On July 1, 2003, the 184 Law "On Technical Regulation" entered into force. The normative act has established a new system for determining and applying requirements for services, work, production processes and products.
Key areas
184- "On technical regulation" is focused on the formation of the foundations of a unified standardization and certification policy that meets modern international standards. The adoption of the document led to the publication of other regulations. They were primarily regulations. They defined the areas of technical regulation, as well as the procedure in accordance with which this work will be conducted. All these regulations will significantly change the economic life of Russia. Federal Law "On Technical Regulation" is focused on the formation of a mechanism to ensure the protection of the health and life of citizens, the environment, and national security of the country. The creation of a set of regulations is aimed at using the products of scientific and technical activities in the public interest and protecting national developments.
International standards
The Federal Law "On Technical Regulation" allows bringing domestic certification and standardization procedures in line with the requirements of the WTO, in particular, related to the formation of trade barriers. The normative act prevents the transformation of national standards into an instrument of protectionism in relation to any groups of manufacturers. Harmonization of the domestic system with the international one significantly facilitates the entry of Russian high-tech products into the world market. It is also important that it becomes possible to organize cooperation in the production process by subcontractors of developed countries. An example is the decision made by the International Civil Aviation Organization. In accordance with it, on April 1, 2001, a convention came into force that tightens the requirements for noise levels for aircraft engines transporting along international lines of the European Union. In this case, the economic consequences for domestic companies using non-conforming aircraft in such areas become apparent.
Regulations
The Federal Law "On Technical Regulation" defines only one way to establish requirements for goods / work / services. It is the approval of special regulations. They must have minimum safety requirements and their scope of application. Moreover, after the entry into force of the regulations, technical regulation is carried out only by them. This means that mandatory general requirements cease to be so. State control from this moment begins to be implemented in compliance with regulations.
Specificity of a regulatory act
The law "On Technical Regulation" is recognized by experts as framework and ideological. It contains several controversial provisions. Under certain conditions, they may adversely affect the current situation within the scope of standardization and certification. For example, some sections in GOSTs contradict the provisions of a normative act. In addition, the role played by the Federal Agency for Technical Regulation was not defined. Along with this, the document establishes a transitional period of seven years. During this time, the old and new regulations and standards are in force.
What is technical regulation?
It acts as a kind of state control and involves the use of legal instruments in the implementation of the goals of social and economic policy in the country. As part of this activity, subjects are forced to comply with established mandatory requirements. In case of their failure, specialized state structures have the right to apply appropriate sanctions. The Law on Technical Regulation contains an official definition of this term. It should be understood as legal regulation in the field of formation, application and implementation of mandatory requirements for production operations, services, works, goods, as well as processes:
- storage;
- transportation;
- operation;
- recycling;
- implementation.
Technical regulation also relates to the scope of establishing and applying these requirements on a voluntary basis. Legal regulation is also carried out in the course of conformity assessment. From this definition it follows that the objects of technical regulation should be subject to general requirements.
Principles
In the framework of the adopted normative act, not only technical regulation and metrology are acquiring a new format, but also the form of state control as a whole. As a key principle in carrying out activities, the legal level of restrictions established in relation to entrepreneurship acts. In this regard, the declaration in the normative act of the main provisions entails the need for their implementation in the development of regulations and their practical implementation.
Unity of rules
The system of technical regulation is based on uniformly formulated requirements. In this case, the type of product or process does not matter. The formulation of requirements does not depend on the form of ownership, the legal status of the developer of the standard or regulation or the entrepreneur engaged in the production of goods or the provision of services. Technical regulation is carried out according to the unified rules for the organization of measurements and tests, the documentation used, independent of the chemical or physical nature of the parameters being monitored, and compliance criteria. The same applies to the form of contractual obligations, according to which the delivery of products or the provision of services is carried out.
Compliance principle
Technical regulation should be consistent with the level of development of the country's economy, scientific and technological revolution and MTB. This principle indicates that the requirements that are laid down in national standards and regulations can actually be fulfilled. At the same time, the achieved level of Russian industry, the provision of the necessary equipment and materials with the proper properties, information, should be taken into account.
Authority Independence
In accordance with this principle, accreditation, certification services should not have contractual relations with sellers, manufacturers, consumers, except those provided for in the current rules. Employees of these bodies should be protected from any attempt to unlawful pressure or other influences that may affect their decisions. The management of these services, in turn, should develop the necessary measures aimed at preventing all employees from entering into transactions with entities interested in the financial result of certification and accreditation.
