G/TBT/W/631  
 
8 April  2019 
(19-2254) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
RUSSIAN FEDERATION - RULES OF CEMENT CER TIFICATION  
STATEMENT BY THE EUROPEAN UNION TO THE COMMITTEE ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS T O TRADE  
6 AND 7  MARCH  2019 
The following communication, dated 5 April  2019, is being circulated at the request of the delegation 
of the European Union . 
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1.  The EU raised this issue in the previous meetings of the TBT Committee and would like refer to 
its previous statements on this issue.  
2.  Both Russian notification s G/TBT/N/RUS/48 and G/TBT/N/RUS/49 referred to the measu res that 
were adopted and entered into force at the time of their notification. The EU therefore reiterates its 
request to Russia to suspend both measures and to re -notify them under the TBT Agreement at a 
draft stage, when WTO Members' comments could still be taken into account.  
3.  The EU would like to underline  that its c omments on these two measures sent to the Russian 
Federation in May and June 2016 were never replied to. The EU remains concerned with the lack of 
any improvement  of the situation. The EU deeply regrets that Russia continues to adopt restricting 
measures in the area of cement certification that are disproportionate, unjustified and not notified 
to the WTO before their entry into force . To our regret, our repeated efforts to solve this issue though 
bilateral contacts failed.   
4.  As regards the situation on the ground, the EU would like to recall that, since the introduction of 
the mandatory certification for cement, the EU exports of cement have practically been blocked – 
with the exception of white cement, n ecessary  for Russian industry. This fact is supported also by 
the Russian cement import statistics.  
5.  The EU would like to once more call upon Russia to share with the WTO members a list of bodies 
authorised to deliver certificates  of conformity . The EU requests that these bodies  provide 
justification and state the reasons for refusal to issue certificate s of conformity.  
6.  The EU also calls upon Russia to inform its customs  authorities  that valid certificates of conformity 
cannot be rejected at the border . The EU urges the Russian authorities  to ensure that the EU 
exporters do not face unjustified refusals at the border.  
7.   On 11 July 2017 , the Russian Federal Anti -monopoly Service (FAS) sent a warning to 
Rosstandard regarding the need to avoid undertaking any action that would involve a discriminatory 
treatment in  the trade of cement from foreign suppliers.  
8.  The EU would like to receive  inform ation about the actions that followed this opinion.  
9.  In particular , the EU would like to ask the Russian Federation to provide information concerning 
possible amendments to the relevant standards, in terms of substance, as well as the timing of any 
change to come in this regime.  G/TBT/W/631  
 
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  10.  Given that no reply was provided by Russia in the previous TBT Committee meetings, the EU 
would like to ask Russia once more to state  the reasons and ju stification for additional require ments 
for conformity assessment  affect ing only the imported products.  
11.  In January 2017 t he GOST -R standard was amended . It introduc ed additional obstacles for 
importers of cement , such as an extension from 10 working days to 30 days for the response to an 
application for a conformity certificate; requirement for a separate certificate for each type of 
cement; requirement  for one  shipment to be defined by one type and quality of cement , tested 
according to the relevant stand ard; a requirement of proof of the quality of cement produce d proven 
and confirmed by an unidentified authority . 
12.  The EU reiterates its request to the Rus sian Federation to suspend the  measures  that led to a 
de facto ban of cement imports of EU o rigin and to justify  current additional testing processes at the 
border for each cement batch exported to the Russian Federation by the EU in light of the TBT rules, 
as well as to confirm that the strength test does not have to be performed for certified cement , given 
that it leads to it being blocked at the border.  
13.  The Russian authorities have announced a revision of the above mentioned  standard by a 
competent technical committee, which would remove the requirement to test at the border. 
However, n o date for adoptio n of this standard is known.  The EU also reiterates its request to be 
informed about the on -going discussion s on possible amendments of these measures, both on the 
content of amendments , as well as on the planned timetable for their introduction.  
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