RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/ACC/SPEC/RUS/13/Rev.4 
17 March 2003 
 (03-1569) 
Working Party on the Accession  
of the Russian Federation Original:   
 
 
  
ACCESSION OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION 
 
Checklists of Technical Barriers to Trade and Sanitary and Phytosanitary
 
Issues in the Accession of the Russian Federation to the WTO  
 
Revision  
  
 The Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation has submitted the following revised 
checklist of TBT issues relating to the accession of the Russian Federation to the WTO, with the request that it be circulated to members of the Working Party.  
_______________ 
   
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WTO Reference Commitments (by the time of 
accession) Progress of Implementation; Estimated Time  Required to Undertake the Commitment 
1. 2. 3. 
1. Generally agreed 
principle in WTO 
accession negotiations Standstill: the introduction of new 
standards, technical regulations and 
conformity assessment procedures should be fully compatible with the 
TBT Agreement The Russian party does not intend to compli cate access to its markets by introducing a less 
favourable treatment for the purpos es of the TBT Agreement. The basic parameters were defined in 
Russia’s draft commitments in respect of access to goods and serv ices markets. Measures for market 
protection will be undertaken in full compliance with Russia’s international obligations, the Russian 
legislation in force, and the requirements of draft laws currently under development. Legal and 
regulatory framework for the implementation of th e above was provided under the “Interministerial 
Programme of Measures to Ensure Compliance with the WTO TBT Agreement and the WTO SPS 
Agreement for 1999 – 2000” and will be complete d in all material respects in the course of 
implementation of a similar further programme for 2002 – 2005 to be approved in the I-II quarter of 
2003  
 
2. Article 15.2 and TBT 
Committee Decision (G/TBT/1) Submission of Statement on 
Implementation Pursuant to the TBT Agreement this commitment will be fully implemented upon accession of the 
Russian Federati on to the WTO  
 
3. Articles 2, 3, 5, 6,7,9 Development and Application of 
Technical Regulations and Conformity 
Assessment Procedures. Existence of legal and/or administrative 
underpinnings (or “reasonable 
measures" as appropriate) to ensure ongoing compliance with provisions of 
the agreement concerning, in 
particular:   
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4. National treatment/most 
favoured nation (Article 
2.1, (Code of Good Practice, Clause D, 
Articles 5.1.1; 5.2.1; 
5.2.4; and, 5.2.5). 
 Non-discrimination with respect to the 
treatment of products. 
National treatment - applies with respect to reparation, adoption and 
application of technical regulations by 
central government bodies, as between imported and domestic like products, 
or like products from different 
countries; in respect of standards, a similar obligation; and a similar 
obligation with respect to conformity 
assessment procedures  There is no discrimination of imported goods (for the purposes of the TBT Agreement) in the 
Russian Federation. 
 Article   3 “Principles of Technical Regulating” of the Federal Law “On Technical Regulating” says 
“The technical regulating shall be carried out in accordance with the principles of: 
application of uniform rules for establishing of the requirements for products, processes of production, operation, storage, transportation, marketing and utilization, executing of works or 
rendering of services” 
Article  7 “The Matter and Application of Technical Regulations” of the Law says  
“6. The technical regulations shall be applied in identical way and in equal measure irrespective of 
the country and (or) place of product origin, rea lization of processes of production, operation, 
storage, transportation, marketing and utilization, types or peculiarities of bargains and (or) natural 
and (or) legal persons being manufacturers, executo rs, sellers, purchasers, taking into account the 
provisions of Clause 9 of this Article”. Article 15 “National Standards, All-Russian Cla ssifiers of Technical an d Economic and Social 
Information” of the Law says 
 “2. The national standard shall be applied on a voluntary basis similarly and to equal extent 
irrespective of the country and (or) place of a produ ct origin, processes of production, operation, 
storage, transportation, marketing and utilization, executing of works and rendering of services, types 
or peculiarities of bargains and (or) the persons be ing manufacturers, executors, sellers, purchasers”.  
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5. Avoidance of 
unnecessary obstacles 
to trade (Article 2.2, Article 2.3, Article 2.8  
and Code of Good 
Practice, Article I, Articles 5.1.2; 5.2.6; 
and, 5.2.7). Central government bodies must ensure 
their technical regulations are not more 
trade-restrictive than necessary to fulfil a legitimate objec tive, taking account 
of the risks non-fulfilment would 
create; they must ensure technical regulations fulfil a legitimate objective: 
they shall eliminate technical 
regulations if the circumstances or objectives giving rise to the adoption of 
a technical regulation no longer exist or 
can be addressed in a less trade-restrictive manner; where appropriate, 
they should specify technical 
regulations and standards which rare based on performance based 
characteristics rather than design or 
descriptive characteristics; they must design and apply conformity 
assessment procedures to be no more 
strict than is necessary in order to give 
the importing country adequate 
confidence that produ cts conform with 
applicable technical regulations  
 Unnecessary obstacles to international trade are be ing lifted in the course of harmonisation of the 
current legislation and conformity assessment proced ures with the international requirements. This 
principle is fully implemented in the Federal Law “On Technical Regulation”.  
Article 6 “The Purposes of Adoption of Technical Regulations” of the Law says 
 “1. The technical regulations sha ll be adopted for the purpose of: 
 protection of life or health of people, property of natural or legal persons, state or municipal 
property; protection the environment, life or health of animals and plants; 
prevention of actions misleading the purchasers”, 
 and Article 7 “The Matter and Application of Technical Regulations” says 
 
