New Delhi, Oct 29 (KNN) On the media reports that Bureau of Indian Standards is likely to shift to Ministry of Commerce and industries, the national MSME body seems upbeat on the move.

“In view of rising importance of Standards in trade and  commerce, the right place of BIS- the national Standards setting body, is Ministry of Commerce & Industries and not Consumer Affairs”, says Anil Bhardwaj, Secretary General of Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME).  

“Anchoring BIS in Consumer Affairs reflected needs of a closed economy. FISME has been demanding the shift of BIS to Commerce for a long time”, he added.

Non-tariff measures and Standards are new tools through which flow of global trade is directed and controlled.

In spite of its large size economy, India’s capacity to influence formation of global standards has been limited.  

FISME is of opinion that with BIS’ shift to Commerce, the process of consultation to develop new and improve existing standards  would also improve tremendously as the Ministry works closely with Industries particularly MSMEs.

The issue has assumed importance in view of PM Modi’s flagship initiative of Make in India also.