International
Trade Forum - Issue 3/2010
As global supply chains continue to grow, the international
accreditation network, underpinned by internationally agreed
standards, plays an essential role in the support of competitive
markets and cross-border trade. This is increasingly important as
businesses seek to lower costs or satisfy contract terms while
maintaining a level of confidence that products are technically
compatible, to specification and safe.
In such complex markets, reassurance in the measurements, tests,
inspections or certification that might be performed in another
jurisdiction is essential. Without a level of confidence, the free
exchange of goods and services risks being hampered by technical
barriers, thereby increasing costs for importers and consumers.
Such complexity also makes it cost-prohibitive for governments
to undertake all the laboratory testing and certification necessary
to protect public health and safety. The trend, therefore, is for
governments to establish regulations which specify requirements to
be met and procedures to be employed for demonstrating compliance,
but to leave the private sector to conduct the actual process of
verification of compliance.
'Conformity assessment' refers to the process - including
activities such as testing, certification and inspection - by which
products and services are verified to meet standards or technical
specifications. In the regulated sector, conformity assessments
demonstrate compliance with legislative requirements and, in the
voluntary sector, provide assurance to consumers and importers that
the products and services they procure meet specification.
Since conformity assessment bodies (CABs) are mostly commercial
organizations, accreditation assesses and declares the technical
competence of these organizations in order to provide confidence in
their results or test data.
Mutual recognition arrangements
Internationally, two organizations coordinate accreditation: the
International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and the
International Accreditation Forum, Inc. (IAF - see box).
The vision of these two organizations is to grant multilateral
mutual recognition arrangements (MRA) between their accreditation
body members. Both ILAC and IAF aim to demonstrate the equivalence
of the operation of their member accreditation bodies through these
arrangements.
The principal aim of these arrangements is to support world
trade by eliminating technical barriers to trade. The key to the
arrangements is that the results of accredited organizations, when
assessed by signatory accreditation bodies, are recognized as
equivalent. In this way, certificates issued by accredited
organizations can be accepted throughout the world.
Increasing recognition
In recent years, there has been a growing trend towards greater
recognition of accreditation and the arrangements from governments
and regulators. For example, in the Americas, regulators such as
the Consumer Product Safety Commission for toy testing, the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission in the nuclear area and the United States
Environmental Protection Agency for the energy rating of products,
have expressed their intention to rely on accredited laboratories.
ILAC is now also mentioned as a key player by the United
Nations.
In the Asia-Pacific region, APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation) endorses accreditation, with the Asia Pacific
Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation recognized as an APEC
Specialized Regional Body. Accreditation is now used to underpin
the conformity assessment component of the APEC agreements.
Similarly, ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) has
included accreditation in the ASEAN sectoral MRA for electrical and
electronic equipment as a means of meeting the mandatory
requirements of each member and to facilitate the implementation of
the ASEAN Free Trade Area.
In Europe, Regulation 765 provides a legal framework for the
provision of accreditation services across Europe. The regulation
covers the operation of accreditation in support of voluntary
conformity assessment as well as conformity assessment required by
legislation.
The mainstream acceptance of accreditation by both pan-regional
bodies and domestic regulators within individual governments also
helps WTO member governments to meet their responsibilities under
the Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement and the Sanitary and
Phyto-sanitary Measures Agreement.
An expanding international network
The development of standards and accreditation systems is
spreading to new territories. The ILAC network of members has grown
by 40% since 2001 to include 135 bodies covering 88 different
economies. Similarly, the number of accredited laboratories has
also grown by more than 40% since 2004 to 35,000, while the number
of accredited inspection bodies has almost trebled over the last
four years, from 1,842 in 2004 to 6,373 in 2009.
This increase in the number of technically competent national
accreditation bodies and accredited CABs has created a broader
quality base to serve the needs placed on it through trade and
regulatory requirements.
ACCREDITATION BODIES
IAF & ILAC
The International Accreditation Forum (IAF), Inc. is the world
association of conformity assessment accreditation bodies and other
bodies interested in the fields of management systems, products,
services, personnel and other similar programmes.
For further information, visit www.iaf.nu.
The International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) is
an international cooperation of laboratory and inspection
accreditation bodies formed to help remove technical barriers to
trade. It represents laboratory and inspection accreditation bodies
from more than 70 economies and regional organizations.
For further information, visit www.ilac.org.