In the first quarter of 2024, Rosaccreditation (Federal Accreditation Service) conducted a thorough review of 20,000 certificates of compliance for socially significant and technically complex products. This review included all new certificates for children's clothing and footwear, toys, fire safety equipment, and household appliances, revealing hundreds of violations. The most common issue identified was the lack of information regarding customs declarations.
Since June 2023, the agency has implemented daily monitoring to ensure compliance with the certification requirements across 29 EAEU technical regulations, focusing particularly on products of social significance. All new certificates are checked daily, with any suspensions occurring within 24 hours of issuance. A consolidated report on the infringements is communicated to the business community, building on the 30,000 certificates reviewed last year for similar products.
The Federal Information System of Rosaccreditation logs over 60,000 test protocols and around 300 certificates daily. Each certificate contains 340 types of data, which are primarily verified for test completeness, relevance of the test protocols to the certificates, and the authenticity of the imported sample for testing.
Further plans for this year include additional checks on such data points as the existence of a contract between the certification body and the manufacturer, and the fact of an inspection visit to the production site.
It is also reported that a comprehensive verification process has begun for cargo customs declarations related to the importation of samples for certification, targeting counterfeit, irrelevant, or outdated documents.
In partnership with the Federal Customs Service of Russia, Rosaccreditation has created a service to track the importation of product samples. Initially tested in October 2023, this service has led to immediate annulments of some certificates within their first day of issuance. The verification of customs declarations on imported samples, which started selectively, is now becoming more widespread.
Businesses are advised to ensure that they can send samples in accordance with proper procedures or to utilize countries with less stringent controls for document processing. Certificates issued without proper customs declarations will eventually be archived and annulled. Under no circumstances should incorrect customs declarations be used, as regulatory bodies will likely identify such documents at some point, and severe consequences will follow, including fines and product recalls. The emphasis on compliance surveillance is set to increase, underscoring the importance of adhering to all regulatory requirements meticulously.
