New BIS Quality Regime for Cookware, Utensils and Beverage Cans Effective 2026

The Central Government, acting through the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, has issued the Cookware, Utensils and Cans for Foods and Beverages (Quality Control) Order, 2026. This new framework replaces the earlier Cookware, Utensils and Cans for Foods and Beverages (Quality Control) Order, 2025 only to the extent it covered Wrought Aluminium Utensils and Aluminium Cans for Beverages, while preserving the validity of actions taken under the old order up to the date of supersession.

This Quality Control Order has been notified under the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016 (11 of 2016) and mandates that specified products in the cookware and beverage packaging segment must conform to designated Indian Standards and carry the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Standard Mark under a valid licence. The move aims to ensure consistent safety, performance, and quality of products used for preparation, storage and packaging of food and beverages in India.

Statutory Basis and Objective

The Order has been promulgated in exercise of powers conferred under:

  • section 16
  • section 17
  • sub-section (3) of section 25

of the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016. These provisions empower the Central Government, in consultation with BIS, to make quality control orders prescribing compulsory use of Standard Marks and conformity to Indian Standards for notified goods.

Public Interest and Regulatory Intent

The Central Government has recorded its satisfaction that issuing this Order is necessary and expedient in the public interest, particularly to:

  • Safeguard consumer health and safety in relation to cookware and food contact materials
  • Ensure uniform quality parameters across the cookware and beverage can industry
  • Prevent the circulation of sub-standard or unsafe products used for cooking, serving or packaging food and drinks
  • Align domestic manufacturing practices with notified Indian Standards, enhancing reliability and potential export competitiveness

Short Title and Commencement

Name of the Order

  1. The notification formally designates this instrument as the:

“Cookware, Utensils and Cans for Foods and Beverages (Quality Control) Order, 2026.”

Effective Date

  1. The Order becomes operative from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette. From that date, the quality control framework and related compliance obligations prescribed in the Order come into legal effect, subject to the phased implementation schedule for different categories of enterprises, as discussed below.

Mandatory BIS Standard Mark and Conformity Requirements

Compulsory Use of Standard Mark

The central feature of the Order is the requirement that specified goods must:

  • Conform to the relevant Indian Standard notified in the Table to the Order; and
  • Bear the Standard Mark of BIS under a valid licence obtained in accordance with Scheme-1 of Schedule-II of the Bureau of Indian Standards (Conformity Assessment) Regulations, 2018.

Accordingly, no manufacturer or importer covered by the Order is permitted to manufacture, store, sell, distribute, or import the notified products unless:

  1. The goods meet the applicable Indian Standard; and
  2. The goods display the BIS Standard Mark, granted under a live BIS licence for the relevant category.

Products and Applicable Indian Standards

The notified goods and their corresponding Indian Standards, as set out in the Table to the Order, are as follows:

  1. Cookware, utensils and cans for food and beverages

    • Indian Standard: 1660:2024
    • Title: Wrought Aluminium Utensils