Tag Archives: Russia

Three Things You Should Know about Medical Device Regulations in Russia and the Eurasian Union in February 2020

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Dear colleagues,

I am pleased to deliver my usual end-of-the-month update on the highlights of medical device regulations in Russia and the Eurasian Union.

  1. Updated Criteria for Software as Medical Devices in Russia

On the 14th of February 2020, the Russian medical device regulator Roszdravnadzor published a letter that clarifies the criteria by which software may be considered a medical device (and require registration) and annulled previous requirements that had been applied to software since December 2015.

According to the letter, the Russian medical device regulator considers software to be a medical device when it meets all of the following criteria:

  • It is a computer program or its module (regardless of the program’s hardware platform and/or mode of distribution);
  • It is intended by the manufacturer to be used for medical care;
  • It is not a component of another medical device; and
  • It is intended to interpret sets of data received from medical devices, or entered by medical professionals, with the intention that the interpretations will be used for medical purposes.

According to several examples provided in the published document, medical software is not considered a medical device if it is intended for:

  • Hospital administration
  • Health and lifestyle management
  • The archiving and administration of medical data and medical images without the intention of interpreting them
  • The control and technical maintenance of medical equipment
  • Communication between doctors and patients
  • Educational and informational use
  • Receiving data from medical devices but not for medical care.

It should also be noted that, earlier in January 2020, the Roszdravnadzor announced plans to simplify the approval process for some IT healthcare products in Russia and to create a dedicated working group to discuss the registration of medical software.

  1. Draft on the Amendment to the Eurasian Medical Device Registration Procedure

On the 18th of February, the Eurasian commission published a draft document on an amendment to the rules of registration and examination of medical devices in the Eurasian Union (link in Russian). The current version of these rules (Regulation 46) is available in English.

The published draft suggests several clarifications and amendments to the definitions used in the regulations, as well as a clarification of the procedure by which member states accept registrations. It also suggests a protocol for making, and providing notification of, amendments to the registration dossiers of devices, and a clarification of the procedure for cancelling registration certificates.

The document is open for public discussion until the 20th of April 2020.

  1. Update on the Regulation of Medical Devices with Ethyl Alcohol

On the 9th of February 2020, the Russian healthcare regulator Roszdravnadzor enforced regulation 7975 ‘On approval of the regulation on the commission for the formation of a list of alcohol-containing medical devices, the production of which is not covered by the Federal law on the regulation of ethyl alcohol’ (Link in Russian).

Roszdravnadzor published a reminder to the industry that the process of forming this list is carried out on the basis of applications from manufacturers, or their authorized representatives, that are submitted to Roszdravnadzor between the 1st of January and the 30th of June.

It should be noted that the rules for the formation of the aforementioned list were enforced previously in July of 2019. Medical products included in this list are excluded from general alcohol regulations, such as Federal law 171, in Russia. According to this law, ‘alcohol-containing medical devices’ are medical devices in liquid form containing the pharmaceutical substance of ethyl alcohol (ethanol) or ethyl alcohol.

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Some other minor updates over the last month merit mention: Clarification letters have been published by the Russian Ministry of Finance regarding the application of a reduced tax rate for some medical devices (link in Russian). The tax rate for medical devices that will be applied after 2022 (link in Russian) and for custom-made medical devices (link in Russian). Several administrative regulations regarding the control of medical devices have also been cancelled (link in Russian) and replaced by new editions (link in Russian).

Russia and Kyrgyzstan approved the First Medical Device under the Eurasian Regulations

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On 31 December 2019, the Russian healthcare regulator Roszdravnadzor announced first medical device approved under the Eurasian medical device regulations  First registration certificate was issued for 2A class neonatal phototherapy lamp manufactured in Russia.  The registration record has also appeared in the Eurasian database. 

