Indian quality control order delayed until 2023

A ‘quality control order’ which would affect Indian shoemakers has been deferred by a year following a request made by representatives of the country's footwear manufacturing industry to the national government.

This is reportedly the third time implementation of the quality order for footwear has been put on hold. Originally intended to be introduced in October 2020, the legislation was postponed due to the pandemic until July 1st 2021. A second deferment was then announced, which moved the enforcement date to July 1st 2022.

The Delhi-based Confederation of All India Traders had raised the expected impact of the orders with Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal. The industry body had argued that many small footwear manufacturers and retailers around India would find it difficult to comply with the quality standards in the absence of funding. It has been estimated that 85 per cent of the country’s population wears low-cost shoes and slippers and 90 per cent of these products are made by low- and middle-income workers in their homes or in cottage industries.

In a recent notification, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade announced that quality control orders for footwear – including PPE – made from a number of materials such as leather, rubber and polymerics, will now come into effect from July 1st of next year. According to these orders, all goods or articles specified will have to comply with the corresponding Indian standards and bear the ‘standard mark’ in accordance with the Bureau of Indian Standards (Conformity Assessment) Regulations 2018. However, these requirements will not apply to goods intended for export.

Publishing Data

This article was originally published on page 2 of the June 2022 issue of SATRA Bulletin.

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