What Do the New EAEU Certification Rules Mean for Air Compressor Exporters?

Short answer: From 1 September 2026, Decision No. 36 amending TR CU 010/2011 removes the self-declaration option for unlisted machinery and widens mandatory third-party EAC certification (CoC) from roughly 15 to 31 equipment groups, according to the Eurasian Economic Commission. A tank-mounted 8 bar, 250 L screw compressor exceeds the 0.1 MPa·m³ P×V threshold of TR CU 032/2013 — so it needs a Certificate of Conformity: accredited-lab testing, factory audit and annual surveillance.

Written by Penny Winston, Blog Writer, AirSpace Machinery Co., Ltd. — a 4,000 m² compressor manufacturing facility in Shanghai, ISO 9001:2015 certified and CE marked.
Reviewed by Richard Moore, Field Technical Manager.

If you ship compressors to Russia, Kazakhstan or Belarus, the rulebook changed under your feet this month. The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU — Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan) pushed the largest revision of its machinery safety regulation, TR CU 010/2011, live on 1 September 2026. At the same time, one widely shared rumour turned out to be false: India did not introduce mandatory BIS certification on 1 September — that requirement was revoked in January, according to the Shandong Provincial Department of Commerce. This article separates the two, walks through the pressure-and-vessel thresholds that decide your certification route, and gives you a dated checklist we use in our own export paperwork.

What changed on 1 September 2026?

Decision No. 36 of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission was adopted on 13 March 2026, published on 8 April 2026 and entered into force on 1 September 2026, according to the decision text. It is the biggest revision of TR CU 010/2011 since the regulation was introduced in 2011, and it changes the certification mode itself:

Where do compressors sit in this? Three practical points, per the new Appendix 3 list and the interpretation published by EAEU certification bodies:

• General air and gas compressors remain on the DoC list (group 10 of the new Appendix 3, “low-temperature, compression and refrigeration equipment” — mining compression equipment excepted).
• Mining air compressors fall under that exception and move to the high-risk list: CoC is mandatory, with no declaration route.
• In practice, most industrial screw packages stack a second regulation: TR CU 032/2013 (pressure equipment) applies once discharge pressure exceeds 0.05 MPa or the package contains pressure-bearing parts — and the current reading across certification bodies is that industrial compressors in this position are handled as CoC, not DoC.

Does motor power decide the certification route?

No — and this is the most common misconception we meet in export enquiries. Neither TR CU 010/2011 nor TR CU 032/2013 draws a line by kilowatts. A 2 kW dental piston unit and a 400 kW centrifugal train are both inside the conformity-assessment system. Three parameters decide your route: discharge pressure, pressure-bearing parts, and intended use.

The first dividing line is 0.05 MPa (0.5 bar) gauge pressure, according to TR CU 032/2013:

Virtually every plant-air compressor discharges at 0.7–1.3 MPa, so the second line is the one that bites: the P×V product (maximum allowable pressure in MPa × vessel volume in m³; compressed air is Group 2, a non-hazardous medium), per the official classification table. Classes 1 and 2 may use a DoC; classes 3 and 4 require third-party CoC:

Put against the machines that actually move in export orders, the pattern is blunt — the categories below are typical market configurations described by the cited certification bodies, not our own product line:

Two footnotes matter for special machines. Process gas compressors handling natural gas, hydrogen or LPG (Group 1, hazardous media) enter the pressure-equipment system at a much lower threshold — P×V above 0.0025 MPa·m³ — and are classified stricter, effectively CoC across the range. And models discharging above 20 MPa are controlled regardless of vessel volume.

The same logic reaches markets people assume are “exempt”. Even a low-pressure air compressor for the textile, ceramic, glass and cement industries — typically sized at 3–5 bar for jet looms, spray dryers, forming lines and dust-collection blow piping — sits well above the 0.05 MPa line, and in the field those plants normally run receivers, oil separators and coolers in the circuit. Low pressure is not a certification discount; the P×V arithmetic applies identically.

What does the certification process require now?

The revision tightens the process itself, not just the lists. For a CoC application after 1 September 2026, expect all of the following, according to the decision text and certification-body guidance:

• Type testing in an EAEU-accredited laboratory. CE test reports can be reused as base data only; they are no longer accepted in place of local testing.
• Factory audit plus annual surveillance. Multi-year CoCs are now standard, and letting the surveillance lapse voids the certificate.
• A mandatory risk assessment (“safety case”) covering noise, guarding, control systems and electrical safety, with tightened requirements in each.
• Technical documentation fully in Russian — manuals, drawings, nameplates and warning labels — with notarised translation.
• An authorised representative (AR) registered inside the EAEU. A Chinese manufacturer cannot be the certificate holder directly; the AR is.
• Digital registration in the FGIS federal database, with permanent EAC marking on the product.

Plan the calendar realistically: certification bodies quote roughly 2–3 months for a full CoC (testing plus factory audit), so the paperwork should start at order-confirmation stage, not at booking-shipment stage.

How do we prepare EAEU-bound shipments on the factory floor?

Our answer, after running EAC, INMETRO and ESMA files through the same shop floor: with testing and factory audit now taking 2–3 months, certification documents start at design freeze, not after production — three changes show why. We build screw compressors in Shanghai and ship them through distributors into more than twenty markets, each with its own certification wall; the country-by-country versions are collected in our compliance cheat sheet. First, our Russian-language package grew from a translated manual into a notarised set covering nameplates and warning labels, so our engineers now release that artwork at design freeze rather than at packing. Second, we reorganised our CE type-test files as base data for the EAEU laboratory instead of a substitute for it — the same data, structured differently, which is where weeks are saved. Third, the AR appointment became a contract item we settle with the distributor before the machines are built, because the certificate holder must exist before testing can begin.

