Footwear QCO Amendment 2026: Big MSME Deadline Extension & R&D Import Relief to Boost Industry Growth

If your business is in leather goods or footwear manufacturing then two regulatory changes came into force in June 2026 that you should be acting on now. On 12 June 2026, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade issued an amendment order S.O. 3038(E), to officially amend the Footwear made from Leather and other Materials (Quality Control) Order 2024. Now two reliefs are being put in place: one is an extension of the deadline for MSMEs and the other is a new import exemption for research and development purposes. 

What the Government Has Announced

The Footwear QCO, notified on 15th March 2024 under the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016 made BIS compliance mandatory for footwear made of leather and other materials. That order had a proviso that had already given MSMEs more time to comply with these requirements. The deadline for compliance was 31 July 2026.

Now that deadline has been extended a full year. The amendment dated 12 June 2026 provides a deadline for MSMEs to comply with the mandatory BIS certification requirements under the Footwear QCO by 31 July 2027. The underlying standard and compliance framework does not change. Only the deadline is moved.

The New R&D Import Exemption: What It Covers

Beyond the extension, the amendment introduces something the Footwear QCO did not previously have: a dedicated carve-out for research and development imports.

Manufacturers of leather and footwear products can now import up to 4,500 pairs per year without meeting mandatory QCO compliance requirements provided the import is strictly for research, development, or non-commercial evaluation. This is not a general import relief. The order attaches three firm conditions to every consignment claimed under this provision.

First, the imported pairs cannot be sold commercially under any circumstances. Second, every pair must be physically marked and embossed with the words "NOT FOR SALE" before use. Third, once the research or evaluation purpose is served, the goods must be disposed of as scrap they cannot enter trade channels in any form.

Manufacturers must also maintain year-wise records of all R&D imports and make those records available to the government whenever asked. There is no grace period on the record-keeping requirement it applies from the moment you use this exemption.

Who Benefits and How?

The MSME deadline extension matters most to smaller footwear and leather goods manufacturers who have not yet secured BIS certification for their products. If you fall in this category, you now have until July 2027 to get your certification in order. That is a meaningful runway but not one to waste.

The R&D exemption serves a different need. If you source international footwear samples to study construction techniques, materials, or design elements before developing your own line, you previously had no clean legal pathway to bring those samples in without full BIS compliance. The 4,500-pair annual cap creates that pathway. It is specifically useful for product development teams, design labs, and manufacturers testing new materials against global benchmarks.

Both provisions are issued under Sections 16(1), 16(2), and 25(3) of the BIS Act, 2016 meaning they carry the same legal weight as the original QCO.

What Businesses Must Not Get Wrong?

Three points where businesses typically misread orders like this.

The R&D exemption cap is per year, not per shipment. If you import 3,000 pairs in one consignment and 2,000 in another within the same year, you have hit your limit. Anything beyond 4,500 pairs in a year falls back under mandatory QCO compliance regardless of purpose.

The "NOT FOR SALE" embossing is not optional labelling it is a legal condition of the exemption. Unmarked goods that are later found in trade channels would expose you to BIS Act enforcement.

The MSME extension to July 2027 does not suspend the BIS requirement permanently. If your certification process is not underway well before that date, you risk the same compliance crunch that prompted this extension in the first place.

Conclusion

The 12 June 2026 amendment to the Footwear QCO gives leather and footwear manufacturers two concrete reliefs more time on MSME compliance and a legitimate R&D import channel. Neither is open-ended. Use the extended runway to advance your BIS certification, not delay it.

For BIS certification support, QCO compliance planning, or guidance on R&D import documentation under this amendment, contact Agile Regulatory. We work with manufacturers and importers across Noida, Ghaziabad, Greater Noida, Gurugram, and Faridabad to make regulatory compliance straightforward.