Russian EMC standards move to parity with the EU

The Russian Federation has introduced new EMC standards.

Exporting to Russia is not impossible, but there are some rules that need to be considered.

Gostandard, the Russian accreditation body, requires all imported products to carry the GOST-R mark in order to show conformity with national safety standards.

In addition, there are several product groups that also need hygienic approval.

Examples are products that contact water or food, such as kitchen devices and refrigerators.

According to Marina Lapina from the Russian Scientific and Research Institute for Certification, the roots of the comparably severe safety controls can be found in the early 1990s.

The Ministry of Foreign Economic Affairs of the Soviet Union used to have the monopoly on controlling imports.

But Russian Government officials claim that after this union ceased to exist, a large number of unsafe products from areas such as China and Eastern Europe entered Russia, causing a twelve-fold increase in injuries and deaths among consumers.

Consequently, in 1993 the Law on Consumer Rights Protection came into force containing detailed principles for compulsory certification.

During recent years there have been great efforts to harmonise Russian standards with international ones.

And specifically, technical legislation has also become equal or similar to the regulations within the European Union.

Examples of these changes include the new Russian EMC standards introduced in July 2004: GOST R 51317.3.2-99 and GOST R 51317.3.3-99 are identical to EN61000-3-2 and EN 61000-3-3, respectively.

GOST R 51317.3.2-99 covers "Electromagnetic compatibility of technical equipment - Harmonic current emissions (equipment input current less than 16A per phase) - Limits and test methods", and GOST R 51317.3.3-99 governs "Electromagnetic compatibility of technical equipment - Voltage fluctuation and flicker impressed on low voltage supply systems by equipment with rated current up to 16A - Limits and test methods".

These standards are applicable to electrical and electronic kitchen and domestic appliances.

Previously issued GOST certificates are not affected by this introduction, and so the expiry date remains the same.

However, products that are tested from now on need to comply with the new requirements.

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