“1. The technical regulations, taking into account th e risk degree of causing harm, shall establish the 
minimally necessary requirements, providing:  
- emanation safety; 
- biological safety;  
- explosion safety; 
- mechanical safety;  
- fire safety; 
- industrial safety; 
- thermal safety; 
- chemical safety; 
- electrical safety; 
- nuclear and radiation safety; 
- electromagnetic compatibility regarding safe ty operation of devices and equipment; 
- uniformity of measurements. 
 2. The requirements of technical regulations may not serve as a barrier to realization of business 
activity in the greater degree, than it is minimally necessary for execution of th e purposes specified in 
Clause 1 of Article 6 of this Federal law.  
4. The technical regulation shall contain the requ irements for product perf ormances, processes of 
production, operation, storage, tr ansportation, marketing and utilization, but shall not contain the 
requirements for design and modification, except for the cases, when the reaching of the purposes of 
the technical regulation adoption, speci fied in Clause 1 of Article 6 of this Federal law, is not ensured  
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because of absence of the requirements for design  and modification in view of a risk degree of 
causing harm. 
 12. The government of the Russian Federation shall develop proposals on ensuring of conformity of 
technical regulating to interests of the national econo my, to a level of development of material basis 
and technological level, and also to the international norms and rules. For these purposes the Government of the Russian Federation shall affirm the program of development of technical 
regulations which is specified and published yearly”. 
Article 9 “Order of Developing, Adoption, Amending  and Cancellation of Technical Regulation” says 
 
“10. In case of noncompliance of technical regulation with the interests of the national economy, with development of material basis and technological level, and also with the international norms and 
rules, the Government of the Russian Federation is  obliged to start the procedure of inserting the 
amendments into the technical regulation or procedure of cancellation of the technical regulation”.  
Article 12 “Principles of Standardization” says 
Standardization shall be carried out according to the principles of:  “Inadmissibility of creation the barriers to production and circulation of products, executing of works 
and rendering of services in the greater degree, than it is minimally  necessary for execution of the 
purposes specified in Article 11 of this Federal law”. 
 
