The Federal Law “Technical Regulation”
One summer day in 2003, the Russian parliament did
something extraordinary: it enacted a federal law to end the 80-year-plus
practice of practically uncontrolled creation of mandatory technical
regulations and standards by industrial ministries and departments.
Pursuant to Federal Law No. 184-F3 “Technical Regulation”,
government agencies no longer have the right to establish mandatory technical
requirements. Nor can they revise or amend their own earlier regulations. From
now on, all technical regulations concerning public safety, health, welfare,
and protection of property and the environment must be issued primarily in the
form of federal laws. Before a technical regulation becomes law, the draft of
the regulation must be published, public comments must be considered, and the
draft must be evaluated by an expert commission and discussed by the Russia’s
Federation Council.
However, this provision of the law has created a serious
problem—a problem of uncertainty as to what happens to hundreds of thousands
of technical regulations and standards issued in the past by the Russian
government. The law prescribes a transitional period during which new and old
technical regulations and standards will coexist.
In the universal opinion of specialists, this law, which
the Russians call the “technological constitution”, will remove trade barriers
by creating transparency in technical regulation and eliminate the fertile
soil for corruption. This will open up the Russian market to imported goods,
equipment, and services, and speed up Russia’s integration into the world
economy.
More Information:
Making Regulations
