Product Certification/licensing

Product certification mark is a fruitful exercise for any prudent business, that can yield several long-term benefits. 

  • 1. Certification marks guarantee that products conform to a certain standard and hence generate goodwill for the business.
  • 2. It assures the buyers, whether national or international, about the quality of products. 
  • 3. It helps distinguish goods by creating an environment of competence in quality. Informed consumers would always prefer a certified product over a non-certified one.
  • 4. It helps the government maintain control over the industry by mandating legal and quality requirements and conducting routine checks to ensure compliance. 
  • 5. The products or services using counterfeit marks or producing without taking regulatory mark approvals can be taken action against.

    • BIS Mark – For Gold and Silver

    The Bureau of Indian Standards is a national body working under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs. It provides the BIS certification for gold and silver jewelry in India. It also provides certification for foreign players that intend to export gold or silver jewelry to India under its Foreign Manufacturers Certification Scheme, whereby foreign players can authorize an Indian agent to get certifications from BIS on their behalf.

    ISI Mark/ BIS Mark – for industrial,household and electronic products.

    The Bureau of Indian Standards administers the grant of ISI Mark. It is mandatory for some products such as many electrical appliances, LPG cylinders, electronics goods etc., and optional for many other categories of products. With more than 19,000 standards for products across 16 categories, the ISI Mark is the most comprehensive standard for quality industrial certification in India

    Agmark – For Agricultural Produce

    The term Agmark stands for “Agriculture Marks”, and is administered by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare. Under the Agriculture Produce (Grading and Marketing) Act of 1937, the Agmark covers quality guidelines for a wide variety of agriculture produce from cereals and pulses to fruits and vegetables. The best benefit of this certification is for exporters, who intend to ship agriculture produce of India to other countries.

    India Organic Mark – for Organic produce

    The India Organic Mark grants by the testing centers that have approval from the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority. This mark can be issued for agricultural products as well as processed products. These are made from organic raw material in India, without the use of pesticides, fertilizers, or any other artificial substances.

    Silk Mark – for pure silk textiles

    The Silk Mark is a voluntary certification that helps certify that the fabric is of pure natural silk. It assigns the Silk Mark Organisation of India, which is a society that certifies the quality of silk yarn used. Since Indian textiles have been a key component of export for many centuries, an assurance of the quality of silk helps in generating better international sales.

    Eco mark- For Environment-Friendly Products

    The BIS provides for the Ecomark label as a completely voluntary and optional scheme. It directs consumer awareness and steers choices towards products that have an environment-friendly process. India has also declared a goal to be free from single-use plastics by the year 2022. Thus, there is growing political, policy interest in promoting more environmental products. The Eco mark can seek for products using eco-friendly packaging. Additionally, products made from waste residues, or those reducing environmental impact is preferable.

    FPO – For Processed Fruit Products

    The FPO, an acronym for Fruit Products Order is issued by the Ministry of Food Processing. It is a mandatory mark for those companies that utilize fruit components in their processed product. Thus, a wide range of final goods such as fruit beverages, squashes, jams, ketchup, crushes, fruit candies, fruit extract, etc. The Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006 provides standards to ensure that fruit products do have a process in a safe environment.