It was smooth on paper: illegal car certification continues in the Russian Federation
The testing laboratories, which remotely issued car safety documents in mid-May, continued their activities. In the two months that have passed since the publication of Izvestia about fraud in the field of car certification, these organizations have issued a total of almost 500 similar certificates. However, only one of them has suspended its work. The certification system for cars imported by private traders does not actually work, experts say. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
You're giving me a lime tree!
As of mid-July, testing laboratories, which were convicted by Izvestia at the end of May of illegally issuing safety certificates for wheeled vehicles (SBCTS), had issued a total of 495 similar documents for other vehicles. This information was provided to Izvestia by Electronic Passport JSC, after analyzing the data on the issuance of EPTS based on the SBCTS issued by these laboratories.
Recall that at the end of May, Izvestia, together with the National Automobile Union (NAS), managed to obtain the SBCTS for the Chinese crossover Lixiang L6, which was in the parking lot near the editorial office in the center of Moscow at the time of the "certification". At the same time, the tests themselves, judging by the documents issued, were carried out in the area of Lyubertsy near Moscow. The second certificate, issued in Ivanteevka, was issued for a Tesla 3 that was wrecked in an accident, which at that time was being auctioned in the USA, in the state of Pennsylvania.
Not all were closed
Rosaccreditation reported that since June 2025, the service has initiated nine unscheduled on-site inspections of laboratories (including those featured in the Izvestia materials) that test vehicles and issue SSBTS on them.
— Inspections are still ongoing for three of the nine laboratories. Based on the results of the completed six inspections, decisions were made to suspend the accreditation and prescriptions were issued setting a deadline for the elimination of the identified violations, the press service of the department told Izvestia.
In case of non-fulfillment of the order within the established time frame, the control body takes measures to ensure its execution until the termination of accreditation, the Rosaccreditation recalled.
One of the six laboratories that "went under the knife" was the one that issued the SBCTS to Tesla. In relation to this organization, as follows from the data on the official website of Rosaccreditation, the inspection began on May 27. Based on its results, on June 17, it was decided to suspend the company's activities due to "non-compliance of the accredited person's activities with the requirements of the legislation of the Russian Federation for the activities of accredited persons." During this time (from May 20 to June 17), according to the data provided by Electronic Passport JSC, she managed to issue 178 SBKTS.
As for the second laboratory, which remotely "certified" Lixiang L6, as Izvestia found out, the company continues to work to this day — it has the status "Active" on the Rosaccreditation website. Her inspection was also initiated by the supervisory authority, however, as follows from the agency's response to OUR request (a copy is available to Izvestia), "the Moscow Region Prosecutor's office has not agreed on an application for approval with the prosecutor for an unscheduled monitoring event." As a result, since May 20, this laboratory has issued 371 SBCTS and continues to issue them.
The Moscow Region Prosecutor's Office could not promptly respond to Izvestia's request regarding the reasons for the non-approval of this inspection.
Everything is cancelled
Registration of the SBCTS without direct submission of individual vehicles to an accredited testing laboratory is a gross violation of the law, Rosstandart recalled.
—In case of detection of such facts, as well as other violations, Rosstandart takes response measures within the established competence, including the cancellation of conformity assessment documents," the press service of the department reported. So, in December 2023, 500 SBCTS issued by a testing laboratory from St. Petersburg, which did not have accreditation at the time of registration of these documents, were canceled.
Rosstandart also reported on the measures taken by the agency in relation to certification documents that were obtained by Izvestia as part of a recent investigation.
— At the request of the department, the testing laboratories were informed about the cancellation of the SBCTS issued for Lixiang L6 and Tesla Model 3 cars, respectively. The testing laboratory informed the agency that law enforcement agencies are currently conducting an investigation into the transfer by the applicant of falsified documents during the registration of the CCC in relation to the Lixiang L6 car, Rosstandart told Izvestia.
Rosstandart also said that the agency has determined the maximum limit value for the number of single vehicles evaluated by the testing laboratory. Each branch of such a laboratory can process no more than 80 SBCTS per day, which ensures control over the issuance of these documents.
— This restriction applies to each testing laboratory, it is administered with the help of JSC "Electronic Passport". The laboratory cannot actually register more than the set value per day," the Rosstandart press service emphasized.
Another method of control is the code of good conduct for accredited testing laboratories, the agency noted. Its provisions, for example, provide for the obligation of testing laboratories to place surveillance cameras at the entrance to the premises. A real-time broadcast is conducted from these cameras, which allows monitoring the provision of vehicles for testing and measurements.
— It should be noted that the application of the code is voluntary and testing laboratories join it at their own request, — noted in Rosstandart.
Strengthen control
Along with the instructions of the President of Russia on the possibility of revoking product conformity certificates issued in the EAEU member states, it is necessary to maximize control over Russian testing laboratories, said Anton Shaparin, NAS Vice President.
— The fact that laboratories that have issued SBCTS in violation of the established procedure continue to issue the same "documents" is a vivid example of the lack of proper control in this area. I would like to believe that the new leadership of Rosaccreditation will be able to restore order in the certification system for cars and other products," he told Izvestia.
The issue of revoking illegally issued car certification documents is no less acute, the NAS Vice president notes. The work on random inspections, which is being conducted by regulatory authorities in this direction, is currently ineffective, he emphasizes.
— Tens, hundreds of thousands of SBCTS are issued in our country every year, and many of them precisely according to the "remote scheme". At the same time, the number of cancelled certification documents is estimated at only a few hundred per year. Thus, the certainty that the left certificate will be revoked is comparable approximately to the probability of catching a meteorite that fell from the sky," Anton Shaparin noted.
"Sometimes a shout is enough"
Maxim Kadakov, editor-in-chief of Za Rulem magazine, is convinced that the situation in which such laboratories continue to operate, even if they are "caught by the hand", is unacceptable. The regulatory authorities should at least take special control of their activities, he believes.
— Restoring a properly functioning car certification system is one of the main tasks of the new head of Rosaccreditation. Judging by how this system has discredited itself, this is not the easiest and fastest process. Although in some cases, it may not be necessary to resort to repressive measures — in some situations, a simple "shout from above" will be enough. However, if this does not help, further measures for those who "did not understand" and continued to issue Filkin's certificates on cars should be as strict and prompt as possible, Maxim Kadakov believes.
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