OREANDA-NEWS. January 21, 2010. The meeting was devoted to matters of technical regulation.

The President stressed the importance of technical regulations and standards for modernising the economy and instructed the Cabinet to intensify efforts in this area, reporting back in two months on the progress made.

Mr Medvedev believes it is imperative to take into account international trends in this sphere, as well as the experience of other countries. The President called on business community to participate in the elaboration of national standards. He also emphasised the necessity to harmonise the corresponding legislations within the Customs Union and Common Economic Space.

The President highlighted the importance of such matter as industrial production and labour safety standards where no detailed regulations are yet available.

Before the meeting of the Commission, Dmitry Medvedev visited the Novolipetsk Steel, a major national producer of metals accounting for about 15 percent of the aggregate steel output in Russia, where he viewed a blast furnace, which surpasses most European furnaces in terms of relative productivity and cost effectiveness, and toured the hot rolled products workshop.