On May 26, 2025, during a meeting with representatives of the Russian business community held on the occasion of Russia’s National Entrepreneurship Day, President Vladimir Putin and Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov outlined plans to strengthen regulatory control over product certification and market access.
One of the key proposals discussed was increasing scrutiny of conformity certificates issued in other Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) member states—such as Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Armenia—when these are believed to have been granted without following mandatory procedures, including proper testing and compliance checks.
Although EAEU regulations establish a common technical regulation framework where certificates issued in one member state are meant to be valid across the entire Union, Russian officials now signal a shift in practice. Certificates that, in the opinion of Russian regulators, were issued in violation of required procedures may be subject to restrictions or lose validity within the Russian market.
Concrete mechanisms for implementing these measures have not yet been announced, but initial enforcement actions are expected to begin in 2025.
This comes amid a broader tightening of Russia’s certification landscape. Since the final months of 2024, the government has been actively revoking accreditations of testing laboratories and certification bodies, and has imposed stricter controls across the sector. As a result, the cost and complexity of obtaining certificates within Russia now significantly exceed those in some other EAEU countries—particularly Kyrgyzstan.
The new approach marks a growing divergence within the EAEU’s technical regulation system and reflects Russia’s intent to reassert control over market access by emphasizing procedural rigor and domestic oversight.
