Parliament passes Bureau of Indian Standards Bill, 2015

March 9, 2016

Parliament has passed Bureau of Indian Standards Bill, 2015 to establish Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). The Bill replaces the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986.
It was first passed in Lok Sabha during winter session in December 2015 and later in Rajya Sabha in February 2016. Now the bill will go Presidential assent as per provisions of Article 111 of the Constitution.
Key facts

The bill establishes BIS as a national standard body for development of standardization and assessment and quality assurance of goods, articles, services, processes and systems.
It broaden the ambit of BIS and empower Union Government to make it mandatory to carry the standard mark for certain notified goods, articles, processes, etc.
The Bill extends the ambit of BIS to include services, products and processes while ensuring production of world class goods.
It make BIS a national standards body for introduce mandatory hallmarking of precious metals, prevent misuse of standard marks.

At present, BIS is not formally recognised as a national standards body of the country, though it is representing India in various international bodies.