What makes agriculture thrive? What actually helps many farmers around the globe do their arduous job? After all, what comes to mind when we hear anything about agriculture, farming, and producing food? Maybe lots of things but one of the first among them is definitely a tractor. Over the years these great vehicles have been used by people for easing their duties related to agriculture. They are known for lots of tasks they’re capable of dealing with. It is common knowledge what these tasks are so we will omit listing them.

As tractors were evolving and getting more and more complicated over the years, so were the technical regulations of the Eurasian Economic Union. Eventually the Technical Regulation of the Customs Union TR CU 031/2012 “On safety of agricultural and forestry tractors and their trailers” was introduced and came into force, replacing obsolete Russian standards for these vehicles. There is actually one more regulation related to the vehicles, which is the TR CU 018/2011 “On safety of wheeled vehicles”. Because of their branch of application and specific features, tractors and their spare parts are not subject to this regulation – they obtained their own one.

The TR CU 031/2012 can be applied to all tractors with maximum speed not less than 6 km/h, and to trailers and spare parts that are tractor-related. The certificate to this regulation is valid in all EAEU countries (Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan)

What is necessary for getting the certificate for the tractor.

Here we are going to explain what is necessary for getting the certificate for the tractor. First of all, a tractor is a complex thing and consists of many parts. According to the requirements of the TR CU 031/2012 the certificate for the tractor may be obtained only after all tractor components have been certified to the same regulation. 

Here is the list of the parts each of which requires its own certificate in order to certify a tractor:

1. Engine;
2. Sounders;
3. Safety glass;
4. Light reflectors;
5. Rear marker lights;
6. Low beam & high beam lights, turn indicators, tail lamps;
7. License plate lights;
8. Fog lamps;
9. Rear fog lamps;
10. Tires;
11. Speedometer;
12. Cab;
13. Speed limit device;
14. Tow hitch;
15. Reversing lights;
16. Brake lights;
17. Seats;
18. Rear view mirrors;
19. Seat belts.

To certify these parts it is absolutely necessary to provide the samples and relevant technical descriptions in the Russian language. The technical description should contain broad information about a spare part. For instance this information must include general parameters, sizes, operation principles, working conditions. Drawings should be presented in the description as well. Most of the manufacturers are aware about all the parameters of their vehicles and spare parts. If all the tests are positive and all the necessary documents are provided, the manufacturer gets the certificates and can now go on with the tractor itself.

We can surprise you

Tractor ought to be tested as the whole item and that may surprise some manufacturers. “Do we really need to test the tractor after all the spare parts have been checked and are alright?”, they might ask. Yes, it is mandatory. There is a requirement in the TR CU 031/2012 stating that the tractors must be tested too. Furthermore, the tractor sample is needed for the accredited Russian laboratory as well. The tests at the production site are not an option because of issues of equipment and techniques used for the tests, and a factor that became an unfortunate issue in 2020 – COVID-19 and closed borders.

To sum up, tractors can only be certified if the manufacturer has obtained EAC certifications to TR CU 031/2012 for all abovementioned spare parts, has a sample to provide for tests in the Russian laboratory and a good technical description for the tractor. This description, just like the descriptions for the spare parts, should contain all the necessary information about tractors, their size, parameters, the information about spare parts, and the operational manual of these tractors. Once the certificate is issued, the manufacturer can easily import his tractors to the EAEU countries for such an honorable thing as agriculture or forestry!

By Dmitry Kondratsky
Certification Specialist. EAEU / CIS Department