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- Picking up standards: why the authorities decided to speed up certification of motor oils
Picking up standards: why the authorities decided to speed up certification of motor oils
The authorities have decided to sharply accelerate the development of the Russian motor oil certification system, Izvestia has learned. The reasons are that the level of counterfeiting for some products has reached 50%. To combat it, the government is launching a labeling process from September 2025. But in this case, without domestic standards, even bona fide companies will not formally be able to confirm the quality of products. And the terms of certificates of foreign systems, which were previously issued to producers of lubricants, expire in the spring of 2025. Earlier, the Ministry of Industry and Trade noted that it would take three years to develop a domestic certification system. But after the publication of Izvestia, which raised this issue, the terms were adjusted.
The standard for motor oils will be made in half a year
The sharp increase in the share of counterfeit engine oils on the Russian market and problems with determining its quality force the Ministry of Industry and Trade and domestic producers to develop a domestic certification system for technical fluids similar to international standards API and ACEA .
As Izvestiafound out , this is now being done by the Oil and Gas Technology Initiatives Institute (OGTI) together with interested companies and authorities. The founders of INTI include almost all major Russian oil and gas companies.
In late November, the Ministry of Industry and Trade emphasized that the implementation of the Russian system of bench qualification tests will take about two to three years.
- This is the standard timeframe. In China, a similar process on Chinese-made engines to a standard similar to ASTM and the creation of a specialized testing center in Kunlun took three years," the ministry noted.
Now INTI promises to do it in six months.
- The planned date of approval of the standard is the first half of 2025," Nikolay Kuznetsov, Director General of INTI, told Izvestia.
How they will fight against counterfeit motor oil
The haste is caused by a number of reasons. Market participants note that over the years of parallel imports, a huge number of counterfeits have appeared on the Russian market. The illegal turnover of certain types of lubricants in Russia exceeds 50%, which leads to a glut of unsafe products, according to the explanatory note to the draft government decree "on the labeling of lubricants and special liquids".
With the help of labeling, the government and the Ministry of Industry and Trade plan to reduce the number of counterfeits. The introduction of labeling is scheduled for September 1, 2025, but in this case, without modern domestic standards, even bona fide companies will not be able to formally confirm the quality of products.
Until March 2022, Russian manufacturers of technical fluids in the certification of products focused on foreign standardization and licensing systems API, ACEA and products were tested on foreign stands, said Nikolai Kuznetsov. However, now the work with foreign centers has stopped due to sanctions and has lost its relevance.
For the Russian market required an urgent replacement of API and ACEA , because, according to the Union of Auto Service, these foreign certificates were recognized in Russia upon receipt of Russian quality approval of the Technical Regulations of the Customs Union (TR CU) 030/2012. They were issued for 1-3 years, and in the first half of 2025 the terms of the last of them will expire.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade informed Izvestia that API licenses, as well as OEM (Original equipment manufacturer) approvals, will be revoked from all domestic motor oil producers in March 2022. At the same time, domestic producers calmly produce oils and sell their products. Although in accordance with clause 8.1 of TR TS TS 030/2012, circulation of engine oils without a document on confirmation of conformity is not allowed.
- Atpresent, motor oils without official OEM and API approval are sold and used on the market, " the Ministry of Industry and Trade told Izvestia. - The declaration of conformity of products to OEM and API requirements is made by the motor oil manufacturer. It is made on the basis of the results of oil tests on physical and chemical indicators included in the list of OEM and API specifications, and in the technique of a particular automobile manufacturer.
That is, manufacturers themselves conduct controlled operation of motor oil to confirm its quality. And we are not talking about state certification.
The domestic certification system was required to remove the responsibility for independent confirmation of the quality of their own products from the manufacturers and to exclude possible abuses.
As Izvestia was informed in the Research Institute of Certification (VNIIS), the development of a new standard takes 1.5-2 years on average. A lot of time is spent on obtaining approvals for equipment and harmonization in agencies.
At the same time, Russia still lacks a full-fledged testing base for qualification bench tests for motor oils, and the standardized indicators of the existing GOSTs lag behind the requirements to lubricants for modern machinery, the Ministry of Industry and Trade told Izvestia. According to INTI, the laboratories of its subsidiary, the Unified Test Operator, will need to be re-equipped to conduct lubricant tests.
According to the information of the Union of Automobile Services, it is possible to purchase equipment and approve the standard in less than a year, but it takes up to three years to approve and harmonize regulations. The experts interviewed by Izvestia found it difficult to answer how it is possible to approve a domestic standard in the first half of 2025.
- After the departure of foreign producers - Shell, Liqui Moly and others - Russia has been left with plants with modern laboratories and all approvals," Igor Morzharetto, an auto expert, told Izvestia. - This basis is used to produce oils of the new brands Teboil, ReinWell and others. The system of industry inspections is scattered at each manufacturer. And the quality of their production is not reduced. There are laboratories and they are functioning. Therefore, there will be no difficulties with material and technical support of a common standard.
"Izvestia sent inquiries to Rosstandart, major oil producers and automakers.
Is there any alternative to foreign oil standards
- Russia, as a major producer and exporter of oil products, has every reason to develop its own standards and classifiers of lubricants. Moreover, GOSTs used to serve as such, even though they were not fully informative," Roman Sokuev, Head of the Technical Expertise Center at Sintec Lubricants, told Izvestia.
This solution will become an alternative to foreign standards, he added.
- As a result of sanctions imposed by unfriendly countries, domestic producers have significantly hindered access to foreign oil certification systems," said Senator Oleg Zemtsov, one of the authors of the initiative to create a domestic standard. - At the same time, there is a huge number of vehicles, equipment and other machinery in operation in Russia that require top-quality lubricants for regular maintenance.
In order to confirm the quality of consumables, an independent evaluation system is required, the senator noted.
- Due to the significant share of illegal products on the motor oil market, consumers face the risk of damaging machinery, Oleg Pavlov, head of the Public Consumer Initiative (PCI), told Izvestia. - The creation of a Russian oil certification system will help control the quality of products.
In addition, he said, labeling integrated with conformity confirmation systems will help reduce counterfeit and illegal products on the market, which will increase the level of consumer protection, the expert added.
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