Three Things You Should Know about Medical Device Regulations in Russia, November 2019

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Dear Colleagues,

There have been no major changes in the regulatory landscape of Russian and Eurasian medical devices for the past month, but  this is my usual newsletter with several short updates which  are good to know if you are interested in medical devices regulation in this region:

1. Updates in Medical Device Control Procedures in Russia

In November several new updates were introduced to strengthen control procedures for medical devices and pharmaceuticals in circulation on the market from Russian healthcare regulators.

On 9 November 2019, the Russian government published Regulation No. 1433 (link in Russian), amending some aspects of the procedure for the inspection of medical devices manufacturers and distributors. According to the published document, within three months, the Ministry of Health is developing a risk indicators  i.e. parameters deviations from which might indicate a likelihood of violations of mandatory requirements for the circulation of medical devices, which are intended to be used for unscheduled inspections.

Under Regulation No. 1459 published on 15 November 2019 (link in Russian), Russian healthcare regulator Roszdravnadzor is empowered to conduct test purchases of medical devices and medicines to verify compliance with regulations, i.e. to check on the sale of falsified, poor-quality and non-registered products.

It should be noted that according to the current regulation, inspections of the medical device manufacturers and distributors are carried out in accordance with the annual plan published by Roszdravnadzor. In limited cases, unplanned inspections may be conducted. Strengthening control of the medical devices on the market is a trend that has been evident in Russia over the last several years.

2. Development of Medical Software Regulation in Russia
In November 2019, the Russian Ministry of Health announced the start of work on the implementation of changes to the classification of the software as a medical device. According to the regulator, improvements should be made following the IMDRF guidelines.

As of today, the medical software is within scope of the Russian definition of a medical device, and some years ago Roszdravnadzor clarified the requirement for its mandatory registration, but to date, no specific guidelines are available in the Russian regulations on medical devices.

3. Simplified Approval Path for Refurbished Medical Devices in Belarus

On 16 November the Belarusian Ministry of Health clarified procedures for obtaining import permits for Belarus in the re-used and refurbished medical devices received as foreign donations. The published letter ( link in Russian) sets out a simplified approval process for refurbished medical devices and rehabilitation equipment of I-Class, on the condition that their residual life is not less than one year.

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Thank you for following my blog, which is a non-commercial project with the aim of providing timely and clear updates on the development of Russian and Eurasian medical device regulations. Let me remind you that you can receive my regular updates directly from your email via the ‘follow’ button on the toolbar of this blog.

Three Things You Should Know about Medical Device Regulations in Russia: July 2019

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Dear Colleagues,

This is my usual selection of highlights and recent changes in medical device regulations in Russia:

  1. Some Updates in Medical Device Registration and Clinical Trial Requirements in Russia

On 4 July 2019 the Russian Ministry of Health enforced order no. 239N (link in Russian). This updated certain requirements for pre-registration clinical trials (update of order no. 2N), requirements for the content of the technical file and instruction for registration of a medical device (update of order no. 11N). The main updates implemented in the published document are:

  • The clarification of and uniform requirements for documents confirming the quality of the pharmaceutical component of drug-containing medical devices.
    The first amendments of registration rules (regulation no. 1416) to simplify the registration of drug-containing medical devices in Russia were made in June 2018; later in 2018 Roszdravnadzor clarified requirements for confirming the quality of the pharmaceutical component. However, until July 2019 these registration rules were not harmonised with other Russian medical device regulations (order no. 2N and order no. 11Nr). The order no. 239 seems to finally resolve these discrepancies.
  • Henceforth, it is permitted to conduct clinical trials for registration in Russia where a certain type of capital medical equipment is on-site in other countries in ‘organizations where a medical device is located/installed and is approved for use/application’. The possibility of on-site clinical trials is not new, however, previous revisions of order no. 2N permitted clinical trials to be performed ‘during inspection on the place of the manufacturing of a medical device’.
  1. Russia Launches the List of Medical Devices Containing Ethyl Alcohol

On 2 July 2019 the Russian government enforced resolution no. 774 (link in Russian), which approved the rules for the formation of the list of alcohol-containing medical devices. Medical products included in this list are excluded from general alcohol regulations in Russia i.e the Federal law 171 “On state regulation of the production and circulation of ethyl alcohol, alcoholic and alcohol-containing products and on limiting the consumption (drinking) of alcoholic beverages”. The released resolution provides the criteria for inclusion on the list (based on a product’s intended use, the form of the container or package and the product retail price) along with a list of documents  for application for inclusion. Russian healthcare regulator Roszdravnadzor is responsible for the list’s inclusion procedure and has clarified the rules for applications — which should be received <annually> by the regulator between 1 January – 30 June.

