BIS Certification for Cotton Bales as per IS 12171 Quality Control Order

•  07 Nov, 2023
•  ISI Certification (BIS)

Cotton is one of the most important cash crops and fibre crop grown in India, accounting for about 25% of total world cotton production. It plays an important role in sustaining the livelihoods of approximately 6 million cotton farmers and 400-50 million people involved in related activities such as cotton processing and trade.

The Indian textile industry consumes a wide variety of fibers and yarns, and the ratio of cotton to non-cotton fibers used in India is around 60:40 compared to 30:70 in the rest of the world.

In addition to providing basic necessities, apart from foodstuffs, cotton is also one of the major contributors to India's net foreign exchange, with exports in the form of intermediate products such as raw cotton, yarn and fabrics, and finished products such as clothing, cosmetics and textiles, knitwear. It is also known as "white gold" due to its economic importance in India.

APPROVAL OF QUALITY CONTROL ORDER FOR COTTON BALES AND INSTITUTIONS INVOLVED

Union minister for Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal in the month of February, 2023 approved the Quality Control Order (QCO) for mandatory certification of Cotton Bales under specification No. IS 12171: 2019-Cotton Bales.  The QCO has been vetted by Ministry of Law & Justice.

In the fifth interactive meeting with the Textile Advisory Group (TAG), reviewed the progress of initiatives for cotton value chain. Textiles Minister made a statement that that quality of Indian cotton fibre is beneficial for farmers and industry. He stressed that branding of Indian Cotton will add great value to the entire cotton value chain from farmers, ginners to cotton users, right up to the consumers.

In order to achieve the objective of establishing the image of Indian cotton globally and making India independent and local in the field of cotton, the Ministry of Textiles of India has launched the cotton brand "Kasturi Cotton India". On October 7, 2020, Indian Cotton received a mark and emblem representing whiteness, softness, purity, lusture and Indianness.

A MoU has been signed on 15 December 2022 between the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) and TEXPROCIL to encourage the Trade and Industry to work on the principle of self-regulation by owning complete responsibility of Traceability, Certification and Branding of “KASTURI Cotton India” with the project target period of 2022-23 to 2024-24.  Steering Committee and Apex Committee have been constituted and the work of TEXPROCIL will begin in the current cotton season (2023).

Role of CCI is to undertake price support operations, whenever the market prices of cotton fall below the Minimum Support Prices (MSP) announced by Govt. of India, without any quantitative limit.

Central Institute for Cotton Research is a central research institute established by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). CICR has prepared a pilot project targeting technologies to agro-climatic zones, large scale demonstrations of best practices to enhance cotton productivity. 

Conclusion is, Strengthening of testing facility needed to conform to KASTURI standards, DNA testing and traceability. Minister of Textiles assured that adequate modern testing facilities would be created through BIS(Bureau of Indian Standards) and TRAs.

OBTAINING ISI MARK CERTIFICATION FOR COTTON BALES (IS 12171 : 2019) WILL PROVIDE THE FOLLOWING BENEFITS:

·       Ensures quality standards because BIS registered products must meet certain standards when manufacturing their products.

·       Provides authenticity to BIS certified products as they deliver high quality performance and reliability.

·       BIS certified products minimize environmental risks because BIS has prohibited the use of certain chemicals and materials below their stated standards.

·       After the product samples have been tested in the laboratory set up by BIS, they are registered with
BIS, which assures quality inspection and high product quality.

·       Getting certification improves the probability of your product to survive and compete in the market.

·       Customers have the tendency of buying ISI certified products as it ensured safety and standard quality. Hence, with the certified products you can win the confidence and trust of the buyer.

·       With the word of mouth of such client list, you can establish your credibility in the market.

·       Hence with the renowned brand, you can raise the standard and benchmark the market value of the product.

It is always better to consult with experience team such as ERCS Pvt. Ltd. for smooth certification process.

For more information, please feel free to contact us at info@elitasrcs.com or call at +91-9076611770 / +91-9076611766.