India’s ministry of steel has directed that all steel imports that are not in compliance with specifications laid down by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) will need prior approval from the ministry, a government official said on Monday, October 30.
The official said that any trader, actual user or manufacturing intermediary intending to import steel not compliant with BIS standards would need to make prior application with the ministry of steel and decisions will be made on a ‘case-to-case’ basis before inward shipment will be permitted.
Following the arrival of the steel consignment, government officials will conduct inspections to verify that the specification of the material is as per the declaration made by the importer in its initial application, only after which it will be cleared for subsequent sale in the domestic market.
The official said that the restriction will act as a check to the inflow of sub-standard steel into the domestic market, and also as a non-tariff barrier to rising imports.