Conformity Assessment Scheme for milk and milk products is a certification scheme for dairy organizations jointly developed by Bureau of Indian Standards and National Dairy Development Board (NDDB). This certification scheme encompasses Product certification, Food Safety Management Systems (FSMS) certification and Process certification (Quality Mark scheme of NDDB) under one certification scheme.

This certification scheme provides three certifications through a single licence. This facilitates the dairy organization in ease of doing business. Further, implementation of the scheme saves time, money, manpower required to obtain three different certifications from different certification bodies

No, this scheme is applicable only when the three components, i.e. Product certification, Food Safety Management Systems Certification and Process Certification, are assessed together.

At present this certification scheme is voluntary.

Dairy units desirous of obtaining certification under this scheme are required to apply to the concerned regional offices. Contact details of regional offices can be viewed at http://203.153.41.213:8081/php/mscd/contact/

Yes, the licence may be granted on the basis of conforming test report from BIS recognized / empaneled Laboratory.

Only test reports issued by BIS recognized or empanelled laboratories are accepted for grant of licence. The details of laboratories for a particular product can be accessed through the following link: http://164.100.105.198:8096/bis_access/iswise_v2.html

Yes, all the 9 mandatory standards of milk are covered in this scheme.

For obtaining BIS licence under this scheme, the dairy unit manufacturing milk and milk products shall

I. have requisite manufacturing facility and testing facility;
II. implemented the Food Safety Management system;
III. established process controls;
IV. established inspection and testing plan for each product;
V. milk and milk products shall conform to the requirements of relevant Indian Standards;
Also see the details at following link

https://www.services.bis.gov.in/php/BIS_2.0/milk-certification-scheme/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/CAS_MSCD.pdf#page=2

The Bureau grants the licence based on successful assessment of the manufacturing infrastructure, process controls, quality control and testing capabilities of the manufacturer through audit of manufacturing premises. Conformity of the product to the relevant standard(s) is also established through third party laboratory testing or testing in the manufacturing premises or a combination of both. For details view the guidelines for grant of licence.

Yes, the dairy can obtain licence for various milk and milk products. However dairy desirous of including the product for which Indian Standards do not exist, Indian Standards can be formulated expeditiously by the relevant Technical Committee of BIS.

No, the dairy unit needs to submit one application listing all products be covered under one licence.

BIS gives licence to a manufacturing premise. Therefore, separate application shall be submitted for each manufacturing premise/ site/ location.

The test reports of the product shall not generally be more than 90 days old.

During the operation of licence, a surveillance audit is carried out annually. In the third year, surveillance audit is replaced by re-certification audit.

To establish conformity of milk and milk products to relevant Indian Standards, samples may be drawn for independent testing either from the factory or from market.

BIS may carry out surprise audits.

The licensee shall apply for renewal/ re-certification at least five months before validity of the licence. An audit shall be carried out at the premises before renewal/ re-certification of licence.

BIS adopts a documented procedure for calculation of audit duration. Total duration of audit (expressed as audit mandays) is dependent on number of products under the scope of licence, time required for factory testing, time required for visit to Milk collection and Chilling Centres, time for verification of system and process requirements, etc. For details, please refer the guidelines for calculation of audit mandays.

Following documents shall be submitted along with the application form:
a) Documents authenticating firm and premises-

• Establishment of firm, such as Certificate of incorporation issued by the Registrar of Firms or Societies/Directorate General of Technical Development/ Director of Industries or similar other documents authenticated the name of firm and its premises)
• Address proof of the factory
• Valid Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises certificate, if applicable
• Authorized representative letter, in case application signed by person other than Chief Executive Officer of the firm

b) Product specific documents-

• Inspection and testing plan for each product
• Manufacturing machinery list
• Testing equipment list with calibration status
• Plan layout (indicative sketch, need not be to exact measurements/scale)
• Process flow chart with details of installed production capacity and estimated value
• Raw materials used for each product, as applicable
• Test report(s), in-house/third party laboratory

c) System specific documents-

• Documentation on compliance to management system (For example; policy/procedures/manuals, as applicable)
• Number of personnel involved in scope of certification
• Details of outsourced operations and controls exercised

d) Process specific documents-

• Compliance to process requirements, as specified

Integrated milk certification scheme is a certification scheme for Packaged Pasteurized Milk as per IS 13688: 2020 and Food Safety Management Systems Certification as per IS/ISO 22000: 2018.

Whereas, the certification scheme for milk and milk products is a combination of product certification for milk and milk products, Food Safety Management Systems certification and Process Certification.

The application is required to be submitted with an application fee of Rs. 1000. Audit fee at the rate of Rs 12,000/- (for large Scale ) and Rs. 9000/- ( for small/micro scale) are charged for each audit man day. After grant of licence, the applicant is required to deposit the marking fee specified. The detailed fee structure is given at http://203.153.41.213:8081/php/mscd/fee/

The fee under this scheme is calculated on the basis of Liquid milk sold in case of liquid milk and Raw milk consumed in case of milk based products. The fee structure is a consolidated fee structure for this scheme. There is no separate fee for FSMS or for each product. For a dairy organization manufacturing say 10 different products, the total raw milk consumed for the manufacture of these products will be used as basis for calculation of certification fee.

