Bulgarian Institute for Standardization
Standards – always a step ahead
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Phone: +359 2 8174 523, +359 2 8174 504
E-mail: info@bds-bg.org
1797 Sofia, 13 "Lachezar Stanchev" Str., "Izgrev" Complex
ID number: 175079183, VAT number: BG175079183
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Frequently asked questions

1. How to become BDS Member?

Any legal entity is eligible to apply for BDS membership and can join BDS by submitting written application to the Chairman of the Governing Board. For more information see the website section “Members” or read the Statutes of BDS.

2. What are the benefits of BDS membership?

BDS membership provides you with the opportunity to participate actively in the standards development process; you will have access to timely and useful information for the development of new standards, and will also have the opportunity to receive the following BDS publications: BDS Official Bulletin, information newsletter, BDS Annual Reports, etc. BDS members benefit from a special discount for purchasing standards, participation in seminars and trainings, as well as when various promotional campaigns for particular standards or publications are being held.

3. How can a standard be ordered (purchased)?

Standards can be purchased directly from the e-shop on BDS website (see Guide for shopping), by request via email to info@bds-bg.org or at BDS premises (see Contacts). For more information on sale of standards please contact our "Information services, sales and library” Department at +359 2 81 74 525 и +359 2 81 74 531.

4. What is the price of a standard?

The price of Bulgarian standards is established in a Pricelist, approved by BDS Governing Board and depends on the number of pages of a standard and the type of publication. By using the search engine on BDS e-shop you will find the prices of the particular standards you are interested in.

5. Can I become familiar with the content of a standard without having to buy it?

Yes, you can. BDS has a library for all customers wishing to use standards information on place. The opening hours of the library is every day from Monday to Friday from 09.00 – 12.30; 13.30 – 16.30. Phone: +359 2 81 74 531.

6. Can I buy foreign national standards?

Yes, you can. BDS has the exclusive rights to distribute national standards of other countries based on the established bilateral Agreements between BDS and foreign national standards bodies. The prices are defined by the respective foreign national standards body.
You can buy standards of the International Organization for Standardization ISO, the International Electrotechnical Commission IEC, German (DIN), British (BS) and American (ASTM) standards.

7. What are the terms of delivery of standards upon submission of an order?

It depends on the volume of your order and on how you would like to receive standards - on paper or online or electronic (CD) format. Standards in PDF format can be downloaded online immediately after payment confirmation from BDS. Standards on paper or on CD are submitted to the courier within 2 days after confirmation of payment.
Foreign standards are available under the terms of the respective organization.

8. Does BDS offer discounts on the price of standards?

BDS offers permanent discounts for its Members with active participation and Observers status. More information about other types of discounts can be found in the General conditions for sales. BDS also performs targeted campaigns with discounts for particular standards, for which information is published on BDS website or is sent by email to BDS customers and members.

9. What are the services provided by BDS?

In addition to sales of standards BDS provides the following services:

10. Can standards be referred to in contracts?

Standards are a tool for mutual understanding between partners. Making reference to standards in contracts especially having in mind public procurement contracts, the contract parties avoid technical specifications descriptions. Standards guarantee the fulfillment of commonly recognized requirements for safety, interoperability of products and compatibility of the supplied equipment.

11. What does conformity assessment mean?

Conformity assessment is an examination that specific products, services or systems comply with the requirements of the relevant standard. A broad range of products before being placed on the market shall be tested for determining their conformity assessment with the requirements.
For more information see the website section “Conformity assessment”.

12. Can you consult what standards we shall apply in our work?

If you are not sure what standards to purchase, we can provide you with:

BDS does not provide recommendations on which standards should be using for your business.

13. Does BDS make interpretation of the standards?

The responsibility for the correct application of standards belongs to those who apply them, led by professional advice, where appropriate. BDS does not give interpretation of the content of the standards, but provides the "Expert Consultations” service, through which you have the opportunity to receive expert advice and guidance on issues related to the implementation of existing national and European and international standards implemented as BDS.

14. Can you consult us on Bulgarian or European legislation?

Bulgarian standards are voluntary according to the Law on National Standardization. BDS is a nonprofit organization, not a regulatory or government authority. Information about Bulgarian legislation can be found at the public website of the Bulgarian Law Portal www.lex.bg, and for European legislation - at Eur-Lex.

15. How can we be sure that we are working with the latest and current editions of the standards in the field we are interested in?

To make sure that you work with the latest and up-to-date editions of the standards, you can use the service "Subscription on the actuality of Bulgarian standards".

Through it you get monthly information about the standards you work with or that you are interested in - changes in status, published translation into Bulgarian, published new editions, amendments and corrigenda, availability of new draft standards and SD and their stages.

16. I have noticed an error or ambiguity in a standard. What should I do?

BDS welcomes any information about inaccuracy in the standards. Please identify those parts of the text and provide concrete suggestions for changes in writing at info@bds-bg.org. They will be submitted to the relevant BDS Technical Committees. You will receive a response after their examination.

