Published: 23 Jun 2026
Regulatory AlertAmendment in Force — 22 June 2026
Steel & Steel Products QCO 2024: What the 2026 Amendment Means for You
India’s mandatory quality control regime for steel just got a targeted update. Here’s a plain-language breakdown of the original order, what changed in June 2026, and the compliance actions your organisation needs to take now.
151
IS Standards Covered
5
Entries Suspended by 2026 Amendment
3 yrs
Suspension Period for S.No. 23 & 129
Background
The QCO and Why It Matters
The Steel and Steel Products (Quality Control) Order, 2024 — issued by the Ministry of Steel on 29 August 2024 under the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Act, 2016 — replaced an earlier February 2024 notification and consolidated mandatory quality standards for a sweeping range of steel materials manufactured or imported into India.
In practice, the QCO does three things:
01
BIS Standard Mark Required
Every covered steel product must carry a BIS Standard Mark obtained under Scheme-I of the BIS (Conformity Assessment) Regulations, 2018.
02
Test Certificate Mandatory
Each consignment must be accompanied by a Test Certificate issued by a BIS-certified manufacturer bearing that Standard Mark.
03
BIS as Single Authority
BIS is assigned as the single certifying and enforcement authority — with penalties for contraventions under Section 29 of the BIS Act, 2016.
The Order applies to both domestically produced and imported steel, with one exemption: goods manufactured in India exclusively for export and conforming to a foreign buyer’s specified standard are outside its scope.
Scope of Schedule 1: Schedule 1 covers 151 Indian Standards — from pre-stressed concrete wire (IS 1785) to tool steels (IS 3748), stainless steel (IS 6911), electrical steel strips (IS 648), and automotive galvanised sheets (IS 18385). If your product falls under any of these IS numbers, BIS licensing is mandatory.
Schedule 2
Goods Made from Covered Steel
A second schedule (Schedule 2) extends compliance requirements to seven categories of finished goods whose input material is already covered by Schedule 1. These include transformer stampings and laminations, stainless steel pipes and tubes, tin-plate containers and cans, bottle caps, sign plates, and primary battery parts.
For Schedule 2 goods, the requirement is a Certificate of Conformity (Scheme-IV) or — for goods made from stainless steel or tin plate inputs — a combination of the input material’s Standard Mark certificate and a separate test certificate for the finished article.
The 2026 Amendment
What Changed: Five Entries Suspended from Schedule 1
On 20 June 2026, the Ministry of Steel issued S.O. 3300(E), amending the 2024 QCO through a targeted suspension of enforcement for five serial numbers in Schedule 1. The amendment took effect on the date of Gazette publication — 22 June 2026.
| S.No. | IS Standard | Subject | Suspension | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | IS 2879 : 1998 | Mild steel for metal arc welding electrodes | 3 years from 22 Jun 2026 | SUSPENDED |
| 129 | IS 5518 : 1996 | Steels for die blocks for drop forging | 3 years from 22 Jun 2026 | SUSPENDED |
| 51 | IS 5522 : 2014 | Stainless steel sheets & strips for utensils | Until 31 March 2027 | TEMP. SUSPENDED |
| 52 | IS 6911 : 2017 | Stainless steel plate, sheet and strip | Until 31 March 2027 | TEMP. SUSPENDED |
| 53 | IS 15997 : 2012 | Low nickel austenitic SS sheet & strip for utensils | Until 31 March 2027 | TEMP. SUSPENDED |
Important: Suspension ≠ Exemption. Suspension of enforcement means BIS will not actively pursue action against non-compliant manufacturers for these specific items during the stated period. It does not revoke the underlying IS standard or the QCO requirement itself. Once the suspension period ends, full enforcement resumes automatically.
Context
Why Were These Five Suspended?
The Ministry has not published a formal statement of reasons alongside the amendment. Based on the pattern, the suspensions likely reflect industry representations around BIS licensing capacity, raw material sourcing constraints for welding electrode steel and die-block steel, and supply-chain pressure in the stainless steel utensils and kitchenware segments — areas where a significant portion of production comes from small and medium enterprises that need additional time to obtain BIS certification.
The different end dates (3 years vs. 31 March 2027) suggest that the stainless steel utensil/sheet sector made a narrower, near-term case for relief, while the welding electrode and die-block sectors sought a longer runway for process and certification upgrades.
Compliance Actions
What Your Organisation Should Do Now
If you manufacture or import welding electrode steel (IS 2879) or die-block steel (IS 5518)
You have a three-year window, but the clock is running. Use this period to:
Initiate or continue your BIS licence application under Scheme-I — the standard itself has not changed, and testing labs remain active.
Update your incoming material inspection procedures to record IS compliance of input steel, even during the suspension, so your quality records are audit-ready when enforcement resumes.
Track the 22 June 2029 deadline in your regulatory calendar and schedule a pre-expiry review no later than Q1 2029.
If you manufacture stainless steel sheets, plates, or utensils (IS 5522, IS 6911, IS 15997)
The deadline is 31 March 2027 — less than nine months from now. Treat this as an active compliance project, not a deferral.
Confirm your BIS licence application status and resolve any outstanding factory assessment or testing gaps.
Review Schedule 2 obligations: stainless steel pipes and tubes remain enforceable regardless of the suspension on raw sheet/strip. Ensure your SS pipe input material certificates are in order.
If you are unaffected by the suspension: The 2026 amendment is narrow. Every other steel and steel product under the QCO — including structural steel (IS 2062), TMT bars (IS 1786), galvanised sheets (IS 277), cold rolled sheets (IS 513), and tin plate (IS 1993) — remains subject to mandatory BIS marking and Test Certificate requirements with immediate effect from August 2024.
How Omega QMS Can Help
Navigating Multi-Standard BIS Compliance for Steel
Navigating multi-standard BIS compliance across large product portfolios is a documentation and scheduling challenge as much as a technical one. Omega QMS helps steel manufacturers and importers:
Stay Ahead of Your Next QCO Deadline
Our regulatory team can run a gap assessment against the 2024 QCO and the June 2026 amendment — typically completed within five working days.
Reach us at info@globalomega.com or globalomega.com/contact