On March 4, 2021, the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation sent a letter to the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation. The letter concerned the revision of the criteria for the inclusion of the EAC certification bodies and testing laboratories in the unified register, Initial criteria were approved by the Order of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 1236 of September 21, 2019.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation analyzed information about the difficulties leading to the termination of the conformity assessment procedures. As a result, a number of inconsistencies with the assessment criteria specified in Regulation No.1236 and with the procedure for including the certification bodies and testing laboratories of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) in the uniform register were found.
The proposed corrections relate to 11 points of the criteria.
Educational requirements
According to the current version of the criteria, the head of the EAC certification body, the head of the testing laboratory and their deputies must have a higher education in the subject that corresponds to the entire accreditation area or a part of it. Professional experience in the field of conformity assessment must be at least 5 years. This takes into account professional experience over the past 10 years. According to the new corrections, the supplementary vocational education of the head of the EAC certification body of at least 250 hours can also be taken into account. The educational plan must relate to the following areas: standardization, certification, quality control, merchandise theory. No changes are planned with regard to the head of the test laboratory and his/her deputies, as well as the professional experience of accredited party.
Violations in the conformity assessment procedure
According to the current version of the criteria, the EAC certification bodies and testing labporatories must have not been held to any administrative responsibility in the past three years. The following violations are taken into account in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Administrative Violations of the Russian Federation (Federal Law No. 195-FZ of December 30, 2001):
- Violations of the rules of the conformity assessment procedure (Art. 14.47)
- Submission of false test results (Art. 14.48)
- Violation of the requirements for accreditation in the national accreditation system (Art. 14.60)
- Deliberately false expert testimony (Article 19.26)
According to the new corrections, no detected violations and no cases of mass or systematic unjustified issuance of conformity assessment certificates must not be established during the entire period of validity of the accreditation.
From the current version, the part about the accredited parties who escaped state control and who applied for termination accreditation measures during the review period is excluded.
According to the new corrections, only EAC certification bodies will be responsible for mass or systematic unjustified issuance of certificates.
Requirements for the performance of the activities of the EAC certification bodies and testing laboratories
The requirement that no other certification body or testing laboratory with a similar scope of accreditation must carry out their activities at the address of the certification body and testing laboratory is excluded according to the new corrections.
Licenses confirming the safe execution of the activity
According to the new corrections, no licenses that confirm the safe execution of the activities of the certification bodies and testing laboratories have to be presented. Such documents should be checked during accreditation and proficiency testing.
False information
The criterion that prohibits false information in the accreditation documents is excluded in the new version of the criteria. The obligation to provide reliable information is anchored in the Order of the Rosaccreditation No. 1 of January 9, 2020.
Availability of an accredited test laboratory
The obligation to conclude a contract between a certification body and a testing laboratory for a period of at least one year is excluded.
Accreditation area
According to the new corrections, all certificates and declaration schemes that are provided for in the technical regulations are no longer required.
The requirement that at least half of the research and measurement methods contained in the standards of technical regulations must be present in the certification of the test laboratory is excluded.
Financial security
The minimum authorized capital is 2 million rubles (≈23,066 €). It is proposed to replace this capital with a liability insurance contract with coverage of at least 10 million rubles (≈ € 115,402). It is proposed to introduce similar measures for test laboratories.
These criteria will be discussed at a meeting of the Interdepartmental Council.
