Technical regulation and its objects. Law on Technical Regulation

On July 1, 2003, 184 Law "On Technical Regulation" came into force. The normative act has established a new system for determining and applying the requirements for services, works, production processes and products.

Key areas

184-FZ "On Technical Regulation" is focused on the formation of the foundations of a unified policy of standardization and certification that meets modern international standards. The adoption of the document stipulated the issuance of other normative acts. They first became regulations. They identify the areas of technical regulation, as well as the order in which this work will be carried out. All these normative acts will significantly change the economic life of Russia. FZ "On Technical Regulation" is focused on the formation of a mechanism to ensure the protection of health and life of citizens, the environment, and national security of the country. The creation of a set of regulations is aimed at the use of products of scientific and technical activities in the public interest to protect national developments.

International standards

FZ "On Technical Regulation" allows to bring domestic certification and standardization procedures in line with WTO requirements, in particular, related to the formation of trade barriers. The normative act hinders the transformation of national standards into an instrument of protectionism in relation to any groups of producers. Harmonization of the domestic system with the international system makes it much easier for Russian high-tech products to enter the world market. It is also important that there is an opportunity to organize cooperation in the production process by subcontractors of developed countries. An example is the decision taken by the International Civil Aviation Organization. In accordance with it, from April 1, 2001, a convention has been enacted toughening the requirements for the noise levels of aircraft engines carrying out transport along the international lines of the European Union. In this case, the economic consequences for domestic companies using aircraft that do not comply with the standards are becoming obvious.

Regulations

The Federal Law "On Technical Regulation" defines only one way of establishing requirements for goods / works / services. As it is the approval of special regulations. They must have minimal requirements for security and the scope of their application. At the same time 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. The state control from this moment starts to be carried out for observance of regulations.

Specificity of the normative act

The Law "On Technical Regulation" is recognized by experts as a framework and ideological. There are several ambiguous positions in it. Under certain conditions, they can negatively affect the current situation within the sphere of standardization and certification. For example, some sections in GOSTs are contrary to the provisions of the normative act. In addition, the role played by the Federal Agency for Technical Regulation was not defined. Together with this, the document establishes a transition period of seven years. During this time, both previous 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 social and economic policy objectives in the country. In the framework of this activity, subjects are compelled to comply with the established mandatory requirements. In case of their non-fulfillment, specialized state structures have the right to apply the appropriate sanctions. The Law "On Technical Regulation" contains an official definition of this term. It should be understood as legal regulation in the sphere of the 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 concerns 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 must obey the general requirements.

Principles

Within the framework of the adopted normative act, a new format is acquired not only by technical regulation and metrology, but also by the form of state control as a whole. As a key principle in the implementation of activities is the legal level of restrictions imposed on entrepreneurship. 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. It does not matter the type of product or process. Formulation of requirements does not depend on the form of ownership, the legal status of the developer of the standard or the regulations or the entrepreneur carrying out 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 under control, and the criteria for compliance. The same applies to the form of contractual obligations under which goods are delivered or services are provided.

Principle of conformity

Technical regulation should be consistent with the level of development of the country's economy, STD and MTB. This principle indicates that the requirements that are laid down in national standards and regulations can really be met. At the same time, the achieved level of Russian industry, provision with the necessary equipment and materials possessing the proper properties and information should be taken into account.

Independence of authorized bodies

In accordance with this principle, accreditation and certification services should not have contractual relations with sellers, producers, consumers, except those provided for in the current rules. Employees of the said bodies should be protected from any attempts at unlawful pressure or other influences that may affect the decisions they make. The management of these services, in turn, should develop the necessary measures aimed at preventing any entry of employees into transactions with entities interested in the financial result of certification and accreditation.

Principles of Inadmissibility

They prohibit the possibility of forming benefits for individual applicants, artificial delays in making decisions or unreasonable acceleration of decisions. Legislation establishes a clear distinction between the spheres of activity of certification bodies and supervision. It is not allowed to combine the powers of these services. The same authority can not be the executor and controller of one's own activity. Legislation also does not allow the financing of the work of authorized services from extrabudgetary funds. This prevents the impact of private investment on government agencies.

