The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) is a customs and economic union of Belarus, the Russian Federation, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Armenia. It establishes an area of free trade between the member states. Since 2015 the EAEU has been the legal successor of the former Eurasian Customs Union EACU. In the area of the Eurasian Economic Union a common customs tariff, unified trade rules and harmonized technical standards apply.
The Eurasian Conformity Mark - EAC - is official proof that the products conform to all Technical Regulations of the Eurasian Economic Union (TR CU and TR EAEU) assessment procedures. The new common certification system is based on the Technical Regulation processes of the Russian Federation.
The products, which conform to all Technical Regulations and are confirmed to do so by an EAC certificate, are allowed to cross the borders and be sold within the EAEU. This requires no further national certification of conformity such as GOST-R, TR or GOST-K.
Required certificates of the customs union can be granted by an independant certifying body accredited in a member state after the product has been inspected.
Legal framework
The legal basis for the EAC certification involves following documents:
- the board decision of the EAEU commission No. 319 from 18.06.2010
- the agreement on common principles and rules of technical regulation in the Republic of Belarus, Republic of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation 18.11.2010
- the decision of the board of the customs union commission No. 620 from 07.04.2011
As a consequence of the coordination of national safety standards, the previous national Technical Regulations such as Russian GOST-R, and TR certification were gradually phased out and substituted by the new Technical Regulations of the EAEU - TR CU in every industrial sector. In addition to the EAC certification, the EAC declaration has also been introduced in the customs union as a simpler and less expensive form of proof of conformity.
The EAC certification process is consistent for all member states of the EAEU. The certificate of the EAEU has a standardised format and application process in accordance with the board decision of the EACU commission No. 896 from 09.12.2011.
EAC certificate includes the following information:
Regarding its content, the EAC certificate of the EAEU is identical with the TR certificate and includes the following information:
- address and name of the manufacturer
- names of certified products
- customs tariff number
- applied standards of Technical Regulation
- information about the testing center
- period of validity
- registration number
- information on the notified body
The EAC certificates of the EAEU apply in all member states within the EAEU and are valid for up to 5 years. The issued EAC certificates are registered in the uniform register of the EAEU. Besides the duties of EAC certification one needs the EAC declaration process to confirm the conformity of the products with Technical Regulations of member states of the EAEU.
Application area
The EAC certification and EAC declaration are required for all products, which are listed in the common list of products to be certified within the EAEU under decision of the board of the Eurasian Economic Commission No. 620 from 07.04.2011. For the products which are not listed, the national regulation for the certification for import and sales is valid.
Technical Regulations TR CU and TR EAEU
So far, 48 technical regulations have been adopted in the Eurasian Economic Union, which must be used for EAC certificate. Several sets of rules are currently being developed or are already being discussed at the Union level.
The technical regulations TR CU and TR EAEU are basically the counterpart of Eureopean CE directives, or more precisely EU regulations. TR CU is abbreviation of Customs UnionTechnical Regulations an TR EAEU is an abbreviation of Economic Union Technical Regulations, smiliar to the designation of CE directives e.g. Directives 2006/42/EC and 2011/65/EU. More on this topic you can find in our articles: "Which one is correct: TR CU certificate or EAC certificate?" and "Differences between EAC Certificate and EAC declaration".
The technical regulations set minimum requirements for the safety of the respective products. The conformity of the products with the regulations is declared by EAC certificate by the manufacturer or its representative. After successful conformity assessment, the products are marked with the EAC conformity mark. The EAC marking declares that the product complies with the applicable safety requirements of the technical regulations. Only then the product can be placed on the EAEU market for free circulation.
Required documents
In order to apply for the certificate of the EAEU, you need the documentation like for the application for a GOST or TR certificate, such as:
- detailed product information
- product name
- customs tariff number
- technical passport
- safety justification
- technical drawings and pictures
- technical data sheet
- operating manuals
- test reports
- already available certificates: ISO, DIN, CE, CB certificates
Depending on the type of certified products, other additional documents may be required.
In case the products which are to be certified also require hygiene and sanitary inspection, appropriate proof for the issue of the EAC certificate of the EAEU may need to be supplied.
The EAC declaration of the EAEU
The EAC declaration of conformity to Technical Regulations of the Eurasian Economic Unionis is a more easy and less expensive way to prove the conformity of the products. It should guarantee that the products meet the safety requirements of the technical regulation of the EAEU and are safe for customers and the environment. In opposition to the EAC certification, the EAC declaration can only be applied for by an importer based in one of the member states of the EAEU. Therefore an authorized representative within the EAEU is required. In case you need an authorized representative, we would be pleased to reccomend a suitable company to you that can take over this function.
The EAC declaration has the same validity as a certificate. The products listed in the resolution of the board of the Customs Union Commission No. 620 from 07.04.2011 require an EAC certification or an EAC declaration.
