Quality control orders for drums, copper products to boost local production

India on Monday issued mandatory quality norms for copper products, drums and tin containers to curb their sub-standard imports and boost domestic manufacturing.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) issued two separate notifications - Drums and Tins (Quality Control) Order, 2023; and Copper Products (Quality Control) Order, 2023. These orders will come into force with effect from six months from the date of publication of this notification. It also said that the timelines for micro and small enterprises to implement the QCOs have been extended by an additional six months and three months, respectively.

Goods under these two orders cannot be produced, sold, traded, imported and stocked unless they bear the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) mark.


“In order to safeguard the domestic small/micro industries, ensure smooth implementation of the QCO and Ease of Doing Business, relaxations have been granted to small/micro industries as regards to timelines, additional three months have been given to small industries and an additional six months to micro industries,” the department said.

The nine copper products covered under this order include wire rods for electrical applications; solid drawn copper and copper tubes for condensers and heat exchangers; and wrought copper tubes for refrigeration and air-conditioning purposes.

Drums are widely used across industries including waste management, healthcare and food services.
So, it is imperative that Drums and tins need to be of good quality in order to protect any type of leakages, adulteration and fire damage, it said.

DPIIT in consultation with BIS and stakeholders has been identifying key products for notifying QCO.

“This has led to the initiation of development of more than 60 new QCOs covering 318 product standards,” it said.

Violation of the provision of the BIS Act can attract imprisonment of up to two years or a fine of at least Rs 2 lakh for the first offence.

In case of second and subsequent offences, the fine will increase to a minimum of ₹5 lakh and extend up to 10 times of the value of goods or articles.