Ecological certificate, obligatory or voluntary, is issued on the basis of Fundamentals of certification system regarding ecological requirements for prevention of environmental pollution. Foundations of ecological certification system can be found in Attachment 1 to the Law of RF Ministry of natural resources # 18 dated 23 January, 1995.
The aim of ecological certification is to create a legal economic system for execution of civil right for favorable environment, stated in the Russian Constitution. Certification for ecological safety is mandatory for defense industries, plants and organizations using ecologically hazardous technologies.
System certification is carried over by ecological certification bodies, analytical test laboratories (centers), auditors accredited or certified in accordance with the procedures, established by the System. In view of Kyoto protocol and possible future quotas for hazardous environmental wastes, sooner or later ecological certificate will be very desirable for all manufacturers.
One of the problems that manufacturers have to face recently is absence of legally approved conformity to world ecological standards.
Ecological certificate is required to declare that the content of ecologically hazardous admixtures in the product doesn’t exceed the limits, established by normative technical documents.
Unlike certificate of conformity for products subjected to obligatory specification, ecological certificate shouldn’t be necessarily obtained. Nevertheless it’s one of the most important factors for growth of product competitiveness. Apart from active usage for product promotion at the market this certificate can be applied in exhibitions, advertising campaigns, negotiations and for contracts conclusion.