New Delhi: The government Thursday said it has amended two quality control orders (QCO) for the footwear sector wherein the timeline for clearance of legacy stock has been extended by one year to July 31, 2027. The commerce and industry ministry said the extension is expected to reduce the compliance burden, minimise disruption to trade and ensure that only BIS-certified footwear products are sold in the market thereafter.
The amendments were made in the Footwear made from Leather and other Materials (Quality Control) Order, 2024, and the Footwear made from All Rubber and all Polymeric Material and its Components (Quality Control) Order, 2024.
The amendments provide an exemption for the import of samples for Research and Development.
“The sample exemption has been introduced to enable manufacturers to evaluate product designs, assess whether documentation alone is sufficient for product assessment, and determine the quantity of samples genuinely required for research and development,” it said in a statement.
Manufacturers of leather and footwear products may import up to 4,500 pairs of footwear annually for research and development and other non-commercial purposes. Such samples shall not be sold commercially, must be prominently marked and embossed with the words “NOT FOR SALE” and shall be disposed of as scrap after use.
As footwear products are largely seasonal and inventories often remain within the supply chain beyond a single selling cycle, the additional one-year period will provide manufacturers, distributors and retailers adequate time for the orderly liquidation of existing stock, the ministry added.
