No need to ship: Russia has restricted sales of cars from China
Rosstandart has imposed a ban on the release into circulation of a number of models of Chinese trucks and special vehicles. Such measures were already taken last year. The government is taking a systematic approach to identify equipment on the market that does not meet safety requirements, experts say. The appearance of such models on the roads is due to the peculiarities of their certification, experts believe. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
"Dangerous to life and health"
The Federal Agency for Technical Regulation and Metrology (Rosstandart) has announced a ban on the release of several Chinese-made trucks and cranes. Information about this is published on the official website of the department. The restrictions apply to Dongfeng DFV4198 and DFV KC truck tractors and dump trucks, as well as Zoomlion ZTC-4, ZTC-3, TMCP3 and TMCP4 cranes and concrete pumps.
As follows from the message from Rosstandart, the decision to impose these restrictions was made based on the results of unscheduled field inspections, during which "violations of mandatory requirements that pose a danger to the health and life of both drivers of vehicles and other road users, including pedestrians," were revealed. In particular, we are talking about non-compliance with these mandatory requirements of the braking system, seat belt fastening, rear and side protective devices, steering and the installation of an emergency call device. A number of documentary violations were also identified, according to Rosstandart.
Dongfeng and Zoomlion representatives have been issued orders to suspend any kind of sale of these vehicles, and administrative liability will be applied for violations, the department emphasizes. In addition, orders were issued to eliminate the identified violations of the requirements of the technical regulations of the Customs Union "On the safety of wheeled vehicles."
— The total number of vehicles subject to these restrictions is currently being assessed. After the completion of the relevant procedures, the information will be further communicated, " the Rosstandart press service told Izvestia.
The ministry emphasizes that the restrictions apply to vehicles imported into the territory of the Russian Federation before their release into circulation (without electronic vehicle passports), as well as those released into circulation (with electronic vehicle passports), but not yet registered with the State Traffic Inspectorate. The import and registration of EPTS in respect of imported trucks have been suspended, as well as their sale and registration are impossible, Rosstandart noted.
— After agreeing with Rosstandart on programs of measures to prevent harm and eliminate violations on imported but not yet sold trucks, the issue of lifting restrictions on their implementation will be considered. It is worth noting that the representative offices have already sent to the department a number of programs of measures to prevent harm. Currently, these programs of events are under consideration by Rosstandart, the press service of the department reported.
Errors and typos
The inspection conducted by Rosstandart did not come as a surprise to Dongfeng. As Vladimir Demidov, General director of Dongfeng Chand LLC, told Izvestia, the company expected that they would be visited, so they tried to closely monitor the documents, but some mistakes were made in them.
— Earlier, when the documents for certification were submitted, if the weight was 29,680 kg, then they wrote 30 tons. Now it's all taken into account with the calculator — as much as stated, as much as it should be. In addition, there are typos in the documents: for example, the number 45 is indicated in the protocol, and 54 in the certificate. Somewhere, the procedures for conducting the test itself were violated: noise was measured at the wrong speed. Accordingly, we need to re—test and provide new test reports, which will indicate the noise in the desired gear," Vladimir Demidov told Izvestia.
The company has already prepared a program to eliminate all the shortcomings and submitted it to Rosstandart, said Dongfeng Chang, CEO. He noted that it takes 30 days to approve it. Without waiting for the decision of the supervisory authority, the company has already begun preventive work on these comments and is planning all necessary recall programs, Vladimir Demidov emphasized.
— We are talking about two 4x4 tractors, two 6×6 tractors and two 6×6 dump trucks. These machines are currently with distributors, meaning they are not with end customers. They are all under our supervision," he assured Izvestia.
Izvestia sent a request to Zoomlion with a request to comment on the current situation.
International cooperation
Vehicle type approvals (OTTS) for the "forbidden" models were issued by the Belarusian certification authorities, Izvestia found. At the same time, as follows from these documents (copies of them are available to the editorial staff), a significant part of the tests, including those on parameters that caused complaints from Rosstandart, were carried out in completely different countries.
In particular, Dongfeng conducted checks on the effectiveness of the braking system, steering system parameters, as well as seat belt anchorages and truck safety devices in Cyprus. There were also tests of lighting technology and external noise. The power characteristics and the level of exhaust gas toxicity were checked in Spain, and the tire parameters were checked in the Netherlands. In Belarus itself, only door locks and hinges, visibility requirements, weight parameters, equipment of cars with an emergency call system and some other characteristics were checked.
The situation is similar with the OTTs issued by the Belarusian certification bodies for Zoomlion cranes and concrete pumps. Here, the vast majority of tests (brakes, seat belts, steering, fire safety, and others) were conducted in the state of San Marino. Some of the tests also took place in the Netherlands, Ireland and Spain.
— In Belarus, there are no queues like ours for registration, it's faster there. Nevertheless, there are other brands that also received [OTTS] in Belarus, and they have not yet been affected by the review," said Alexander Tsypin, managing partner of the Business Strategy consulting agency.
