Materials of the Forum «Technical Regulation as a Tool of Eurasian Integration»

Dear colleagues!

On October 5, 2020, within the framework of the Russian Business Weeks, the forum “Technical Regulation as a Tool of Eurasian Integration” was held, organized by the RUIE Committee on Technical Regulation, Standardization and Conformity Assessment.

Topical issues of Eurasian cooperation in the field of technical regulation and standardization, problems of accreditation, metrological support, and the implementation of the regulatory guillotine were discussed via videoconference.

In his welcoming speech, the President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Alexander Shokhin, said that "The Committee of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs on Technical Regulation, Standardization and Conformity Assessment has been ensuring effective participation of industry in improving the technical regulation system, including within the Eurasian Economic Union, for many years."

He highlighted the work of the Committee related to the implementation of the regulatory guillotine, the fight against counterfeiting, the mobilization of the industrial community to create standards for the digital environment. Work has intensified on the development of marking and traceability systems.

The forum was moderated by A.N. Lotsmanov, First Deputy Chairman of the RUIE Committee on Technical Regulation, Standardization and Conformity Assessment.

He read out a welcoming address to the participants of the event by the Head of the Committee, member of the Bureau of the Board of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs D.A. Pumpyansky.

The appeal, in particular, says: “We were able to react quickly enough to the change in the situation in connection with the coronavirus epidemic. The successful online conference of our Committee within the framework of INNOPROM 2020 and a number of other events are proof of this.

Interest in technical regulation, standardization and conformity assessment is not waning - both in Russia and within the EAEU, and the intensity of discussion of draft regulations in Russia has even increased.

RSPP, together with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Rosstandart, participates in the implementation of the roadmap for the development of the national standardization system until 2027.

An important area of work of the Committee and the RUIE this year has become regulatory regulation in construction.

Of course, there is a need for the adoption of the EAEU technical regulations "On the safety of building materials".

In his speech at the forum, Member of the Board (Minister) for Technical Regulation of the EEC V.V. Nazarenko outlined the main tasks and prospects of technical regulation, its role in the formation of the common EAEU market.

According to the speaker, the EAEU contractual framework is developing quite successfully. At the same time, there are a number of problems, which include, in particular, duplication of requirements and procedures. This has a particularly negative effect on the regulation of issues related to the production of food products.

V.V. Nazarenko called the creation of a mechanism for assessing the levels of technical regulations as the most important task at the moment. “We need assistance from the Council for Standardization, we need a targeted program. We call for the creation of a Eurasian quality system, for the development of cooperation not only in the area of ensuring product safety, but also in all other areas, ”he said.

Director of the Department of State Policy in the Field of Technical Regulation, Standardization and Ensuring the Uniformity of Measurements of the Ministry of Industry and Trade V.A. Burmistrov. The main topic of his speech was the improvement of the system of technical regulation, taking into account the law enforcement practice.

Head of the Federal Service for Accreditation N.V. Skrypnik spoke about the main directions of digital transformation of the national accreditation system. These include, first of all, the introduction of an electronic archive, a classifier of electronic areas of classification, an expansion of the composition of information transmitted within the framework of interdepartmental interaction, the creation of an electronic interaction service for participants in the National Accreditation System. At the same time, it is planned to launch a classifier of electronic areas of classification, thanks to which some control processes will disappear as unnecessary.

Head of Rosstandart A.V. Abramov in his speech noted the special importance of interstate standardization as the basis for technical regulation within the EAEU. At the same time, Russia plays a crucial role in the processes of interstate standardization. 75% of the standards are developed in our country.

At the same time, standardization not only serves as an evidence base for technical regulations, it has many applied values. In particular, at the national level, standards are used for legal regulation, quality and efficiency of public procurement. It is these areas, according to A.V. Abramov, that require special attention today.

In his speech at the forum, Chairman of the Republican Association of Industrial Enterprises "BelAPP" (Republic of Belarus), Chairman of the Presidium of the EAEU Business Council A.D. Kharlap elaborated on the issues of assessing the conformity of products to the requirements of technical regulations and the implementation of state supervision.

As the most problematic, he mentioned the issues of transition to uniform interstate standards, termination of the application of national standards, the introduction of uniform mandatory requirements for products throughout the EAEU.

In his report, the Executive Secretary of the EAEU Business Council, General Director of the Eurasian Center for Integration Research and Communications S.A. Naumov noted the low degree of consistency "of those fundamental grounds that are important for technical regulation at the supranational level" and supported the need for an additional round of consultations on issues such as product labeling.

First Deputy Chairman of the RSPP Committee for Technical Regulation, Standardization and Conformity Assessment, Chairman of the Council for Technical Regulation and Standardization under the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia A.N. Lotsmanov noted in his speech that, despite the difficulties associated with the pandemic, the experts of the RUIE committee continue to discuss bills, regulations, fundamental standards and other documents. This work is being carried out this year even more actively than before.

A.N.Lotsmanov drew the attention of the forum participants to the fact that recently important amendments were made to the law "On standardization in the Russian Federation". In particular, from now on, the concept of "technical committee for standardization" is enshrined in the law, which corresponds to international approaches. At the same time, attempts were made to introduce provisions into the law that would equalize the codes of practice and standards. This would actually lead to the formation of a parallel system of standardization in construction. RSPP opposed this decision. At the same time, the development of the most important EAEU Technical Regulations "On the Safety of Building Materials and Products" was supported.

A.N. Lotsmanov noted that the constructive interaction of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia, Rosstandart, industrial enterprises and the scientific community within the framework of the implementation of the regulatory guillotine made it possible to reduce the number of standards to be canceled, to draw up schedules for amendments to old, but necessary documents.

The speaker said that in accordance with the decision of the meeting of the Advisory Council for Cooperation between the EEC and the Business Council in March 2020, a survey of enterprises was conducted on the EEC's proposals to strengthen measures to ensure the protection of the EAEU market from unsafe products.

The survey found that most businesses support:

creation in the EAEU of a mechanism for centralized planning, coordination and financing of the development of standardization documents for the purposes of implementing the requirements of the EAEU TR;

conducting mutual comparative assessments of accreditation bodies in the EAEU;

survey participants consider compulsory product certification to be one of the most effective tools to protect domestic producers.

According to A.N. Lotsmanov, in order to protect the interests of bona fide manufacturers of the EAEU countries, it is necessary to maintain mandatory conformity assessment procedures based on standards, ensure effective and uniform control of compliance with the requirements of technical regulations in all EAEU countries, and create a system of prompt notification of products that do not meet the mandatory requirements.

In his speech, the First Deputy Chairman of the RSPP Committee also spoke about the work of the Council for Technical Regulation and Standardization of the RSPP and the Eastern Committee of the German Economy, the main directions of its activities.

StekloSouz of Russia took an active part in the meeting. The Association was represented by Nikolay Pavlovich Talakuev - Director of the Department of Technical Regulation.

Following the results of a very important event for the industry, the heads of glass enterprises prepare proposals for the final Resolution.

Press center "StekloSouz"