Goals of voluntary conformity assessment

Compliance is confirmedin order to :

Certification of conformity of products, production processes, operation, storage, transportation, implementation and disposal of works, services or other objects of TR, standards, terms of contracts;

Assistance to purchasers in the competent choice of products, works and services;

Increasing the competitiveness of products, works, services in the Russian and international markets;

Creation of conditions for ensuring the free movement of goods across the territory of the Russian Federation, as well as for the implementation of international economic, scientific and technical cooperation and international trade.

When making a decision on confirmation of conformity, it is necessary to be guided by the followingprinciples :

1. availability of information on the procedure for carrying out conformity assessment to interested parties;

2. the inadmissibility of applying mandatory confirmation of conformity to objects in respect of which the requirements of technical regulations are not established;

3. establishing a list of forms and schemes mandatory confirmation compliance with respect to certain types of products in the relevant regulation;

4. reduction of the terms for the implementation of mandatory confirmation of compliance and the costs of the applicant;

5. inadmissibility of coercion to carry out voluntary confirmation of compliance;

6. the inadmissibility of replacing the mandatory confirmation of compliance with voluntary certification;

7. protection of the property interests of the applicants, compliance trade secret in relation to the information obtained in the course of conformity assessment.

It should be emphasized that these principles declare:

On the openness and availability of information on all issues related to the confirmation of compliance for all stakeholders(principle 1);

Inadmissibility of coercion to carry out voluntary confirmation of conformity, if this is not necessary (principle 2), and thus the transformation of a voluntary certification procedure into a mandatory one (principles 5 and 6);

Minimization of time and costs in carrying out work on confirmation of compliance (principle 4), as well as observance of trade secrets (principle 7);

Mandatory availability of schemes and forms of conformity assessment (principle 3).

5.4. Compliance Forms

Compliance Form- a certain procedure for documentary certification of the conformity of products or other objects at all stages of their life cycle, performance of work or provision of services to the requirements of the TR, the provisions of standards, codes of practice or the terms of contracts.

Confirmation of conformity differs not only in form and content, i.e. may have different validation schemes.

Compliance Scheme- a list of actions of participants in conformity assessment, the results of which are considered by them as evidence of the compliance of products and other objects with the established requirements (Section 5.8.).

On the territory of the Russian Federation, confirmation of conformity can be voluntary or required character (Fig.5.1.):

voluntary conformity assessment carried out in the form of voluntary certification.

obligatory confirmation of conformity carried out in the form:

Acceptance of a declaration of conformity (declaration of conformity);

Mandatory certification.

The procedure for applying the forms of mandatory confirmation of conformity is established by the Federal Law "On technical regulation».

So, in the conformity assessment system, two main forms of confirmation are introduced: voluntary and compulsory. What is their difference and what products (works, services) - objects of certification, can and should be certified? What form of confirmation of conformity to choose for a particular object of certification and who chooses this form? Does the form of confirmation of conformity depend on the object of certification? What are confirmation schemes for and why are they different? Are different forms of certification equal? We need answers to these and other questions.

It should be noted that the certification of products (works, services) is rather complicated. This is due to the fact that three parties (Applicant, Consumer and OS) are involved in the process of conformity assessment, and the certification objects themselves are extremely diverse: products (food products, medicines, industrial products, high-risk products, military products, equipment for various purposes, etc.). ), works, services, quality systems, jobs, etc.

It must be emphasized that confirmation of compliance with federal law "On technical regulation" is considered as the compliance of the characteristics of the object of certification with the requirements of TR. However, during the transitional period, when in a number of areas of industrial activity, certification of homogeneous products has not yet been put into effect (relevant TRs have not been developed), conformity assessment is carried out using the existing ND, the list of which is determined, as a rule, by the system of certification of homogeneous products. Therefore, below, if the text refers to confirmation of compliance with the requirements of TR, then this is true if these regulations have been developed by now.

How did the conformity assessment procedure come about?

Initially, this procedure was carried out in the form of certification.