The EAC declaration is required for the customs clearance of the products at its export to the EAEU if they are listed in the resolution of the EAEU No. 620 from 07.04.2011. More information here>>
Differences between an EAC Certificate and an EAC Declaration
| Criteria | EAC Certificate | EAC Declaration |
|---|---|---|
| Applicant | producer, importer, person with power of attorney | producer, importer, person with power of attorney |
| Classification of products | made by the certifying body | made by the applicant |
| Proof of conformity | based on the test report of the accredited test laboratory | based on applicant's own evidence or the test report of the accredited test laboratory |
| Quality assurance | comprehensive production audit through the certifying body or external ISO 9001 certification | quality assurance is done by the applicant |
| Issuing of the certificate of conformity | certification body on an official form | applicant on a normal sheet of paper |
| Registration of the certificate of conformity | certification body | applicant or certification body |
| Validity | 1 to 5 years, depending on the regulation | 1 to 5 years, depending on the regulation |
| Responsibility | lies with the certification body | lies with the applicant |
| Surveillance | certification body | - |
EAC Certification process
The certification is done on the analytical basis of the technical documents and the internal test reports or rather the test reports made available by the accredited test laboratories. Undre certain circumstances the certification takes place after an on- site production audit.
EAC certification consists of the following steps:
- Step: application at an accredited certification body in the EAEU
- Step: the certification body verifies the documents
- Step: classification of the product and choice of samples
- Step: examination and analysis
- Step: production audit (if required by the Technical Regulation)
- Step: issuing of the certificate
- Step: monitoring of the certified product (if required)
The application of a certificate can be done for different circumstances: for single supplies, serial supplies or serial production.
Schemes of EAC conformity assessment
All technical regulations contain descriptions of EAC certification procedures, the so called schemes. Which scheme, and therefore also which kind of certification procedure is chosen, depends on the characteristics of the product, the manufacturing process and the supply. The schemes of conformity assessment are complementary to the modules of conformity assessment, according to the EU guideline 768/2008/EG of the EAEU.
Manufacturing audit
For some products, which underlie the EAC certification, the technical regulations of the EAEU provide a manufacturing audit. This holds especially for EAC certification for serial production.
The audit is conducted by an accredited certification body on site. It primarily serves to examine, whether the manufacturing process meets the legal requirements. The manufacturing audit is to be carried out in accordance with the national standard of Russian Federation GOST-R 54293-2010 “Manufacturing audit for conformity assessment procedures”.
Surveillance of conformity assessment
After having issued the EAC certificate, it shall be examined periodically, whether the product is still conform with the technical requirements and is labeled appropriately with the mark of conformity or the EAC mark. This is carried out in form of external surveillance, the surveillance of conformity assessment.
The surveillance consists in systematically, iteratively conformity assessment activities of the certification body, which has issued the certificate, in order to maintain its validity. The surveillance is only necessary for EAC certificates; for the EAC declaration no external surveillance is required.
Authorised Representative
If the producer doesn't have a location in the EAEU, it does not have the right to apply for a required conformity assessment of its products. In order to still be able to be the subject of a conformity assessment, the foreign producer must give a representative in the EAEU power of attorney. They will defend the interests of the foreign producer when working with the certifying bodies with regard to safety and quality of products and in accordance with technical regulations.
As the law stands and in accordance with the Technical Regulation of the economic union only an operator based in the territory may be named power of attorney.
EAC Marking
The products listed as requiring an EAC certification under the technical regulation of the EAEU need to be marked with an EAC mark of the EAEU. This proves its conformity with all legal requirements of the EAEU.
The requirements to EAC marking and its conformity to the Technical Regulationa of the EAEU are listed in the decision of the board of the Customs Union Commission No. 711 from 15.07.2011.
The marking of products, which require an obligatory EAC certification under the technical regulation of the EAEU, is one condition for admission to the market. The placing on the market without appropriate marking is forbidden. Moreover, the EAC marking increases the trust of potential customers and the demand for the product.
Period of validity of EAC certificates
The validity period of the EAC certificate differs depending on the applied technical regulations, the selected scheme, the type of production (serial production, individual delivery, etc.) and equipment and ranges on average from one to 5 years. Those parameters are determined in the respective technical regulation.
Duration and costs for EAC certification
The duration and costs associated with an EAC certificate application depend on several different factors, such as the classification of the product, any required laboratory checks and the complexity of all examinations. As such the exact conditions of the EAC certification are always determined individually based on the required documentation.
Please note that an application for an EAC certificate can take several weeks to process.
Delivery of the documentation
If you order the EAC Certificate, you will receive a copy of it via email immediately after our successful certification procedure. The original document and two certified copies will be sent by post.
