Exhibition project «Under the sign of quality»

Published: June 06, 2024

By Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus dated November 27, 2023 No. 375, the current year 2024 was declared the Year of Quality.

The National Archives of the Republic of Belarus has prepared an exhibition project «Under the Sign of Quality» dedicated to this topic.

Belarus entered the Year of Quality with the State Quality Mark; the President signed the corresponding Decree in January 2024. This document approved the image and description of the mark. The developers followed the path of continuity, preserving the good Soviet heritage.
The state quality mark in the USSR was a pentagon, which could be seen on products for peaceful purposes. Much of which was produced on Belarusian soil. Therefore, we can say that the BSSR was a special Soviet republic – with a mark of quality.

In the BSSR, the BelAZ-540A dump truck was the first to receive the quality mark. It was not only in demand throughout the Soviet Union, but was also exported. At that time, this mining dump truck was a technically advanced truck. It was the first domestic truck with hydropneumatic suspension, as well as combined hydraulic systems for power steering and body lift. Up to 15 cubic meters of cargo were loaded into it, which was then unloaded in 25 seconds. The vehicle was produced in Zhodino until 1985, after which it was replaced by a more advanced 30-ton model BelAZ-7522. Later, the MAZ-53352 truck and the MTZ-50 tractor received this award.

In the first years after its establishment, the surface grinding machine model «3711» from the Orsha plant «Krasny Borets» and five products from the Minsk meat processing plant also received the quality mark.

By January 1, 1971, 103 types of products manufactured in the republic had already passed state certification in the BSSR. In 1978, the quality mark was already worn by over 2,800 types of products, of which 1,900 were consumer goods. The matter was put on stream. The pentagon of the quality mark was used to mark wristwatches, radio measuring and optical instruments, furniture sets, fabrics, and food products.

The modern Belarusian State Quality Mark is a red pentagon, in the center of which there is a stylized image of an inverted letter «K» and the inscription «Belarus». The five corners of the sign symbolize the quality of Belarusian products, achieved by a combination of five production indicators: safety, environmental friendliness, manufacturability and aesthetics.

To receive the State Quality Mark, enterprises must not only produce high-quality products that correspond to the best domestic and world analogues, but also have safe, environmentally friendly, innovative, technological and aesthetic production. Applicants for the badge will be carefully selected. But there should be no special restrictions for those wishing to take part in the quality competition. These can be large enterprises with a rich history, or young, small ones with fundamentally new products. It is important that the mark will not be awarded to the enterprise as a whole or even to a group of products, but to a specific product from a specific manufacturer – a car, fabric, and so on.

At the exhibition «Under the Sign of Quality» originals and copies of documents from the archival funds of the «Ministry of Light Industry of the BSSR», «Ministry of Meat and Dairy Industry of the BSSR», «Belarusian Republican Administration of the State Standard of the USSR», «Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus» are exhibited.

In particular, documents are presented on the assignment of the State Quality Mark for manufactured products (decisions of the State Certification Commission, assignments and certificates for the certification of consumer goods for the State Quality Mark, orders for preparatory work on the presentation of products for the Quality Mark, conclusions and technical documentation for products and etc.); plans to improve the quality and expand the range of products; documents on holding reviews – competitions for the best enterprise in terms of product quality, and other documents.

The uniqueness of this exhibition project lies in the fact that, in addition to documents, the exhibition presents numerous products of Belarusian enterprises awarded the Quality Mark: watches, stopwatches, micro calculators, dishes, radios and much more, which were carefully kept for many years in the families of archive workers. This is what Soviet quality means!