Geum.ru

WT/acc/rus/70 wt/min(11)/2

Вид материалаДокументы
Подобный материал:
1   ...   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   ...   75

- (iii) Voluntary National and International Standards
  1. Article 13 of Federal Law No. 184-FZ envisaged the following types of voluntary standards within the meaning of the WTO TBT Agreement to be used in the Russian Federation:

- national standards;

- rules, norms and recommendations in the sphere of standardization;

- classifications applied in accordance with the established procedure, all-Russian classifiers of technical-and-economic and social information;

- standards adopted by organizations (standards of enterprises, scientific, technical, engineering institutions and other societies),

- sets of rules, (voluntary documents, elaborated and approved by the Federal Executive bodies regarded as related to the standardization area);

- international standards, regional standards, regional sets of rules, standards of foreign states and sets of rules of foreign states registered with the Federal Information Fund of Technical Regulations and Standards; and

- duly certified Russian translations of international standards, regional standards, regional sets of rules, standards of foreign states and sets of rules of foreign states accepted for account by Rosstandart.

Sub-national standards were not envisaged under the Federal Law.
  1. The representative of the Russian Federation stated that standards, guides, and recommendations developed according to the principles set-out in the Decision of the WTO Committee on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations with Relation to Articles 2, 5 and Annex 3 (G/TBT/1/Rev.8, Section IX of 23 May 2002) of the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade, were regarded by the Russian Federation as international standards that could be used for the development of national standards. Chapter 3 of Federal Law No. 184-FZ also provided the basis for the implementation of the rules of the Code of Good Practice for the Preparation, Adoption, and Application of Standards (Annex 3 of the WTO TBT Agreement). He recalled that, since 1997, authorities of the Russian Federation were involved in the annual development and implementation of new standards. The level of harmonization of national standards in force with international standards was currently about 47 per cent.
  2. He further informed Members of the Working Party that Government Resolution No. 266-r of 28 February 2006 "On the Approval of the Concept of Development of a National Standardization System in the Russian Federation" had promoted the progressive harmonization of national with international standards and encouraged due application of international standards. It also encouraged the State authorities to co-operate with the business community in drafting new national standards, aiming at the development of international trade relations and elimination of barriers to trade. All of these activities would continue under the framework established for standardization, technical regulation, and conformity assessment by CU and EurAsEC Agreements and other EurAsEC and CU Acts.
  3. Some Members of the Working Party emphasized the importance of applying international standards and harmonizing national standards with international standards. They recalled efforts made by the Russian Federation under Federal Law No. 184-FZ to bring its regime on standards, technical regulations, and conformity assessment procedures into conformity with WTO provisions. They sought assurances that under the new regime based on EurAsEC and CU Agreements and other legal acts compliance with national standards would be voluntary and requested that the Russian Federation complete the process of harmonization with international standards as quickly as possible. In the event that the national standards of the Russian Federation differed from international standards, these Members sought confirmation that any national standards would be prepared, adopted and applied in accordance with the Code of Good Practice set-out in Annex 3 of the WTO TBT Agreement and any current national standards that were not consistent with the criteria set-out in the Code would be replaced.
  4. In response to questions from a Member, the representative of the Russian Federation reiterated that Federal Law No. 184-FZ had established the main principles of the Russian system of standardization and technical regulation with its implementation in 2003, and these principles, in his view, had complied with the provisions of the WTO TBT Agreement. According to Article 12 of the Law, standards were applied voluntarily. Both Federal Law No. 184-FZ and the CU Agreement on Uniform Technical Regulation Principles established the following principles for the development and harmonization of standards:

- voluntary application of documents (standards) in the sphere of standardization;

- elaboration of standards with maximum account of interested parties' interests;

- application of an international standard as the basis for elaboration of a national standard, except when such standards were irrelevant to the purposes of demonstrating compliance with technical regulations, including due to the effects of climatic and geographic factors or technology problems;

- inadmissibility of creating obstacles to the manufacture and circulation of products, performance of works and rendering of services to a greater degree than it was minimum needed for the attainment of the goals specified in Article 11 of Federal Law No. 184-FZ;

- inadmissibility of the establishment of standards conflicting with established technical regulations; and