  1. Russia: New Administrative Provision on Medical Device Registration

On 26 July 2019 the Russian Ministry of Health published order no. 3371 (link in Russian) – with a new version of the administrative provision of Russian medical device regulator Roszdravnadzor – on the procedure for the registration of medical devices in Russia. Simultaneously, the previous version of the same document (the Ministry of Health order no. 737) was annulled.

Administrative provision on the procedure for the registration of medical devices is a regulation that establishes the following: the terms and sequence of administrative procedures of the regulator during the approval process, the procedure for interaction between its structural divisions and the interaction between applicants/manufacturers and other government bodies. The new version of administrative provision does not contain critical changes but it is aligned with the last changes of the registration rules and other medical device regulations.

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Thank you for following my non-commercial project with the objective of making Russian and Eurasian medical device regulations clearer. You can receive updates directly to your email via the ‘follow’ button on the toolbar of this blog.

Three Things You Should Know About Medical Device Regulations in Russia and the Eurasian Union – June 2019

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Dear colleagues,

Welcome to my usual monthly review containing the most important medical device regulation changes across Russia and the Eurasian Union over the past month:

  1. New Restrictions on State Procurements for Certain Medical Devices in Russia

On 26 June 2019, the Russian government published Resolution # №813 (link in Russian) and extended the list “of certain types of medical devices originating from foreign countries subject to restrictions for state and municipal procurements in Russian Federation”. 

The state procurement of medical devices included in the list, according to the Resolution #102 introduced in 2015, will be closed to foreign manufacturers if at least two bids on medical devices from local manufacturers (Russia, Kazakhstan or Belarus) were submitted for tender.

Above-mentioned Resolution # №813 has added 14 new types of device to the restriction list including ventilation devices, gamma-therapeutic radiation complex, ultrasound devices, certain types of endoprosthesis, external fixation devices, medical beds, intraocular lenses, intraocular tonometry, micro sources with iodine-125, certain adhesive dressings and surgical materials, medical devices for storage and transporting biological samples, air sterilisers and dry air thermostats.

According to the published document, analogs of each of these products are currently produced in Russia in sufficient volume by at least two local companies. The decision was taken with the aim of supporting the development and production of these products in Russia.

The new revision of the list is available in Russian.

  1. Russian Ministry of Health Clarified Trademark Requirements for Medical Device Registration 

The requirement to provide confirmation of the legitimate use of the Russian trademark for registration of a a medical device is a relatively new requirement, which was introduced by the Resolution 633 in June 2018 and raised a lot of questions and confusion across registration applicants over the last year.

Thus, according to the petition initiated by Russian medical device registration consulting company Medrelis and 28 medical device companies submitted to the Russian Ministry of Health in May 2019, over the past year the interpretation of trademark legitimacy by Russian health care regulator Roszdravnadzor was often controversial and led to additional difficulties in the registration procedure and an increased amount of registration rejections.

On June 2019, the Russian ministry of health, for the first time since the enforcement of the new trademark requirements, clarified (the letter kindly provided by Medrelis) that Roszdravnadzor, to prevent the circulation of counterfeit medical devices, may compare (verify) information provided <for registration of a medical device> by the manufacturer or the authorised representative of the manufacturer (s) with information received, inter alia, as “interdepartmental information interaction” (which means that missing documents confirming trademark legitimacy in the registration file may not be a reason for the registration rejection or additional requests to the applicant from the regulator).

