Costs of EAC certification and EAC declaration

Costs for the EAC certification are a very important question and often decisive for a company who wants to export to Russia, Kazakhstan and the Eurasian Economic Union. Especially when it is only a one-time delivery or export of a small volume. Unfortunately, there is no general answer to this question. We will try to explain how the costs for the EAC certification are composed.

There are several parameters that affect the cost of conformity assessment:

1. Product itself: The cost of certification depends on the specifics of the product and the risks that the product poses
2. The applied technical regulations
3. Form of conformity assessment: EAC certification or EAC declaration. EAC certificate costs more, since the EAC certification requires the mandatory use of an accredited certification body, which not only carries out checks on technical documents, but also carries out a production audit and an annual inspection controls
4. EAC conformity assessment schemes
5. Requirements of the technical regulations: number and complexity of the product tests, necessity of the manufacturing audit and the annual inspection controls, additional requirements such as Certificate of State Registration
6. Degree of involvement of accredited test laboratories
7. Type of delivery - serial production, one-time delivery, and contract-bound batch delivery
8. Other approvals that come into question for the product: pattern approval certificate, FSB notification, State Hygienic Registration

Product

Product is the crucial parameter for cost calculation. The extent of the work of an expert for product identification, review and analysis of the technical documentation depends on the peculiarities of the product (its construction, composition, application area, etc.) and the resulting risks. The more complex the product, the more work is required.

A product can subject to several technical regulations: e.g. a sewing machine for light industry is subject to conformity assessment according to three technical regulations: TR CU 004/2011 On safety of low-voltage equipment; TR CU 010/2011 On safety of machinery and equipment and TR CU 020/2011 On electromagnetic compatibility. These three regulations can be included in one EAC declaration.

In other cases, an additional declaration or certificate must be applied for. A printer is not only subject to an EAC certification according to TR CU 004/2011 On the safety of low-voltage equipment, but also to a declaration according to TR EAEU 037/2016 On restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment, Two different certificates of conformity must be issued.

It is also relevant for the costs of the EAC conformity assessment how many laboratories are accredited in a particular area. The more "competitors" on the market, the lower the price. For some difficult products, there are only one or two laboratories that can and may carry out the tests. That's why the price is higher there. It applies above all for certification of rail vehicles (TR CU 001/2011 On safety of rail vehicles, TR CU 002/2011 On safety of high-speed trains and TR CU 003/2011 On the safety of railway infrastructure), wheeled vehicles (TR CU 018 2011 On safety of wheeled vehicles), elevators (TR CU 011/2011 On elevator safety), air hoses or explosion-proof equipment (TR CU 012/2011 On safety of the equipment for operation in explosive atmospheres).

The table below shows the approximate costs for the most common regulations. They can be low or higher. This information is for guidance only. The final price can only be determined after a detailed examination of the product and the technical documentation.

Manufacturing audit: the costs include: travel costs, accommodation costs and daily rates of the expert. As a rule, one or maximum two experts will visit the production sites. We recommend our clients to have the trip organized by themselves or by us. It will be cheaper.

Inspection control : the scope of the control is individually defined. Depending on the technical regulations, it can be a production audit, sample tests or tests of the technical documents and the quality management system.

Test reports: for some products several test reports have to be requested, for example, a certificate is set for a product group: a scissor lift. But there are different types of it. For each type that is included in the certificate, there must be a separate test report. Each additional test report costs extra.

Form of the conformity assessment

There are different forms of EAC conformity assessment: EAC certificate and EAC declaration.

EAC certificate costs more, since it is not just the examination of documents. The certification stipulates real sample tests in the accredited laboratories in the customs union, production audit and inspection controls. The costs for sample tests are usually included in the price, costs for the production audit and inspection control are always calculated separately.

There are currently 48 technical regulations in force in the Eurasian Economic Union. These regulations determine for which products an EAC certificate and for which an EAC declaration must be applied for.

Some regulations only provide one form of conformity assessment: TR CU 012/2011 On the safety of equipment for operation in potentially explosive atmospheres - only an EAC certificate; TR EAWU 037/2016 On the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic devices - an EAC declaration.

Schemes of the EAC conformity assessment

There are different schemes of certification or declaration procedure. Each scheme specifies how exactly the applicant must proceed in order to confirm the conformity of the product.

Two points are crucial here:

1. Type of production and delivery: series delivery, contract-bound batch delivery (lot) or individual delivery. In the case of a batch delivery or individual delivery, for example, no production audit and no inspection control are carried out. This saves time and money. In the case of a series delivery, production audits and inspection controls are mandatory. The frequency of the inspection control is prescribed in the corresponding technical regulations. As a rule, it should be carried out once a year. Each control is paid separately.
2. Degree of involvement of the certification body and the test laboratory: The main issue here is whether the manufacturer's test reports or test reports from an accredited test laboratory form the basis for the conformity assessment. Test reports of an accredited test laboratory are based on the results of the sample tests. This induces costs for the tests conducting, as well as for shipping, possibly customs clearance and the samples themselves. In many cases, the samples are damaged during the tests and then destroyed.

Let's take adult clothing certification as an example. The EAC declaration is only issued on the basis of sample tests in a laboratory. On the other hand, the declaration for industrial sewing machines can be issued based on the manufacturer's internal test reports and does not require any tests by the approved bodies in the EAEU.

Technical Documentation and technical Translation

Сonformity assessment procedure requires the submission of certain technical documents to the certification bodies. They are the prerequisite for obtaining an EAC certification or EAC declaration. They have to be made in Russian according to certain GOST standards. The necessary documents are listed in our table. The most important are: technical passport, safety justification and instruction manual.

These documents are written by the experts and cost in addition to the certificate or declaration.

Authorized Representative

Only a company located in the territory of the Eurasian Economic Union can apply for EAC certification or registration of an EAC declaration. The companies that are registered the Eurasian Economic Union, for example in Germany or in other EU countries, are not allowed to declare their own products. This problem can be avoided by using the exporter as an Authorized Representative in the Eurasian Economic Union. Many certification companies charge additional fees for this service.

Additional conformity assessments

It is important to mention that a product can not only be subjected to an EAC conformity assessment. Additional documents may also be required, such as a measuring equipment approval (pattern approval certificate), FSB notification or fire protection certificate. Some goods for children require a certificate of state registration and an EAC declaration. Some certificates, such as state registration, are valid throughout the customs union, and some - such as notification and pattern approval - are regulated nationally in every country.