Quality control norms for 24 footwear products from July 1

All the stakeholders have been given sufficient time to comply with the QCOs, Tiwari said at a press conference.

The government had begun the process of issuing QCOs for the footwear industry three years ago. On October 7, 2020, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) notified 3 QCOs, bringing 27 footwear products under compulsory certification. Of these, QCOs for 3 footwear products under the personal protective equipment came into force since January 1, 2022, while QCOs for two other categories—leather and other materials footwears and all-rubber and polymeric material footwear—will come into effect from July 1, 2023. Among the personal protective equipment categories, three products are—safety footwear, protective footwear, and occupational footwear.

Sharing the details of the changes in standards for sports footwear, a BIS official said that sports footwear standards have been revised. As per the revision there will be two categories of standards for sports footwear. First, sports footwear part-1 general purpose, and the second, sports footwear part-2 performance sports footwear. The standards for the sports footwear part-2 performance sports footwear category will be implemented from January 1, 2024.

Of the 24 products, standards have been revised for 5 standards recently, the official said, adding that the manufacturers making these products as per these revised specifications will be given an additional time of 6 months to comply with the QCOs with effect from January 1, 2024.

The BIS certification scheme is voluntary in nature but the Centre can make the compliance of Indian Standards compulsory for various products.