- provision of conditions for unified application of standards.
  1. In response to a question from a Member about the procedure for elaboration and approval of national standards, the representative of the Russian Federation stated that the rules of elaboration and approval of voluntary standards were set-out in Article 16 of Federal Law No. 184-FZ. The national body for standardization (Rosstandart) was required to elaborate and approve the programme for the elaboration of national standards and ensure public availability of this programme. Any person (including foreigners) could act as the developer of a national standard. The developer must submit the notification of the elaboration of a national standard to the national body for standardization, which must then publish it in the public information system in digital electronic form and in the publication of the Federal Executive body for technical regulation. The notification must contain information about provisions in the draft national standard that differed from the provisions of the respective international standards. The developer of a national standard must provide interested persons access to the draft, including providing a copy of the draft national standard to an interested person on request at charges that did not exceed the cost of its manufacture. The developer must finalise the draft national standard taking account of any comments by interested persons obtained in written form, hold public consultation on the draft national standard, and compile a list of any comments received, with a brief outline of their content and of the results of the consultation and, present this list to the national body for standardization and the technical committees for standardization. The time limit for public consultation must not be less than two months, at the end of which the national body for standardization would publish a notice that the period for public consultation had ended. Interested persons must be provided access to the final draft national standard and to the list of comments.
  2. He further stated that the draft national standard together with the list of comments received on the draft must be presented by the developer to the technical committee for standardization which then organized examination of the draft. Taking account of the results of the examination, the technical committee for standardization was required to prepare a proposal, together with a statement of reasons, on approval or rejection of the draft national standard. This proposal must be sent together with the draft standard, the list of comments, and the results of the examination to the national body for standardization, which must then take a decision on adoption or rejection of the draft standard and publish the relevant notification in its official publication in digital electronic form within 30 days from the day of approval of the national standard. The procedure established for development and approval of national standards also was to be used to amend national standards.
  3. He further explained that in the case of lack of national standards applicable to certain requirements of technical regulations or objects of technical regulation, sets of rules could be elaborated as a means of ensuring compliance with requirements of the technical regulations for product characteristics or their related processes or production methods, including processes of design (including survey), production, construction, assembly (setup), operation, storage, transportation, sale, and reclamation, as described in Articles 2 and 16(10) of Federal Law No. 184-FZ. Sets of rules were documents of standardization that were applied on a voluntary basis in line with the aims and principles set-out by Federal Law No. 184-FZ. Sets of rules were rules that were approved by the Federal Executive bodies within the limits of their authority and did not differ from national standards by their character or result, but by their format. The representative of the Russian Federation considered that both national standards (issued after 1 July 2003) and sets of rules were standards, i.e., voluntary, as that term was defined by the WTO TBT Agreement.
  4. Elaboration and approval of sets of rules would be carried out by the Federal Executive bodies within the limits of their authority. Draft sets of rules would be published in the public information system in digital electronic form at least two months prior to their approval. The procedure for the elaboration and approval of sets of rules was established by the Government of the Russian Federation according to the provisions of Article 16 of Federal Law No. 184-FZ related to the respective procedures set for the elaboration of national standards, in Government Resolution No. 858 of 19 November 2008 "On Order on Development and Adoption of Set of Rules".
  5. In response to a question from one Member about different time-frames mentioned in paragraphs and , the representative of the Russian Federation explained that those time frames related to two different procedures. The time-frame of 30 days mentioned in paragraph  was relevant to the time period between adoption of a national standard and publication of the relevant public notice. Time-frames mentioned in paragraph were relevant to the procedure of elaboration and adoption of technical rules (methods of measurement, etc.) if such rules were necessary for implementation of a technical regulation; the two time periods related to technical regulations together must be observed within the 180-day minimum time period between the adoption of a technical regulation and its entry into force.
  6. The representative of the Russian Federation confirmed that the definition of "sets of rules" in Article 2 of the Law on Technical Regulation had been amended to make clear that sets of rules have the same goals and are subject to the same principles and procedures as were established for the adoption of WTO TBT Agreement compatible standards. Furthermore, Article 16.10 of the Law on Technical Regulation would be applied so that sets of rules were adopted through procedures that were at least as transparent as the procedures set-out in Article 16.3 through 16.6 of Federal Law No. 184-FZ of 27 December 2002 "On Technical Regulation" (as last amended on 28 September 2010) and that such sets of rules would be used as a voluntary means of demonstrating compliance with technical regulations. The Working Party took note of these commitments.

