Will the Old Standards Remain in Force?
Prior to the Russian Federation Law “Technical
Regulation”, the technical regulation system in Russia was based on more than
500,000 mandatory regulations developed and officially approved by government
agencies and organizations.
The law introduced a 7-year transitional period,
effective July 1, 2003, during which (and until relevant technical regulations
are passed) earlier regulations and standards relating to standardization and
certification, metrology, accreditation, and confirmation of conformity will
remain in full force. All other technical regulations and standards issued
prior to 2003 are subject to mandatory implementation only as they directly
relate to public safety, protection of health, protection of government
property and property of individuals and business entities, and environmental
protection. Of these documents, more than 24,000 are national standards
(GOSTs), approximately 35,000 are industry-specific standards (OSTs), more
than 150,000 are technical specifications (TUs), approximately 10,000 are
building codes, regulations and standards, and there are also tens of
thousands of industry-specific regulations. SNIP publishes indexes of Russian
technical standards annually and will continue to collect and disseminate
regulatory information as reform progresses.
More on Indexes of Russian Industry Standards...
The transitional provisions allow government agencies to
perform monitoring and oversight functions using old regulatory documents. The
obvious problem faced by both businesses and government oversight agencies is
to clearly define which requirements in a complex regulatory document apply to
safety and which do not. As a rule, the government agency providing oversight
of compliance with the regulations and standards in effect will have the last
word.
The scope of the activity of the monitoring and
oversight agencies will be significantly reduced after 2010. Only those
requirements established by technical regulations will henceforth be
mandatory. Technical requirements not included in technical regulations might
not be mandatory. Beginning in 2010, all technical standards developed in the
USSR and Russian Federation will automatically become voluntary.
More information:
Making Regulations
