NON-STANDARD APPROACH TO STANDARDS

You will agree that the variety of products offered in shops has considerably expanded in Azerbaijan in the last few years. Of course, this clearly demonstrates the considerable growth of the consumer market. And there is a big plus here: consumers have choice. But as we know, there is a spoonful of tar in every barrel of honey. 

It is no secret that no-one can protect us against fakery when we buy one product or another. Although this is the 21st century, we have to be careful when we buy not only cars, equipment, furniture, clothes or shoes, but also such trivial personal hygiene accessories as soap or toothpaste, especially as most of our citizens are not used to such concepts as "quality standards", as widely practised in Europe and the USA.

Quality is predictable…

Moreover, we can observe the so-called "price divide". If for example you can buy toothpaste for two manats in the capital, the same toothpaste in one of the city's dormitory suburbs is worth only one and a bit manats. And the consumer thinks: "Does it have something to do with the quality of the product?" Of course, some wheeler-dealers take advantage of this, trying to explain the high prices in their shops by the "high quality of the product". But at the same time..., they do not show customers the relevant proof!

Of course, items of hygiene, clothes, shoes, furniture, construction materials and cars are not in the same demand as food products, which people buy every day. Is this why those important meat and dairy products, natural juices, fruit and vegetables are the first targets of the malicious offenders of quality? Last year the Ministry of Economic Development in Azerbaijan tested 1,379 products on the market and discovered that 342 (!) did not comply with quality and security standards. Thus, one third of the goods on the market did not meet market requirements. Meanwhile, this episode cannot but give us hope. This means that regular checks of food products are carried out in our country, and not only by the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Health, the State Agency for Standardization, Metrology and Patents, but also by the Union of Free Consumers of Azerbaijan (UFCA) and sanitary medics. The State Customs Committee (SCC) is not lagging behind either. It controls imported products and even intends to expand its network of laboratories to this end. But the fact remains a fact: the work of these organizations has still not resolved the issue of protecting ourselves from substandard and unsafe products.

We have to say that this year tremendous work has been carried out to solve this problem. As an example, we can cite the restructuring of the Ministry of Economic Development, which has set up an agency of the state anti-monopoly service, based in the anti-monopoly department. As a result of this reorganization, functions to defend the rights of consumers were handed over to this agency - the State Service to Oversee Consumer Goods. The importance of the appearance of such organizations in our country is difficult to overstate, especially if it will defend the rights of consumers and oversee the quality of products, even supervise advertisements on television and radio and test products exported to the European Union… The state service intends to buy equipment to carry out laboratory research into the quality of 11 types of products made in Azerbaijan and imported into the country. In this regard, consultations with potential suppliers of products are being held. Random checks are being carried out in ordinary shops and major enterprises, sometimes on the basis of complaints from consumers. This work is being carried out in association with the Ministry of Health and the veterinary service of the Ministry of Agriculture. Incidentally, from the results of the first raids, the head of the service, Xaliq Mammadov, has drawn a critical conclusion: the main problem on the market is that the packaging, storage and sale of products do not meet standards, and sanitary-hygienic norms are not being observed. Perishable products - meat, milk, sour cream, fish, fruit and vegetables - immediately went onto the "black list". Plastic bottles are often re-used. This means that the service has plenty of work to do.

Manufacturer on his own

It is not only the officials and owners of wholesale and retail networks who should oversee the quality of the products sold, but also the manufacturers themselves can also play an important role in solving this enduring problem. Ideally, every businessman should be interested in manufacturing high quality and competitive products which are capable of occupying a worthy niche not only on the local market, but also abroad. The chairman of the Union of Merchants and Manufacturers of Azerbaijan (UMMA), Sevgim Rahmanov, is of the same opinion: "In our country, manufacturers have long been struggling to get certification for their products. I am talking about businessmen who work according to the rules. It is another matter when so-called wheeler-dealers establish the production, for example, of shampoo, in secret workshops in the suburbs of the capital. They are aiming at making a long-term profit, but not at making their product competitive and useful for consumers." In his comments for R+, the UMMA head stressed that, at present, there are no obstacles to the official registration of products in Azerbaijan.

Meanwhile, according to UMMA, 80 per cent of goods sold in Azerbaijan today have no quality certificates; they are sold without invoices or other accompanying documents. For this reason, the consumer may not know where they were made. "If you ask a shop for the number of the invoice indicating the manufacturer, in 90 per cent of cases, you will see that they do not exist. Although we have Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No 80 dated 15 April 1998, according to which all goods in the country should be sold through shops only with invoices. Moreover, foreign products are imported into Azerbaijan through third countries without international contracts being signed. Such products do not have information in Azeri or Russian. We can only hope that the experts of the Ministry of Economic Development will seriously deal with the matter of invoices. Then the state will be able to register all imported products, and many manufacturers will come out of the woodwork," Rahmanov believes.