Principles of Inadmissibility
They prohibit the formation of benefits for individual applicants, the artificial delay in making decisions or its unreasonable acceleration. The legislation establishes a clear distinction between the areas of activity of certification and supervision bodies. It is not allowed to combine the powers of these services. One and the same authority cannot be an executor and controller of its own activities. The legislation also does not allow the financing of authorized services from extrabudgetary funds. This prevents the impact of private investment on government activities.
Specificity of regulations
The requirements present in these documents should not be exaggerated in relation to those entities that adequately protect the health and life of the population and animals, the environment and plants, property. Otherwise, this can provoke a rise in the cost of services and goods, complicate production operations. As a result, this will entail the formation of obstacles to doing business. For example, at the stage of development and approval of draft regulations, decisions may appear that put Russian manufacturers in a less favorable position than foreign ones. In this regard, at this stage it is extremely important to strictly observe the principle of competition law. Domestic regulations are designed to protect, not ruin, entrepreneurs in the country.
Document structure
The technical regulations provide information about the objects of regulation. In addition, the documents may include:
- Conformity verification schemes.
- Forms and rules of peer review.
- Deadlines for compliance verification in relation to each specified object.
- Terminology explaining definitions specific to a specific regulation.
- Requirements for the packaging design, method of execution, labels or labeling, as well as the rules for their application.
Important point
The regulations must contain requirements solely on the characteristics of the regulatory objects, and not on their design, development methods and technologies by which these properties are provided. This task is the responsibility of developers, designers and other specialists. An exception may be cases in which, without standardizing the design process, it is impossible to provide adequate protection for the health and life of people, the environment, property, plants and animals.
The timing
The legislation sets a period of 6 months for the entry into force of published regulations. This period allows regulatory authorities and manufacturers to prepare for the implementation of accepted requirements. Due to the fact that this period may be insufficient (too short), preparation for the time the regulation comes into force should be started during its development.
Classification
The Law establishes two types of regulations: special and general. The requirements of the latter are mandatory for any production processes, types of products, transportation, storage, sale, operation, disposal. Special regulations govern individual objects that are not subject to the action of common documents. The latter contain basic norms that have a wide scope. Special regulations should not contradict them. As noted by the Federal Agency for Technical Regulation, in 2005, about 100 documents were under discussion. In total, it was supposed to issue about 1.5 thousand special and not more than 10 general regulations.
Development and approval procedure
The regulations may be adopted by the Federal Law, ratified by the international agreement of the Russian Federation, Presidential Decree, government Decree. The draft document is entitled to be developed by the subject, regardless of the form of ownership, type of product, legal status of the enterprise, type of production process. This provision, of course, is democratic. This allows you to fully utilize the intellectual potential.
Informing
Publicity acts as one of the key principles for the development and adoption of regulations. It is necessary that at each stage, society and state structures be informed about the process, the presence of contradictions, the author of the proposals. First of all, a notice of the beginning of development is placed in the print media, responsible for which is the Agency for Technical Regulation, as well as in a public source in electronic form. The notice must contain information about the product for which the regulation is being created. It also provides a rationale for the need for this development, indicates the differences between the alleged requirements from international standards in force in the Russian Federation. In addition, information is provided on how to familiarize yourself with the project, details of the developer.
Development Notice
The first step begins with the publication of the notice. According to the adopted Law, the author of the project is obliged to provide it for review to any interested users. The latter, in turn, can send the developer their suggestions and comments. The author of the project considers them and decides to reject / accept in whole or in part. At the end of development, a discussion of the editorial staff of the regulation is held, which takes into account all the proposals and comments received. The duration of this stage as a whole is up to two months.
Submission to the State Duma for discussion
At least two months must pass from the moment of publication of the notice of the beginning of development to the date of publication of the notice of its completion. With the introduction of a draft regulation by an entity having the right of legislative initiative, the stage of its adoption begins. Registration of a document is carried out if:
- Justification of the need for approval.
- Financial and economic confirmation of its feasibility.
- Documents certifying the publication of a notice of completion of a public discussion.
- A list of written comments received from interested parties.
The registered project is sent by the State Duma to the government. Last within a month should send feedback. It is compiled taking into account the conclusion made by the expert committee on technical regulation. The abolition of the regulation, as well as making adjustments and additions to it, is considered as creating a new document.
Conclusion
Thus, the considered Law is focused on the formation of a unified policy in the field of technical regulation that meets international requirements. In this regard, the basis for addressing many issues related to certification, standardization and licensing are regulations. The introduction of these documents in the rank of state regulations allows you to balance the state of the Russian regulatory system with the international. This is achieved due to the advisory nature of the application of any standards when using regulations in which their individual provisions and norms may be present. This means that standards continue to be the normative base, but it is impossible to use them as the main regulator of interactions between producers and consumers.