Print

The Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals of India submitted two documents to the Technical Barriers to Trade committee to impose the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) quality requirements on the import of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polypropylene (PP) aligning with World Trade Organization (WTO) guidelines. Documents on PVC imports were released on 11 August while those related to PP imports were released on 15 August. 

Coinciding with the drafting of both documents, notices regarding the implementation were also to be published in the Gazette of India although the publication date is yet to be set. On top of that, the implementation date for these requirements is yet to be fixed but expectations are for it to start 180 days after the publication in the Gazette of India. 

Market participants reckon these proceedings will likely impact PP and PVC imports to India as the nation has been applying strict quality control measures on polymer imports over the years. 

In 2021, India announced BIS requirements for imports of polyethylene (PE) but was halted due to the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to reports, the deadline was postponed about four times, but overseas PE producers are now expected to abide by BIS rules by 3 October if they wish to sell to India. 

Indian officials are concurrently looking into the possibility of applying quality control restrictions on PVC imports, primarily eyeing residual vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) content above two parts per million. However, the measure remains pending, largely contributing to the hesitation among Indian buyers regarding carbide-based PVC imports from China.