BIS Certification for China Imports: Which Products Need It, Who Holds the Licence, and How Customs Checks It

1. The Short Answer

If your product appears on the Bureau of Indian Standards list of products under compulsory certification, it cannot be imported, sold or stored for sale in India unless it conforms to the Indian Standard and carries the BIS mark under a valid licence or registration. For goods made in China, that licence is granted to the Chinese manufacturer, for a named factory and the specific models tested. As the importer you cannot apply for it yourself. So the question to settle before you pay a deposit is simple: does this factory already hold a BIS licence or registration that covers the exact model you are buying? If not, either the factory obtains one first, or the product is not one you can import.

This guide is written by our import desk in Karol Bagh, Delhi, from the BIS, customs and DGFT documents listed at the end. It explains the schemes, how a product becomes compulsory, how customs enforces it and how to check a supplier's number. The import from China to India guide places BIS inside the whole import process.

2. The BIS Schemes That Apply to Imports

BIS publishes its compulsory products under four conformity schemes. Two of them cover almost every consumer product an Indian importer buys from China:

The product lists for each scheme are on the BIS website and are updated as orders are issued or amended; the consolidated page was last updated in September 2026 when we checked it.

3. Why the Chinese Factory Holds the Licence, Not You

The BIS FAQ for foreign manufacturers is explicit: the application is made by the foreign manufacturer only, separately for each product and each factory location. A trading company in China cannot hold the licence for a factory it does not own, and neither can you as the Indian buyer. The manufacturer must also appoint an Authorised Indian Representative (AIR): a resident of India (or a foreign national working in the manufacturer's Indian branch) who takes responsibility for compliance with the BIS Act and the licence conditions. One AIR represents one manufacturing firm. The CRS scheme also works through an AIR for overseas manufacturers.

Two practical consequences follow. First, a licence is tied to the factory and the models registered: a trader who shows you "a BIS certificate" from some other factory has shown you nothing about the goods you will receive. Second, if the factory you like has no licence, the timeline and cost of getting one are the factory's, and in practice only worth it for them if your order, or the Indian market, is large enough.

4. Quality Control Orders: How a Product Becomes Compulsory

A product becomes compulsory when the Central Government, through the ministry responsible for it, issues a Quality Control Order (QCO) under Section 16 of the BIS Act 2016. The order names the products and the Indian Standards, and makes the BIS Standard Mark mandatory under a licence or certificate from a stated date. Electronics and IT goods fall under orders of the Ministry of Electronics and IT and are registered under CRS; toys fall under an order of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade and need the ISI mark. Each order usually states that no person shall manufacture, import, sell or store for sale goods that do not conform.

Import policy follows the orders: the Directorate General of Foreign Trade has made BIS registration a condition of import for goods notified under the electronics order, so the requirement sits in both the BIS law and the import policy for those goods.

5. Product Groups Indian Importers Meet Most

• Electronics and IT goods (CRS): the BIS Scheme II list covers 66 product categories under the electronics order (last amended in March 2026), including laptops and tablets, mobile phones, televisions, smart watches, LED luminaires, power banks, power adapters, UPS and inverters, CCTV cameras, and speakers and headphones. The model on your invoice must be registered.
• Toys (ISI): the Toys (Quality Control) Order 2020, in force from 1 January 2021, covers toys for children up to 14 years and requires conformity to the listed Indian Standards with the ISI mark. Uncertified toys are the most common disappointment for buyers at the Canton Fair; our toy sourcing page covers the rest.
• Solar modules and some chemicals: also listed under Scheme II.
• Household and steel products: several orders have covered utensils, cookware and fasteners; see the next section for the 2025 changes.

These are examples, not the full list. For electronics and lighting see our electronics and lighting sourcing pages; for anything else, check the BIS list for your product description.

6. The List Changes: Check It on the Day You Order

The list is not fixed. In November 2025 the government withdrew about twenty quality control orders on industrial raw materials, including several polymers and plastics (such as PVC resin, polypropylene and polyethylene) and non-ferrous metals, after a review of their effect on manufacturers. The order on viscose staple fibre was revoked the same month. Also in November 2025, responsibility for iron and steel orders moved from DPIIT to the Ministry of Steel, with the earlier DPIIT orders on items such as fasteners and cookware to lapse when the Ministry of Steel notifies replacements. New products are also added: the electronics list was amended in March 2026.

The practical rule: check the current BIS list for your product on the day you place the order, not from an article, a supplier's message or last year's shipment. If an order is being withdrawn or deferred, read the notification for the date it takes effect.

7. How Customs Checks BIS at the Port

For electronics and IT goods, CBIC Instruction 28/2023-Customs (December 2023) tells customs officers to check the BIS registration in the system in every case. The risk management system also selects consignments at random for sampling; samples go to a BIS-recognised laboratory for non-destructive safety tests, and the goods are given out of charge only if the sample passes. Consignments that fail are sent back or destroyed at the importer's cost. For other compulsory products, the Bill of Entry must show the licence or registration details your broker declares. The customs clearance guide explains the examination stage, and the documents checklist lists the papers that go with the Bill of Entry.

A product that cannot be cleared has no landed cost, only a loss. That is why we treat the BIS check as the first step of costing, before the duty calculation.

8. How to Verify a Supplier's BIS Number

1. Ask for the number and the model list: the R-number (CRS) or CM/L licence number (ISI), the factory name and address, and the models covered.
2. Check an R-number on the CRS portal: the public dashboard of the BIS registration portal has a search by R-number and a list of registered models.
3. Check either number in the BIS Care app, the official BIS app, which verifies CM/L licence numbers and R-numbers.
4. Match three things: the manufacturer and factory address on the record against the supplier's business licence; the model number against your proforma invoice; and the validity date against your shipping date.
5. Make it a contract term: the goods must carry the Standard Mark and the R-number or licence number as the standard requires, and the factory bears the cost if they do not.

Our factory verification service includes this check against the supplier's business licence.

9. Cost and Time, From the Official Pages

CRS: the fee schedule published on the CRS portal lists an application fee of ₹1,000, an annual licence fee of ₹1,000 and a processing fee of ₹50,000 that includes one test report, with ₹20,000 for each additional test report, plus GST; concessions on the processing fee apply to micro, small and medium enterprises. Laboratory testing is charged separately by the lab. BIS does not publish a standard processing time for CRS.

FMCS (ISI for foreign factories): the BIS FAQ states that the average time to grant a licence is generally six months from receipt of a complete application, and that it may vary. Since 1 June 2026, FMCS applications are accepted only online. Fees are charged to the manufacturer, in US dollars for most countries.

Both costs fall on the manufacturer. Whether a factory will take them on for your order is a commercial question; if it will not, look for a factory that already holds the licence.