Ongoing review of technical regulations to ensure th eir conformity to legal requirements is a current 
practice.  
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6. Use of Relevant 
International Standards, 
Guides, Recommendations or 
Conformity Assessment 
Systems (Article.2.4 and Code of Good 
Practice, Article F), 
(Article 5.4), Article 6, 7.1,  (Articles 9.3).  
Ongoing Obligation to 
Reassess Technical Regulations Central government bodies must use 
relevant international standards, or 
parts thereof, as a basis for domestic technical regulations and standards 
except when such standards or relevant 
parts would be ineffective or inappropriate; central government 
bodies shall use relevant international 
guides or recommendations, or parts thereof, as a basis for their conformity 
assessment procedures, except where, 
as duly explained upon request, such guides or recommendations are 
inappropriate; central government 
bodies shall rely on international or regional conformity assessment 
systems only to the extent that these 
systems comply with Articles 5 and 6,as applicable,  
recognition of results of conformity 
assessment procedures conducted by 
competent authorities of the exporting 
Member  Under Article 4 of Law 5151-1 of the Russian Federation “On Certifica tion of Products and 
Services” dated 10 June 1993 as amended by Federal Law 154-FZ of 31 July 1998, Russia recognises 
the results of conformity assessment procedures by all international systems Russia has acceded to 
(Geneva 1955 Treaty on Mechanical Vehicles, Brussels Convention for Mutual Recognition of Tests 
of Brands of Handguns and Cartridges, The International Electrotechnical Commission's Quality 
Assessment System for Electronic Components (IECQ), the IEC International System for Confirmation of Test Results an d Certification of Electric Equipment, the IEC Scheme for 
Certification to Standards for Explosive Atmospheres (IECEx). In other cases, recognition of the 
results of conformity assessment procedures is pr ovided under multilateral or bilateral agreements. 
 
Current practice makes  ample use of international standards, guides and recommendations in the 
development of technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures. Besides, a commitment to use the above as a basis for development of national technical regulations and conformity 
assessment procedures is provided under the Federal Law “On Technical Regulation” 
 Article 7 “The Matter and Application of Technical Regulations” says 
 
“8. The international standards and (or) national standards may be used in full or in part as a basis for development of draft technical regulations”. 
 
Article 9 “Order of Developing, Adoption, Amending  and Cancellation of Technical Regulation” 
says 
 “10. In case of noncompliance of technical regulation with the interests of the national economy, 
with development of material basis and technological level, and also with the international norms and 
rules, the Government of the Russian Federation is  obliged to start the procedure of inserting the 
amendments into the technical regulation or procedure of cancellation of the technical regulation”.  
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7. Harmonisation (Article 
2.4, Articles 2.6; 5.5; 
and Code of Good Practice, Article G, 
Article 9.1, Article 5.4) Central government bodies must 
consider relevant international 
standards in the development of technical regulations; shall participate 
in international standardizing bodies  
and international conformity assessment system; must use relevant 
guides or recommendations issued by 
international standardizing bodies for the purpose of conformity assessment 
procedures except where inappropriate. 
  Article   7  “The Matter and Application of Technical Regulations” says 
 
“8. The international standards and (or) national standards may be used in full or in part as a basis for development of draft technical regulations”. 
 
Article 9 “Order of Developing, Adoption, Amending  and Cancellation of Technical Regulation” says 
 
“10. In case of noncompliance of technical regulation with the interests of the national economy, with development of material basis and technological level, and also with the international norms and 
rules, the Government of the Russian Federation is  obliged to start the procedure of inserting the 
amendments into the technical regulation or procedure of cancellation of the technical regulation”.  
Article  12  “Principles of Standardization” says 
 “Standardization shall be carried out according to the principles of:  
application of the international standard as a ba sis for development of the national standard, except 
for the cases when such application is recognized to be impossible as a result of noncompliance of 
requirements of the international standards with  climatic and geographical peculiarities of the 
Russian Federation, with technical an d (or) technological peculiarities, or by other reasons, or if the 
Russian Federation opposed against adoption of the international standard or its separate provision in 
accordance with the esta blished procedures”. 
 Article 14  “National Standards Body of th e Russian Federation, Technical Committees on 
Standardization” says 
 “1. National standards body of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as national standards 
body) shall:  
participate, according to charts of the internationa l organizations, in development of the international 
standards and shall ensure the taking into account of  interests of the Russian Federation in process of 
their adoption; 
represent the Russian Federation in the internationa l organizations carrying out activity in the field of 
standardization”.  
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8. Equivalence (Article 
2.7,  3.1, 6.1, 7.1) Central government bodies shall give 
positive consideratio n to accepting as 
equivalent regulations of other Members, even if these regulations 
differ from their own, provided they 
meet national regulatory objectives in respect of conformity assessment 
procedures, central government bodies 
shall ensure, whenever possible, that results of conformity assessment 
procedures in other Members are 
accepted if they are satisfied that those procedures offer an assurance of 
conformity with their technical 
regulations or standards equivalent to their own procedures . Article   3 “Principles of Technical Regulating” of the Federal Law “n Technical Regulating” says 
“The technical regulating shall be carried out in accordance with the principles of: 
application of uniform rules for establishing of the requirements for products, processes of production, operation, storage, transportation, marketing and utilization, executing of works or 
rendering of services” 
 
