Certificates and SGR: the Russian permits that decide whether your shipment clears the border

19 June 2026Trade Pulse

You can quote a sharp price, book the fastest route and sign a clean contract, and then watch the consignment stand at the Russian border because of one piece of paper. Certificates, declarations of conformity and sanitary registration certificates are not formalities: they are the product's permit to enter the market. If the required document is missing or invalid, customs simply will not release the cargo. Below is how the system works, who issues what, and what your buyer in Russia will need from you as the manufacturer or supplier.

Why permits exist and why customs cares
Certificate and declaration of conformity: the difference
SGR: the sanitary permit
Sanitary conclusion and refusal letter
Phytosanitary and veterinary documents
How customs verifies a document
What this means for your shipment
Steps to take before you ship
Frequently asked questions

Why permits exist and why customs cares

Russia and the other EAEU member states admit to their market not any product, but only a safe one. Permits are the proof of that safety: they show the product complies with the established requirements. This is part of non-tariff regulation, on a par with quotas and import bans.

For customs it works directly. If the goods fall within the list of products subject to conformity assessment and the document is missing or invalid, there will be no release. Conformity assessment is therefore not a final tick in the box, it is the condition without which the consignment never reaches your buyer's warehouse.

The key thing to grasp from the outset: which document is required depends on the product. For one item it is a certificate, for another a declaration, for a third a sanitary registration certificate, and some goods need nothing at all. This is decided neither by the seller nor by the buyer's preference, but by technical regulations and official lists.

Equally important, permits are obtained in advance, before import. They are issued on the basis of samples and laboratory tests, and merely reference the actual shipment. Conformity assessment is not something that can be arranged at the border in an hour. It is separate preparatory work, and for you it runs alongside production and order lead time, not alongside the sailing schedule.

Certificate and declaration of conformity: the difference

These are the two main forms of confirming that goods comply with EAEU technical regulations. They are often confused, although the difference is fundamental and it lies in who bears responsibility.

A certificate of conformity is issued by an independent accredited certification body. The body carries out the assessment, checks the test reports and is itself answerable for the accuracy of the result. This form applies to higher-risk products, where the cost of a mistake is greater.

A declaration of conformity is registered by the applicant itself, that is the importer or the manufacturer. Responsibility for the accuracy of the data rests with the applicant, not with a body. This form applies to lower-risk goods. Legally the two are equal: both confirm the product's admission to the EAEU market and both give the right to apply the EAC conformity mark.

Which form a particular product needs is written into the relevant technical regulation and the single list of products. Neither you nor your buyer chooses the form; it is set in advance.

An illustration. Children's toys go through certification under their technical regulation, because the risk to a child is high. Most ordinary foodstuffs go through declaration. Within each document there are also schemes, which determine how conformity is confirmed: for a single consignment or for serial production, and with what scope of testing. The scheme is not invented on the spot either, it is taken from the regulation for the specific case. This matters commercially: a document issued for one batch covers that batch only, while a scheme for serial output covers ongoing supplies of the same product.

Feature	Certificate of conformity	Declaration of conformity
Who is responsible	The certification body	The applicant itself
Who issues it	An accredited body	The applicant registers it
For which products	Higher-risk	Lower-risk
Legal basis	EAEU technical regulation	EAEU technical regulation
Legal force	Full	Full, equal to a certificate
What you will be asked for	Samples and technical documentation for the accredited body and its laboratory	Samples and accurate product data, which your buyer then attests to under its own responsibility

Certificates and SGR: the Russian permits that decide whether your shipment clears the border

A certificate, a declaration of conformity or an SGR is what turns your consignment into goods that Russian customs can actually release

SGR: the sanitary permit

Goods that directly affect health are a separate story. For them there is the state registration certificate (SGR). It is a sanitary and hygienic permit confirming that the product is safe and meets the unified sanitary requirements of the EAEU.