  1. Multiple Updates of Regulations for Medical Devices and Pharmaceuticals in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan continues to release multiple updates to local medical device and pharmaceutical regulations started earlier this year. Thus, for the past months the following regulations have been released in new revisions: 

  • On 02 May 2019 – the order KR-DCM 53 (Link In Russian) updating the rules of wholesale and retail sales of medicines and medical devices.
  • On 27 May 2019 – Order KR-DCM-88 (Link in Russian) updating pharmacovigilance requirements for pharmaceuticals and rules for safety monitoring of medical devices; 
  • On 7 June 2019 –the Order KR – DCM 82 (Link in Russian) updating requirement rules for assessing the safety and quality of medicines and medical devices registered in Kazakhstan;
  • On 9 June 2019 – the Order KR – DCM 87 (Link in Russian) updating rules of state registration, re-registration and amendments of the registration dossier for pharmaceutical products and medical devices.

Three Things You Should Know about Medical Device Regulations in Russia, March 2019:

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Dear fellow colleagues,

 

This is my usual newsletter with a selection of updates regarding the medical device regulation landscape in Russia and the Eurasian Union for the last month.

 

  1. International Medical Device Regulators Forum in Moscow

    IMDRF.jpg

The 15th International Medical Device Regulators Forum (IMDRF) and Open Stakeholders Forum were held from 19–21 March 2019 in Moscow. Here are some of the most important outcomes from the event:

The Russian healthcare regulator Roszdravnadzor reported about preparation at the conclusion of the Forum with regard to final versions of the following documents, which are “in process of implementation as part of the Russian regulation system”:

  • ‘Principles of labelling of medical devices, including medical devices for in vitro diagnostics’;
  • ‘Guidelines for the application of the system of unique identification of medical devices UDI’;
  • ‘Terminology of adverse events: terms, structure, codes; Appendix E, F’;
  • ‘Electronic registration for medical devices (IVD & non IVD)’;

On 20 March 2019 the IMDRF issued a final assembly and technical guide on building submissions using the IMDRF Table of Contents explaining how to build submissions using its table of contents structure.

Moreover, ahead of the Forum on 18th March 2019 the Global Medical Device Nomenclature (GMDN) Agency signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the Eurasian Economic Commission to enable it to use the GMDN to support the improved identification and regulation within the Eurasian medical device regulatory system.

The next meeting of the IMDRF Leadership Committee is planned for 16–19 September 2019 in Yekaterinburg.

 

  1. Russia is Discussing a Potential New Regulatory Path for the Scientific Application of IVDs

On 27 February 2019, the Russian Ministry of Health published a draft federal law (link in Russian) suggesting a potential new regulatory path for some in vitro diagnostics (IVDs) in Russia.

Thus, according to the document, IVDs that are developed, manufactured and applied in the laboratories or medical organisations engaged in scientific activity, may be allowed for use without registration upon condition that special five-year permits are obtained by the said medical/scientific organisation and the IVD product is included in the special register after the assessment procedure (expertise).

The draft document also describes control measures and algorithms of safety monitoring for such IVDs and the requirements for the medical/scientific laboratories that apply such products.

It should be noted that the registration procedure for all IVDs in Russia was simplified in June 2018; however, even today it still remains quite a long and complex process.

 

  1. New Version of the List of Medical Devices with Reduced VAT

On 15 March 2019, the Russian Ministry of Health published a revised version of the draft amendments to the list of medical devices exempted from VAT (link in Russian).

It should be recalled, that a single list of medical devices with a reduced VAT rate was approved by the Russian government in the Resolution 1042 in September 2015; however, since January 2017, after the entry into force of the new Russian classification system some of the medical devices (for example, some cardiac pacemakers, computer tomography, electrocardiography, and pieces of ultrasound and laser equipment) on the list were changed into categories that in practice do not have tax preferences. The published draft with a new version of the list based on a new classification system contains new codes and is intended to remedy this situation.