We have been through third-party factory audits on our own shop floor for other schemes, and the pattern repeats: commissioning paperwork that matches the machine in front of the auditor is the whole game. Under the old EAEU rules you could assemble compliance after production. Under the new ones, certification documents are part of the BOM.

Which dates should you diarise?

• 30 June 2026 — under Russian federal decree No. 1669, Russian customs no longer accepts EAC certificates issued by bodies in other member states (Belarus, Kazakhstan); Russia-bound certificates must come from Rosaccreditation-authorised bodies (RA.RU numbers). Other member states still accept each other’s certificates — only Russian customs clearance is restricted. High-risk gas equipment also moves to QR-code traceability.
• 1 September 2026 — Decision No. 36 in force; all new applications follow the new lists and procedures.
• 1 September 2028 — the new Appendix 3 product list and self-propelled machinery provisions take effect: a second wave of expansion.
• 1 September 2031 — final cut-off; certificates issued before 1 September 2026 remain valid until this date, but customs and procurement teams typically migrate earlier. Certificates already in hand are worth auditing now, not in 2030.

Is the India BIS September 2026 deadline still real?

No — treat any newsletter still saying so as outdated. India’s Machinery and Electrical Equipment Safety (OTR) order, issued in August 2024 and deferred to 1 September 2026, would have required BIS certification for pumps, compressors and about twenty other equipment classes. On 16 January 2026, India revoked the regulation via gazette notification S.O. 239(E), with immediate effect, according to the Shandong Provincial Department of Commerce, citing public interest and compliance-cost reduction. Machinery exports to India currently require no mandatory BIS certification. Two prudent follow-ups: track whether the requirement returns as product-wise Quality Control Orders (QCOs), and keep any BIS preparation work already paid for as a reserve — it is likely to become useful again.

Do the new Chinese JB/T standards matter for export machines?

Five compressor industry standards approved by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology took effect on the same date — 1 September 2026 — per MIIT announcement No. 3 of 2026. They are domestic standards, but trade contracts and quality agreements routinely cite them, so export models should be aligned and works-test documents updated:

JB/T 6430-2026 is the one most export orders will touch, since it covers the general-purpose oil-injected screw machines that dominate industrial shipments.

Key takeaways

• From 1 September 2026, machinery not listed in the EAEU’s Appendix 3 must be certified by third-party CoC — the self-declaration option for unlisted equipment is gone.
• Certification route is decided by pressure, pressure-bearing parts and use — never by motor power.
• A tank-mounted 8 bar screw compressor with a 250 L receiver works out to P×V = 0.20 MPa·m³: class 3, mandatory CoC.
• Russia-bound certificates must be issued by RA.RU-authorised bodies since 30 June 2026; other member states are unaffected.
• Old certificates live until 1 September 2031, but the second list expansion lands on 1 September 2028 — plan changeovers early.
• India’s BIS requirement for machinery was revoked on 16 January 2026; no mandatory BIS applies today.

Frequently asked questions

Does a low-pressure compressor (3–5 bar) get lighter treatment in the EAEU?
No. The rules threshold at 0.05 MPa discharge pressure, and plant machines for textiles, ceramics, glass or cement run several times above it, usually with receivers and coolers in circuit. Route selection follows the same P×V table as any other compressor.

Can we reuse our CE test reports for EAC certification?
As base data, yes; as a substitute for EAEU-accredited laboratory type testing, no longer. We reorganised our own CE files for exactly this reason — structure the data so it can be lifted into the EAEU test plan, and you save weeks.

Who holds the EAC certificate — us or our distributor?
An authorised representative registered inside the EAEU must be the certificate holder; a Chinese manufacturer cannot hold it directly. Most exporters appoint the importer or a dedicated AR service, and the appointment needs to be signed before testing starts.

How long does EAC certification take under the new rules?
Certification bodies currently quote roughly 2–3 months for a full CoC including factory audit, with annual surveillance afterwards. Start at order confirmation, not at vessel booking.

What happens to certificates issued before 1 September 2026?
They remain valid until 1 September 2031. In practice, customs brokers and procurement teams migrate to the new paperwork earlier, so audit your certificate stock now and sequence renewals ahead of the 2028 list expansion.

Do I still need BIS certification to export compressors to India?
No. The machinery OTR requiring BIS certification was revoked on 16 January 2026 by notification S.O. 239(E). Watch for product-wise QCOs, which are the likely vehicle if the requirement returns.

Sources and standards

• Decision No. 36 of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission, 13 March 2026 — the amending decision itself (EAEU official document repository).
• New CoC/DoC lists under TR CU 010/2011 — interpretation (cu-tr.org).
• TR CU 032/2013 pressure-equipment classification table and threshold and media-group notes.
• Shandong Provincial Department of Commerce — India revokes the machinery OTR.
• MIIT announcement No. 3 of 2026 — five compressor industry standards.
• Our related compliance guides: global 9-country cheat sheet, Brazil INMETRO & NR-13, UAE ESMA & ECAS, Turkey TAREK & CE.

About the author

Johnny Wayne (Wei Zhuang) is Managing Director of AirSpace Machinery Co., Ltd., the Shanghai manufacturer behind ChinaCompressor.org. The company builds oil-injected and Class 0 oil-free screw compressors from 2 to 540 HP (1.5–400 kW) on a 4,000 m² production facility, with IE4/IE5 motor options, CE marking and ISO 9001:2015 certification, and sells through distributors rather than around them. Certification paperwork — EAC, INMETRO, ESMA and CE files — is prepared in-house alongside the machines it travels with.

Shipping a project into an EAEU market and want a second pair of eyes on the certification route? Send the model, pressure, receiver volume and destination to sales@chinacompressor.org, or start with the free compressed-air kWh forecast and system review.

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