In the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) notification on May 20, the Centre has specified that import of second-hand products, whether or not refurbished, repaired or reconditioned, notified under the Electronics and Information Technology Goods (Requirement of Compulsory Registration) Order, 2021, is prohibited unless they are registered with BIS and comply with the labelling requirement published by BIS.
There are 63 products listed under this order which till now required compulsory BIS certificates only when the manufacturer was launching a new product.
Industry executives said a lot of refurbished and reconditioned products were getting sold in India in categories like laptops, smart speakers, printers, copiers, SLR digital cameras, multi-function devices, video game consoles, ear phones, headsets and even security cameras in certain offline stores as well as e-commerce platforms like Amazon. The manufacturer or sellers selling these will now have to take BIS approvals for them if they are imported.
The notification also laid down stricter enforcement rules and punishments where any such non-BIS compliant goods need to be re-exported by the importer or the custom department will deform the goods beyond use and dispose them as scrap.Panasonic India chairman Manish Sharma said Monday’s amendment to foreign trade policy reflects a positive move towards an enabling ecosystem driven by quality. The checks, ensuring restrictions on import of poor quality goods (both new and second hand), will nurture competitiveness, reinforcing the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat, is poised to enhance the supply chain and exports in electronics, he said.”The level playing field thus created will be a booster for the local manufacturers, equipping them for the global markets, and strengthening other sectors as the electronics industry which also supplies components to many other sectors,” said Sharma.The CEO of a leading consumer electronics company said the notification will prevent lower quality refurbished and reconditioned products from being sold in India which is happening now for several electronic products since these were mainly imported by certain sellers and distributors, and not always by the brands.
At the same time, the notification said for new LED modules used in lighting and luminaires, random samples will be tested in BIS laboratories on whether it meets certain safety parameters. Customs will only clear such samples which complies with the BIS safety norms and those that fail will be either sent back or destroyed at the cost of importer.
Industry executives said the Indian market has been flooded with poor quality LED modules that will now be restricted.