Cir(036)/2023                                                                               March 30, 2023

Committee:

Dear Sirs/ Madam,

Sub.: Quality Control Orders on Viscose Staple Fibres and Polyester Fibre & Yarn – reg.

 

This is regarding the Quality Control Orders on Viscose Staple Fibres and Polyester Fibre & Yarn announced recently by the Government.

• Viscose Staple Fibres Quality Control Order, 2022

Ministry of Textiles vide S.O 6143(E) dated 29^th December 2022 issued the Viscose Staple Fibres (Quality Control) Order, 2022 according to which any variants of Viscose Staple Fibre (VSF) that are being sold in India have to bear conformity to Standards and Compulsory use of Standard Mark as laid down by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) starting from 29th January 2023 i.e. within 30 days of the issue of order.

Based on the representation received by CITI from many of its member associations and also from many of its corporate members highlighting several concerns related to bearing conformity of standards within 30 days of issuing, CITI took up the matter with Hon’ble Minister of Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal and requested him to allow an extension of 180 days for the implementation of the Viscose Staple Fibres (Quality Control) Order, 2022. Based on the request made by CITI and several other associations as well, the Hon’ble Minister of Textiles on 27^th January 2023 extended the implementation date of VSF QCO by 60 days and the VSF QCO 2022 has been enforced from 29^th March 2023. Now it is necessary for any variant of Viscose Staple Fibre (VSF) to bear conformity to Standards and Compulsory use of Standard Mark to be able to be sold in the domestic market.

In respect of the VSF QCO 2022, CITI has also requested to exclude Bamboo Fibres from the virtue of VSF QCO 2022 as it is having high import dependency. The matter is under examination. Similarly, CITI has also requested the Government to allow the domestic sales of 2nd grade and half-grade viscose fibres/filaments “without ISI mark” till some specifications for Grading of Viscose Cut Staple Fibres are not issued by BIS.

• Quality Control Orders for Polyester Fibre and Yarn

 

The Ministry of Chemicals and Petro-chemicals have come up with Quality Control Orders for Polyester Fibre and Yarn vide order dated 5th April 2022 covering:

1. Polyester Staple Fibres (PSF)-IS 17263:2019;
2. Polyester Continuous Filament Fully Drawn Yarn (FDY) IS 17261:2019
3. Polyester Industrial Yarn (IDY) – IS 17264:2019
4. Polyester Partially Oriented Yarn (POY) – IS 17262:2019
5. Polyester Spun Grey and White Yarn (PSY)-IS 17265:2019

These QCOs were to be applicable from 3rd October 2022, however, upon the request made by CITI and other associations, the implementation date was later extended and now these Quality Control Orders for Polyester Fibre and Yarn will be enforced from 3^rd April 2023.

• Issues being faced by the user Industry

 

As reported by many of the members that several of their suppliers for both VSF and Polyester Fibre & Yarns have already applied for BIS certification, however, their application is yet to be processed by BIS. In absence of the required BIS certificate, these suppliers will not be able to export these products to the Indian market and the entire production schedule of the domestic industry will get affected.

CITI has already requested the Ministry of Textiles to provide an extension for the above-mentioned QCOs till all foreign suppliers who have filed their application receive the necessary certification from BIS or at least maintain the status quo for all such suppliers who have completed their application process and their certification is pending with BIS for approval.

• Request for Information from Members

 

CITI is actively taking up the matter with the relevant authorities and members are kindly requested to share the details of their suppliers of the above-mentioned products in the below-given format so that the same can be compiled and shared with the relevant authorities.

S No	Name of Supplier	Location	Applied on Date	Application Number	Present Status

The above mentioned QCOs and their BIS standards are attached for your ready perusal.

This is placed for your information and necessary action.

Thanking you,

Yours faithfully,

(Chandrima Chatterjee)

Secretary General