departments of the Government, that are mandated to set up and establish standards, to work in mission mode so that goods and services produced and imported in India meet international quality requirements. This will help India to engage with the world on equal and reciprocal terms.

Commerce and Industry Minister hoped that this will see a new era of quality production of goods and services in the country and quality will be the buzzword and the collaborative approach of Government, industry and consumer will help in setting up and upgrading standards to give the best products and services to the consumers and also ensure the protection of the environment.

The 6th National Standards Conclave is being held in Delhi on 15-16 January 2020 and is organized by Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Export Inspection Council of India (EIC), National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB) and the Centre for Research on International Trade.

No imports without HSN code: import clearance tied to standardized classification to enforce product quality compliance. No imports will be permitted without a valid HSN code, and the Government adopts a policy of zero tolerance for substandard products and services, committing to support industry to meet international quality standards. The new Bureau of Indian Standards Act and related institutional measures will recalibrate standards to balance consumer and industry interests, prevent production or import of substandard items, and urge standard-setting bodies to work in mission mode to upgrade and harmonize standards for global acceptance.