9. Transparency (Articles 
2.9, 2.10; for standards 
under the Code of Good Practice, Articles J, K, 
L, M, and N; and, for 
conformity assessment procedures under 
Articles 5.6 and 5.7, 
Articles 2.111; 5.8; Code of Good Practice, 
Article O). Central government bodies are required 
to notify other Members regarding 
technical regulations. Central government bodies are required to 
ensure that all technical regulations, 
standards and conformity assessment procedures which have been adopted 
are published or made available 
promptly.   
 Article   9  “Order of Developing, Adoption, Amending  and Cancellation of Technical Regulation” 
of the Law says 
 “3. The notification about development of draft technical regulation shall be published in the print of 
federal executive body on technical regulating and in information system of general-purpose in 
electronic-digital format.  
The notification about development of draft technical regulation shall contain the information on 
products, processes of production, operation, storag e, transportation, marketing and utilization, in 
relation to which the requirements being develope d shall be established, with summary of the 
purpose of this technical regulation, with substa ntiation of necessity of its development and with 
specifying of those requirements being developed which differ from provisions of the appropriate international standards or obligatory requirements, which are valid in the territory of the Russian 
Federation at the moment of development of this draft technical regulation, and besides that the 
information on a method of familiarization with draft technical regulation, the denomination or 
surname, name and patronymic of the developer of the given draft technical regulation, the postal and 
e-mail (if any) addresses for receipt of wr itten notices from the interested persons. 
 
4. From the moment of publication of the notification on development of draft technical regulation 
this draft shall be available to the interested pers ons for familiarization. The developer is obliged on  
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demand of the interested person to give him the copy of draft technical regulation. The payment for 
giving of this copy may not exceed an expenditure for its manufacture. 
 The period of public discussion of draft technical regulation from the date of publication of the 
notification about development of draft technical regulation up to the date of publication of the 
notification about completion of public discussion may not be less than two months.  
5. The notification about completion of public discussion of draft technical regulation shall be 
published in the print of federal executive body on technical regulating and in general-purpose information system in electronic-digital format. 
 
The notification about completion of public discussion  of draft technical regulation shall include the 
information on a method of famili arization with draft technical regulation and the list of written 
notices of the interested persons, and also the denomination or surname, name and patronymic of the 
developer of draft technical regulation, the postal and e-mail (if any) addresses for contact with the developer.  
From the date of publication of notification about co mpletion of public discussion of draft technical 
regulation the updated draft technical regulation an d the list of written notices of the interested 
persons shall be available to the interested persons for familiarization. 
 
6. The federal executive body on technical regulating is obliged to publish in the print the notification 
about development of draft technical regulation and of completion of public discussion of this draft 
within ten days from the moment of payment for publication of notices. The order of publication of notices and amount of payment for their publication shall be established by the Government of the 
Russian Federation. 
Article   16 “Rules of Development and Approval of National Standards” says “3. The notification about development of the national standard shall be addressed to national 
standards body and shall be published in general-purpose information system in electronic-digital 
format and in the print of federal executive body on technical regulating. The notification about development of the national standard shall contain the information on those provisions, contained in 
draft national standard, which differ from provisions of the appropriate international standards. 
 The developer of the national standard shall ensure availability of draft national standard to the 
interested persons for familiarization. The developer is obliged, on demand of the interested person, 
to grant him the copy of draft national standard. The payment for granting of the specified copy may not exceed an expenditure for its manufacture. 
In case the developer of the national standard is the federal executive body,  the payment for granting  
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the copy of draft national standard shall be effected to the federal budget. 
 
