Certification of products is the activity of specially authorized state bodies and interested economic entities aimed at confirmation of conformity of the production, works and services with the requirements established by legislative acts and standards in relation to these productions, works and services.

Main goals of the certification are to provide safety of the products to life, health and property of individuals as well as protection of environment: confirmation of conformity of quality of the products declared by the manufacturer or seller with the requirements of valid legal acts and standards; to create conditions for seller’s and manufacturer’s participation in international trade and to increase the competitiveness of their products; to protect the market of the Republic of Belarus from bad quality and unsafe imported products.

Legal basis for certification of goods, works and services are established by the Law of the Republic of Belarus of January 5, 2004 “On Conformity Assessment with the Requirements of Technical Legal Acts in the Sphere of Technical Regulation and Standardization”.

According to this Law the confirming of conformity may be mandatory or voluntary. The mandatory conformity confirmation may be carried out in the form of mandatory certification and declaration of conformity. Voluntary confirmation is carried out in the form of voluntary certification.

The list of production, services, staff and other objects of conformity assessment subject to mandatory conformity confirmation in the Republic of Belarus is approved by the Decision of the Committee of Standardization, Metrology and Certification at the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus of July 30, 2004 No. 35. According to this Decision, the sale of goods subject to obligatory conformity confirmation on the territory of the Republic of Belarus without the certificate of conformity or declaration of conformity is prohibited. Certificates and declarations needed are issued by the Committee of Standardization, Metrology and Certification at the Council of Ministers or by the accredited certification agency under its instruction.

Decision of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus of December 30, 1999 No. 2047 “On Licensing and Mandatory Certification of Realtor’s Services at Conducting Transactions with Real Estate Objects” introduces mandatory certification of realtor’s services connected with real estate transactions. Decision of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus of August 30, 2002 No. 1184 “On Introducing Mandatory Certification of Services for Technical Maintenance and Repair of Cash Totalizing Devices and Special Computer Systems” starting with March 1, 2003 establishes the mandatory certification of the services connected with technical maintenance and repair of cash totalizing devices and special computer systems.

Article 34 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus of January 5, 2004 “On Conformity Assessment with the Requirements of Technical Legal Acts in the Sphere of Technical Regulation and Standardization” provides the rights and duties of declarants to confirm the conformity.

The Law defines the certificate of conformity as a document certifying the conformity of the object with the requirements of technical legal acts in the sphere of technical regulation and standardization.