Describes the country's standards landscape, identifies the national standards and accreditation bodies, and lists the main national testing organization(s) and conformity assessment bodies.
Last Published: 2/26/2018

Overview

The Institute for the Standardization of Serbia (ISS) is recognized by the Law on Standardization („Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia“ #36/2009 and 46/2015) as the only National Standards Body in Serbia.  The ISS is responsible for developing and adopting standards, which are considered voluntary under the law. Its work is supervised by the Ministry of Economy.  Expert councils direct work in specific areas of standardization.

Serbia has harmonized most of the legislation, standards and technical regulations with the EU legislation. Until now, 97% of European standards have been adopted as Serbian standards, and 75% of the regulations have been transposed in Serbian legislative system. By making only two clicks on ISS website, in the menu “Standards”, submenu “National regulations”, in the search engine by entering a keyword, the report showing the required regulation currently in force with the list of referred Serbian standards may be reviewed.

Serbia has established a network of institutions and organizations in the quality infrastructure area, offering services to the local economy. This has enabled producers and entrepreneurs to meet the market requirements in terms of quality of the products and services they are offering, simpler and easier export, and consumers are ensured about the safety of the products they have purchased.

According to the Law on Standardization, which came into effect in 2009, Serbian standards must be published in one of the official languages of the European organizations for standardization (CEN, CENELEC, and ETSI).  In 2009, the collection of Serbian standards and related documents comprised 17,294 documents.

The ISS has adopted the abbreviation SRPS (“Srpski Standardi”) as the official designation of Serbian standards and related documents.  The majority of Serbian standards and related documents were developed in accordance with International Standards Organization (ISO), International Electro-technical Commission (IEC), European (EN) standards, and related documents of other countries.

Standards

The ISS has recently published 2016 Annual Plan of Adopting Serbian Standards and Related Documents.  The national technical committees comprised of experts representing specific stakeholder groups prepared these documents and all related documents in accordance with the established standardization principles provided in the Internal Rules of Standardization, Part 1 and 2.

The Institute for Standardization of Serbia (ISS) has been accepted as a full member of the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the European Committee for Electro-technical Standardization (CENELEC). The membership is in line with the national program for the adoption of the EU acquis and the strategy to improve the system of quality infrastructure in Serbia for the period 2015-2020, and it provides direct support to Serbia’s EU accession talks.

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Conformity Assessment

Conformity assessment is conducted in accordance with the Decree on Manner of Performing Conformity Assessment, Content of Document of Conformity, as well as Form, Appearance and Content of the Conformity Marking (Official Gazette of RS No. 98/09).  The Law on Technical Requirements for Products and Conformity Assessment and the Decree on Manner of Recognition of Foreign Documents and Markings of Conformity contain provisions on the conditions and recognition of foreign documents and markings of conformity in Serbia.

The conformity mark in Serbia, verifying conformity of the product with certain technical regulations, may be the CE mark or another conformity mark according to special regulations (for example, homologation mark). The Serbian conformity mark confirms that the product meets the requirements of a Serbian technical regulation and that the prescribed conformity assessment procedures have been observed. This mark is in the form of three capital ‘A’ letters connected in the shape of an equilateral triangle and is affixed to the product in such a manner as to be visible. Artwork of this mark can be downloaded in several formats at Kvalitet a.d. or Ministry of Economy – Sector for Quality and Product Safety.

It is prohibited to affix any other mark of similar content or form on a product which could be misleading to the consumer or that might impair the visibility or legibility of the conformity mark. The provisions for applying these marks are provided in the Decree on Manner of Performing Conformity Assessment, Content of Document of Conformity, as well as Form, Appearance and Content of the Conformity Marking (Official Gazette of RS No. 98/09).

The ISS approves the use of national marks of conformity with Serbian standards.  Certification bodies could be providers of other conformity marks.  Manufacturers and service providers can issue a declaration of conformity with Serbian standards, but this declaration does not result in the use of a conformity mark.  As compliance with standards is voluntary, products are not required to bear a national conformity mark.  Affixing a mark to a product demonstrates that the requirements of a specific ISS standard were met.

Product Certification

A product may be placed in the market only if:
  • it conforms to the prescribed technical requirements
  • conformity was assessed according to the prescribed procedure
  • it is marked in accordance with the regulations and
  • it is accompanied with the prescribed documents of conformity.
There are no existing Mutual Recognition Agreements with any U.S. organization or any other countries.

Accreditation

Accreditation is a third-party attestation performed by the National Accreditation Body and is used to determine and confirm that an organization meets the requirements necessary to perform certain conformity assessment activities laid out in relevant international standards and that it is competent to perform these activities. Accreditation is voluntary in the Republic of Serbia unless made mandatory by sector-specific laws.
Accreditation rules are in concordance with the international standards from 170XX series, and with the  ЕА, ILAC and IAF rules and guidelines. In Serbia, the Accreditation Board of Serbia (ATS) grants accreditation.  ATS is an independent non-profit organization implementing the Law on Accreditation by assessing the competence of conformity assessment bodies. More information can be obtained from the Accreditation Board of Serbia (ATS).

Publication of technical regulations

The Ministry of Economy maintains registers of current technical regulations and those under preparation.  In addition, the Ministry of Economy is responsible for providing information and relevant documents to interested parties upon their request with regard to adopted and proposed technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures.  The Department for Quality Infrastructure, within the Ministry, performs these tasks.  

Contact Information

The Institute for Standardization of Serbia (ISS)
Stevana Brakusa 2
11030 Belgrade
Telephone: +381-11-7541 260
Fax: +381-11-7541257
E-mail: iss1@iss.rs or infocentar@iss.rs
Website: The Institute for Standardization of Serbia (ISS)

Accreditation Board of Serbia (ATS)
11000 Beograd
Vlajkoviceva 3
Tel: +381-11-3130 373           
Fax : +381-11-3130 374
E-mail: office@ats.rs; infocentar@iss.rs
Web: Accreditation Board of Serbia (ATS)  

Ministry of Economy
Sector for Quality Infrastructure
Resavska 24, 11000 Beograd
Tel: +381-11-2855 192; 2855 341
E-mail: tbtinfo@mfp.gov.rs
Web: Ministry of Economy

For more information please contact Commercial Service in Serbia: zorica.mihajlovic@trade.gov.

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