4. The developer shall update the draft national sta ndard in view of written notices of the interested 
persons, shall carry out public discussion of the draft national standard and shall make the list of 
written notices of the interested persons with summ ary of the notices contents and results of their 
discussion. The developer is obliged to save written notices of  the interested persons up to approval of the 
national standard and to represent them to national standards body and technical committees on 
standardization upon their inquiries. The period of public discussion of draft national standard from the date of publication of notification 
about development of draft national standard up to the date of publication of notification about 
completion of public discussion may not be less than two months.  
5. The notification about completion of public discussion of draft national standard shall be published 
in the print of federal executive body on techni cal regulating and in general-purpose information 
system in electroni c-digital format. 
From the date of publication of notification about co mpletion of public discussion of draft national 
standard the updated draft national standard and th e list of written notices of the interested persons 
shall be available for the interested persons for familiarization. 
 
6. The order of publication of notification about development of draft national standard and 
notification about completion of public discussion of draft national standard and the amount of 
payment for their publication shall be established by the Government of the Russian Federation”.  
It is intended to appoint Gosstandart of Russia and other ministries and agencies concerned 
responsible for preparing notifications. The actual submission of notifications to the WTO will be 
performed by the Russian TBT/SPS Enquiry Point.  
The Russian TBT/SPS Enquiry Point specified in Section 3 above, which started publishing a 
specialised «Vestnik» (Bulletin) in 2000, is currently ready to assume this function. The procedures for preparing and submitting notices are defined in GOST R 1.13-2001 (enacted on 1 January 2002).  
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10. Non-discriminatory and 
cost-based fee structure. 
(Article 5.2, 7.1, 10.4, Code of Good Practice, 
Articles M and P). In the area of conformity assessment, 
any fees imposed by central 
government bodies must be equitable as between like products of national or 
imported origin. Copies of documents 
provided to other Members or their interested parties through the national 
enquiry point must be supplied at an 
equitable price (if any), which shall be the same price as for nationals 
excluding delivery cost  
 Gosstandart of Russia had agreed with the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation and adopted 
“Rules of Certification. Fees fo r Certification of Products and Se rvices” which were subsequently 
registered with the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation on 29 December 1999 (reg. No. 2031). The document provides a uniform fee-payment structure for national and foreign applicants, 
and is based on the costs effectively incurred by certification authorities and testing laboratories in 
carrying out the conformity assessment procedures.  
 
Article   3 “Principles of Technical Regulating” says   
“The technical regulating shall be carried out in accordance with the principles of: 
application of uniform rules for establishing of the requirements for products, processes of production, operation, storage, transportation, marketing and utilization, executing of works or 
rendering of services”. 
 Article 9 “Order of Developing, Adoption, Amending  and Cancellation of Technical Regulation” 
says 
 “4. From the moment of publication of the notification on development of draft technical regulation 
this draft shall be available to the interested pers ons for familiarization. The developer is obliged on 
demand of the interested person to give him the copy of draft technical regulation. The payment for 
giving of this copy may not exceed an expenditure for its manufacture”. 
 Article   24  “Declaring of Conformity” says 
“The order of maintenance of the supplier’s declarations register, order of granting the information 
contained in the specified register, and order of payment for granting of this information shall be defined by the Government of the Russian Federation”. 
Article   26  “Realization of Obligatory Certification” says 
 “2. Certification body shall: 
establish the cost of works on certification on the basis of a technique for definition of cost of such 
works approved by the Government of the Russian Federation”.  
Article   43 “Information on Standardization Documents” says 
“2. Official publication of the national standards and all-Russian classifiers shall be carried out by the 
national standards body in accordance with the established procedure. The order of publication of the 
national standards and all-Russian classifiers shall be defined by the Government of the Russian  
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Federation”. 
Article   44 “Federal Information Corpus of  Technical Regulations and Standards” says 
“2. The uniform information system, designed for provision of the interested persons with information on documents, included in the Federal information corpus of technical regulations and 
standards, is being created and operates in the Russian Federation in the order and on conditions 
established by the Government of the Russian Federation”. 
11. Complaint Procedure 
(Article 5.2.8) Central government bodies shall 
establish a procedure to review complaints concerning the operation of 
any conformity assessment procedure 
and take corrective action when a 
complaint is justified.     The Appeal Commission was formed at Gosstanda rt for the purpose of considering complaints 
from users concerning actions of certification author ities, testing laboratories (centres), certification 
experts and applicants relating to certification, monitoring, use of conformity mark, issuance, 
suspension and cancellation of cer tificates, licenses, and other related issues. This Appeal 
Commission was regulated by its charter.  
 
