Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan.19 / Trend , U.Ismayilova /
The Azerbaijani State Committee on Standardization, Metrology and Patents announced results of 2009 operations in the spheres of standardization, metrology, compliance assessment, accreditation and protection of industrial property.
Several changes have been made in 2009 to existing acts, as well as to a number of legislative documents for compliance with European standards, the State Committee said.
The State Committee on Standardization has established a warning agency and an information center, which is compulsory for WTO members, according to the Technical Barriers to Trade agreement.
Operations on the implementation of the Kodeks Alimentarius administrative collection, seeking to improve food safety and quality, have also started.
An AZS standard on the "Rules of activity and establishment of technical committees on standardization" has been developed in order to regulate the activities of technical committees. After the adoption of this standard, a number of new technical committees have been established, including committees on the oil and gas, food and construction industries.
The State Committee has registered 63 national standards, including 19 standards in the food industry, eight standards in the petroleum and chemical industry and three standards in the transport sector.
At the same time, 69 specifications were registered in 2009, including 33 in the food industry, 28 in the mechanical engineering, and eight in the chemical industry.
Violations were determined and eliminated during a monitoring in 18 enterprises. The State Committee established an experimental testing center (AzTEST), whose laboratory is equipped with standard and metrological equipment that meets international standards.
The State Committee also inspected 1,113 business entities in 2009 for compliance with product quality standards and norms of metrology, in which the production of 93 products has been suspended, and 340 shipments worth 381, 975 manats have been banned. One hundred and eighteen enterprises were fined with total amount reaching 76,475 manats.
About 2,000 individuals and entities have been issued AZS certificates - national certification standards for production of 3541 goods.
In order to ensure the country's food security, 39.7 tons of confectionery products, 888.4 tons of rice, 9.8 tons of canned fish, 56,3 thousand liters of soft drinks and fruit juices, 7.3 tons of flour, 10.1 tons of dairy products, 8.5 tons of vegetables and other products have been identified and destroyed during this period.
On Jan.18, official exchange rate was 0.8030 AZN/USD.