Indian Standards Institution

(ISI)
World Standards Day is celebrated the world over to raise awareness and focus on the need for
global standardization and its role in meeting the needs of consumers, trade and industry. It is
celebrated on October 14 every year to mark the foundation of the International Organization for
Standardization, popularly known as the ISO.
It was on this day in 1946 that 25 countries met in London and decided to create an international
organization with the objective of facilitating international coordination and unification of
industrial standards. The ISO started functioning in 1947 with the Indian Standards Institution as
one of the founder members. Over the years, the membership of ISO has gone up with 130
member countries representing developed and developing economies.

The Bureau of Indian Standards

In the twilight years of the British rule in India, when the country was faced with the gigantic
task of laying the industrial infrastructure, it was the institution of Engineers (India), which
prepared the first draft of the constitution of an Institution which could take up the task of
formulation of National Standards. This led to the Department of Industries and Supplies issuing
a memorandum on September 3, 1946 formally announcing the setting up of an organisation
called the Indian Standards Institution. It was on January 6, 1947 that the ISI came into being
and in June 1947 Dr. Lal C. Verman took over as its first Director. Symbolic of the role, the
Indian Standards Institution (I.S.I.) was to play the first standard drawn was for the National Flag
of India.
Considerable progress has since been made by the Indian Standards Institution with its
multifarious activities like standards formulation, certification, testing of products international
cooperation and standards promotion. However, a need was felt to provide recognition and status
to the organisation to enable it to discharge its functions effectively. Thus the Government
enacted the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986 which led to the establishment of the Bureau
of Indian Standards as a statutory body on April 1, 1987.
Standardization is intrinsic to life and we see its many manifestations in nature and life around
us. Standardization encourages improvement in the quality of life and makes major contributions
to safety, public health and environment protection.
Standardization is based on the experiences of daily life itself. They are results of a cooperative
effort, and revised from time to time to keep in step with technological progress. They provide us
with a criteria for judgement, a measurement of quality and a certain guarantee of compatibility
and interchangeability.
In the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), similar to standards bodies the world over, standards
are formulated through technical committees which have representatives from the manufacturers,
technical experts and users. The standards are documents of consensus which are finalized after
taking the views of all those who may have an interest in it.
BIS plays the key role of holding the secretariat for the Technical Committees and collating and
analysing the data and other information which may be required for formulating the standards.
ISI Standard Mark
With the objective of satisfying the consumer in terms of product quality, the BIS has
undertaken various quality certification activities. The domestic consumer is familiar with the ISI
mark on a product which is an assurance that the product conforms to the requirements as laid
down in the specification. Conformity to the standard is ensured through regular surveillance of
the manufacturing process, surprise inspections and testing of samples drawn from the factory as
well as from the market. Fraudulent and unauthorized use of the ISI mark is a violation of the
law punishable under the BIS Act.

Quality Management System

There is a world-wide movement for installing Quality Management Systems in accordance with
the IS/ISO 9000 series. In India also this has become a prime requisite for manufacturers and
service sector units which wish to make an impact in the domestic and global markets. The
concept of Quality Management Systems aims at quality control mechanism at every stage of a
manufacturing or a service system and not just the quality of the end product as is the case with
product certification. With the growing concern for environment-friendly industrial activity, the
ISO 14,000 series of standards were developed. After adopting these standards as national
standards the BIS has also launched the Environment Management System Certification under
which units may demonstrate their compliance with the ISO 14000 standards. The Hazard
Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) Certification which again has acquired international
recognition for certifying the safety of food manufacturing process has also been undertaken by
the BIS. The Bureau of Indian Standards has also formulated IS 15000 : 1998 which is
equivalent to the internationally accepted Codex standards.

Product Testing
BIS has established a chain of laboratories at different centres in the country for testing the
conformity of certified products and also samples offered by applicants for grant of ISI mark. It
also offers specialized services of calibration of test equipment and instruments and procurement
of standard reference materials. They also undertake research and development for evolving
speedy and effective test methods.
As a founder member of International Organization for Standardization (ISO), BIS continues to
actively participate in international standardization. As a member of the ISO Council it
participates in its policy-making bodies like the Committee on Developing Country matters
(DEVCO), Committee on Conformity Assessment (CASCO), Committee on Information
(INFCO) and Committee on Consumer Policy (COPOLCO). Besides, it also holds secretarial
responsibilities of various Technical Committees and Subcommittees and maintains participation
status and observer status on most of the Technical Committees.
BIS is also actively involved in International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and has
participation status or observer on all the important Technical Committees.
 Bureau of Indian Standards
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is the national standards body of India working under
the aegis of Ministry of Consumer Affairs,Food & Public Distribution, Government of India. The
organization was erstwhile known as the Indian Standards Institution which was founded in
the year 1947.

As a corporate body, it has 25 members drawn from national and state politics, industry,
scientific and research institutions, and consumer organizations. Its headquarters are in New
Delhi, with regional offices in Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai, Chandigarh and Delhi, and 19 branch
offices. It also works as WTO-TBT enquiry point for India.[1]

As on 31 March 2008, 18424 Standards formulated by BIS, are in force. These cover important
segments of economy, which help the industry in upgrading the quality of their goods and
services.

Product Certification
BIS Product Certification Scheme is basically voluntary in nature. Some of the items brought
under mandatory certification on consideration of health and safety are milk powder, packaged
drinking water, LPG cylinders, oil pressure stoves, clinical thermometers etc. All foreign
manufacturers of products who intend to export to India are required to obtain a BIS product
certification licence. Towards this, BIS launched its Product Certification Scheme for overseas
manufacturers in the year 1999. Under the provisions of this scheme, foreign manufacturers can
seek certification from BIS for marking their product(s) with BIS Standard Mark.

Laboratories
To support the activities of product certification, BIS has a chain of 8 laboratories. These
laboratories have established testing facilities for products of chemical, food, electrical and
mechanical disciplines. Approximately, 25000 samples are being tested in the BIS laboratories
every year. In certain cases where it is economically not feasible to develop test facilities in BIS
laboratories and also for other reasons like overloading of samples, equipment being out of order,
the services of outside approved laboratories are also being availed. Except for the two labs, all
the other labs are NABL (National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration
Laboratiories) accredited
 Hallmarking
Hallmarking of Gold Jewellery started in April 2000 on voluntary basis under BIS Act 1986. It is
aimed at to protect the consumer's interest and providing third party assurance to consumers on
the purity of gold. The list of hallmarked jewelers with BIS licence and BIS recognised
hallmarking centres has been hosted on BIS website.

The BIS Precious Metals Sectional Committee (MTD 10) has formulated and published the
following Indian Standards on Gold and Gold Alloys:

 IS 1417 - Grades of gold and gold alloys, Jewellery/Artefacts-Fineness and Marking

 IS 1418 - Assaying of Gold in Gold Bullion, Gold alloys and Gold Jewellery/ Artefacts -
Cupellation (Fire Assay Method)
 IS 2790 - Guidelines for manufacture of 23,22,21,18,14 and 9 carat gold alloys
 IS 3095 - Gold Solders for use in manufacture of Jewellery
THANK YOU