An SGR is required for the import and sale of certain groups of goods. Among them are children's goods and baby food, household chemicals, disinfectants, certain cosmetics, food supplements, specialised and dietary nutrition, food-contact packaging and personal hygiene products. The exact list is set by the single list and the EAEU technical regulations.

The SGR is issued by Rospotrebnadzor and is valid at once across all five member states of the union, with no repeat registration. To obtain it the product is tested in an accredited laboratory and the resulting conclusion then undergoes expert review. The period of validity depends on the grounds: some certificates are open-ended, others are issued for a fixed term. For some goods an SGR and a declaration are needed together; one does not replace the other.

The presence and authenticity of an SGR can be checked in the single register of certificates by product name or by manufacturer. This matters particularly when a new supply relationship starts: a certificate shown on screen but absent from the register has no legal force. And one practical nuance that concerns you directly. An SGR is issued not for an abstract product but for a specific product of a specific manufacturer, so someone else's certificate for a similar item will not do. If you start supplying the same category from another plant, under another brand or under a new product name, confirm with your buyer that the existing SGR actually covers that item, otherwise a fresh registration is needed. Practical detail for this category is set out in our page on customs clearance of cosmetics.

Sanitary conclusion and refusal letter

The role of the sanitary permit used to be played by the sanitary and epidemiological conclusion (SEZ). For products it has now largely been replaced by the SGR, while the conclusion itself remains mainly for types of activity, projects and working conditions rather than for goods. So if someone offers you an SEZ for a product, it is worth checking whether a state registration certificate is what is actually required.

There is also a document with the opposite meaning, the refusal letter. It confirms that the goods are not subject to mandatory certification or declaration. That sounds paradoxical, but in practice it is useful: it makes it easier to explain to customs and to counterparties why there is no certificate for the cargo. For goods that clearly fall outside the regulation, a refusal letter removes unnecessary questions during clearance, and it is a reasonable thing to ask your buyer to hold on file before the first shipment.

Phytosanitary and veterinary documents

Live produce and raw materials fall under a separate branch of control. Plants, seeds, fruit, timber and other plant products are accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate. Animals, meat, dairy, feed and other goods of animal origin require a veterinary certificate.

These documents fall within the remit of Rosselkhoznadzor rather than certification bodies, and they confirm that the product is free of diseases and pests. Unlike certificates and SGR, they travel with the cargo, so this is the part of the permit set that sits closest to your side of the border and to the authorities in the country of dispatch. For foodstuffs this control often runs in combination with other documents. If you ship food, agree the full set in advance: veterinary papers, a declaration and labelling are frequently all needed at once. More on this category is in our section on customs clearance of food products.

How customs verifies a document

A paper or electronic document in itself is only half the job. What matters is that it is entered in a state register. Certificates and declarations are held in the registers of Rosaccreditation and in the single EAEU register, state registration certificates in the single SGR register. Customs checks the document precisely there, by its number.

The register shows not only that a document exists, but also its status, validity period, who issued it, for which products and under which regulation. If a certification body has lost its accreditation or an entry has been suspended, that is reflected too. A register check therefore answers two questions at once: does the document exist, and is it valid right now.

A document is valid only if it appears in the state register and its entry has not been withdrawn. A handsome piece of paper or a scan without a live register entry does not work, and customs will not release goods against it. So always verify the number in the register rather than trusting the image in an email.

This point has become particularly acute. Since the end of 2025 Rosaccreditation has been actively suspending and revoking certificates issued without genuine test reports, and the data is passed on to customs. If a cheap certificate obtained without testing is used for your consignment, the result can be no document and no released cargo, with your goods sitting in a temporary storage warehouse while the buyer starts the paperwork again.

What this means for your shipment

The most expensive mistake with permits is leaving them to the last moment, when the container is already at sea. Issuing a certificate or an SGR takes time, it requires samples and laboratory testing, and none of it can be done retroactively in a hurry. The goods arrive and there is nothing to release them against, while storage charges accrue daily and the delivery date you promised slips.

