Certification of Valves for the ‘Customs Union’ (Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus)

There are significant changes afoot with ‘Gost’ type certification for Russia and certain associated states…

The procedure for the Certification of Valves is now governed by CU TR 032/2013, which entered into force by a Eurasian Economic Commission Council decision on Technical Regulations of the Customs Union “on the safety of excess pressure equipment” Nr 41 of 02 July 2013. We understand this is similar to the European Pressure Equipment Directive (PED). The procedure is valid for Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. In Kazakhstan in addition to CU TR requirements, GGTN K Permit is currently still in force.

Previously issued national certificates will remain valid until expiration date but not any later than 15th March 2015.

Valves may require a Declaration of Conformity (DoC CU TR 032/2013), or Certificate of Conformity (CoC CU TR 032/2013) depending on the category to which they belong.

The approach to determine the category of valves is the same as for equipment they are destined for - pipelines, pressure vessels and boilers.

Like PED the pressure, volume and process fluid type information is also needed.

According to CU TR 032/2013, Annex 1, there are four categories of pressure vessels and boilers (table 1 to 5 of Annex 1, pages 19-21) and 3 categories of pipelines (pages 21-22).

Typically, valves falling under the 1st and 2nd category require a Declaration of Conformity CU TR 032/2013.

Valves falling under the 3rd and 4th category require Certificate of Conformity CU TR 032/2013.

Safety valves belong to category 4 by default, unless they are designed specifically for equipment of a lower category.

‘Groups’ for media can be found on the document’s page 6 ‘II. Basic concepts.’

Like PED, determining the Valve Category and Media Group is very important in order to determine the costs of certification, due to the fact that the difference between a Declaration of Conformity and a Certificate of Conformity is considerable - in terms of both price and procedure - and in particular:

• For Declaration, manufacturer's test reports are accepted and no audit of manufacturer's facility by CU TR Accredited Laboratory is required;

• For Certification, inspection of manufacturing facilities and testing by CU TR Accredited Laboratory is needed (witnessing of tests carried by manufacturer by one or two Accredited Experts)

If you would like more information on how to obtain CU certification of your valves, you can contact the provider* of this information:

Trevor Bottomley
Rustek SA
trevor@rustek.net
+44 1582 792709

*Other suppliers of assistance are available.

Published: 25th February 2015