- (iv) Disposition of Mandatory National Standards of the Russian Federation
  1. The representative of the Russian Federation stated that Federal Law No. 184-FZ and the new framework for standards and technical regulation set-out in EurAsEC and CU Agreements and other EurAsEC and CU Acts were based on WTO provisions. According to Article 7(2) of Federal Law No. 184-FZ, Article 2.2 of the EurAsEC Agreement on Common Technical Regulation Policy and Article 4 of the CU Agreement on Uniform Technical Regulation Principles, requirements for products and related processes of production, assembly, set-up, operation (use), storage, transportation, realization and utilisation, as well as rules of identification (labelling), forms, schemes and procedures of assessment (confirmation) of compliance, where they were to remain mandatory, must be contained in technical regulations bearing in mind the principle that requirements should not be more trade restrictive than to fulfil a legitimate objective. These technical regulations were applied directly throughout the territory of the Russian Federation and could be modified only by introducing amendments and supplements to the corresponding technical regulation, according to EurAsEC and CU Commission decisions. Any provision that related to the application of the relevant technical regulation and>
  2. He also explained that Federal Law No. 184-FZ had required replacement of all national standards containing mandatory requirements with technical regulations prior to 1 July 2010. Because of technical, organizational and other difficulties this deadline had been eliminated, but all remaining national standards containing mandatory requirements would be replaced by EurAsEC and CU technical regulations as part of the CU technical regulation harmonization process, based on the work plan and timetable for adoption of priority technical regulations found in CU Commission Decision No. 492 and EurAsEC Interstate Council Decision No. 521.
  3. One Member indicated that it would like to see a firm commitment to the completion of the process of converting the national standards of the Russian Federation with mandatory requirements into technical regulations from the date of accession. It noted that the WTO TBT Agreement covered three types of measures: standards which were voluntary and technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures that were linked to technical regulations which were mandatory. Furthermore, prior to commencing the process of WTO accession, the Russian Federation had developed national standards, some of which contained mandatory requirements. This Member further noted that both Federal Law No. 184-FZ and EurAsEC and CU Agreements and other EurAsEC and CU Acts on technical regulations foresaw the completion of the process of converting standards with mandatory requirements into technical regulations. This Member requested that the Russian Federation confirm a specific date for completing this process.
  4. The representative of the Russian Federation explained that, pending their replacement by EurAsEC and CU technical regulations, national standards issued by the Federal Executive authorities prior to 1 July 2003, which contained mandatory requirements were in force only to the extent that they ensured: protection of human life or health, property of natural and legal persons, and State or municipal property; protection of the environment and of animal and plant life or health; prevention of deceptive practices and energy efficiency (all of which were set-out in Article 6.1 of Federal Law No. 184-FZ, the EurAsEC Agreement on Technical Regulation Policy Coordination and the CU Agreement on Technical Regulation Principles). Further, such national standards, were considered by his Government to be "technical regulations" as that term was defined in Annex 1 of the WTO TBT Agreement. In addition, 24 technical regulations had been established under the provisions of Federal Law No. 184-FZ.
  5. The representative of the Russian Federation confirmed that any concerns of interested parties and Members regarding compatibility of such mandatory requirements with the WTO TBT Agreement would be duly and effectively addressed in the framework of mechanisms and procedures provided for in the legislation of the Russian Federation and in CU and EurAsEC technical regulations. He added that information about the opportunities offered by these procedures would be made available to interested parties and Members, inter alia, through the Enquiry Point on TBT. The representative of the Russian Federation also confirmed that imports of goods for which no mandatory requirements were in force would be allowed without being required to satisfy formalities related to establishing compliance with technical regulations. The Working Party took note of these commitments.
  6. In response to a question from a Member inquiring whether amendments to mandatory requirements in CU and EurAsEC technical regulations would be reviewed vis-a-vis their consistency with the WTO TBT Agreement, the representative of the Russian Federation responded that the consistency of such amendments and draft technical regulations with the WTO TBT Agreement would be verified for their consistency with the WTO TBT Agreement, including through testing their consistency with the relevant provisions of CU and EurAsEC Agreements and Acts. Item 20 of CU Commission Decision No. 527 provided that procedures on amendments were the same as for the adoption of technical regulations and, in his view, were compliant with the provisions of the WTO TBT Agreement.
  7. The representative of the Russian Federation explained that an applicant (Russian or foreign person) could request consideration of amendments to a mandatory requirement and/or rules for its application with the aim of bringing the mandatory requirement and/or rules for its application into compliance with CU and EurAsEC Agreements and Acts, in accordance with the procedures established by CU Commission Decision No. 527 and similar provisions of EurAsEC. Such a request also could be addressed to the government agency that had jurisdiction in a particular regulatory area. In such case, the agency would study the matter and present its opinion and, if relevant, a proposal on an amendment to the national body on standardization, i.e. Rosstandart. Finally, the representative of the Russian Federation explained that it was possible at any time to challenge in court any mandatory requirements within the scope of technical regulations established under Federal Law No. 184-FZ or CU and EurAsEC technical regulations if such requirements did not comply with the criteria set-out in the Law or in CU and EurAsEC Agreements.
  8. The representative of the Russian Federation explained that an applicant could use an international or regional or foreign standard for purposes of confirmation of conformity. To this end, the applicant needed to submit to Rosstandart a translation into Russian of such standard. Rosstandart considered this standard within 45 days with the relevant technical committee in this area (see paragraph 5 of Article 44 of Federal Law No. 184-FZ), and provided a reasoned conclusion in terms of the possible application of the standard that the applicant submitted for purposes of confirmation of conformity. If the use of this standard was possible, it was included in the corresponding list of documents used for confirmation of conformity and to the Information Fund of Standards. Where required, the CU Commission included the foregoing standard in the list of standards which were in use for confirmation of conformity, as provided for in CU Commission Decision No. 527 of 28 January 2011, Regulation on Development, Adoption, Amendment and Cancellation of Technical Regulations of the Customs Union. He also stated that Federal Law No. 184-FZ provided for review of standards which were in use for purposes of confirmation of conformity at least once every five years (Article 16.5 of Federal Law No. 184-FZ).
  9. The representative of the Russian Federation confirmed that all standards currently in force in the Russian Federation containing mandatory requirements would be applied in compliance with the WTO TBT Agreement from the date of accession. In case of their inconsistency with the provisions of the WTO TBT Agreement, such standards would be modified in accordance with the procedures set-out in CU Commission Decision No. 527 of 28 January 2011, Regulation on Development, Adoption, Amendment and Cancellation of Technical Regulations of the Customs Union and national legislation. He confirmed that the Russian Federation would fulfil all requirements of the WTO TBT Agreement, including those on notifications, as of the date of accession. The Working Party took note of this commitment.