Three Things You Should Know about Medical Device Regulations in Russia and the Eurasian Union in February 2019

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Dear colleagues,

This is my short selection of highlights on medical device regulation changes and trends across Russia and the Eurasian Union for the last month:

 

  1. Medical Device Identification Requirement Initiative in Russia

The Russian law No. 488 (link in Russian), enforced in December 2018, gave the Russian government the right to approve the lists of goods subject to mandatory labelling/marking with additional means of identification. The objective of this initiative is to counteract the turnover of counterfeit products on the market.
Before 2019, the product labelling/marking initiative worked in experimental mode involving fur products (since 2016), medical drugs (since February 2017), and alcohol and tobacco products (since 2018). This year, Russia is also planning to gradually introduce the requirement of mandatory identification labelling/marking on other types of goods.

On 7 February 2019, the Russian medical device regulator Roszdravnadzor reported that the draft document on mandatory marking of medical devices has been prepared by the regulator and will be published in the near future. According to the regulator, the new requirements have been prepared ‘in line with the latest international requirements and on analogy with UDI’ in order to ensure traceability and to adequately identify medical devices through their distribution and use in Russia.


  1. Multiple Changes in Medical Device Regulations in     Kyrgyzstan

On 14 February 2019, the decree No. 311 of the Government of Kyrgyzstan ‘On certain aspects related to the registration of medical devices’ (link in Russian) came into force and introduced multiple changes in the medical device regulation in the country.

Thus, new local medical device registration rules (link in Russian) were implemented. According to the new rules, the medical device registration process takes up to 90 days and consists of a two-step examination: analytical expertise (this step is not required for medical devices approved in the European Union, Australia, Canada, Japan and USA) and specialised expertise completed with manufacturing site inspections in some cases.

In addition to the new registration rules, the enforced decree No. 311 accepts that classification of medical devices, as well as technical, biocompatibility testing and clinical trials for local registration, are conducted according to enforced Eurasian regulations.

Kyrgyzstan is a full-fledged member of the Eurasian Economic Union since 2015.

  1. IMDRF Meeting in Moscow

The fifteenth meeting of the International Forum of Regulators of Medical Devices (IMDRF), chaired by the Russian Federation, will take place on 18-21 March 2019 in Moscow for delegates from the medical devices manufacturing industry, research institutions, federal executive authorities, state institutions, foreign and international regulatory organisations. The open stakeholders forum will be held on 19 March 2019, with an agenda and registration details available on the IMDRF website and on the official web page of the event.

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Three Things You Should Know about Medical Device Regulations in Russia and the Eurasian Union, January 2019

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Dear colleagues,

This is a selection of the latest updates in medical device regulation across Russia and the Eurasian Union countries for January 2019.

  1. Eurasian regulations on quality management inspections

The regulation 106 with requirements for the quality management system (QMS) for manufacturers of medical devices for the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) registration procedure came into force in March 2018. However, until today the list of organisations conducting these inspections have not been officially published. At the beginning of 2019, we can see the development in the regulations on this subject.

Thus, on 11 January 2019, the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) published a draft document ‘on the requirements for inspecting organisations with the authority to inspect manufacturers of medical devices’ (link in Russian).

Later, on 28 January 2018, two potential organisations appeared on this list: the Russian Ministry of Health published a draft document (link in Russian) suggesting that two Russian governmental bodies, Roszdravnadzor and Rosatom, perform QMS inspections of medical device manufacturers according to the EAEU requirements.

It should be also recalled that abovementioned regulation #106 set the end of the transition period and start of QMS inspections for the EAEU medical approval process as of March 2019.

  1. Some updates in local registration procedures for Russia and Belarus:

There were also some updates for local medical device regulation systems:

On 26 December 2018, the Russian medical device regulator Roszdravnadzor published ‘Methodological recommendations on the procedure for conducting an examination of the quality, efficacy and safety of medical products for state registration’ (link in Russian), approved by both expert organisations involved in the medical registration process. The document may be useful in understanding detailed requirements, national standards and templates of forms used for every step of the medical device examination process during registration in Russia.

Also, on 11 January 2019, the Ministry of Health of Belarus published a letter (link in Russian) clarifying timelines for the different steps of the medical device registration process, inspections and expertise in Belarus.

