Assistance program for certifications of the Armenian producers. IC Armenia new reform

The purpose of the adoption of the assistance program in the form of the Government Decree is to partially compensate for the costs of certification in accordance with the requirements of quality management systems implemented for the production of products and (or) payments for consultant services, which will contribute to increasing the competitiveness of Armenian products, expanding the geography of trade, diversifying trade markets and ensuring access to foreign markets. At the initial stage of entering international markets, entrepreneurs are faced with the problem of costs associated with the introduction of a quality management system in the organization of the production process. They are often disproportionately large in relation to sales volumes, but are important and can serve as a guarantee of compliance of the product with minimum safety standards, and in some cases, to prove its high quality and competitiveness. The provision of support will contribute to the diversification of trade and to the successful promotion of products in new markets.

Discussions with businesses indicate that there is a growing awareness of the importance of implementing quality management systems in production processes, the latter also being an important factor in negotiating the sale of Armenian products with various partners abroad. However, due to financial constraints, many are unable to implement such systems. Statistics also indicate that the number of companies in Armenia that have implemented internationally recognized quality management systems is small both in absolute terms and in comparison with competing and similar countries in international trade. In terms of the number of businesses with production quality management systems, Armenia lags behind all comparable countries, with the exception of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Under these conditions, the opportunities for diversification of trade markets are extremely limited, since for the Republic of Armenia, higher requirements for products and production processes operate outside the traditional markets, which are confirmed by assessment documents received from internationally recognized organizations - certificates. The certification process involves additional costs associated with obtaining advice, improving production organization processes, and payments for the certification process itself. As a rule, the certification contract is concluded for a period of three years, since an audit is planned to be conducted every year. The consulting fee is formed as follows: The average daily fee for an expert is 100,000 AMD. The minimum required is 45 working days (ISO 9001 and 14001), and in the case of ISO 22000 - about 120 days. In addition to the above costs, there is also a one-time certification fee (indicative amounts are provided in the project).Often, businesses do not have enough money to carry out the above processes, which prevents them from considering a wider geography of exports.