The ministry issued a notification on June 9, 2026, rescinding the Cotton Bales (Quality Control) Order, 2023, with immediate effect. The order had originally been notified on February 28, 2023, under the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Act and prescribed compliance with Indian Standard IS 12171:2019 for cotton bales.
India’s Ministry of Textiles has withdrawn the Cotton Bales (Quality Control) Order, 2023, ending a BIS certification requirement that had never been implemented despite multiple extensions.
The measure faced strong opposition from the ginning industry, particularly MSMEs, over compliance costs and infrastructure challenges.
The withdrawal provides relief to domestic ginners.
The move comes less than a year after the government granted a third extension to the implementation timeline. Under a notification issued in July 2025, the QCO’s effective date had been pushed to August 27, 2026, from the earlier August 27, 2025 deadline, following repeated requests from industry stakeholders.
The Cotton Bales QCO was first introduced with a 180-day transition period and was intended to make BIS certification mandatory for cotton bales sold in the domestic market. However, the order explicitly exempted goods meant for export that complied with specifications required by foreign buyers.
India’s ginning sector had consistently opposed the regulation, arguing that the prescribed BIS norms relating to parameters such as moisture content, contamination and trash levels would require substantial investment in modernisation. Industry bodies, including the Cotton Association of India (CAI), maintained that a large share of the country’s ginning units are MSMEs operating with basic machinery and would struggle to meet the requirements within the stipulated timeframe.
The government had responded to these concerns by repeatedly postponing implementation. The original 2023 order was first deferred in 2024 and subsequently extended again in 2025. With the latest rescission notification, the quality-control regime has now been withdrawn altogether before becoming operational.
The rescission order does not cite specific reasons for the withdrawal, stating only that the decision was taken in the public interest after consultation with the BIS.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)
