Background and rules

The Eurasian Economic Union which conists of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia started as a customs union between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan (The Customs Union). The Customs Union was founded in October 2007 with common external customs borders, free trade between countries and common rules for standards of goods, raw materials and equipment. It is these rules that form the basis for the rules of EAC-approval and certification that exist today. The rules are regularly regulated by an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Moscow.  

It is important to understand that the entire EAC approval process is about confirming that a given product complies with the quality and safety standards set for the Eurasian Economic Union. The item or product must have an EAC approval documented with an EAC certificate or EAC declaration. It is important to mention that when we refer to “EAC-approval” it is exactly the same as some people refer to as “certification” or “EAC-certification”. EAC Approval = EAC Certification. 

The rules and standards of the Eurasian Economic Union are different from the CE certification rules that apply within the EU. This means that as a manufacturer you can not just automatically sell your product to Russia. Before it can be sold or used (in most cases) it must be EAC approved. 

Rules and regulations

There are 43 regulations setting the technical requirements and standards of the Eurasian Economic Union. Some examples are;

TR CU 008/2011 “On the safety of toys”
TR CU 009/2011 “On the safety of perfume and cosmetics”
TR CU 010/2011 “On the safety of machines and equipment”

TR CU stands for “Trade Regulations of the Customs Union”, the number hereafter refers to the regulation’s number and the last four digits after the slash is the year in which the regulation was implemented.

Products that fall within a specific category must follow the quality and safety standards mentioned in the regulation. There are cases where a product must comply with the rules of several regulations. For example, a machine that may have  follow both the so-called “low voltage directive” TR CU 004/2011 and the “machine directive” TR CU 010/2011.

All regulations can be viewed here.

Who are allowed to issue the certifications / approvals?

Only companies that are accredited by the local authorities are authorized to issue EAC certificates, EAC declarations, perform laboratory tests and perform factory audits. If you use a non-accredited company the approvals are not valid and the goods might be confiscated by the local authorities. In some cases fines can be awarded and in particularly severe cases the Russian authorities can sue a company that has used fake certificates. Keep in mind that it is not free to get EAC certificates and EAC declarations, so if the price you get looks cheap, then there may be a reason for that.