Domestic experience in certification of food products

According to the provisions of the current laws of the EACU regarding technical regulation, food industry products are certified by two types of documents: a protocol indicating the laboratory analysis of the presented product, and the EAC, or a declaration of its full compliance with the adopted technical regulation.

As for voluntary certification, it is carried out at the request of the manufacturer as an additional procedure and is standardized by the GOST R system. Please note that voluntary certification cannot be carried out instead of mandatory, so if an organization decides to voluntarily certify its products, then this procedure can after registration of the laboratory protocol and declaration. Learn more about certification at the https://serconsrus.com/tr-cu-021-food-safety/

Active technical regulation includes the following documents:

• TR CU 021/2011 is a regulation according to which food products are checked for safety and compliance with standards.
• TR CU 022/2011 is a regulation that defines the rules for labeling food products.
• TR CU 033/2013 is a regulation according to which dairy and lactic acid products, pasteurized and baked milk are checked.
• TR TS 024/2011 is a regulation that allows you to certify products containing oils.
• TR TS 034/2013 is a regulation that approves standards for products that include meat.
• TR EAEU 040/2016 is a regulation that allows you to certify all fish products.
• TR CU 023/2011 – regulations related to the verification of vegetables, fruits, berries, salads and natural fruit drinks, smoothies and juices.
• TR TS 029/2012 is a regulation that defines the list of safety requirements for flavors, additives and additional components used in the food industry.

Declaration of food products in EACU

In order to declare a new food product on the territory of the EACU, the following steps must be taken:

1. Submit a free-form request listing items requiring declaration to determine the approximate cost of certification activities.
2. Submit to the laboratory the samples to be studied, as well as the document flow for these products, prepared by the manufacturer.

The certification bodies are:

1. Laboratory assistants carefully analyze the submitted samples for the presence of harmful additives, compliance with existing standards, etc.
2. The laboratory prepares a sample evaluation report. If they meet regulatory standards, the protocol for examining them will include a positive assessment.
3. The certification body, based on the results of the protocol act, conducts electronic registration of the declaration of this product, after which this information is automatically forwarded to the register.
4. The manufacturer receives in his hands the original protocol with the results of the analyzes, the original contractual agreement for certification and the certificate of certification.

If we talk about the time interval, then the entire procedure – from the moment the application is submitted to the receipt of the original documents – takes no more than 10 working days.

Production and its verification during certification

Prior to the development and introduction into wide practice of the procedure for issuing a declaration for food products, certification bodies analyzed the conditions for its production. Nowadays, this function has been canceled – only the finished product is examined.

Information included in the declaration of conformity

The declaration of conformity must include the following information:

• information about the manufacturer: the name of the trading company, the location of the production facilities where the products are manufactured, the legal address of the main office of the company;
• the name of the product and the trademark or brand;
• the number of the regulation on the basis of which the product is manufactured;
• number and date of registration of the research protocol;

Register of food products for which a declaration and a certificate of conformity are issued

Food products must only undergo a mandatory declaration for their compliance with regulatory standards. But, since there are a number of exceptions to each rule, in this case they were livestock products that were not subjected to thermal, chemical or other processing, including:

• fresh or frozen seafood, fish, meat carcasses, meat;
• chicken, duck and quail eggs;
• honey that has not undergone any processing;
• milk that has not been pasteurized.

These products are examined by veterinary laboratories and then registered within the system.

Other types of food must be declared and have a certificate of conformity in the prescribed form.

Separately, it should be noted that specialized food and nutrition for children are sent for mandatory state registration with the bodies of Rospotrebnadzor, for which a state registration certificate is previously issued.

Organizations providing catering services to customers are not registered in the EACU. Catering establishments in the form of canteens, restaurants, fast foods, pizzerias and cafes that sell ready-made food where it is made do not undergo mandatory certification confirming the quality and safety of the services they provide.

Checking the authenticity of documentation and compliance with technical regulations

Today, each issued certificate and declaration of conformity in electronic form are entered into the accreditation register, to which anyone has access. The documentation is checked very easily – you only need to enter the manufacturer’s data. This is enough to start the search and avoid filling out all the other form fields. The search displays information about the specified organization.

Documentary support of the certification procedure

For certification, the manufacturer must prepare a number of documents. This:

• photocopies or scanned copies of the TIN and OGRN certificates, endorsed by the head and the seal of the organization;
• details of the applicant entered in the card form;
• current GOST or, if not, TU;
• a photocopy or a scanned copy of the lease of production facilities, endorsed by the head and supplemented with a seal;
• an application in free form.

A package of documents is sent in electronic format, as well as a request made in free form, so that you can calculate the approximate cost of certification, indicating the composition and exact list of all commodity items.

Development of specifications for obtaining certification documents

When certifying food products, the manufacturer is obliged to refer to the regulatory standards according to which the production cycle is carried out. For food products, a whole group of GOSTs has been developed. And technical specifications , or TS, are developed on the condition that the product was not created in accordance with GOST, or such GOST does not exist in principle.

If the manufacturer does not know if there is a current standard for his product, you should contact our specialists and send them a request. They will provide detailed advice, select a suitable GOST, which can be used as a basis for certification, or develop specifications for a specific production.

Food labeling

All food products placed on the market must be labeled in accordance with legal requirements. The label must include the following information:

• special marking adopted in the EAC;
• product and brand name;
• the name of the manufacturing company and its address;
• components that make up the product;
• indicator of nutritional value;
• storage conditions;
• expiration date of the item.