In order to control the sale of products hazardous to life and health, and to ensure the competitiveness of the products on the world market, the creation of conditions for the participation of domestic enterprises and entrepreneurs in the international economic, scientific and technical cooperation and international trade, certification of compliance for products is carried out in Uzbekistan. The other important reason for certification is the protection of consumers from unscrupulous manufacturer (seller, importer etc.) and confirmation of compliance with the requirements of quality for products declared by the manufacturer (seller, importer etc.).
There is a list of products subject to mandatory certification in Uzbekistan, which includes food, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, tobacco products, fertilizers, fuels of different types of oil and others group of products. Import and use of such products without appropriate certification in Uzbekistan is not allowed.
The state policy in the field of certification is regulated by the Uzbek agency of standardization, metrology and certification, which is the national certification body of Uzbekistan. The agency establishes general rules for the certification, publishes official information about the regulations, determines the list of products subject to mandatory certification.
The functions of the organization and carrying out of the certification process rests with the accredited certification bodies.
Within the certification process the compliance with established regulatory documents on certified products that contain a list of characteristics (indicators), factory site inspection and determination of testing methods will be performed. In addition to the certification some other specific requirements shall apply.
For certification of products the following documents are necessary to submit:
– copy of regulatory document for the products (e.g. EU regulations for products manufactured in EU);
– A sample of product marking (product information);
– If available, copy of the health certificate, containing the results of tests in the laboratory of the state sanitary inspection authority and information about other requirements established in the regulations for certified products (veterinary and phytosanitary, ISO certification etc.).
When the applicant at the same time has submitted an application for a sanitary certificate and the certificate of conformity, a copy of the health certificate shall be provided after its registration in the prescribed manner.
After application, the certification body considers the analyzes of the submitted documents, and within two days after the receipt of application, notifies the applicant about the decision, which contains all basic conditions of certification, based on the established order of certification of homogeneous production. The response will also include the specified certification scheme and the necessary regulations to compliance, indicated accredited testing laboratory, which will complete the tests of samples.
If the regulations on certified products do require other specific certifications such as hygiene, veterinary, phytosanitary and certification of environmental standards and requirements, the decision also indicates their necessity.
If additional documents already contain the results of tests on specific parameters in accredited testing laboratory, certification body can consider these results to assess compliance without additional testing.
The necessary tests can be performed only by laboratory which is accredited by Uzbek agency of standardization, metrology and certification. Selection and identification of product samples for certification is carried out by the certification body on-site within two days after application receipt. The number of samples, the order of selection, identification and storage rules are established in the regulations for the products subject to certification, including test methods.
Identification of the presented for certification samples are performed according to the rules of certification of homogeneous production. If the results of the identification revealed that the samples submitted by the applicant do not comply with the normative documents indicated in the application, whether or not samples are typical certified products, sampling is not carried out, and the applicant submits a reasoned refusal of certification.
The applicant may also submit to the certification body the test protocols completed within the development and launch of new products, or documents on tests carried out by domestic or foreign testing laboratories accredited or recognized by the accreditation system of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
On request of the applicant or his representative they shall be informed about the terms of the letter of credit tests in the test laboratory. The applicant has the right to be present during testing of its products.
Test reports will be returned to the applicant and to the certification body. If product testing on individual parameters were performed in different test laboratories, the positive assessment of conformity is considered by evidence of all protocols with the positive results.
In case of negative test results, as well as the presentation of an incomplete set of documents, the certification body shall issue the applicant a conclusion about the refusal to issue a certificate of conformity with the specific reference to the legislation.
For the certification of compliance, in particular for serial production the factory site inspection might be required. The inspection process is established and approved by the certification bodies the agency “Uzstandard”.
As a result of the inspection the certification body issues the protocol of factory inspection, which will be part of certification process. The period of the inspection should not exceed 10 days from the time of sampling.
After review of the documents set submitted by applicant the certification body issues a certificate of compliance or refuses the certificate. The certificate will be issued in the State language and /or Russian language. All issued certificates will be registered in the State Register of the national system of certification of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The certificate is valid only if the registration number is available.
The certificate of conformity will be submitted to the applicant within two working days, and during the examination of the production of the certification body – within five working days after receipt of the test results.
The certificate of conformity issued for imported products is valid for one-time delivery, and for serial production – for 3 years.
The obtaining of the issued certificate of conformity with the established certification scheme grant to the manufacturer the right to use the certificate of conformity and a mark of conformity.
Certified products (packaging, containers and accompanying documentation) will be marked with a conformity mark under the responsibility of the manufacturer.
The issued certificate of conformance shall be part of the dispatch document for import. The certificate of conformity can be enclosed in original or as a certified copy, signed and stamped by the certificate’s holder or authority issuing the certificate. You may also provide the copies legalised by notary.
The certified copies of the original certificate issued by the holder shall be recorded in accordance with the shipping documentation. Each copy must contain a registration number and the quantity of delivered products.
In case of any changes in the product’s design (composition) or the technology of production, which may affect the characteristics of the products, the manufacturer shall notify the certification body that decides on the need for corrective action.
Also important to know that after issue of certificate of compliance the certification body is obliged at least once a year conducts inspection control testing of certified products for regular confirmation of their compliance with the requirements established in the certification. If determined by the certification scheme the sample tests shall be also performed during the inspection.