The new registration procedure for declarations of conformity

 
Simultaneously in accordance with Resolution No. 65 of the Russian Government dated 30 January 2020, Order No. 76 dated 21 February 2012 and No. 752 dated 24 November 2014 of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, which previously determined the registration procedure for declarations of conformity of products to the requirements of the technical regulations, and for the products to be included in the unified list of products subject to the declaration of conformity, will be repealed. 

 
The Procedure establishes the rules for the registration of declarations of conformity in the unified register by using a specialised service for the automated electronic registration of declarations of conformity applying structural, formatting and logical, and other types of control.

This means that specifically the system, rather than an authority’s official, will check the specified data and the documents submitted by the applicant for completeness and accuracy in the event that they conform to the established requirements as well. The system will automatically register a declaration of conformity in the unified register.

The Procedure does not apply to declarations of conformity for the following products (work and services):

• those used for federal state needs in accordance with a government defence order,
• those used for the protection of data comprising a state secret or the data classified as information subject to limited access and protected under Russian legislation;
• on which the data comprise a state secret.

Save for individual exceptions, the Federal Service for Accreditation (known by the Russian abbreviation “FSA”) registers declarations of conformity in the unified register. The exceptions include the cases when legislation of the Eurasian Economic Union provides that only certification authorities carry out the registration of declarations of conformity. In such cases the registration will still be carried out by the certification authorities accredited in the national accreditation system that are included in the unified register of the Eurasian Economic Union’s authorities assessing conformity whose accreditation competence extends to the products to be declared.

The above exceptions include the following Technical Regulations of the Customs Union: “On the safety of pyrotechnic products” (TR TS 006/2011)[2], “On the safety of railway rolling stock" (TR TS 001/2011), “On the safety of high-speed railway transport” (TR TS 002/2011), and “On the safety of the infrastructure of railway transport” (TR TS 003/2011)[3]. The accredited certification authorities carry out the work of assessing (confirming) the conformity of products to the requirements within the Union in accordance with the specified regulations.

A declaration of conformity should be submitted for registration to FSA together with an application and supporting documents in electronic form by using a specialised electronic service for the automated electronic registration of declarations of conformity[4]. The documents must be signed with an enhanced qualified electronic signature of an applicant who is registered as a legal entity or an individual entrepreneur in the Russian Federation and who adopted the declaration of conformity. The Procedure does not allow applicants to submit declarations of conformity and documents attached to them to FSA directly (by hand or courier) or by registered mail. 

In the event that the conformity is declared of products manufactured outside of the Russian Federation and outside of member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), the application for the registration of the declaration of conformity must contain, in particular, the following data:

• regarding the manufacturer of the products specifying the Global Location Number (GLN);
• the identification details of the item to be declared, including the GTIN international code (Global Trade Item Number).

Order No. 3726[5] of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Commerce dated 28 October 2020 that established the form of the declaration of conformity stipulates that the GTIN international code must be specified in the declaration of conformity for products to be imported. The GTIN is specified for the products manufactured in the Russian Federation if applicable. The same rules apply with respect to the GLN code. It should be noted that the Procedure for the registration, suspension, renewal and termination of the declarations of conformity of products to the requirements of technical regulations of the Eurasian Economic Union (approved by Decision No. 41 of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission dated 20 March 2018) does not provide that the GTIN and GLN codes should be specified. Neither does the form of the declaration of conformity to the requirements of the EAEU’s technical regulations and to the rules for drawing up the declaration (approved by Decision No. 293 of the Eurasian Economic Commission dated 25 December 2012) contain such data.  The Union’s legislation requires that the GPIN code should be specified for the purposes of labelling individual categories of goods, such as perfume and eau de toilette, consumer goods, footwear, tyres and covers and photo cameras and speed lights, with the means of identification within the EAEU.

Any amendments to registered declarations of conformity are still prohibited. If any amendments need to be made, the applicant should adopt a new declaration of conformity and have it registered. 

There are new provisions setting out that if the applicant’s telephone number and/or email address have been changed, or if a TN VED EAEU or the OKPD 2 code(s) has been changed, the declaration of conformity and/or exhibits to it need not be substituted but can be substituted at the applicant’s discretion.

In this respect the Procedure has been brought into line with Decision No. 41 of the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission “On the Procedure for the registration, suspension, renewal and termination the declarations of conformity of products to the requirements of technical regulations of the Eurasian Economic Union”.

Structural and formatting and logical control ensures that data regarding the accredited persons entered by means of the service for the registration of declarations of conformity correspond to the data contained in FSA’s Federal Government Information System, including data regarding test (research) protocols issued by testing laboratories and measurements. 

 
If it has been identified that the data submitted for registration and scanned copies of the documents provided do not conform to the requirements for the data and information contained in an entry on the declaration of conformity, such declaration of conformity is not subject to registration and the data regarding the declaration of conformity will not be entered into the unified register. The above information will be communicated to the authorised person who has transferred the data in electronic form by using the functional capabilities of the service for the registration of declarations of conformity. 

What to think about and what to do

Applicants (the manufacturer, seller, a person authorised by the manufacturer registered in a member state of the Union) should be prepared for performing the registration of declarations of conformity independently starting from 1 January 2021. First of all, a qualified electronic signature must be obtained and configured at an accredited certifying centre, since the absence of this in the declaration of conformity and in the application for the registration of the declaration of conformity is a ground for the registration of the declaration of conformity to be denied. 

 
To obtain the GTIN and GLN codes if such codes are absent, join the Association for Automatic Identification UNISCAN/GS1 RUS which is an authorised representative of the Association for Automatic Identification GS1 (an international organisation in the area of the standardisation and recording of bar codes for the items of logistics).

Help from your adviser

Pepeliaev Group’s lawyers have a significant practical experience in customs law and foreign trade activities as well as in settling administrative litigation cases initiated with regard to violations of customs rules. They are ready to provide legal support with respect to compliance with the established prohibitions and limitations and with respect to other issues of customs legislation.