12. Local Government 
Bodies (paragraphs 9.2 
and 10.1 of Article 2 (Article 3.1, 3.2) and 
paragraphs 6.2 and 7.1 
of Article 5 (Article 7.2),  Articles 5 and 6 
(Article 7.1) Article 2 
(Article 3.4) and 
Articles 5 and 6 
(Article 7.4) A Member must ensure that the 
technical regulations/conformity 
assessment procedures of local governments on the level directly 
below that of the central government 
are notified in  accordance with the 
provisions of paragraphs 9.2 and 10.1 
of Article 2 (Article 3.2) and 
paragraphs 6.2 and 7.1 of Article 5 
(Article 7.2), except when the technical 
content is substantially the same as that of previously notified technical 
regulations/conformity assessment 
procedures of the central government.   Article 2 “Basic Concepts” gives the following basi c concept of technical regulation are used for the 
purposes of this Federal law: 
Technical regulation – is the document, which is adopted either by the Russian Federation international treaty ratified in acco rdance with the legislation of th e Russian Federation, or by the 
federal law, or by decree of President of the Russian Federation, or by decree of the Russian 
Federation Government, and which establishes the obligatory requirements for technical regulating objects (for products, including buildings, structures and constructions, for processes of production, 
operation, storage, transportation, marketing and utilization). 
 
Article  7 “The Matter and Application of Technical Regulations” says 
6. The technical regulations shall be applied in identical way and in equal measure irrespective of the country and (or) place of product or igin, realization of processes of  production, operation, storage, 
transportation, marketing and utiliza tion, types or peculiarities of bargains and (or) natural and (or) 
legal persons being manufacturers, executors, sellers, purchasers, taking into account the provisions of Clause 9 of this Article. 
 
Thus Local Government Bodies can not establish mandatory requirements.   
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13. National Enquiry Point A Member must establish a national 
enquiry point which provides 
documentation and answers enquiries regarding technical regulations, 
standards and conformity assessment 
procedures; membership and participation by the Member in 
international and regional standardizing 
bodies and conformity assessment systems  
14. Establishment and 
operation of a single 
Contact Point for Information ("enquiry 
point") Article 10 The location of notices and information 
as to where such notices can be 
obtained  and the location of the enquiry point.  
 A functioning Russian Single Co ntact Point for TBT/SPS (“TBT/SPS Enquiry Point”) was set up by 
Gosstandart of Russia on the basis of All-Russia Research Institute for Classification, Terminology 
and Information in Standardisation and Quality (VNIIKI) in 1999. The function of the TBT/SPS 
Enquiry Point is to provide, in conjunction w ith specialised information centres of different 
ministries and agencies, the nece ssary TBT and SPS related information to all interested parties, 
including foreign participants of international trade.  
Address: Russian Single Contact Point for TB T/SPS Information (TBT/SPS Enquiry Point), 4 
Granatny per., Moscow 103001 Russian Federation. tel./fax 230 25 98 
E-mail: ENPOINT@VNIIKI.RU
 
Gosstandart of Russia also has a functioning web site (www.GOST.RU) which can be used to access 
information stored on the Macronet interministerial network (in TBT and SPS section), including the 
annual standardisation plans. 
 Article 44 “Federal Information Corpus of Technical Regulations and Standards”  of the Law says 
2. The uniform information system, designed for provision of the interested persons with information 
on documents, included in the Federal information corpus of technical regulations and standards, is being created and operates in the Russian Federation in the order and on conditions established by the 
Government of the Russian Federation.  
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15. Article 4 and Annex 3 
(Code of Good 
Practice), Article 8 Development and Application of 
Standards and Conformity Assessment 
Procedures: Existence of legal and/or administrative underpinnings (or 
"reasonable measures" as appropriate) 
to ensure ongoing compliance with provisions of the agreement 
concerning, in particular:  
16. Annex 3 (D), Article 
8.1 Non-discrimination with respect to the 
treatment of products; There is no discrimination of imported goods (for the purposes of the TBT Agreement) in the 
Russian Federation. 
ARTICLE 15  “NATIONAL STANDARDS, ALL-RUSSIAN CLASSIFIERS OF TECHNICAL 
AND ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL INFORMATION” OF THE FEDERAL LAW OF RUSSIAN 
FEDERATION “ ON TECHNICAL REGULATING” SAYS:  2. The national standard shall be applied on a voluntary basis similarly and to equal extent 
irrespective of the country and (or) place of a produ ct origin, processes of production, operation, 
storage, transportation, marketing and utilization, executing of works and rendering of services, types or peculiarities of bargains and (or) the persons being manufacturers, executors, sellers, purchasers. 
17. Annex 3 (E), Article 
8.1 Prohibition of unnecessary obstacles to 
international trade; Unnecessary obstacles to international trade are be ing lifted in the course of harmonisation of the 
current legislation and conformity assessment pro cedures with their international counterparts. 
Certain required measures were undertaken under the “Interministerial Programme of Measures for 
1999 – 2000” and further measures are envisaged by a similar programme for 2002 – 2005. 
 
