A timely course correction: The rollback of QCOs must be sustained

A long-overdue course correction begins as the government moves to roll back QCOs that hurt small firms, consumers, and exports - but momentum must continue to prevent regulatory overreach

In the past few years, quality-control orders (QCOs) have become the instrument of choice for bureaucrats in the Union government for different objectives. Hundreds of these have been announced, many without consultation, for products from toys to speciality steels. Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said earlier this year that he would like to see 2,500 such orders covering multiple goods. But QCOs have also caused chaos in supply chains, attracted the negative attention of India’s trade partners, and raised compliance costs for small businesses. They run against the broader philosophy of regulation for the government, which has emphasised the ease