Soon, ISI mark a must for steel products

 

From March 18,2016 Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) will make ISI certification mandatory for more steel products. With this directive, those steel products meant for the construction and automobile sectors will need ISI marking to sell them in the city.

Already, 20 different steel products are under the ambit of ‘mandatory BIS certification’. Now, 15 more steel products, including raw material used in construction industry, and automobile components, would be brought under compulsory ISI mark.

According to BIS, mild steel bars, hot-rolled steel strip used for welded pipes and bright bars used in engine components of automobiles would now have to be certified by the BIS before sales. At present, there are 151 licensees in Tamil Nadu who comply with standards prescribed to use ISI mark on steel products.

Officials of the BIS, southern region, said steel products are being brought under the quality control order in a phased manner since 2008. “We will test samples and also inspect the manufacturing units to check if they conform to the quality standards of BIS. Products that do not meet the standards will be disposed of as scrap and production can be started only after a license,” said an official.