No additional charges are levied for surveillance audit under this scheme.

Yes, the scope of licence can be extended or reduced on the request of dairy unit to include milk product(s) conforming to relevant Indian standard(s). Fee of Rs. 5,000 shall be submitted with the application for extension of each product or variety or group of varieties.

Yes, the marking fee paid to BIS for product certification licence will be adjusted towards certification fee under this scheme from the date of conversion of the individual licence into CAS licence.

No, there is no provision to adjust the user fee paid to NDDB under this scheme. However, no additional fee would be taken for process certification during operation/GoL.

Yes. The Audit fee and Certification fee for MSMEs vis-à-vis fee for Large Scale enterprises is as follows:
Audit fee
(i) Large Industrial Enterprises- ₹ 12,000/- per manday
(ii) Micro, Small and Medium Industrial Enterprises- ₹ 9,000/- per manday

Certification fee

At any time, the manufacturer may request for inclusion or reduction of products from the scope of licence. Inclusion of a product or product variety will be considered after the manufacturer provides evidence that the product conforms to the relevant Indian Standard by any one of the following methods:
i) Complete witness testing of products/ variety in the factory;
ii) Submission of conforming test report(s) from third party laboratory as per relevant Indian Standard(s);
iii) Sample may be drawn for independent testing.

If there are no changes in inspection and testing plan or infrastructure including manufacturing machinery and test equipment and extension in scope of licence is in the same group of sampling guidelines, the test report(s) may not be required for extension in scope of licence.

A manufacturer may apply for change in scope of FSMS licence to include new processes/activities and/or delete processes/activities in the existing licence. The same may be verified through an audit preferably combined with surveillance audit.

The licence is usually granted for three years. The validity may be extended or reduced in some cases however, all fee shall be paid in advance for the validity period of the licence.

Under this scheme, single licence is granted for a number of products unlike product certification scheme where one licence is granted for one product. Therefore, when one or more product(s) is not conforming to the requirements of relevant Indian Standard(s), partial suspension of marking can be imposed.
Licence may be suspended for all products or partially suspended for one or more product(s), if:
a) Test result indicating non-conformity of the product to the relevant Indian Standard;
b) The manufacturer is using Standard Mark in a manner not permitted;
c) The manufacturer has discontinued operation for more than six months;
d) The manufacturer has not taken Corrective actions within six months;
e) The manufacturer has relocated premises without prior intimation;
f) The manufacturer has indulged in false declaration in relation to the licence or falsification of records or unfair trade practices;
g) The manufacturer fails to cooperate with the auditors or authorized representatives from Bureau for any such audit(s) as may be required during the operation of the licence.

The Bureau may cancel or refuse re-certification of a licence, if-
a) Suspension of licence exceeds more than one year;
b) The holder of licence has relocated the premises and has resumed operation of the licence at the new premises without approval of the Bureau;
c) The holder of licence has violated any conditions of licence.

Dairies having existing certifications

Yes, dairy units holding accredited FSMS certificate from other certification body can obtain certification under this scheme, provided that the dairy unit undertakes to apply to BIS for transfer of FSMS at the time of re-certification and the performance of FSMS certification is satisfactory.

In case a dairy unit is holding valid FSMS certificate from other certification body, the accredited certificate will be recognized as an evidence of conformity of FSMS and detailed FSMS audit will not be carried out during initial certification.
However, re-certification audit for FSMS shall be carried out before expiry of validity of current FSMS licence. After successful completion of re-certification activities, the validity of FSMS shall be extended or reduced to align with the validity of Conformity Assessment Scheme for milk and milk products.
Example-1:
Validity of FSMS: January 2025
Validity of Conformity Assessment Scheme for Milk & Milk Products: June 2025
After re-certification of FSMS, the validity may be extended by six months to align with next cycle of CAS i.e. June 2028
Example-2:
Validity of FSMS: January 2024
Validity of Conformity Assessment Scheme for Milk & Milk Products: June 2025
After re-certification of FSMS, the validity may be reduced by one year and six months to align with CAS i.e. June 2025.

Yes, for dairies who have been awarded Quality Mark, the licence can be granted under this scheme after satisfactory audit of Product conformity and FSMS requirements

No, BIS does not certify Food Safety Systems in accordance with FSSC 22000

Yes, the dairy units holding accredited FSSC certification will be recognised equivalent to FSMS certification as per IS/ISO 22000. Such dairies will not be subjected to full system audits during initial certification. Only audit of Clause 8.0- Operations as per IS/ISO 22000 will be carried out for a maximum of 2 man-days.