India has reiterated that imported steel into the country must undergo re-testing at Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) accredited laboratories in order to ensure quality. The country rejected plea by the European Union to omit re-testing on products that have already undergone stringent testing procedures at foreign accredited laboratories. The country informed the World Trade Organization (WTO) that re-testing for quality assurance is vital to ensure public safety.
In its submission to the WTO Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade, India argued that quality of steel is of utmost importance, as it involves public health, safety and security. Hence conforming to rigorous quality standards proposed by BIS is essential and cannot be bypassed. Licenses could be granted for only those products that are found to conform to relevant Indian standard at BIS or BIS-recognized laboratories. The test procedures administered by the BIS is unique and is different from those followed by overseas laboratories, it said.
The Indian steel Ministry had brought additional 16 steel products under BIS quality control mechanism in June this year. The EU argued that the requirement of re-testing has led to creation of non-tariff barrier on steel trade between the countries. India refuted the above charges and stated that not only imported steel, but also domestically produced steel are required to undergo above-mentioned quality check.
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