ARTICLE 12 “PRINCIPLES OF STANDARDIZATION” OF THE LAW SAYS: “Standardization shall be carried out according to the principles of:  
inadmissibility of creation the barriers to productio n and circulation of products, executing of works 
and rendering of services in the greater degree, than it is minimally  necessary for execution of the 
purposes specified in Article 11 of this Federal law; assurance of conditions for uniform application 
of standards”.  
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18. Annex 3 (F), Article 8.1 Consideration of relevant international 
standards, guides and 
recommendations as a basis for standards; ARTICLE  12 “PRINCIPLES OF STANDARDIZATION” OF THE LAW SAYS: 
“Standardization shall be carried out according to the principles of:  
application of the international standard as a ba sis for development of the national standard, except 
for the cases when such application is recognized to be impossible as a result of noncompliance of 
requirements of the international standards with  climatic and geographical peculiarities of the 
Russian Federation, with technical an d (or) technological peculiarities, or by other reasons, or if the 
Russian Federation opposed against adoption of the international standard or its separate provision in 
accordance with the esta blished procedures”. 
 This requirement is implemented in the principal standards of the State Standardisation System 
(GOST R 1.0-92 “The State Standardisation Sy stem of the Russian Federation. The Main 
Principles”; GOST R 1.2-92 “The State Standard isation System of the Russian Federation. The 
Procedure for Development of State Standards.”) 
19. Annex 3 (G) The standardizing body  shall play a 
full part in preparation of international 
standards Article 14 “National Standards Body of the Russian Federation, Technical Committees on 
Standardization” of the Law says 
«1. National standards body of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as national standards body) shall:  
participate, according to charts of the internationa l organizations, in development of the international 
standards and shall ensure the taking into account of  interests of the Russian Federation in process of 
their adoption; 
represent the Russian Federation in the internationa l organizations carrying out activity in the field of 
standardization». 
20. Annex 3 (H) The standardizing body shall  achieve a 
national consensus on the standards 
they develop. Article 12 «Principles of Standardization” of the Law says 
«Standardization shall be carried out according to the principles of:  
Maximal responsiveness of lawful interests of the interested persons during development of 
standards”.  
Principles and rules of Russian national standartization system are in a full compliance with the ISO 
and IEC   
 WT/ACC/SPEC/RUS/13/Rev.4 
Page 16 WTO Reference Commitments (by the time of 
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21. Annex 3 (I) The standardizing body shall specify 
standards based on product 
requirements in terms of performance rather than design or descriptive 
characteristics Article   7  “The Matter and Application of Technical Regulations”  of the Law says  
“4. The technical regulation shall contain the requi rements for product performances, processes of 
production, operation, storage, tr ansportation, marketing and utilization, but shall not contain the 
requirements for design and modification, except for the cases, when the reaching of the purposes of 
the technical regulation adoption, speci fied in Clause 1 of Article 6 of this Federal law, is not ensured 
because of absence of the requirements for design  and modification in view of a risk degree of 
causing harm”  
and    Article 12   “Principles of Standardizati on” of the Law says “Standardization shall be carried 
out according to the principles of: inadmissibility of establishing such standards which contradict 
technical regulations”.    
Thus standards can not contradict the technical regulations and hence can not establish the 
requirements   in terms of design or descriptive characteristics instead of pe rformance requirements.  
22. Annex 3 (G,P) Standardizing body shall publish a 
work programme for standards and 
non-governmental conformity 
assessment procedures, including publication of notices  of draft standards 
and an opportunity for public 
comment.  A notice of the existence of the work 
programme shall be published  
 Article 16 “Rules of Development and Approva l of National Standards” of the Law says  
“1. National standards body shall develop and approve the program of development of national 
standards. The national standards body shall ensure the availability of the program of development of 
national standards to the interested persons for familiarization. 3. The notification about development of the national standard shall be addressed to national 
standards body and shall be published in general-purpose information system in electronic-digital 
format and in the print of federal executive body on technical regulating. The notification about development of the national standard shall contain the information on those provisions, contained in 
draft national standard, which differ from provisions of the appropriate international standards. 
5. The notification about completion of public discussion of draft national standard shall be published in the print of federal executive body on techni cal regulating and in general-purpose information 
system in electroni c-digital format. 
6. The order of publication of notification about development of draft national standard and notification about completion of public discussion of draft national standard and the amount of 
payment for their publication shall be established by the Government of the Russian Federation. 
8. The notification about approval of the national standard is subject to publication in the print of federal executive body on technical regulating and in general-purpose information system in 
electronic-digital format within thirty days from th e date of the approval of  the national standard”. 
 