For an exporter that translates into three practical consequences. First, documents: your buyer will need samples of the actual product, technical and compositional documentation, artwork and labelling, and product data accurate enough to be attested to under someone's legal responsibility. Second, timing: the permit lead time must be built into the order, before payment and shipment, not after. Third, risk: if the document is missing, expired or has been struck from the register while your goods are in transit, the shipment stops at the border and the cost of the delay lands on the transaction, whatever the incoterms say about title.

There is one more thing worth knowing about your own position. Because a certificate covers a specific product of a specific manufacturer, changes on your side matter: a new production site, a reformulated product, a renamed article or a different packaging format can put the goods outside the scope of the document your buyer already holds. Tell the buyer about such changes before the shipment, not after it has arrived. Working out what a given product requires is exactly what our certification service is for, where a specialist matches the form of assessment to the product and the applicable regulation, and our customs clearance team handles the release itself.

Steps to take before you ship

Agree the HS code of the goods with your buyer and establish, against the technical regulations and lists, which document is required: a certificate, a declaration, an SGR, a combination of them, or nothing at all.
Ask which document already exists on the buyer's side, obtain its number and have it checked in the Rosaccreditation, EAEU or SGR register before production, not after shipment.
Prepare and send the samples and technical documentation the accredited laboratory needs, and allow real time for testing and expert review in your production schedule.
Confirm that the existing document actually covers your item: the same manufacturer, the same product, the same name, and a scheme that covers serial supplies rather than one past consignment.
For plant or animal products, arrange the phytosanitary or veterinary certificate at origin so it travels with the cargo, together with the rest of the shipping set.
Keep the test reports, not only the final document. They are what proves the assessment was genuine if the paperwork is questioned later.
Do not agree to a certificate that someone offers to issue in a couple of hours without samples and testing. Documents like that are the first to be revoked, and the goods go down with them.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a certificate and a declaration of conformity?

An independent certification body is answerable for a certificate, while the applicant itself, usually the importer, is answerable for a declaration. A certificate is normally required for higher-risk products and a declaration for lower-risk ones. Their legal force is the same.

Who obtains the documents, me or my buyer in Russia?

A certificate is issued by an accredited body and a declaration is registered by the applicant, which may be the importer or the manufacturer; the SGR is issued by Rospotrebnadzor. In practice the procedure runs on the Russian side, but it rests on your samples, your test data and your product documentation, so the timeline is shared.

What is an SGR and which goods need it?

It is the state registration certificate, a sanitary permit for products affecting health. It is required for children's goods, household chemicals, food supplements and certain cosmetics, among others. It is issued by Rospotrebnadzor and is valid throughout the EAEU.

Can a document be checked before the goods are shipped?

Yes, and it should be. Certificates and declarations are checked by number in the Rosaccreditation registers and the single EAEU register, state registration certificates in the SGR register. If there is no entry, or it has been withdrawn, the document is invalid.

What if my product has neither a certificate nor a declaration?

First establish that the goods really are not subject to mandatory conformity assessment. That is confirmed by a refusal letter. If the product is on the list, release is impossible until the document is issued.

Summary: the documents decide the fate of a shipment before it starts

In my experience the most painful failures happen neither on price nor on logistics, but on permits. The goods arrive, the certificate or SGR is not there, and the consignment stands in a temporary storage warehouse racking up charges for every day. The document is the product's pass to the market; without it all the other work loses its point, including everything the exporter did well.

My advice is simple. Find out which document your product needs before it is paid for and shipped, not when the container is already in port, and check the certificate in the register rather than in a picture in an email. Trying to save on testing by buying paper without reports increasingly ends in the loss of both the document and the goods.

If you have no time to work through the regulations and schemes yourself, we will identify the right document for your product, arrange it legally and clear the goods on arrival. Send us a request and we will tell you exactly what your shipment to Russia will require.

If you are not sure which permit your product needs before it ships to Russia, we will identify the right form for your goods, arrange the certification legally and handle the customs clearance on arrival.

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