17. The status of the standard indicates that the standard is withdrawn. Can I still use it?

A withdrawn standard is not considered valid, but whether it will continue to be used or not is a matter of negotiation between the parties concerned. Bulgarian standards published or withdrawn, are published for voluntary use.

18. If a standard is withdrawn, is there another standard to replace it?

If a standard is replaced by another one, there is a hyperlink to its successor in the "Life Cycle". In such a case it is recommended to use the subsequent standard. Some of the withdrawn standards are not replaced by others.

19. How can I get information on testing or certification of a product or on a company accreditation?

Executive Agency "Bulgarian Accreditation Service" (BAS) www.nab-bas.bg is the national accreditation body in Bulgaria on:

Lists of laboratories and bodies that can perform testing, certification or accreditation can be found at the agency’s website. Additional information about certification organizations and companies certified according to ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 27001, OHSAS 18001, ISO 22000 and HACCP can be obtained at: www.club9000.org/bg/Registrars-List.php

20. What does СЕ marking means?

"CE" is abbreviation of "Communautés Européennes“.
This marking indicates a product compliance with the essential requirements of the "New approach" directives. Manufacturers are responsible for testing and reporting of compliance with these directives.
The harmonized standards to the relevant directives are announced in the European Union’s Official bulletin. The application of the harmonized standards is voluntary, but it is the easiest way to demonstrate the compliance with the directives’ essential requirements.
List of product groups requiring CE marking and references to the text of the relevant directives in Bulgarian:

Note: Directive 93/42/EEC and Directive 93/42/EEC are no longer in force, but the conformity with the harmonised standards elaborated in support of both Directives provide for presumption of conformity with the relevant requirements, defined in each of them, and is applicable until 26 May 2024.

21. As a producer can I place CE marking on my products?

Yes. CE marking always puts by the producers himself or his authorized representative, after carrying out the conformity assessment necessary procedures. It means that the product has past the conformity assessment procedure, set out in one or more applicable directives/regulations before putting the CE marking and placing on the market. The directives/regulations specify whether the conformity assessment can be performed by manufacturer or a third party should be involved (the notified body).
More information about Declaration of conformity issued by the manufacturer and CE marking can be found at: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/policies/single-market-goods/cemarking/

22. Is a DIN XXXX standard equivalent to BDS XXXX standard?

To answer this question, a thorough expert analysis should be carried out of the relevant standards developed at national level. In case of a correspondence, e.g. of a testing method, even if a difference of the exactness of the method exists, it could be concluded that the methods are not equivalent.
BDS does not perform analysis to establish the correspondence between standards.

23. What do the words "ISO 9001:2015 certificate or equivalent" means, occurring frequently in public procurement?

According to the ISO/TC 176/SC2 Technical Committee’ indications of October 2008 on the application of ISO 9001:2008 international standard and Directive 2004/18/EC, equivalent of ISO 9001:2008 standards are considered the national publications of this standard. For Bulgaria this is the national standard BDS ISO EN 9001:2008. For example, equivalent standards are: the British standard BS EN ISO 9001, the German standard DIN EN ISO 9001, the Bulgarian standard BDS EN ISO 9001, as well as all national EN ISO 9001 implementations in the EU and EFTA member states.
In accordance with the above, as being equivalent to ISO 9001:2008 certificate should be considered only certificates issued on the national editions of a standard, such as BDS EN ISO 9001:2008, DIN EN ISO 9001:2008, BS EN ISO 9001:2008.

24. In standards developed on the base of IEC (International electrotechnical commission) standards there are missing pages?

The official publications of IEC standards are bilingual – in English and in French. Practically the monolingual version is obtained by separating the French version’ pages of the English version pages. The page numbering remains the same as in the bilingual version, and the missing pages are on the removed version.

In recent years, the English version and the French version of IEC standards have appeared either consecutively (one after the other) or separately in two different documents.

25. The standard BDS EN ХХХХХ on BDS website carries the year 2002. I have a purchased copy of this standard and on the first page it reads: the Bulgarian language edition of this standard is approved by the BDS managing director on 2012-06-29. In the upper right corner date quoted June 2012. Which date is correct and should be cited?

The European standard EN XXXXX:2002 was implemented at national level as BDS EN XXXXX:2002 through the issuance into one of the officials CEN languages (English) in 2002. The standard is published in BDS Official bulletin No XX/2002. This standard was issued into Bulgarian language in 2012 and was published in BDS Official bulletin No XX/2012.
BDS EN XXXXX:2002 and its translation of 2012 into Bulgarian are identical to a European standard. The date of implementation as BDS standard at national level is considered to be the original date, i.e. 2002, when the EN standard was initially given the status of BDS. It should be quoted BDS EN XXXXX:2002 which is the number for reference to the standard and is marked at the bottom right corner of the first page.

