Last month, India’s cabinet approved a bill launching the Bureau of Indian Standards to develop the country’s standards for export products. The national standards are intended to prevent current private standards, such as those imposed on food by some supermarket chains, which may be higher than global standards, from being applied. The commerce ministry will guide development of the standards, with support from the United Nations Forum on Sustainability Standards (UNFSS). The platform of standards will be a nationally run, public-private initiative, according to UNFSS India observer Arpit Bhutani. The standards will aid India in developing higher standards and, correspondingly, products to meet them, in line with many other countries. The bill, which is anticipated to be considered in this month’s Parliamentary session, would lead the way for mandatory product certification. It would benefit consumers by providing access to products certified by the Indian Standards Institution and preventing import of products below standard.

Source: livemint.com