 These functions will be performed by the Russian TBT/SPS Enquiry Point by publishing a 
specialised “Vestnik” (Bulletin). Besides, standa rdisation work programmes are published each year 
in the Annual Catalogue of Standards and on the web-site of Gosstandart of Russia: 
WWW.GOST.RU.  
  WT/ACC/SPEC/RUS/13/Rev.4
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accession) Progress of Implementation; Estimated Time  Required to Undertake the Commitment 
23. Annex 3 (M), Annex 3 
(P) Non-discriminatory and cost-based fee 
structure. The ISO approaches are applied for the purposes of payment of the cost of standards. 
24. Annex 3 (K) The national member of ISO./IEC shall 
make every effort to become a member 
of ISONET  Gosstandart of Russia is al ready a member of ISONET. 
 
25. Annex 3 (L) Before adopting a standard the 
standardizing body shall allow a period 
of at least 60 days for the submission 
of comments on the draft standards Article 16 “Rules of Development and Approva l of National Standards” of the Law says 
“3. The developer of the national standard shall ensure availability of draft national standard to the 
interested persons for familiarization. The developer is obliged, on demand of the interested person, 
to grant him the copy of draft national standard. The payment for granting of the specified copy may not exceed an expenditure for its manufacture. In case the developer of the national standard is the 
federal executive body, the payment for granting the copy of draft national standard shall be effected 
to the federal budget. 4. The period of public discussion of draft national standard from the date of publication of 
notification about development of draft national standard up to the date of publication of notification 
about completion of public discussion may not be less than two months”.  
26. Annex 3 (M,P) On the request of any interested party 
the standardizing body shall promptly 
provide or arrange to provide a copy of draft standard which is has submitted 
to comments Article 16  “Rules of Development and Appr oval of National Standards” of the Law says 
“3. The developer of the national standard shall ensure availability of draft national standard to the 
interested persons for familiarization. The developer is obliged, on demand of the interested person, to grant him the copy of draft national standard. The payment for granting of the specified copy may 
not exceed an expenditure for its manufacture. 
In case the developer of the national standard is the federal executive body,  the payment for granting 
the copy of draft national standard shall be effected to the federal budget”. 
 
27. Annex 3 (N) The standardizing body shall take into 
account the comments received during period for commenting  Article 16  “Rules of Development and Appr oval of National Standards” of the Law says 
“4. The developer shall update the draft national stan dard in view of written notices of the interested 
persons, shall carry out public discussion of the draft national standard and shall make the list of 
written notices of the interested persons with summ ary of the notices contents and results of their 
discussion. The developer is obliged to save written notices of  the interested persons up to approval of the 
national standard and to represent them to national standards body and technical committees on 
standardization upon their inquiries”.  
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28. Annex 3 (O) Once the standard has been adopted it , 
it shall be promptly published Article 14 “National Standards Body of the Russian Federation, Technical Committees on 
Standardization” of the Law says 
«1. National standards body of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as national standards body) shall:  
organize publication and distribution of national standards». 
 
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