26. I have purchased a standard that should be downloaded online. When might this happen?

After the payment confirmation from BDS, this can be done immediately. Your order gets the state of “completed payment” and “fulfilled” and the standard can be downloaded online.

27. Are standards used in public procurement contracts?

Standards are used in the public procurement procedures pursuant to art. 48, Section II, Chapter six of Public procurement act “Technical Specifications. Marking. Protocols from Testing”.

28. What is the difference between standards and normative acts? Is there a relation between them?

Standards

Normative acts

Standards are referred to in regulations in order to avoid the inclusion of detailed technical requirements in texts and duplication of technical requirements. Legislature shall have the right at any time to withdraw the reference or to replace it, or to include in the law the necessary technical requirement.
Normative acts can refer to the standards in such a way that either the compliance with these standards becomes mandatory, or standards could be used only as a tool to assess compliance with the requirements of the normative act.

Unconditional and non obliging reference to standards in normative acts:

Standards are not regulations. They become mandatory if they are a part of the contractual arrangements between the parties or compliance with them is required by a normative act. Standards can prevent legal disputes as they establish clear and unambiguous requirements. Reference to standards in legislation exempts the state and private parties the responsibility for developing detailed technical specifications.

29. Why not all European standards are translated?

As a full member of the European standards organizations CEN and CENELEC BDS has the obligation to implement all European standards as Bulgarian ones, having in mind that European standards may be disseminated and applied only when they are implemented as national standards. According to the CEN/CENELEC procedures and the Rules for National Standardization Activities the implementation is performed in two ways - by issuing in one of the EU official languages (English) or through translation into the member state’s language. About 28000 European standards are currently in force and the implemented ones by translation are about 20%.

BDS translates standards that concern sectors of the economy, which are developed in Bulgaria, and for which there is an interest from the business and the governmental institutions - in support of the legislation. Each year BDS technical committees adopt a programme for implementation of standards with translation according to the priorities and needs of the representatives of the members of the relevant BDS/TC. On annual basis, the technical committees prepare approximately 450 European standards for implementation with translation, which is evident from BDS annual reports.

The amount of translated standards depends on two very important factors - the expertise available for translation and technical editing in the respective BDS/TC and the available financial resources. Funding sources for the translations are as follows:

In the process of implementation of standards with translation BDS aims to make effective use of all sources of financing in order to facilitate maximum the application of the European standards in Bulgaria.

30. I am manufacturer of dairy foods. I bought BDS 14:2010 and BDS 15:2010 standards and I produce white and yellow cheese according to Bulgarian standards. Can I put BDS logo on the labels and under what conditions?

The official „BDS” logo is protected by the Bulgarian Institute for Standardization (BDS) as a combined trade mark registered under № 78 060 in the Patent Office of Republic of Bulgaria from 2010.

After publishing the standards BDS 12:2010 „Bulgarian yoghurt” and BDS 15:2010 „Bulgarian white cheese in brine” procedures were developed at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) for conformity assessment of these products with the new standards.

„Procedure for conformity assessment of the qualities and characteristics of the product «Bulgarian white cheese in brine» according to BDS 15:2010 and their relationship with the geographical environment” was approved by Order № RD 09-863/02-09-2010 of MAF. „Products manufactured according to standard BDS 15:2010 .... bear the following indication: /displayed the official BDS logo „BDS”/ and the name „BULGARIAN WHITE CHEESE IN BRINE ” - BDS 15:2010 was written in item 8 of this procedure.

After BDS objection following a procedure for protection of the logo initiated at the Patent Office, the Minister of Agriculture and Food approved a new Order № RD 09-1002/09-11-2010 on modified procedure in which BDS logo no longer appears. Item 8 of the order reads that the designation is BDS 15:2010 and the name is «BULGARIAN WHITE CHEESE IN BRINE» MADE FROM COW MILK.

„Procedure for conformity assessment of the qualities and characteristics of the product «Bulgarian white cheese in brine» according to BDS 15:2010 and their relationship with the geographical environment” was approved by Order № RD 09-863/02-09-2010 and it also does not contain BDS logo.

Subsequently the orders approving procedures for conformity assessment of the three products – Bulgarian yoghurt, Bulgarian white cheese in brine and Bulgarian yellow cheese, have been amended by Order № RD 09-1203/15.12.2011, which is active until today. All of the above orders are available on the MAF website.

Putting the logo indicates that the product is under BDS control but such activity according to the law cannot be carried out by BDS. BDS cannot issue permits for the use of the logo „BDS”, as according to the Law on National Standardization BDS has no control functions and cannot monitor the quality of products manufactured according to Bulgarian standards.

This applies with even more for food products such as sugar and chutney, for which there is no established procedures for conformity assessment with the Bulgarian standards.

The Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA) is an integrated body in the field of food. This is the body that monitors the implementation of procedures for conformity assessment of the qualities and characteristics of the dairy products, as well as correct spelling of the standards on the labels.