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SERVICE FOR THE MARKET “Industrial Safety inspection, official analysis and control of foodstuffs, certification of management systems (quality, environment, food safety), road vehicle inspection, industrial product testing, calibration and metrological control of equipment, verification of greenhouse gas emissions, Designation of Origin and Protected Geographic Indications, etc, are all examples of the activities carried on by these bodies. This gives an idea of the impact of their role on the economy as a whole and, specifically, on trust in the quality of goods and services.
Accreditation is the tool established on an international scale to build trust with regard to the action of organizations of a very specific type, which are broadly called conformity assessment bodies, comprising testing laboratories, calibration laboratories, inspection bodies, certifying bodies and environmental verifiers. What purpose does it serve?The main purpose of conformity assessment bodies is to show society (public authorities, companies and consumers in general) that the products and services placed at their disposal comply to certain quality and safety standards. These requirements may be stipulated by law and, therefore, be of a mandatory nature or be specified in standards, specifications or other documents of a non-regulated nature. In any case, the value of the conformity assessment activities largely depends on the credibility of the bodies that perform them and the trust that the market and the wider community places in them. To achieve this trust and credibility, it is necessary to set up an independent, stringent and global mechanism that will assure the technical competence of these bodies and their compliance with international standards - and that is exactly what accreditation is. To underline the importance of countries having an accreditation system, it suffices to quote what European Commission has said on the matter: “... accreditation is fundamental to the proper operation of a transparent quality driven conformity assessment market in Europe (European and European Economic Space). It is fundamental for industry which needs a proper service in this area in order to be fully competitive. It is fundamental to the public authorities, whether national or European, in order to be able to obtain the proper level of confidence in the reports and certificates issued anywhere in Europe and thus to facilitate the free circulation of products throughout the EEA. It is fundamental to the conformity assessment bodies themselves (whether operating in the regulated or in the non regulated sectors of activity), in order to help them demonstrate independently their technical competence, impartiality and to ensure transparent quality driven competition as between themselves”. |