Russia has introduced Interstate standard GOST 31108-2016 “Cements Technical Specification,” as a national standard of the Russian Federation (RF), effective 1 March 2017. The technical characteristics requirements of the new standard are broadly similar to the EU’s EN 197-1: 2011 standard, except that GOST has 23 sub-types compared to the EN 197’s 39 sub-types.

The World Cement Association (WCA) has welcomed the introduction of the standard as a step towards greater compatibility between the RF and EU standards but cautions that more needs to be done to harmonise conformity assessment and certification with EU standards.  

It notes that  GOST 31108 and GOST 30515 do not include specifications for regulated aspects nor do they detail conformity assessment requirements, whereas these are all specified in Construction Products Regulation, EN 197-1 and EN 197-2. For the RF these requirements are instead covered by 2016 legislation and GOST R 56836-2016 “Conformity assessment. Cement certification rules”.

European Commissioners and EU suppliers have complained that these certification rules constitute unfair barrier to trade. The main complaints are that foreign companies are denied certification and the rules require that additional testing is required at border control which result in delays while tests are completed. A number of EU companies have diverted their sales to other markets, the WCA underlines.

 “The World Cement Association believes a compatible regulatory environment based around equivalent national and international standards would be in the interest of all cement market participants in both the European Union and the Russian Federation,” said Norman Greig, Secretary General, WCA. “The latest GOST 31108 standard is a step in the right direction on technical specifications, but the regulatory environment and the way that the “cement certification rules” are being applied in the Russian Federation are considered, by many, to be technical barriers to trade which can lead to reduced competition in the market”.