  1. Changes in tax regulations for medical devices in Russia and Kazakhstan 

On 19 January 2019, according to the law of the Republic of Kazakhstan №211, amendments to the tax code of Kazakhstan came into force, which exempted pharmaceutical products and medical devices from value added tax (VAT). In particular, medical devices, orthopaedic products and hearing equipment, as well as materials and components for their manufacture, are exempt from VAT according to the additionally approved list.

In parallel, on 17 January 2019, the Russian government published the draft regulation (list in Russian) on changes in the list of medical products (Resolution #1042) exempted from VAT. Compared to the current version, the new edition of the list is supplemented with multiple new medical devices classified with Russian OKPD-2 codes.

Russian and Eurasian Medical Device Regulatory Recap 2018

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Dear colleagues,

In my December newsletter I would like to summarise all the major changes in medical device regulations and trends in Russia over the past year. So here are the top stories you should know in 2018 if you deal with medical devices in Russia.

  1. The development of the Eurasian medical device regulation model has been the most important topic for several years now.

    In March 2018, the last «second level» regulation, #106, of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) on the requirements for the quality management system (QMS) for manufacturers of medical devices for the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) registration procedure (link in Russian) came into force and was postponed for one year to allow for a transition period. These requirements were developed on the basis of international standard ISO 13485; however, the audits will be based on compliance with the requirements of the EAEU QMS regulation but not with the requirements of the ISO standard itself.

    Over the year 2018 the EEC released multiple «third level» medical device regulations:

    -Recommendations with criteria for interpreting whether or not a borderline product would be considered a medical device within EAEU regulations (link to the document in Russian).

    – Regulation #116 (link in Russian) provides definitions, algorithms, and criteria for the registration of the spare parts, elements, modifications, components, and consumable materials for medical devices in the EAEU.

    – Regulation #123 (link in Russian) provides criteria for inclusion (grouping) for registration for several modifications to a medical device in one certificate.

    – Methodical guidelines exist for medical device registration expertise for EAEU registration (link in Russian).

    – Regulation #25 concerns the criteria for classifying products as medical devices in the EAU (link in Russian).

    – Regulation #176 concerns the single register of organisations conducting testing/trials for medical devices for registration in the EAEU (link in Russian).

    – Regulation #177 provides a single database on the safety monitoring of medical devices in the EAEU (link in Russian).

    English translations of most Eurasian medical device documents are available on the official EEC website.

    In November 2018, the EEC announced that the first applications to register medical devices under the EAEU medical device system have been filed for review by the competent authorities in Kazakhstan and Russia.

    Over the last year there has been a great deal of discussion on the level of competency of the competent authorities and in the media about potential prolongation of the transition period for the EAEU medical device registration system. There is a draft document available for the end of the year 2018, but no official position has been released on this topic and the end of the transition period remains as 31 December 2021.

  2. Changes and initiatives in the local regulatory systems in Russia and Kazakstan occurred over the year 2018 in parallel with the development of the EAEU medical device system.

    – In June 2018, the Russian government released Resolution # 633 (link in Russian) and simplified the registration process for in-vitro diagnostics in Russia, implementing a one-step assessment process (instead of a two-step process, as previously followed) for all classes of IVDs, which has shortened the overall approval process for IVDs by up to several months.

    – Likewise, Resolution # 633 (link in Russian) implements improvements for the registration of medical devices with a pharmaceutical component (which was considered a significant roadblock in the approval of such medical devices in Russia) before.

    – Another important initiative for Russia (which has not been approved by the end of 2018) is to suggest an expansion of the list of cases when clinical trials involving human subjects are required for the approval of medical devices. The draft document published in May 2018 introduces a requirement for all medical devices  IIB and III classes to undergo mandatory clinical trials involving human subjects, which should be conducted in at least two medical organisations following a single clinical trials protocol.