Although the term "certification" has become known in everyday life and commercial practice relatively recently (in recent decades), certification as a procedure has been used for a long time, and the term "certificate" has been known since the 19th century. Yes, in encyclopedic dictionary F. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron, published in 1900, gives several definitions of a certificate, one of them: a certificate is an identity. In the financial sector, a certificate is interpreted in some cases as a monetary certificate for a certain amount, in others - as a bond of a special state loan.

There is evidence that manufacturers of goods have long guaranteed the quality of their products, including in writing, i.e. supplied them with (in modern terminology) "declarations of conformity". The range of such statements was very wide, it even covered works of art. There is evidence that the famous Renaissance artists guaranteed the safety of their paintings for 300 years. And, what is most interesting, such guarantees in most cases turned out to be real.

The facts described are an example of first party certification.

In metrology, certification has long been known as the activity of official verification and branding (or sealing) of an instrument (balances, weights). Branding indicates that the device meets the certification requirements for its design and metrological characteristics. For more than 100 years, the term "certificate" has been used in international metrological practice. So, the accompanying document to the prototype of the kilogram received by Russia in 1879 had the following title: “The International Committee of Weights and Measures. Certificate of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures for the prototype of the kilogram No. 12, transferred to the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Empire. This voluminous document contains information about the manufacturer of prototypes and their certification, about the chemical composition and volume, i.e. set out identifying

common signs. The document indicates the positions and names of persons who performed certain technological operations. The process of metrological certification of the prototype is described in detail, i.e. recognition of the standard as legalized on the basis of a thorough study of its metrological properties. In particular, “certification tests” were carried out for the prototype of the kilogram: for the entire group of prototypes (42 in total), 1092 weighings were carried out for comparison with each other and with the international (main) prototype, which, in turn, was compared with the archival kilogram.

The described experience is an example of third party certification - the International Bureau of Weights and Measures.

For several centuries there have been so-called classification organizations that, as non-governmental and independent organizations, evaluate the safety of ships for the purpose of their insurance. In essence, this is also a third party certification - a certification of conformity. An example of a classification organization is the Lloyd's Register - the most authoritative in our time international organization, which has offices in 127 countries and has been the world leader in certification organizations for two centuries.

Russia also has a classification organization - the Marine Register, which was created by insurance companies in 1913. Since its inception, the Russian Register (as it was first called) has been engaged in what is now called the certification of civil ships for their safety. Moreover, this certification immediately began to be carried out according to international rules. Therefore, even then it was not only prestigious, but also beneficial to ship owners: the insurance of a vessel, the safety of which is confirmed by an authoritative organization, is cheaper, and its charter is more expensive. Today, the Maritime Register is one of the authoritative organizations involved in the certification of quality systems.

The system of the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia has a state system for classifying hotels and other accommodation facilities (motels, holiday homes, boarding houses). This System certifies accommodation facilities for categories (“stars”) and (in case of positive certification results) issues category certificate.

Various certificates are used in foreign trade: certificates of origin, inspection certificates, delivery confirmation certificates. Certificate of origin confirms that the exporting country belongs to the category of countries that are granted benefits for the payment of customs duties. Such privileges are used by the CIS countries and the so-called developing countries (for example, China, Singapore).

Inspection Certificate issued by an international control organization (on the basis of its agreement with the organization of the recipient country) based on the results of checking the quality of the shipped goods. For example, such an inspection is carried out by the international inspection organization SGS in relation to plywood exported by Russia to a number of countries.

Delivery Confirmation Certificate applies to "dual-use goods" - products used for civil and military purposes, and is issued by the customs authority of the Russian Federation that clears the imported goods. The certificate confirms that the goods are delivered in Russian Federation and accepted under the export control regime. The purpose of control is to confirm that a particular product has not been used for purposes other than those specified in the document; was not transferred to another business entity on the territory of the Russian Federation; was not re-exported without the permission of the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia.

As follows from the examples, in all three cases, confirmation is carried out by a third party.

