Global standards, local hurdles: India’s product testing framework

Product testing is a critical safeguard, verifying that goods entering the Indian market meet established safety and quality standards. The requirement for product testing applies to many sectors, including pharmaceuticals, food and beverages, electronics, telecommunications and the automotive industry. However, India’s current product testing framework places unnecessary compliance burdens on entities by imposing redundant requirements and suffers from administrative inefficiencies.

A major concern raised by global manufacturers is India’s insistence on testing products within the country to ensure they comply with local standards. This stipulation applies to all products, including those already certified according to international standards. This undermines the reasons for adopting international standards, which encapsulate the best global practices. Insistence on domestic testing based on Indian standards compels manufacturers to alter their globally certified products, incurring avoidable costs and disincentivising the rollout of state-of-the-art international products in India.

India’s refusal to adopt the Common Criteria Recognition Arrangement (CCRA) further exacerbates the issue of duplicative testing requirements. As a certificate authorising member under the CCRA, India only recognises its own Common Certification Scheme. Participating as a certificate consuming member, which recognises common certification from other signatory countries, will eliminate redundant security testing of IT products while strengthening the country’s digital infrastructure.

In light of its ongoing free-trade agreement negotiations with many countries, India should consider concluding mutual recognition agreements with those nations whose product testing regimes offer the same level of standardisation as Indian product testing regimes. This will reduce trade-related regulatory friction while helping align India’s product testing capabilities with internationally accepted norms.

Underlying these deficiencies is a critical shortage of testing infrastructure. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) in 2021 recognised this gap. The paucity of accredited testing facilities exacerbates product testing timelines and delays their rollout in the local market. Many government-operated product testing labs labour under the disadvantages of outdated equipment and staffing deficiencies. These, in turn, compromise the accuracy of results, allowing substandard products to enter the market.

The regulatory friction in product testing is further exacerbated by the BIS’ cumbersome registration processes. Foreign manufacturers are required to have their production facilities certified by the BIS, with no prescribed timelines. This increases compliance costs for foreign manufacturers, as well as disrupting their supply chains for shipments bound for India. The cumulative compliance burden, coupled with the excessive costs, adversely undermines India’s reputation as an attractive investment destination. A number of foreign manufacturers have been forced to abandon their plans to enter the local market after calculating that compliance costs would exceed profits. A recent report by the US Trade Representative complains of costs “exceeding tens of millions of dollars” for factory checking and specialised component-level testing in India.

Although India has risen significantly in the international ease-of-doing-business rankings, its current product testing framework in India serves only to hinder the “Make in India” initiative. This is down to avoidable compliance costs and delayed market access. India’s product testing framework requires urgent reform, such as strategic alignment with global standards, investment in testing infrastructure and streamlined testing processes that reduce the compliance burden and shorten certification timelines.

Accepting globally certified products, together with mutual recognition agreements with other countries for product certification, will further integrate India’s economy into the global value chain. Harmonisation with international standards, coupled with improvement in testing and administrative capacity, would transform product testing from a trade barrier to a competitive asset.

Ameet Datta is managing counsel, Jasman Dhanoa is a senior associate and Anindita Deb is an associate at ADP Law Offices