The Aluminium Can Quality Control Order (QCO) and India’s Beverage Industry Supply Crunch

What it does

The Cookware, Utensils and Cans for Foods and Beverages (Quality Control) Order was first notified in August 2023. It brought aluminium beverage cans under mandatory BIS certification, requiring conformance to IS 14407, the Indian Standard governing material composition, dimensions, seam strength, pressure tolerance, internal and external coatings, and leak prevention for aluminium cans used in beverages.

Every can sold in India whether manufactured domestically or imported must bear the BIS Standard Mark under a valid BIS licence. A can without that mark cannot legally be sold or used in commercial production. This applies to breweries buying cans from domestic suppliers and to importers bringing in cans from overseas.

The regulatory timeline

The current governing framework is the Cookware, Utensils and Cans for Foods and Beverages (Quality Control) Order, 2026, which consolidated and replaced earlier orders. It retains IS 14407:2023 as the applicable Indian Standard for aluminium beverage cans, with a phased compliance timeline based on enterprise size.

What the QCO requires of importers and domestic buyers

For importers of empty aluminium cans: The foreign manufacturer must hold a valid BIS licence under the FMCS (Foreign Manufacturers Certification Scheme) before the cans can be imported. Cans arriving at Indian ports without a corresponding valid BIS licence number are liable to detention. Demurrage and container detention charges begin accruing from day one of detention.

For domestic beverage manufacturers sourcing cans from Indian suppliers: The supplier must hold a valid BIS licence for IS 14407. Verify the licence is active and covers the specific can specifications you are ordering size, material, and end format before placing each purchase order. A licence that was valid last quarter carries no presumption of validity today.

For foreign can manufacturers seeking to supply the Indian market: The FMCS application involves documentation, factory audit scheduling, and BIS sample testing. Given current processing timelines and the volume of pending applications from suppliers responding to the shortage, beginning the certification process immediately is the only way to be positioned for the next supply cycle.

The broader compliance lesson

The aluminium can shortage is a case study in what happens when a QCO takes effect before the domestic supply infrastructure can absorb the compliance requirement. The certification requirement itself is not unreasonable: IS 14407 covers material safety, structural integrity, and coating quality parameters that directly affect consumer safety in pressurised beverage packaging.

The disruption arose not from the standard but from the timing gap between when the requirement became mandatory and when domestic manufacturers could meet demand without import supplementation. The government has since responded with extensions and exemptions but each of those is a downstream fix to a problem that originated upstream, at the point where compliance readiness and supply capacity diverged.

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This news update is for guidance only. Verify with a qualified compliance advisor before acting.