Global producers ignore BIS mark

NOT BIG ENOUGH MARKET

◗ Steel ministry has made BIS certification mandatory for imports of tinplate and tin-free steel

◗ Restrictions have also been imposed on various steel products like easy open ends

◗ But foreign suppliers have stopped shipping tin plates to India, leading to shortage

The government's insistence on BIS certification on certain imported tin and steel products has led to a shortage in metal packaging materials.

The Steel and Steel Products Quality Control Order, issued on July 17, 2020 by the Ministry of Steel, has made BIS certification mandatory for imports of tinplate and tinfree steel. Further, restrictions have been imposed on the import of various steel products like easy open ends and peel off ends used by the metal packaging industry, which has 10 per cent share of the $50 billion packaging industry.

The restrictions have affected a large number of micro, small and medium enterprises involved in making products using tinplate steel-sheets of steel coated with a thin layer of tin that have specialised use in consumer products like cans, hairclips, pens.

"It is virtually impossible to force the international suppliers to go for BIS certifications as the procedure of BIS registration is highly cumbersome. Further, for the international suppliers of tin plates, India is a small market and hence they are not quite keen to get into lengthy bureaucratic and cost-intensive BIS certification procedures," says the Metal Container Manufacturers' Association (MCMA).

Since the order came into effect, foreign suppliers have stopped shipping tin plates to India and this has led to a shortage in the domestic market.

"There is a huge demandsupply gap for tinplate and tin-free steel in India to the extent of 2.5 lakh tonnes per annum which is met through imports. Moreover, tin-free steel is produced only by one mill, Tin Plate Company, and that too once a quarter," said Sanjay Bhatia, president, MCMA.

The shortage has also led to rise in prices.