Thin construction sites: cement and pipes will come under total state control this year
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- Thin construction sites: cement and pipes will come under total state control this year
State control over building mixes, cement and radiators, which has been carried out as an experiment since 2024, will be legislated starting this year. Such a bill of the Ministry of Industry and Trade was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers. Next, it will be gradually extended to agricultural machinery and machine tools, and then to jet fuel, liquefied gas, conveyor belts and rides. Gasoline is currently subject to state control conducted by Rosstandart. About how supervision will work and how it will help in the fight against counterfeiting, counterfeiting and low—quality products - in the material of Izvestia.
Which products are subject to state control
Over the next three years, from 2026 to 2028, Russia will gradually introduce state control over compliance with the requirements for certain types of industrial products. Moreover, it will be formalized in the legislation as a new type of federal state supervision.
Since September 1, 2024, an experiment has been operating: Rosstandart checks cable and wire products, cement, building mixes, heating radiators and convectors. The types of products for which state supervision will become mandatory have now been identified. And the start of the practice will be the products that participated in the experiment.
The government commission on legislative activity approved such a bill by the Ministry of Industry and Trade on Monday, February 9. This was reported to Izvestia by sources in the Cabinet of Ministers.
The introduction of a new type of federal state supervision will make it possible to clear the market of potentially dangerous goods, including counterfeit and falsified ones, said Vladimir Gruzdev, Chairman of the Board of the Russian Bar Association.
"In addition, it will help create equal competitive conditions for manufacturers who adhere to quality standards and treat their consumers honestly," he said.
It is planned to monitor the fulfillment of mandatory requirements established by technical regulations by all manufacturers (including foreign ones) and sellers.
— The draft law assigns to the Government of the Russian Federation the authority to approve lists of goods subject to control, structural elements of the requirements being checked and the procedure for carrying out preventive measures. This will allow us to respond promptly to the emergence of new risks," said Vladimir Gruzdev.
In 2026, cement, mixtures and mortars, radiators and heating convectors will fall under state control, since, according to the preliminary results of the experiment, which will end on September 1, violations of product requirements were detected in more than half of the cases.
Also this year, the state supervision of pipes and pipeline parts made of thermoplastics, equipment for children's playgrounds and coverings for them, and electric heating tools will start.
In 2027, state control will be extended to agricultural and forestry tractors, trailers and parts for them, construction machinery (excavators, bulldozers, etc.) and equipment, metalworking machines, as well as concrete products. And in 2028, federal state supervision will be focused on liquefied petroleum gases, aviation gasoline, amusement rides, conveyor belts, batteries and acid batteries.
The explanatory note to the bill notes that now the state Audit Office "clearly demonstrates its effectiveness as an element of market protection."
"The state control of fuel quality carried out by Rosstandart has made it possible to reduce the share of non—compliant automotive fuel from 20% as of 2016 to a level not exceeding 3.9% over the past two years," the document says.
How will the state control of products work?
Currently, there is no state control over a significant part of the mandatory product requirements established by technical regulations, the press service of the Ministry of Industry and Trade told Izvestia. This has become one of the factors contributing to the increase in the volume of counterfeit and falsified products on the Russian market.
"The high share of illicit trafficking in industrial products in the total turnover of goods creates conditions for unfair competition, leading to significant losses to the budget system in the form of lost tax payments," the authors note. "It also reduces the interest of entrepreneurs to invest financial resources in the development of production, use high—quality raw materials and components, and comply with quality standards."
As indicated in the explanatory note, this causes indirect damage to the economy in the form of premature failure of facilities, accidents and other emergencies.
As part of the control measures, Rosstandart will monitor both the quality of the products themselves and the activities of manufacturers and sellers (their compliance with regulations at the stages of production and circulation), explained Marina Polyakova, senior lecturer at the Department of State and Municipal Management at the State University of Management (GUU).
The expert clarified that there is a detailed list of controlled parameters for each type of product. For example, for cement, it is compressive strength on the 28th day, for heating radiators, it is maximum operating pressure and corrosion resistance, for cable and conductor radiators, it is protection against electric shock.
— Technically, the new type of supervision is integrated into the already proven control system for motor fuel and wheeled vehicles, which allows the use of proven risk-based approach mechanisms, — says Marina Polyakova. — Despite the current moratorium on business inspections, as part of the experiment, Rosstandart will conduct unscheduled control and supervisory activities based on risk indicators developed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Thus, the new approach minimizes pressure on bona fide producers and focuses the attention of supervisory authorities on potentially dangerous market participants, the expert noted.
Why do they introduce state control?
