For many products that are to be exported to Russia and other member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan), their conformity with the requirements of technical regulations and standards has to be attested before the launch. The attestation of conformity takes place in the form of a certification, declaration or state hygienic registration. Many German manufacturers do not know, which conformity assessment activity is required for their product according to the Technical Regulations of the Eurasian Economic Union – the EAC Certification or the EAC Declaration. We are trying to answer the question on the difference between an EAC Certificate and an EAC Declaration.
EAC Certificate and EAC Declaration: definition
An EAC Certificate is an official certification that the products comply with the harmonized technical requirements of the EAEU. Certificates can only be issued by an independent certification body accredited by a member state of the customs union after a quality assessment. The certification takes place on the basis of technical documents and corporate test reports or test reports provided by accredited production laboratories, as well as if necessary an on-site manufacturing audit.
Apart from a compulsory certification, it is possible to have the product certified voluntarily.
Voluntary certification: if a certification or declaration is not intended for the product, it can still be certified on the initiative of the manufacturer or the importer. In this case, the applicant decides himself according to which standards the product is to be certified. The certification takes place according to the national regulations (STB for Belarus, GOST R for Russia, SТ RK for Kazakhstan).
An EAC Declaration is a declaration by the manufacturer, importer or an authorized representative on the conformity with the minimum requirements of the technical regulations of the Eurasian Economic Union. In contrast to the EAC Certificate, the EAC Declaration is made by the manufacturer or importer. All tests and analyses required are carried out by the manufacturer himself. The EAC Declaration has to be recorded in the unified register of the EAEU by an accredited certification body of a member state of the customs union.
Conformity assessment procedure
Normally, the technical regulations clearly define which products are subject to which attestation of conformity. In some cases, it is possible to replace the compulsory EAC Declaration by an EAC Certification, for instance in case of the conformity attestation according to TR CU 010/2011 On safety of machinery and equipment oder TR CU 004/2011 On safety of low-voltage equipment. Although a declaration has the same legal validity as a certificate, certificates are regarded to be more convincing and trustworthy.
The conformity with technical regulations of products requiring certification has to be assessed by an accredited certification body. In case of the EAC Declaration, the manufacturer is to test himself, if his products are compliant with the EAEU's standards.
EAC Declaration
- first, you have to define, which technical standards your product has to comply with
- now you choose the scheme, according to which the conformity assessment procedure will take place
- carry out the tests and record them properly
- after the results turn out as positive, you can prepare the required documents; the required documents are listed in the respective technical regulation
- issue the declaration
- dispatch the declaration and the documents to an accredited certification body within the EAEU
- the declaration is listed in the unified register of the EAEU
EAC Certification
- apply to an accredited certification body within the EAEU
- the certification body examines your documents
- identification of the product and selection of samples
- tests and analyses
- manufacturing audit (if required according to the technical regulation)
- the certificate is issued
- monitoring of the certified products (if required)
The certification and declaration can be applied for exclusively by an importer located in the Eurasian Economic Union. Therefore an authorized representative within the EAEU is required.
All documents have to be translated into Russian or the language of the respective member state.
EAC Certificate und EAC Declaration have the same legal effect in all member states within the customs union and are valid up to 5 years.
Required documents
For the certification as well as the declaration the following documents are required:
- detailed product description
- product name
- customs tariff number
- technical passport
- safety justification
- instruction manual
- technical drawings
- technical datasheet
- test reports
- already existing certifications: ISO, DIN, CE, CB
Depending on the type of the certified products, additional documents and certifications can be required.
Summary of differences between EAC Certificate and EAC Declaration
| Criteria | Certificate | Declaration |
|---|---|---|
| Applicant | manufacturer, importer, authorized representative | manufacturer, importer, authorized representative |
| Product identification | certification body | applicant |
| Tests and analyses | testing laboratories accredited in the EAEU | own testing laboratories or testing laboratories accredited in the EAEU |
| Issuer | certification body | applicant |
| Registration | certification body | certification body or applicant |
| Period of validity | 1 to 5 years depending on the regulation | 1 to 5 years depending on the regulation |
| Surveillance | certification body | - |
Issuing of an EAC Certificate or EAC Declaration
The EAC Declaration is issued by the manufacturer, importer or an authorized representative on DIN A4 paper on their own. The declaration has to be issued with signature and company stamp. The EAC conformity mark is applied to every declaration.
The EAC Certificate is issued by the certification body with an official form. Every form has a number and series. The certificate is counterfeit-proof.