Specificity of regulations

The requirements that are present in these documents should not be overstated in respect of those subjects that properly protect the health and life of the population and animals, the environment and plants, property. Otherwise, it can provoke a rise in price of services and goods, complicate production operations. As a result, this will entail the formation of obstacles to the implementation of entrepreneurial activities. For example, at the stage of development and coordination of the draft regulations there may appear solutions that put Russian producers in a less advantageous position than foreign ones. In this connection, it is extremely important at this stage to strictly observe the principle of competition law. Domestic regulatory acts are designed to protect, not ruin, the entrepreneurs of the country.

Structure of documents

The technical regulations provide information on the objects of regulation. In addition, the documents may include:

1. Conformity verification schemes .
2. Forms and rules of peer review.
3. The deadline for the verification of compliance with respect to each specified facility.
4. Terminology that clarifies definitions specific to a specific regulation.
5. Requirements for the design of packaging, the way of performance, labels or marking, as well as the rules for their application.

An Important Moment

The regulations should contain requirements exclusively for the characteristics of regulatory objects, and not for their design, methods and technology of development, through which these properties are provided. This task is in the competence of developers, designers and other specialists. As an exception, there can be cases in which, without standardizing the design process, it is not possible to ensure adequate protection of the health and lives of people, the environment, property, plants and animals.

Timing

The legislation establishes a period of 6 months for the entry into force of the published regulations. Such a term allows the controlling bodies and producers to prepare for the fulfillment of the accepted requirements. Due to the fact that this period may not be sufficient (too short), the preparation for the time when the regulations come 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 performance with respect to any production processes, types of products, transportation, storage, sale, operation, disposal. Special regulations regulate individual objects, which are not covered by general documents. The latter contain the basic norms, which have a wide scope of distribution. Special regulations should not contradict them. As noted by the Federal Agency for Technical Regulation, in 2005 at the stage of discussion there were about 100 documents. In total it was planned to release about 1.5 thousand special and not more than 10 general regulations.

The order of development and approval

The regulation can be adopted by the Federal Law, ratified by the international agreement of the Russian Federation, by the Decree of the President, by the governmental Decree. The draft document has the right to develop the subject, regardless of the form of ownership, the type of product, the legal status of the enterprise, the type of production process. This provision, of course, is democratic. This allows the fullest use of intellectual potential.

Informing

Publicity is one of the key principles for the development and adoption of regulations. It is necessary that at each stage the society and state structures are informed of the progress of the process, the presence of contradictions, the author of proposals. First of all, the notice of the beginning of the development is placed in the printed edition, responsible for which is the Agency for Technical Regulation, as well as in the publicly accessible source in electronic form. The notice must contain information about the goods for which the regulation is created. Here, the rationale for the necessity of this development is given, the differences of the expected requirements from international standards operating in the Russian Federation are indicated. In addition, information is provided on the ways of getting acquainted with the project, the details of the developer.

Notice of the commencement of development

The first stage begins with the publication of the notice. According to the adopted law, the author of the project is obliged to provide it for familiarization to any interested users. The latter, in turn, can send their suggestions and comments to the developer. The author of the project reviews them and decides to reject / accept in whole or in part. At the end of the development, the editorial board of the regulations is discussed, where all proposals and comments received are taken into account. The duration of this stage as a whole is up to two months.

Introducing for discussion in the State Duma

Since the publication of the notice of the commencement of development before the date of publication of the notification of its completion must pass at least two months. With the introduction of the draft law by the subject with the right of legislative initiative, the stage of its adoption begins. Registration of the document is subject to availability:

• Justification of the need for approval.
• Financial and economic confirmation of its feasibility.
• Documents certifying the publication of the notice of the end of public discussion.
• A list of written comments received from interested parties.

The registered project is sent by the State Duma to the government. The last within a month should send a response. It is drawn up taking into account the conclusion made by the expert commission on technical regulation. The abrogation of regulations, as well as the introduction of corrections and additions to it, is considered as the creation of a new document.

Conclusion

Thus, the considered Law is focused on the formation of a unified policy in the sphere of technical regulation that meets international requirements. In this regard, the basis for addressing a variety of issues related to certification, standardization and licensing, are regulations. The introduction of these documents into the rank of state regulatory acts makes it possible to balance the state of the Russian regulatory system with the international one. This is achieved through 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 the standards continue to remain a normative base, but they can not be used as the main regulator of interactions between producers and consumers.