Additional control over tractors, which is planned to be transferred to Rosstandart, is necessary, said Yulia Ogloblina, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Agrarian Issues.
"It can improve the safety of equipment operation, ensure compliance with technical requirements and protect the market from low—quality products," she said. — It is especially important to control imported equipment so that it fully complies with established quality standards and declared characteristics.
According to the deputy, in recent years, tractors from China have been entering the market in large quantities, which often fail quickly and do not meet the parameters that are declared at the time of sale.
The initiative of the Ministry of Industry and Trade to expand state control is to correct a systemic error made during the so—called regulatory guillotine, a reform that abolished outdated regulations, Deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy Artyom Kiryanov told Izvestia.
—The return of supervision over products such as cement and building mixes is not an innovation, but the restoration of a previously functioning and effective mechanism," he said. — Before the "regulatory guillotine", state supervision of the turnover of cement and a number of building materials operated and brought tangible results.
Previously, the system consisted of control over production (in the form of mandatory certification) and the market (random checks in circulation).
— This system really whitewashed the market, as it was extremely difficult for unscrupulous manufacturers and sellers to sell low-quality goods. The inspectors could have identified and seized the defective batch already at the construction site or warehouse, preventing its use," said Artyom Kiryanov. — Within the framework of the "regulatory guillotine", not just excessive regulation was abolished, but a key link in the control chain.
As a result, according to him, the key was control "at the entrance", that is, mandatory certification of production.
"However, control over production without control over turnover is incomplete and vulnerable,— says Artyom Kiryanov. — Certification is a momentary assessment. It confirms that the factory can produce a high-quality product at the time of the inspection. But it does not guarantee that every batch, especially those released under increasing commercial pressure or for the purpose of saving money, will meet the stated level.
The deputy called the initiative to return state control over the turnover of a number of building materials, in particular cement, "a deliberate restoration of the lost balance."
He also believes that the revival and modernization of the previous model, enhanced by digital tools (batch tracking, risk-based approach), is expected.
"The basis will be random inspections at the points of turnover with the purchase of samples, their testing and severe sanctions for violations, up to the forced recall of the entire batch,— believes Artyom Kiryanov.
The share of counterfeit goods in the sphere of industrial goods in Russia averages 10%, according to the Association of Retail Trade Companies (ACORT). Half of this volume is sold through offline outlets, and 30-40% is sold on marketplaces.
— The government has strengthened control over a number of products by introducing a product tracking system and mandatory labeling for certain product groups. But part of the market remains outside digital supervision," Ekaterina Kosareva, Managing Partner of the VMT Consult agency, reminded. — One of the advantages is the attempt to systematically control the quality of products, which critically affects the well-being of Russians.
Among the disadvantages of the initiative, the expert called the increase in the administrative burden on businesses: the quality will have to be confirmed by additional tests and documented.
The problem of the presence of a large volume of counterfeit products on the market is typical for all types of building materials, the association of cement producers of the EAEU Soyuzcement (participants in the experiment on state control) told Izvestia.
"The use of building materials of unknown quality carries several types of threats: risks to the life and health of citizens, damage to the budget, and to bona fide manufacturers," they noted. — The presence of any proportion of adulterated cement in the turnover is unacceptable. Fake cement is particularly dangerous for participants in individual housing construction.
Low-quality cement creates risks of structural collapse, cracking, increased radiation and chemical background, the organization said. For example, manufacturers of counterfeit cement take a small proportion of real cement, add ash, slag or other additives to it in proportions not specified by GOST standards. The result is a mixture that does not gain strength.
In 2024, the volume of alleged illegal cement trafficking amounted to 12.1 million tons, which is 19.1% as a percentage of the volume of cement produced.
Marina Polyakova recalled that cement that does not meet the standards can lead to premature destruction of buildings, substandard heating radiators can lead to leaks, accidents and fires, and defective cable and wire products can lead to electric shock and fires.
Rosstandart confirmed to Izvestia that after the reform of control and supervisory activities in 2021, the powers in the field of state control over certain types of industrial products were terminated.
— Almost immediately, the issue of the need to resume such control began to be raised. Accidents due to the use of unsafe products have become more frequent. Industry associations have also begun to record the growth of marriage in their market segments, they said.
As part of the experiment, Rosstandart conducted 40,000 preventive measures and over 5,000 verification measures.
"The results of the tests and examinations conducted demonstrate a high proportion of violations of mandatory requirements in the building materials market, but these values are gradually decreasing," they said. At the end of 2024, the share of verification measures with detected violations was about 90%, and at the end of 2025 — 70%.
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