WHAT IS

MARK
ISI stands for the Indian Standards Institute
 By the mid-80s the country’s socio-economic climate had changed, triggering the need to
set up a stronger body, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), which then took over ISI.
But the term “ISI mark" continues….

Who can use the ISI mark?

 Any manufacturer who feels confident enough that his product has the ability to meet
the BIS standard can apply for product certification.

• The manufacturer provides

•  Submitting an
test reports to BIS and gets
application at the
the necessary documents
nearest BIS office. 
certified independently. 
Are there standards for all products? 
 There are 16 broad categories, including textiles, packaged water, food, automobile components, plastic products
and electronics, for which BIS has laid down standards.

 There are 19,000 standards formulated for products across the 16 categories.

o If anyone wants to add a new category to the current list, they can apply for it.

IS No. Product

IS 12330 Portland Cement

 
Residual current
IS 12640 (Part 1) house hold parts

IS 8144 Multi-Purpose dry

batteries

IS 15757 Follow–up formula –

complimentary foods

So, yes, there is a standard for almost every

product, 
How are standards formulated? 
A body called the Certification Advisory Committee, consisting of people from sectors such as
manufacturers, consumers, government agencies, industry associations, exists under BIS to advise on policies and
formulation of standards on different products.

 BIS invites NGOs or experts to participate in the committee of their interest.

 If you are interested, you can contact the nearest BIS branch office (addresses available on 
www.bis.org.in).

 If your experience is found suitable, you could be invited to be part of the technical committee.

I bet there’s chai and samosa.

What if standards slip once the certification is obtained?
  BIS has to check conformity to the standards by regular surveillance.

  Including surprise inspection and testing of samples, drawn both from the factory and the
market.
 With only 30,000 manufacturers across industries granted licences to use ISI mark, obviously there is
an ocean of manufacturers who are operating at sub-par standards. 

 For complaints about ISI products, it would mean manufacturers slip on standards once they get the
ISI certification and BIS is not vigilant enough in catching on.
• (Incidentally, if you have a complaint about an ISI mark product you can register it online on
their site.)

  Unscrupulous producers use the ISI mark and cheat consumers without actually applying for the
license through BIS. which conducts enforcement raids on such manufacturers, whose numbers
have been increasing every year.

 Meanwhile, if you want to check what are the Indian standards for the skimmed milk powder or
mineral water bottle you bought, you can purchase a copy of the bureau’s standards for all products
online.

 Sounds like a great way to spend the weekend.