Since Russia is a party to the Geneva Agreement of 1958, according to a number of parameters for vehicle certification, in the presence of international communications issued by technical services in other participating countries of this agreement, the results of these tests are accepted by the Russian certification body without conducting appropriate field inspections in the Russian Federation, said the head of the Testing Center of FSUE NAMI, Doctor of Technical Sciences Denis Zagarin. At the same time, such tests are often conducted on the basis of manufacturers themselves, including Chinese ones, under the supervision of representatives of European technical services, he noted.
"Quite often, certain questions arise about the results of such tests and the relevant documents," the head of the Testing Center of FSUE NAMI told Izvestia.
Denis Zagarin also said that in practice, there are situations when unscrupulous manufacturers provide so—called gold samples for certification - copies of machines that fully meet the established requirements, but at the same time differ from production models.
— Unfortunately, we have encountered such cases at FSUE NAMI. Field inspections and the announcement of a ban on the handling of such equipment, followed by mandatory elimination of identified defects, including on vehicles already in operation as part of the recall campaign procedure, are designed to identify and prevent such unscrupulous actions, Denis Zagarin told Izvestia.
All to Russia!
It is obvious that in the current geopolitical conditions, the Russian supervisory authorities do not even have the theoretical opportunity to check how tests of automotive equipment are conducted in unfriendly countries, says Anton Shaparin, vice President of the National Automobile Union (NAS). Therefore, the methodology of conducting such tests and their results raise serious doubts, he believes.
— It is strange that a four-axle truck crane with a maximum weight of 48 tons, during a check of its braking system, was able to stop in the dwarf state of San Marino at all, and did not end up in neighboring Italy, — said Anton Shaparin.
According to the NAS Vice President, the verification of the key parameters of any foreign car that directly affect road safety should be carried out exclusively in Russian testing laboratories under the supervision of the relevant authorities. This will put foreign and domestic car manufacturers on an equal footing, he believes.
— Automakers are often forced to use test protocols from other countries: through the efforts of certain authorities, many Russian laboratories that actually worked and had testing equipment have been closed, and the remaining ones have dramatically increased the cost and timing of testing. And for some items, for example, batteries, there is basically no place to conduct tests in Russia," notes Anton Shaparin.
According to him, issuing permits based on protocols allegedly issued in unfriendly countries is a common practice. At the same time, despite the inability to verify whether such documents were actually issued or were falsified, these papers are accepted by certification bodies and on their basis cars and other goods are put on the market.
Of course, it would be nice if the most important characteristics of cars, such as the operation of braking and steering systems, and safety elements, were carried out in Russia, Maxim Kadakov, editor-in-chief of Za Rulem magazine, agrees. However, in practice, this is practically impossible, he believes.
— To measure braking distance or assess handling, you need a dry and clean coating. What if these roads are covered with snow and ice for half a year on the Dmitrov autopolygon? Wait until summer arrives? This will significantly increase the already slow procedure for certifying a new car," Maxim Kadakov told Izvestia.
System work
The certification of vehicles provides a guarantee of their safety during operation, Denis Zagarin told Izvestia. The requirements that the vehicle must meet are the same for all automakers, both domestic and foreign, and must be met at all stages of creating a car — from its design to final assembly and operation, he emphasizes.
— Monitoring of their compliance by the state, including in the framework of documentary inspections and field tests, is systematic and is carried out constantly, — said the head of the Testing Center of FSUE NAMI.
The restrictions imposed on a number of trucks and special equipment indicate the formation of a systematic approach on the part of Rosstandart, said the Vice President, Head of the Commercial Transport Committee of the Association of Russian Automobile Dealers (ROAD). Vitaly Kiselyov. Similar checks were carried out last year, and now this work continues, he recalled. At the same time, it is fundamentally important that such control be uniform for all market participants, the expert emphasized. Inspections should be carried out in relation to any brands operating in Russia.: then the business will have no questions about equal conditions and transparency of control, the vice president of the ROAD believes.
— This is a normal practice. The State must monitor the compliance of vehicles with mandatory safety requirements. If serious violations are detected during inspections, it is necessary to respond to them. Therefore, I would consider what is happening not as a campaign against individual manufacturers, but as a movement towards more consistent government control. Ultimately, this is a matter of road safety, not the country of origin of the equipment," Vitaly Kiselyov told Izvestia.
In the future, such inspections will be regular and widespread, according to Andrey Romanyuk, head of the AAA Trakservice Commercial Vehicle Sales Department. In his opinion, the decisions that are made as a result of such inspections will directly depend on how a particular company invests in the development of its business in Russia.
The market won't notice the restrictions.
— Dongfeng certificate was issued for Dongfeng Chand factory products. These are four-wheel drive cars, and they sell them in units. In other words, it has no effect on the market at all. The claims against them are minimal, mostly of a documentary nature," Alexander Tsypin told Izvestia.
As for Zoomlion cranes and concrete pumps, there are no analogues of such equipment in Russia, the expert notes. However, given the far from record sales of these models, the introduction of restrictions on them will also not have a serious impact on the market, he believes.
— Zoomlion has a great cooperation with MAZ. They install their cranes and concrete pumps on the MAZ chassis. In addition, there is always a backup option to put your equipment on another chassis, for example, KAMAZ," says Alexander Tsypin.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
