On December 29, 2017, the head of the Federal Agency for Technical Regulation and Metrology has signed a decree on the foundation of a national certification system. This means that the previous system will lose its validity.
From now, the consumer protection marking will only be used within the boundaries of the national certification system. Other certification systems have no right to this marking. It is unknown, how many certification systems are still using the marking. This is because the registration used to take place in the form of a notification and mandatory records used to be rather nominal. This situation led to many market participants received faked certificates (without corresponding test). The risk has become higher for consumers and the trust in the GOST certification has been weakened.
The new procedure requires for the first time an attestation of conformity with national standards. The testing can in future only be carried out by certain testing laboratories authorized by the Federal Agency for Technical Regulation and Metrology. The means of certification are being rethought, the procedures become transparent and the reports are published. During the validity of a certificate, the quality will be controlled by the state institutions responsible. The certification has a significant meaning for the society as well as for free markets.
