For many years, domestic production was in a favorable position for the state: orders for almost any product were distributed without a chance for the development of competition. However, the monopoly adversely affected the quality of goods. The consumer, initially deprived of the opportunity to choose, could acquire only what was offered.
What are standards and certificates for?
In a modern market economy, the situation is exactly the opposite. A wide range of products of any segment and the struggle for leadership between manufacturers guarantees the buyer high quality and more affordable prices. Moreover, it is often the characteristics and properties of products that are of paramount importance.
The quality of goods is the key to the credibility of the company, increasing industrial potential, competitiveness, and hence the increase in entrepreneurial income. With the development of a market economy and the emergence of a huge number of companies, the state has taken over the functions of controlling and regulating this sphere in order to avoid unfair production. Passing certification and standardization of products has become a prerequisite for admission to participation in tenders and promotion of exported goods to the world market.
The advantages of introducing uniform standards in the state
The availability and effective functioning of the certified system is an integral step on the path to building relations between the seller and the buyer. In this case, it would be more correct to perceive quality as a combination of the properties of goods, implying their suitability and ability to satisfy all the needs of the user in accordance with the intended purpose.
The consequences of the manufacture of items of trade that do not meet a sufficient level are serious costs that lead to economic losses of the enterprise, a shortage of financial and labor resources, a deterioration in logistics, the impossibility of long-term storage of goods. Timely passing through standardization and certification of products helps prevent early failure and physical deterioration of products, as well as eliminate losses associated with the reconstruction of production infrastructure, and avoid material and time costs for equipment repair.
General principles of domestic and international certificates
In the management system of commercial quality, the prevailing activity is the standardization of indicators, instructions and methodological requirements for development. The system of standardization and certification of products aims to create a well-established documentary and technical mechanism that defines the requirements for its manufacture.
The established standards allow the development of:
- common technical rules for enterprises;
- series of unified characteristics and product properties;
- classification series and typical designs of goods of the corresponding group;
- reference information on the quality of materials and substances.
Standardization and certification of products harmonize with international systems, thereby ensuring protection of rights to export consumption in the field of quality and nomenclature of goods, services, their safety during use for the environment, health and human life. Control over the quality level of goods of one or another production segment contributes to its development in accordance with scientific and technological progress and an increase in consumer demand. In addition, the standards make it possible to fill the market with compatible and interchangeable goods, which, in turn, guarantees the achievement of high economic indicators for the implementation of social programs and large regional projects.
Important conditions for the development of standardization
In Russia, the concepts of standardized systems are built according to a number of requirements:
- economic demand - when developing standards, the interest of the parties is important for reaching agreements on the nomenclature and quality of products, services, processes;
- specificity of requirements and definition of a circle of users;
- lack of overlapping provisions.
For the effective functioning of the system, an integrated approach and mutually agreed requirements are also needed that affect all stages of metrology, standardization and certification of products:
- stages of the manufactured product cycle (from planning to disposal);
- determination of disaggregation levels (starting from raw materials, sources, methods, substances, to goods ready for sale);
- aspects of quality assurance, implying the establishment in standardized provisions of mutually agreed requirements for products, services, testing methods and metrological measurements.
The main GOSTs in Russia
To date, a unified standardization system has been formed and continues to improve in our country that regulates the processes of creating and disseminating norms and instructions. It includes five fundamental GOSTs:
- R 1.0–92 “Basic Provisions”.
- R 1.2–92 “Procedure for the development of state standards”.
- R 1.3–92 “Procedure for the coordination, approval and registration of technical conditions”.
- R 1.4—92 “Standards of the enterprise. General Provisions. "
- R 1.5–92 “General requirements for the construction, presentation, design and content of standards”.
Compliance: what does it mean?
The domestic system of standardization and certification of product quality includes mandatory requirements for ensuring safety for human life and health, preserving property and protecting the environment, safety and sanitary standards in the workplace. Requirements for compatibility and interchangeability of products, parametric series and standard design of goods will become inalienable. Consumer properties of products, their operational qualities, packaging, labeling, transportation, saving and disposal features are also taken into account.
Certificate as a guarantee of quality
The standardization and certification procedures for products at the enterprise are indispensable in the desire of management to bring their own products to a new, wider market level. In this context, a huge role is played by various methods of confirming the conformity of products and services to specified requirements - standardized norms and regulations. In order to monitor compliance with the rules of manufacture, safe operation and compliance with sanitary requirements of products, their activities are carried out by entire government agencies.
In most foreign countries, the manufacturer’s declaration of conformity of goods with established standards is the main and only evidence of his passing through standardization procedures, product certification. Product quality management in this case is carried out under the responsibility of the entrepreneur.
Mandatory and voluntary certification
If standardization of goods is a mechanism to help adapt the production process to the current requirements of the mass consumer, the certification system is more a measure of assisting potential buyers in choosing products and protecting against dishonesty of the manufacturer. In some cases, the receipt of relevant documents is a prerequisite for the sale of goods, in others - voluntary.
For example, the standardization and certification of crop products is an integral stage of formalities for entrepreneurs selling personally grown vegetables, fruits, cereals, etc.
Standardization and certification bodies
Therefore, documentary evidence of the manufacture of goods in accordance with established norms, methods and instructions is the only legally significant evidence of the quality of products and services. Standardization and certification is carried out by a separate category of state bodies, the system of which includes testing and metrology laboratories, sanitary and epidemiological services, etc. Their activity is testing goods, issuing permits and licenses. The authorities accredited in the manner prescribed by law have the right to suspend or revoke the validity of permits issued earlier.
Federal bodies entrusted with the functions of carrying out work on mandatory standardization and certification of the organization’s products, within their own competence:
- develop licensing systems for specific products;
- establish instructions for passing the procedure;
- manage the certification process in the system;
- keep a state register of subjects and objects of certification;
- recognize quality control documents received in other states.
Features of passing the certification procedure
In the process of product testing, test reports are issued for passing the further stages of certification. Manufacturers and dealers are obliged to sell products in the presence of regulatory permits, as well as to ensure compliance of the goods sold with the data in the documentation, and in case of changes to the accompanying papers or the production and technological process, notify the relevant authorities in time.
In the international legal community, the definition of a certificate as a document issued by a regulatory body and indicating compliance of a product or service with state standards and regulatory documents reflects a certain degree of consumer confidence in the quality of the product. The standardization and certification of various types of goods and services consists of a chain of operations: testing, manufacturing evaluation and inspection control.
In contrast to the mandatory passage of quality confirmation procedures, voluntary certification can be carried out by any other organization licensed to carry out specific activities. The person who filed the application has the opportunity to independently establish the requirements, the compliance with which will be checked.