The Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Commerce & Industry and Railways Shri Piyush Goyal attended the 74th foundation day celebration of Bureau of Indian Standards on 6th January 2021.
Bureau of Indian Standards(BIS) is Indian Government's National Standards Body responsible for the harmonization, and quality assurance of product standards in India including their manufacturing, testing and enforcement for the purpose of creating an environment conducive to trade.
A close look at the history of Indian Standardization and also a reflection on the present scenario of Indian Standardization is necessary for realizing the role, importance and need for the development of such a standard which will help to reduce the cost of production, bring uniformity in quality of goods having common characteristics by placing it on par with international standards, to protect consumer interest and to ensure fair trade practices.
It came into existence in 1986 under BIS Act, 1986 and was established as the National Standard Body of India under the BIS Act 2016. The organisation was formerly the Indian Standards Institution (ISI) set up under the Department of Industries and Supplies and was registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
The Nodal Ministry of BIS is Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution (MoCA) is a ministry of the Government of India, which is charged with handling consumer protection as well as the formulation and administration of consumer-friendly laws in India.
Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has been providing traceability and tangibility benefits to the national economy in a number of ways: providing safe reliable quality goods; minimizing health hazards to consumers; promoting exports and control over proliferation of varieties through standardization, certification and testing.
The Bureau is a Body Corporate consisting of 25 members representing both Central and State governments, Members of Parliament, industry, scientific and research institutions, consumer organizations and professional bodies with Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution as its President. The Bureau is assisted by the Minister of State in charge of Public Distribution from the Central Government, who has ex-officio status with right to speak but without a vote at the Bureau meetings.
BIS is a founder member of International Organisation for Standardization(ISO). It represents India in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and the World Standards Service Network (WSSN).