According to the current situation in the world resulting from a new coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia together with the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia have developed specific recommendations regarding the conformity assessment procedure. The recommendations are aimed at clarifying the inspection control, sampling, and other assessment procedures for applicants and certification bodies concerning products manufactured in countries with unfavorable epidemiological situations.

Given the circumstances, experts have limited possibility to go to production facilities and carry out mandatory certification procedures for production surveillance and product sampling. Thus, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation together with the Federal Accreditation Committee created the list of the following recommendations to certification bodies and applicants for mandatory product certification:

1. Regarding valid certificates of conformity for serial production, if the next scheduled inspection control is set up within the period associated with the spread of a new coronavirus infection (COVID-19), postpone the inspection control procedure for up to 6 months.

2. Regarding valid Certificates of Conformity for serial production, which expire during the period associated with the spread of a new coronavirus infection (COVID-19), a certification body that has previously conducted the periodic assessment (inspection control) of this certified products may issue a new serial certificate taking into account the positive results of the latest periodic evaluation of such certified products.

Please, note that inspection control on these newly issued certificates must be carried out not later than 3 months after the country where the products are manufactured is excluded from the List of Adverse Countries.

This paragraph applies only to the products which have no revealed facts of violation of mandatory requirements.

3. Regarding products that are put into circulation for the first time as well as products with expired certificates, accept certification schemes for a batch of products or for single products.

For certification of a batch of products, a certification body may take samples at a temporary storage warehouse or customs warehouse, in the vehicle capacity or take samples imported into the Russian Federation in compliance with customs procedures and designed for product testing and measurement.

4) Certification bodies shall temporarily suspend services for applicants, if it requires production audit and sampling on the territory of countries from the List of Adverse Countries.

• Additional information and Recommendations can be found here.  
• The full text of the recommendations in Russian is available here.

For your convenience, GMA Consult Group prepared translation of the original text:

Recommendations of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia and the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia on temporary measures on the issue of inspection control, sampling, and other scheduled work, taking into account the complicated epidemiological situation associated with the spread of a new coronovirus infection (COVID-19).

Due to the complicated epidemiological situation associated with the spread of a new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) and the detection of new outbreaks of the disease in different countries, recommendations have been developed to clarify the procedures for applicants and certification bodies for products manufactured in countries with unfavorable epidemiological situation (hereinafter referred as the List of Adverse Countries).

According to the law of the Eurasian Economic Union and the legislation of the Russian Federation, in case of serial certification of products, a certification body carries out analysis of the state of production, subsequent inspection control as well as sampling (carried out by a testing laboratory (center) on behalf of the certification body).

According to paragraph 4.2 "GOST 31815-2012. Interstate standard. Conformity assessment. The conduct of inspection control in certification procedures”, the frequency of scheduled inspections is established in technical regulations or in certification rules. In case the limit for inspection frequency is absent in technical regulations or certification rules, the frequency of inspections shall be determined by the certification body.

According to paragraph 4.2.3 "GOST 31814-2012. Interstate standard. Conformity assessment. General rules for test product sampling for compliance assessment",  for a batch of products sampling shall be carried out at the location of the batch (at the manufacturer’s end product warehouse, temporary storage warehouse, customs warehouse or at the recipient’s warehouse upon safe storage, in the vehicle’s capacity).

Considering the mentioned above, due to the limited possibility for experts to go to production facilities to carry out mandatory certification procedures for production analysis and product sampling, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation together with the Federal Accreditation Committee recommends certification bodies and applicants for mandatory product certification the following:

1) Regarding valid Certificates of Conformity for serial production, in the event that the next scheduled inspection control has come or comes within the period associated with the spread of a new coronavirus infection (COVID-19), postpone the inspection control procedure for up to 6 months.

In order to take such decision the certification body:

- takes measures to update the quality management system, which provides for a procedure for postponing inspection control if it is impossible to go to the production facilities to conduct mandatory analysis of the state of production and select samples (in terms of subparagraph “h” of paragraph 14.11 of the Accreditation Criteria approved by order of the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia dated May 30, 2014 No. 326);

- ensures that the case of the Certificate of Conformity contains the letter from the manufacturer on the immutability of the technical documentation and the manufacturing process of certified products;

- makes appropriate changes to the inspection control plan.

The deadline for conducting inspection control on such Certificates of Conformity should not exceed 3 months from the date of exclusion of the country where the products are manufactured from the List of Adverse Countries.

2) Regarding valid Certificates of Conformity for serial production, which expire during the period associated with the spread of a new coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the Certification Body that conducted the periodic assessment (inspection control) of this certified products may issue a new serial certificate taking into account the positive results of the latest periodic evaluation of such certified products.

Inspection control on such newly issued certificates must be carried out within a period not exceeding 3 months from the moment of exclusion of the country, where the products are manufactured, from the List of Adverse Countries.

The specified paragraph may be applied only to the products for which there are no revealed facts of violation of mandatory requirements.

3) Regarding products that are first put into circulation, as well as products for which the certificate has expired, accept certification schemes for a batch of products or for single products.

In this case, the Certification Body can take samples at a temporary storage warehouse, customs warehouse, in the vehicle’s capacity, or take samples imported into the Russian Federation in compliance with customs procedures and designed for product testing and measurement.  

4) Certification Bodies must temporarily suspend the provision of services to applicants, who require analysis of the state of production and sampling in countries from the List of Adverse Countries.

5) For the period of maintaining the epidemiological situation associated with the spread of a new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) and the validity of these recommendations, paragraphs 1 and 2 may be equally applied by certification bodies with respect to products manufactured in the Russian Federation, having the relevant consent of the applicant.

The information has been prepared by the GMA Consult Group team. GMA Consult Group provides a full cycle of international type approval and global market access services for IT, Telecom and industrial electrical products in all countries throughout the world. With proven expertise in worldwide regulations, compliance, certification, and conformity assessment, GMA Consult Group can help your company speed up the access to any market with almost zero efforts from your side. Need your own guide to the world of certification and approvals? Don't hesitate to contact us via info@gma.trade.

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