Ministry of Steel has constituted a Technical Committee to examine the applications received from the importers, for issuance of a clarification regarding the stainless steel grade – on whether the product being imported is under the purview of the Steel Quality Control Order, 2018. This Order mandates for manufacturer to obtain BIS license for any grade of stainless steel falling into Indian standards as mentioned in QCO. For non licensed grades (not falling in any notified Indian Standard) importer are requested to take advance clearance and consignment wise clearance from Ministry of Steel. Ministry of Steel has taken the lead to facilitate the smooth implementation of QCO and help customs and importers for an easy implementation of the same.

A technical committee of experts has been put in place by Ministry of Steel to facilitate the importers in complying to QCO and get clearance at the Customs. Ministry of Steel has been doing commendable work to overcome any difficulty faced by the importers at customs and industry has been regularly taking clarifications for the same.

However, there are still some importers who are not aware of the facility being provided by the Ministry of Steel and are finding it difficult to get clearances at customs. We request importers to read the below simplified procedure and use this mechanism for a seamless import of any steel product. Timely application and understanding of this simplified process is important for hassle free imports.

All stakeholders are requested to follow this simplified process

• Format for filling application : The guidelines are uploaded in Ministry of Steel's website. The web link of the format for submission of information is: "https://steel.gov.in/sites/default/files/Format%20for%20clarification%20or%20exemption%20May%202019.xlsx"
• Documents to be submitted
  1. For “Clarification in Advance” (before actual imports) – A covering letter along with Application format filled as above in (i), Sample TC (for actual chemical and mechanical properties), Specification of the grade as per any international, national or company specification clearly mentioning chemical and mechanical composition range. “The application should also include a checklist (annexed).
  2. For clearance consignment wise – For applications in which the material is in transit or reached port of destination, in addition to the above, all relevant documents viz. Invoice, Bill of lading, Actual Mill Test Certificates, Insurance copy, Bill of Entry etc. shall be submitted consignment-wise. The application should also include a checklist (annexed). The covering letter of the application should also include the following consignment-wise information, and all documents should be properly flagged for reference:

The web link for the guidelines for submission of application is:
"https://steel.gov.in/sites/default/files/Informations_bulletin_Q-wise_7th_May_2019.pdf".

Please see the sample