The regulation introduces a number of simplifications in the field of certification in 2022 in Russia

On March 14, 2022, the Regulation of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 353 "On the specifics of licensing activities in the Russian Federation in 2022" of March 12, 2022 was officially published and entered into force. This document provides for the automatic extension of the validity of concessions and other types of permits for 12 months, as well as their simplification in the current year.

The sanctions imposed on Russia cause changes

The regulation covers over 120 types of permits, incl. for agriculture, industry, commerce and more. A one-year extension of the validity of the permits was introduced due to the necessity to undergo the procedure of confirming the conformity of the manufactured products. This decision was made due to the introduced economic sanctions. In addition, during this period, public authorities will be able to make decisions on shortening the terms of providing services in the field of permits, on reducing mandatory requirements or the list of documents required for issuing permits, and on withdrawing the assessment of compliance with mandatory requirements.

Product compliance assessment

Annex No. 18 to Decree No. 353 and the Federal Law No. 184-FZ "On Technical Regulations" of December 27, 2002 define the rules for assessing the compliance of a product with the requirements of technical regulations at the time of introducing the regime of temporary restrictions. They draw attention to the existing regulations regarding the possibility of carrying out inspection controls of certified products placed on the market in Russia in 2022 in the form of an analysis of the production state, including a remote form. This was replaced by the possibility of testing product samples. Moreover, the certification body has the right to decide to postpone the inspection control planned for 2022 for a period of up to 6 months.

An automatic 12-month extension will be applied to conformity assessment documents expiring between March 14, 2022 and September 1, 2022. Production and marketing of products in accordance with such documents will be possible with the new validity dates of the permits without additional controls. The document also states that when importing products into the territory of Russia, it is enough to provide information on permits at the customs office, and the original documents will not be required.

Documents without permits and customs clearance

The following goods may pass through customs without permits or documents containing information about them:

• spare parts imported for the maintenance or repair of products previously placed on the market in Russia
• components, raw materials or materials for the production of products in Russia
• individual products purchased for the applicant's own needs.

Certain product labeling requirements have also been abolished. Until March 1, 2023, it is allowed to import goods intended for sale only in Russia without marking imposed by mandatory requirements, including the EAC mark. Labeling is required before the product is sold to consumers.

Simplification of forms

Significant changes will also affect the simplification of product conformity assessment forms. From March 21 to September 1, 2022, it is allowed to replace the certification and declaration of products according to the schemes with the participation of an accredited research laboratory into a declaration based on the evidence of product safety provided by the applicant. This procedure may be used in the following cases:

1. Conformity assessment is obligatory for a batch of products or for a single product.

2. The applicant may only be legal entities or individual entrepreneurs registered in Russia.

3. The applicant has a complete set of documents:

• contract / contract of delivery (or a copy thereof) and transport documents allowing the identification of the batch / single product
• description of the applied technical solutions and the results of the risk assessment confirming the fulfillment of the mandatory requirements; list of standards (if applicable)
• documents and information constituting the basis for accepting a declaration of conformity drawn up in a foreign language with a translation into Russian (with the exception of attachments to test reports).

4. The declaration of conformity must be registered by the applicant in the FGIS (Rosacreditation).

5. Declaration of Conformity is valid for 6 months from the date of registration in FGIS (Rosacreditation).

6. Products cannot bear the EAC mark.

The list of products for which the simplified declaration of conformity cannot be applied will be approved by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Later, the certification and declaration of products with the participation of accredited testing laboratories may be carried out with the sampling of the batch of products imported to Russia on the basis of a simplified declaration of conformity.

The indication of GLNs will not be mandatory

An important change is that until March 1, 2023, applicants are given the option of not indicating GLN numbers or other individual identifiers allowing for automatic identification of the production address during the certification and declaration of product conformity. In the period from March 14, 2022 to September 1, 2022, the provisions on invalidation of certificates, declarations of conformity and test reports, approved by Decrees of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 934 and No. 936 of June 19, 2021, do not apply.

Temporary accreditation procedures

The temporary accreditation procedure in the national accreditation system is specified in Annex 17 to Resolution 353. The most important change is that the deadlines for transferring the competences of accredited persons (in the period from March 14, 2022 to September 1, 2022) will be extended by as much as 6 months. An application in this matter should be submitted not earlier than one month before the new date of confirmation of competences. The situation is different in the case of accrediting experts, whose 5-year accreditation period expires before March 1, 2023 - then the accreditation period is extended by 12 months.

In 2022, accredited testing laboratories have the right to perform work on the documents covered by the approved scope of accreditation until the procedure for extending the scope of accreditation is completed. At the same time, a necessary condition is compliance with the requirements of the Federal Law No. 412-FZ "On accreditation in the national accreditation system" of December 28, 2013 (clause 1, art. 7).

ST-1 certificates and simplification of the state registration of goods from the uniform list

ST-1 certificates of origin, valid from the date of entry into force of the decree until December 31, 2022, will be valid for the next 12 months. Procedures for issuing permits have been introduced in relation to products covered by Chapter II of the harmonized list of goods subject to state sanitary and epidemiological control in the territory of the EAEU. The state authorities may, taking into account the specific nature of a given licensing activity, decide to shorten the period for issuing a permit, extend the validity period, shorten the list of documents for registration and other similar procedures. Such goods include, but are not limited to, adult personal care items.