Key changes in the field of certification in 2021

2021 was a year full of changes in the field of certification. There were so many of them that it would be extremely difficult to list and discuss them all in one article. We have selected for you the changes that had the greatest impact on the activities of producers, distributors and importers. They will be discussed in the following article.

Self-registration of the declaration of conformity

Until last year, the applicant had the choice of registering the declaration of compliance in the registry (via an FSIS Rosaccreditation account) or applying for registration to the appropriate certification body. From January 1, the authorities no longer register the declaration, so applicants only have the option of self-registration. It is worth knowing that there are few exceptions to this requirement, including for technical regulations for rail transport and pyrotechnics.

The procedure for registering declarations changed twice in the past year: first, by order of the Ministry of Economic Development No. 478, which entered into force on January 1, and was canceled on August 16, and then by government decree No. 93, which entered into force on June 21.

Demanding procedure for invalidating certificates and declarations

In 2021, the applicable statuses of the permits were established, that is: suspended, renewed, revoked. Extensive lists were also created describing the basics for applying each of these statuses. Lists can now be established not only by the national accreditation body but also by the state inspection body.

The change introduced in 2021 is also the fact that if the permit document is considered invalid, it will be considered as such from the date of its registration. Thus, it will mean that such a document has never been valid, and thus all activities related to the import and sale of products on its basis become violations of the law.

As of today, information about the inspection control is entered into the Federal State Information Service of the Federal Accreditation Service in the certificate records department, and the lack of this information is the basis for revoking the certificate. Further changes and clarifications are planned in the field of inspection control and the units responsible for it.

GTIN and GLN

GLN (Global Location Number) only needs to be provided for foreign producers. This requirement does not apply to Russian and Eurasian producers. If no such number has been assigned, the GLONASS coordinates should be provided. GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) may be provided if it is provided and the applicant wishes to provide it.

STR mark instead of PCT in mandatory conformity assessment

Before the amendment to the legislation in this area, products subject to mandatory conformity assessment according to national standards were marked with the appropriate PCT conformity mark, but now the mark of circulation on the Russian Federation market, i.e. the STR mark, is applied to it.

Changes in state control and supervision

The entry into force of the federal law 248-FZ on state control and supervision has been an important change in the world of certification in the past year. This law is associated with the appearance of many other regulations on specific types of controls, so we will certainly hear about it more than once in 2022. Its appearance is, in fact, one of the key stages of the great reform of control and supervisory activities that is currently being carried out in Russia.

The main goal of this reform is the digitization of state supervision following the overall digitization of the economy. Instead of paper documents - entries in the register will be created, instead of manual controls - computer-logical control will be carried out, and instead of inspectors - work on supervision will be entrusted to algorithms.

This change in approach is clearly visible in many changes introduced in 2021. One example is the performance of periodic inspection checks. Before introducing the amendment to the law, the auditor had to check and request the relevant acts and protocols from the authority, and now all this information is included in the register. As a result, the institution of the auditor may soon cease to be needed.