    – In August 2018, the Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan implemented multiple amendments to the rules for examining (expertise) medicines and medical devices.The published order, #347, (link in Russian) provides the updated requirements for the content of the registration dossier, samples for testing, the procedure for conducting the examination for the registration, and harmonising of the major part of the Kazakh and Eurasian algorithms and requirements for assessment.

  1. Russia chairs the IMDRF in 2019

In conclusion, it should be especially highlighted that in 2019 Russia will be the chairman of the IMDRF and the next two meetings of the IMDRF will be held in Russia: in March 2019 in Moscow and in September 2019 in Yekaterinburg.
The key topics for the meetings for the next year were highlighted as cybersecurity, premarket reviews, and personalised device regulatory pathways.

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This was the Russian medical device regulatory landscape in 2018.
I would like to thank everyone for following, supporting, and contributing to this blog, my non-commercial project to make Russian and Eurasian medical device regulations clearer for regulatory professionals worldwide.
I would like to wish you a wonderful holiday season!

See you in 2019; there are many exiting things to come.

Alexey Stepanov

Alexey@medicaldevicesinrussia.com

Three Things You Should Know about Medical Device Regulations in Russia and the Eurasian Union in November 2018

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Dear Colleagues,

Welcome to my monthly review of updates on the medical device regulations landscape in Russia and the Eurasian Union for November 2018:

 

  1. First Registration Files for Eurasian Medical Device Registration Procedures and other Eurasian Medical Device Regulations Updates

“The first applications for registration under the Eurasian Economic Union (EAU) medical device system have been filed for review by competent authorities of Kazakhstan and Russia.” It was announced by the Deputy Director of the Technical Regulation and Accreditation Department of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) in Moscow at a conference organized on 15 November 2018 in Moscow by the medical device manufacturers association IMEDA together with the European Association MedTech Europe and EEC. During the same event it was announced that the unified information system for registration of medical devices  will be launched “in full mode” by the end of this year. Unreadiness of this system was, until now, considered as one of the main barriers to starting registration procedures for the harmonized market.

In addition, on 16 November 2018, the EEC published approved versions of several third-level documents:

  • Regulation # 25 – On criteria for classifying products as medical devices in the EAU (link in Russian);
  • Regulation #176 – On the single register of organizations conducting testing/trials of medical devices for registration in the EAU (link in Russian);
  • Regulation #177 – On the single database on safety monitoring of medical devices in the EAU ( link in Russian);

Earlier in November, the EEC published English translations of all second-level Eurasian medical device documents. The link is available on the official EEC website.

 

  1. Clarification on Valued Added Tax (VAT) for Medical Devices

On 2 November 2018, The Russian Ministry of Finance published a clarification letter (link in Russian) on exemption from VAT for the importation and sale of medical devices in the Russian Federation.

According to the letter, medical devices imported and sold in Russia are exempt from VAT if two conditions are met: the first is the presence of a registration certificate for the medical device, and the second is the inclusion of the product in the list of devices, approved by government resolution No. 1042 of 30 September 2015.

 

  1. Update of some Medical Device National Standards in Russia

 It is important and often critical to use the most updated version of the national standards for the preparation of the technical documentation, testing, and assessment of medical devices in Russia. Several GOST standards relevant for registration of medical devices in Russia will be updated within the next two months.

Thus, on 1 January 2019 the new versions of the following national standards will come into force:

  • Sterilization of health care products. Moist heat (Part 3). Guidance on the designation of a medical device to a product family and processing category for steam sterilization (link in Russian);
  • Packaging for terminally sterilized medical devices. Guidance on the application of ISO 11607-1 and ISO 11607-2 (link in Russian);
  • Medical devices utilizing animal tissues and their derivatives (link in Russian);

On 1 February 2019 the following national standards will also come into force:

  • Medical electrical equipment. Part 2-49. Particular requirements for the basic safety and essential performance of multi-functional patient monitoring equipment (link in Russian)

 

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Thank you for following my blog, which is a non-commercial project with the objective of making Russian and Eurasian medical device regulations clearer for regulatory professionals. You can also follow my updates on Twitter @Meddevrus.