Paswan stresses on effective rollout of new BIS law

Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan today stressed on the effective implementation of the new Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) law, which will bring more services and products like jewellery under the mandatory standards regime.

Paswan reviewed the functioning of the Bureau of Indian Standards in the Parliamentary Consultative Committee meeting, which was attended by MPs, including Ram Prasad Sarmah, Ramesh Chander Kaushik and Balwinder Singh Bhunder, and senior officials of the ministry.

"The members of the committee discussed issues related to improvement in core activities of the BIS, such as Standards formulation, Certification, Hallmarking, Laboratory Testing, Consumer Affairs and International Cooperation," an official statement said.

Paswan laid emphasis on easy redressal mechanism of complaints, mandatory certification and enhancing consumer confidence through publicity.

The minister also stressed on effective implementation of the new BIS law, which Parliament had passed in March 2016 to replace the BIS Act of 1986.

In standards development, an official of the Consumer Affairs Ministry said BIS continues to address issues of technology changes and advancements, climate change, environment and energy conservation, conditions of health and safety and facilitation of trade.

In the area of conformity assessment, BIS is working towards making the processes simpler and faster, the official added.