How we certified our kits "Experiment in a box"
Exactly two years ago I described the process of obtaining a certificate for children's books. Then the entire certification procedure was of a formal nature, where in order to receive the paper it was only necessary to pay the money.
This time we needed to get a certificate for our new “ Experiment in a Box ” set. But we decided to try to go through the whole process as expected and get a certificate deserved.
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Following the results of the entire certification process, I made a detailed scheme . Following this scheme will avoid a bunch of nonsense, which we have not avoided. But when we began to study this question, we did not have such a schema.
All that is on the right is what you need to provide to the certification body; and on the left is what they sometimes give you.
We began the epic at the stage of selection of the certification agency. We started as always with the search for information in Google. Upon request, "product certification" falls many agencies that provide such services. Nothing is clear from the description on their sites. And when you start talking to them on the phone, it doesn't become clearer if you are new to this business.
#### Choosing a certification agency
We decided to start communicating with several agencies at once. This turned out to be the right decision, because we could compare their explanations: what is needed and what is what. Some began to get out such nonsense that we only had time to sift them one by one. As a result, we stopped at two agencies, the reasoning of which seemed to us sound. At the same time, the cost of services declared by them and some requirements differed greatly.
I will tell you a little about the products that we wanted to certify. This is a series of mini-kits with experiments, called "The Experiment in a Box." Each set contains everything you need to conduct one spectacular experiment. I must say that we have already released 5 such sets before that and customers have been very complimentary about them. Therefore, we have developed 5 more sets and now this entire series of ten articles has decided to betray certification.
So, one agency issued a certification fee for each set, and the second - a figure for everything at once. And for everything turned out cheaper. This is called getting a certificate at once for the whole series.
We rushed between the two agencies. In order to reduce the cost of the process, they even decided to have a series of up to 20 articles, sent them a list, and received such a statement, and both agencies immediately: “you are very“ legacy ”and therefore we will certify each set separately.”
It was so literally, both agencies put it the next day, which suggests one thing: everything is generally done in the same place in one place and by the same people;) But this is just my guess.
We again returned to the original idea with 10 articles and requested an invoice from both agencies. One sent the account to 36000r., The second to 25000r., But for some reason offered to transfer the money to their personal Sberbank card. As you understand, we no longer have a choice, and we have removed this strange agency from the list, which works with a legal entity and asks to transfer money in such a sophisticated way.
#### Required package of documents
The choice is made and you need to move on. You can periodically glance at the scheme, then my story will seem more slender, and it will be easier to navigate.
Here is a list of documents that we were asked to provide:
- documents of the organization (OGRN and TIN);
- ISO certificate;
- application for certification;
- technical description of the sets and their composition (in free form);
- photo packaging;
- labeling (differently: label).
From this entire list, we could only send documents of the legal entity, a description of the product and a photo of the package. What the rest of the documents look like and where we didn’t even know where to take them.
But the agency sent the templates [of the application] (https://yadi.sk/d/4uycJ9yStnsM9) and [markings] (https://yadi.sk/i/w6nchx1ctoyQR), which we immediately filled out and sent to them. There is unprecedented ISO certificate. This is essentially a voluntary certificate, but without it the mandatory certificate of the customs union, apparently, will not receive or there will be some incomprehensible difficulties.
##### ISO
ISO is a certificate of quality management of organizations and enterprises. In general, the trust does not inspire, read about him in [Wikipedia] (https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_9000). But if it is necessary, then it is necessary. And it turns out that they can also do it, only 4 papers are needed:
- [application] (https://yadi.sk/i/bFyL9DpCtns44) to receive this certificate;
- documents of a legal entity
- lease agreement for the premises where the production takes place
- technical description of this product
And of course, payment of the bill for 6000 p. Here, in fact, that eventually turned out:
#### Some rakes
I think we should share some of our misunderstandings of the process, which I am sure many will face:
1. What kind of certificate do we need? Shops and wholesalers require a certificate, but which one is not immediately clear. We solved this question simply: we asked one of our potential distributors to send a copy of such a certificate for similar products.
2. Entangled in terms of "series" and "party". To be honest, we haven’t figured out this way until the end. But they found out that in our case it is better to certify a series that includes several articles.