According to the chairman of the Union of Free Consumers of Azerbaijan, Eyyub Huseynov, businessmen still encounter a whole string of problems. First of all, he thinks that the agency which certifies the quality of a product should be independent. "There are no statistics regarding food poisoning in Azerbaijan. Why? Because the Ministry of Health cannot register and publicly announce information about the number of cases of food poisoning because the ministry itself issues certificates for products that might play an evil trick on consumers. For this reason, the agencies that issue certificates must be independent, as is the case in Turkey. If in that country a batch of products does not suit consumers for some reason and it becomes a matter for the courts and so on, the independent agency pays all expenses because it is totally responsible for the document it issues on compliance with quality standards. Is it not a good example?" the UFCA head asked.

There is another problem. When talking about the quality of goods, we do not even think to what extent the laboratory equipment which is used for testing dairy products meets international requirements. "Unfortunately, many laboratories have quite outdated equipment that has not been certified at an international level, not to mention the fact that we do not have modern measuring devices. We know that Azerbaijan is on the threshold of accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). But even after our accession to the WTO, nothing will change here until independent agencies to examine and certify products are set up in the country. Besides this, we do not even have laws to withdraw dangerous food products from sale!" Huseynov said. Incidentally, raids by the State Agency for Standardization, Metrology and Patents have repeatedly revealed cases of bread not complying with approved quality standards. Many shops are still selling bread that weighs less than the established norm, not to mention the sale of clothes of suspicious quality, including children's clothes, which are sold in "underground" shops.

The mysterious word - "gauge"

Meanwhile, this year the government of Azerbaijan initiated the process of fulfilling WTO requirements in terms of certifying goods and services. The head of the Agency for Standardization, Metrology and Patents, Ramiz Hasanov, said that the agency is preparing a project to reduce the list of goods liable to mandatory certification. The list of such products was approved by the government in 1993. The country needs to update it now as the market is developing. At present, the list contains more than 100 types of products. It is proposed that the issue of toughening sanctions for manufacturing low quality products should be examined as well, because experience shows that the current fine of 500 manats is not very "persuasive". According to Hasanov, our entrepreneurs are not very active yet in the cause of setting quality standards. For this reason, it has been established that the certification of a number of products capable of having a major impact on people's health - food, perfumes, cosmetics and electronic devices - is mandatory.

Let's ask a question: will the hasty transfer of products made in the country to European or American standards lead to the closure of many uncompetitive companies? In his comments to R+, Hasanov pointed out that the state agency is planning a stage-by-stage switch to world standards. "But this does not mean that all the standards accepted in our country do not meet world standards: there are standards that can be used in the future. But there are also sectors that are criticized not only by officials, but also by rank-and-file citizens. First of all, there is the food industry. Manufacturers themselves should be interested in bringing their products in line with world standards. In turn, the agency will be working with enterprises that produce low quality goods," Hasanov said. At the same time, our interviewee did not rule out the state giving up the certification of goods and services and granting this right… to independent private inspection companies!

Another direction in which the agency is working is the introduction of international standards. It is no secret that Azerbaijan has already acquired open access to standards of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Earlier this year, an ISO seminar was held in Baku, at which its secretary-general Alan Bryden said that Azerbaijan is "way behind many CIS countries in its cooperation with this organization". What does this mean? It means that not all products made in Azerbaijan have an ISO quality mark. According to Hasanov, Azerbaijan is a member of only three of the 150 ISO committees where international standards are created, changes are made and so on. "We are observers on another 23 committees. The current situation obliges our country to join ISO programmes, especially as the country is ready today to accept ISO standards for fruit juices, wines, nuts and other types of products made in Azerbaijan," the head of the state agency is convinced.

By the way, cooperation with the ISO in Azerbaijan is currently determined by the desire of manufacturers. We think that in the near future such cooperation will need to be made obligatory.

Moreover, it is no secret that today local companies spend a lot of money on certification abroad. For this reason, a decision has been made to create an information centre at the agency and provide it with gauges to identify the compliance of products with international standards. After the establishment of such a centre (at the end of this year - editor), business expenditure will reduce dramatically. Nine gauges designed to measure pressure and weight have already been purchased. The agency is planning to buy another 50 in the next five years, and not only for the food industry, but also for mechanical engineering and so on.

In conclusion, we will remind you that in January this year, the state agency drew up a state programme for the development of standardization, metrology, certification, accreditation and patents in Azerbaijan. Moreover, a draft law "On technical regulation" has been drawn up to speed up Azerbaijan's entry into the WTO; it has already been sent to the central office of the WTO.

Meanwhile… Success in the tough, competitive conditions of a market economy is unthinkable without the certification of a product or service - the definition of their compliance with existing standards with a confirmatory document. The opinion that a certificate for goods and services is not necessary and that it is enough to have a licence for them is not a legitimate one.

A licence is a permissive document, while a certificate confirms quality. This is a fundamental difference. The presence of a certificate creates a positive image for an enterprise and expands its customer base. Moreover, it can serve as a guarantee for investment companies to give significant support to an enterprise in developing its capacity and improving production processes, a basis for insurance companies to sign relevant insurance agreements with an enterprise, and so on.

Organizations that invest money in certification are already seeing the results - they have advantages when they get state orders and tenders and opportunities to take orders from foreign companies, to export their products without hindrance and, as a consequence, a healthier financial position for the company.