To determine whether products are subject to voluntary certification, it is necessary to analyze whether these products are covered by technical regulations.
Each of the technical regulations has an article specifying which products are covered by this technical regulation. The products that are not covered by technical regulations can be specified by separate article of technical regulations.
After conducting such an analysis (making sure that a particular product is not covered by any of the regulations), it can be argued that its conformity assessment (including certification) is voluntary.
However, one should not be limited to this, since not all the products that are covered by technical regulations are subject to conformity assessment by a third party, that is, are not subject to certification.
If technical regulations specify the conformity module A (internal production control), the manufacturer must draw up a declaration of conformity. However, he may voluntarily involve a third party represented by the accredited certification authority for voluntary conformity assessment in the form of voluntary product certification.
It should be noted that to assess conformity to technical regulations, a recommended list of standards can be formed for each of them, the assessment of conformity to which is a confirmation of the safety of a particular product.
For voluntary conformity assessment (including voluntary certification), it is necessary to determine the product safety criteria and find appropriate standards that set out the requirements for those indicators meeting the safety criteria, and methods for assessing or testing them.
Having determined the standards that should be used for voluntary assessment or testing, it is necessary to find a testing laboratory the scope of accreditation of which includes such standards.
The application for voluntary certification submitted to the accredited certification authority should specify the laboratory where the products will be tested for conformity to voluntarily defined standards.