3. By what code of TN VED receive a certificate? In essence, you need to select a product category. To determine, we were helped by the same copy of the certificate that the distributors gave us. That certificate was very similar to our products, and the code had to be chosen the same. Here you can explore all these [codes] (http://issa.ru/tnvd/).
4. Does the agency talk about issuing any protocols for products? We have certified 10 articles and the agency asked to bring 5 samples for registration of protocols. Every protocol costs money. By what criteria they decide whether a protocol is needed or not, I did not study. In the end, they kind of did some kind of expertise and all that.
All that was required of us in the first stage, we provided. The process went further, and we were sent a decision that our application was approved and they were ready to certify our products. But, as I wrote above, out of 10 articles, you need to issue protocols for 5, and therefore you need to bring 5 samples to their office. What we did.
#### Weirdness
I note one curious thing that seemed very strange. After contacting the agency, a specific manager began working with us, all further communication we conducted only with him. And when we brought our sets for registration of protocols to their office, we were not allowed into the office itself. And, more interestingly, only the manager with whom we work could take these sets from us. All others refused to do so.
Our manager was either busy, or he had a break, but we were asked to wait. And when we asked if someone else could come down and take these sets from us, they flatly turned out to do it and once again clarified that only our personal manager can do it.
#### The second conversation thread
After that began the daily ping-pong email. We were sent some additional requirements and requested clarifications, we carried them out and sent all the information back. They checked and again asked to change or correct something. In addition, they periodically asked to sign additional documents.
Here is what it was:
- In the packaging design to make all the necessary markings: age, warnings, information about the manufacturer, etc.
- The requirement to add additional precautions in the instructions of some kits and send them.
- They sent a template of a letter about a trade secret, which we had to sign and send to them. The essence of the letter is simple: we, as the developer of the sets, refuse to disclose our trade secrets in the form of their production method. We signed and, thus, kept this secret.
- Letter about the materials: what materials are used in the kits, who supplies them to us and whether they have declarations of a guest for this. We made this letter in a free form, and requested declarations from suppliers.
#### Getting Certificate
After we satisfied all their requirements and requests, we were sent a certificate layout for approval. Well, it's like when you make a power of attorney with a notary: you first print a draft so that you check everything in it is correctly stated. Here and there about the same.
We checked our legal data. persons, the name of the product, and I paid attention to the dates of validity of this certificate. There was indicated a gap of 3 years. The fact is that at the very beginning, when we were just starting this whole epic, we were told that the certificates are from 1 to 5 years old, but for some reason, we can be done for a maximum of 3 years. I don’t remember why they answered us this way, but the fact of the possibility of ** certification for 5 years did not give me rest **.
From the moment of the beginning of certification and until the receipt of the document itself, almost 5 months have passed. This is all because we gradually figured out everything, digested it, figured it out again, went into ourselves, then the agencies went into ourselves, digested it again, and so on. But in the end no one remembered anything about what was at the very beginning, and we decided to use this fact for our own purposes.
When we were sent to check the layout of the certificate, we asked: why is it worth 3 years, not 5? Understandably, it was difficult to answer them and they said: let's set it to 5. We decided on that.
Although, all the same, every year you need to confirm this certificate. And if in a simple way, then pay some money again.
After 2 days, we received an e-mail scan of this document. The original promised to do for some time.
#### Cost
Here's a dry financial squeeze:
- ISO certificate - ** 6 000 rub. **;
- the main certificate - ** 10 000 rubles **;
- registration of 5 protocols - ** 26 000 rubles ** (5 200 rubles each).
** Total: 42 000 rub. **
As for the time spent and waiting time: knowledge of all procedures greatly reduces the time and makes them close to the stated initially. But any correspondence, clarifications, changes, changes, and so on, very much delay certification. And this is understandable. In our case, the main reason for delaying the time was precisely the lack of knowledge of what we need and what their various terms mean. Hence, indecision and postponement "for tomorrow."
#### Finally
It would be wrong for me to give you any special advice, since we did this, in fact, for the first time and, perhaps, another time, we would encounter some other rake, which we have not stepped on now. But in general, it becomes clear that this procedure is not so terrible, especially when sales depend on the availability of a certificate.
I would like to thank the agency very much! They really helped us throughout the process. If you need contacts, please contact us. If there are any other questions on the topic, ** write in the comment or in PM **. What I know and what I came across, I will tell you with pleasure.
Where can one buy
You can buy sets in our online store .
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/306778/
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