Leading economic powers began to develop certification processes in the 1920s and 1930s. XX century. In 1920, the German Standards Institute (DIN) established the DIN conformity mark in Germany, registered in the Federal Republic of Germany under the trademark law.

When was certification legalized in Russia and how did it develop?

The predecessor of Russian certification was certification in the USSR of domestic exported products. Initially, it was carried out in foreign centers and its obligation was actually established not by domestic laws, but by the legislation of those countries to which goods were supplied from the USSR.

In 1984 The government of the USSR adopted a Decree on the certification of exported products. In 1986 Gosstandart put into effect the Interim Procedure for Certification of Engineering Products.

In 1988, the CMEA member countries signed the Convention on the System for Assessing the Quality and Certification of Mutually Supplied Products (SEPRO CMEA). In the USSR, this system was introduced in 1988. The SEPRO CMEA system provided for certification using both CMEA standards and other international norms and the best national standards. This system has actually introduced international accreditation of testing laboratories and international certification. By 1991, there were 14 testing centers in the country, and several production facilities were certified.

At the same time, in the USSR, the conformity of products to the established requirements was assessed in other forms: certification by quality categories; state acceptance of products; state tests (about 30% of products certified according to quality categories were subjected to them); state

standards oversight.

In Russia, after the liquidation of the USSR, certification of products by quality categories, state tests and state acceptance of products were officially canceled. Certification in Russia began to be carried out in 1993 in accordance with the Law of the Russian Federation dated 07.02.1992 No. 2300-1 "On Protection of Consumer Rights", which established the mandatory certification of the safety of consumer goods.

What laws and documents currently regulate conformity assessment procedures?

Legislative and normative base in this area is very extensive. PS activities in Russia are legally regulated and ensured by the laws of the Russian Federation, by-laws, presidential decrees and regulations of the Russian government.

The main laws and by-laws that currently regulate PS activities in Russia are shown in Figure 3 /6/. Federal Law “On Technical Regulation” No. 184-FZ has been revised and is now in effect as amended on 05/09/2005, No. 45-FZ, on 05/01/2007, No. 65-FZ and on 01.12.2007 No. 309-FZ.

This Federal Law canceled the earlier laws of the Russian Federation “On Certification” and “On Standardization”, as well as a number of resolutions of the Government of the Russian Federation related to them.

Figure 3 - Laws and regulations as a basis for confirming compliance in the Russian Federation /6/

The regulatory and methodological framework of the PS includes:

A set of regulatory documents for compliance with the requirements of which certification of products and services is carried out, as well as documents establishing methods for verifying compliance with these requirements (approximately 12 thousand items);

A set of organizational and methodological documents that define the rules and procedures for carrying out certification work (a series of certification rules and comments to them).

Goals and principles of conformity assessment

What goals of the PS are established by the Law of the Russian Federation"On technical regulation"?

The confirmation aims to achieve the following goals:

Certification of the conformity of products and processes of the ZhTsP, works and services (or other objects) with technical regulations, standards, terms of contracts;

Increasing the competitiveness of products, works, services in the Russian and international markets;

Assistance to purchasers in the competent choice of products, works, services;

Creation of conditions for ensuring the free movement of goods across the territory of the Russian Federation, as well as the implementation of international trade.

The following example testifies to the high socio-economic effect of conformity assessment: refusal to mandatory certification and the ban on the sale of 100 tons of Belgian beef on the market saved thousands of people from acute poisoning; the cost of their treatment would amount to about 60 million rubles, and the losses due to the absence of people in the workplace - another 100 million rubles.

On what principles is PS based under this Law?

