Eco-Mark Certification

The objectives of Eco-mark scheme are as follows –

• To encourage all citizens to buy & use eco-friendly products
• To provide incentive for manufacturer & importers to reduce the ill effects of their products on environment
• To promote & reward genuine initiative taken by companies to reduce the adverse environmental impact of products
• To assist customers about the environmental factor so that they can become more aware and responsible about environmental factor and implement the same at the time of purchasing the product
• To improve the quality of the environment
• To encourage the sustainable management of resources

Following issues have been taken into account while determining the product specific requirements –

The procedure to obtain Eco mark Certification is as follows -

• In the first step, take an application form from Bureau of Indian standards (BIS) headquarters or from any regional and branch offices situated all over country. You can take form from any BIS office.
• In the second step, fill the application form with the prescribed fee of Rs.500 in the form of demand draft drawn in favour of Bureau of Indian standards (BIS) which is payable at the place where you are submitting the application. Application form & fees needs to be sent to the particular branch of BIS for receipt, acknowledgement and further action.
• One application form can be used or valid for one product and one Indian standard specification only. A separate application is submitted to BIS along with the fees in case of each product and each Indian standard. Under the Eco-mark scheme, every application will be send with the copy of each of the following documents –
  • Environmental clearance certificate from the pollution control board of the concerned state.
  • Small scale industries registration certificate (In case applicant is a small scale unit who wants to avail the concessional rate of marking fee)
• After checking & verifying the details mentioned in the application form, BIS arranges a preliminary inspection of the applicant unit at a date when both the parties are agreed. Preliminary inspection includes assessment of manufacturing & quality control facility, testing personnel availability in order to ensure satisfactory operation of BIS certification mark scheme.
• The inspection officers from the bureau of Indian standards visit the applicant unit on a mutually agreed date and take a sample of the product for factory testing as well as independent testing to ensure that they are meeting the requirements of Eco-mark.
• In the next step, a copy of the scheme of testing and inspection is given to the applicant which unit has to follow in the production process of the product. The applicant needs to give formal consent in writing regarding STI acceptance along with the marking fee payable for the product. The inspection charges and charges related to testing of samples in Indian laboratory will be borne by the applicant.
• In the seventh step, Bureau of Indian standards verifies the preliminary inspection report (PI), independent sample test reports drawn during preliminary inspection & STI acceptance along with the marking fee schedule. If all the documents are found in order and satisfactory, the license is granted by the bureau of Indian standards (BIS) and permits the unit to use Eco-mark for a specified period. The Eco-mark certification is granted for a period of one year initially which can be renewed for a period of two years based on the performance of the unit in preceding years.