Footwear quality standards: July 1 deadline stays, MSMEs included

The government Wednesday decided not to extend the deadline for industry to comply with the mandatory quality standards for footwear and included micro, small and medium enterprises in the ambit of the Quality Control Order (QCO). MSMEs were earlier exempt from QCO.

The QCO would come into force from July 1 this year. "We have decided that the QCOs will be implemented from July 1. The order will come into force from July 1. It was decided not to change that. No extension will be given and everybody has agreed for that," commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said after holding a meeting with the industry. However, the government gave six more months till January 1, 2024, to small industries with an annual turnover of ₹50 crore and investment of ₹10 crore to comply, while micro units with an annual turnover less than ₹5 crore will have to follow these norms from July 1, 2024. Earlier, the small units were out of the ambit of these orders.

The announcement assumes significance as the industry and retailers had sought a one-year extension in the compliance date beyond July 1.


Goyal said these orders would help in increasing production of quality footwear, exports and establishing Indian brands in the global markets. For some footwear not covered under any QCO, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and industry would work on those in the next one to two months.

India issued three mandatory QCOs for the leather and footwear sector on October 27, 2020, of which the one on protective footwear was implemented from January 2022 while the remaining would come into force from July 1. Manufacturers have to modify their processes, establish testing laboratories and obtain BIS licences.