When confirming compliance, the following principles should be followed:

1) availability of information on the procedure for carrying out conformity assessment to interested parties;

2) establishment in the relevant TR of a list of forms and schemes of mandatory compliance in relation to objects, certain types of products;

3) focus on reducing the duration of the procedure for mandatory confirmation of conformity and the costs of the applicant;

4) inadmissibility of coercion to carry out voluntary confirmation of compliance;

5) the inadmissibility of replacing the mandatory confirmation of compliance with voluntary certification;

6) protection of the property interests of applicants, observance of trade secrets in relation to information obtained during the confirmation of conformity;

7) the inadmissibility of applying mandatory confirmation of conformity to objects for which the requirements of TR are not established (the specified principle will be implemented during the transitional period as the TR for the relevant objects is developed);

8) presumption of conformity of products marked with the mark of conformity. The alleged non-compliance must be proved by the inspecting organizations. In the practice of EU technical regulation (from where this principle is borrowed), it means the following: until proven otherwise, the manufacturer declares in the declaration of conformity that his products meet the requirements of the harmonized standard, and hence the essential requirements of the EU directive.

Ignoring principles 4 and 5, which are directly related to voluntary conformity assessment, leads to the transformation voluntary certification to forced /5/. It's about, for example, about the practice of holding competitions and tenders, the organizers of which, as a condition for participation in them, include the passage of a voluntary certification procedure. The compulsory nature of voluntary certification can take place within the framework of departmental certification, i.e. systems created by federal executive authorities.

Essence of confirmation of conformity. The main provisions of the Federal Law "On Technical Regulation" determine that confirmation of conformity is one of the forms of conformity assessment.

According to the previous legislation in the Russian Federation, documentary evidence of compliance could only be in the form of certification. the federal law provides the basis for conformity assessment. Important are the list of mandatory requirements for specific products and conformity assessment procedures. This is determined in technical regulations (TR), both general and special. Consequently, the basis for confirming compliance, laid down in the Federal Law "On Technical Regulation", will be implemented in accordance with the TR in different ways for different groups products

Goals of conformity assessment. Confirmation of conformity is carried out in order to:

· certification of compliance of products, product life cycle processes (LCP), works and services with the requirements of TR, standards and terms of contracts;

assistance to buyers in the competent choice of products, services, works;

· increasing the competitiveness of products, services, works in the Russian and international markets.

The main goal of mandatory certification - protecting the safety of consumers when using goods - has been transformed into assisting purchasers in the competent choice of products and services. This indicates a transition Russian market to a more civilized stage of development.

Conformity assessment principles. The new legislation on technical regulation in terms of conformity assessment is based on sufficiently updated principles. The most important of them are the following:

· Availability for interested parties of information on the procedure for confirming compliance. Such information is included in technical regulations and standards that are available as a result of the work of the Federal Information Fund TR and standards. All information during the certification of products in a particular body, including the terms of contracts, the cost of work, etc., also on the basis of this principle, should be available to applicants for work.

· It is inadmissible to apply mandatory confirmation of conformity to objects for which requirements are not established in the TR, and, conversely, to replace mandatory confirmation of conformity with voluntary certification. The principle is included in the Federal Law "On Technical Regulation" because in the practice of certification work this principle was often violated. This led to an increase in the cost of certification work. The federal law assumes that as soon as a TR becomes effective for a specific product group, all other requirements that are not included in it become voluntary. If there is no TR developed for the product and, consequently, there are no mandatory requirements, it can only be certified on a voluntary basis.

· It is inadmissible to reduce the terms for the implementation of mandatory confirmation of compliance and the costs of the applicant and at the same time protect the property interests of the applicants and observe trade secrets. These two principles aim to define the relationship between applicants for work and the certification body. Relationships should be built on open information on the terms and prices of work, which should not be violated under pressure from one of the parties.

· Inadmissibility of coercion to carry out voluntary certification, including in a certain system of voluntary certification. Expansion of the scope of voluntary certification in comparison with the mandatory should not take place under the pressure of certification bodies accredited in voluntary system. The main incentive for applying for certification in a certain system should be the credibility and wide recognition of the system of this organization. For example, such a place in Russia is occupied by the system of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

It should be noted that regardless of the country and place of origin of products and other objects, types and features of transactions, confirmation of conformity is carried out according to the same rules. At the same time, confirmation of conformity can be carried out by manufacturers, performers, sellers and purchasers (wholesalers).

The above principles are based on international and domestic experience in carrying out work to confirm compliance and have been in force since the introduction of the Federal Law.

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