Quality rules trip up luxury shoe imports

 Coveted worldwide for their style, design and durability, but shut out of the Indian market over quality rules: That's the paradox facing European luxury brands like Dior and Louis Vuitton trying to sell their exquisite footwear in India.

- Shashank Mattoo, Varuni Khosla & Dhirendra Kumar

Footwear imports by these brands and others have faced trouble after the government's quality rules on all footwear sold in India took effect in July, three people aware of the matter said. Under the quality control order on footwear, which mandate the application of BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) standards, no company can manufacture, import, distribute, sell, hire, lease, store or exhibit any product in the country without the ISI mark.

The rules, which were issued in June 2022, took effect in July 2023.

In order to import footwear, these global brands may have to meet Indian standards in their European factories.

According to one of the three people cited above, who holds the Indian franchise for six international luxury brands, this is a cumbersome affair.

"Each time the sample must be sent, and every new material used in the shoe, whether it has the same design or not, will have to go for retesting before being exported to India. I don't know how this will be achieved, especially in the women's shoes category," the person said on condition of anonymity.