Conformity Assessment Programme

1. What is Conformity Assessment?

Conformity assessment is defined in ISO/IEC Guide 2:1996 as: any activity concerned with determining directly or indirectly that relevant requirements are fulfilled, provides the means of ensuring that the product, service or systems produced or operated, have met the required characteristics and that these characteristics are consistent from product to product, service to service or system to system. Conformity assessment activities include calibration; sampling and testing; inspection; certification; and management system assessment and registration. It also includes accreditation of the competence of these activities by third party and recognition of an accreditation programme’s capability.

While each activity is a distinct operation, they are closely inter-related. The inclusion or absence of any of these activities, as well as the quality with which any one of them is performed, can have a significant effect on the confidence and reliance that can be placed on the results of the entire conformity assessment process.

Recommended structure for Conformity Assessment

Standards that underlie each of these activities can have a major impact on the outcome of each specific conformity assessment activity, as well as a cumulative effect on the outcome of the entire process. Conformity assessment activities form a vital link between standards and products. Together, standards and conformity assessment activities can have a positive impact on every aspect of life.

Conformity assessment is considered a natural concomitant of the standards setting process, for it assures the user that a product meets specified criteria, in terms of performance, safety and durability and suppliers may see conformity as an important marketing tool.  This importance is recognized by the WTO in the agreements on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), where the establishment of conformity assessment infrastructure at national level is emphasised and countries are encouraged to adopt regional and international systems for conformity assessment.

The TBT Agreements recognise that conformity assessment activities can expedite or seriously hinder the free flow of goods in international commerce, and establishes procedural requirements for conformity assessment schemes to avoid the development of unnecessary obstacles to trade. The agreement requires that conformity assessment procedures be prepared, adopted and applied so as to grant access for suppliers of like product originating from other countries (which are signatories to the agreement) no less favourable conditions than those produced nationally or origination in another country. The objective of this agreement is to create a global marketplace, where the concept of;

“ONE STANDARD, ONE TEST, ACCEPTED EVERYWHERE”,

can be achieved.

Conformity assessment will always play a decisive role in trade because it is the only means by which it can be determined whether the requirements for standards on products and services are met.

1.  Objectives of the Programme.

The objective of the GNBS conformity Assessment programme is to facilitate the development of an internationally recognised national system for conformity assessment that will facilitate easier access to foreign markets for locally produced products and protecting consumers from substandard products on the local market.

To achieve this goal, the GNBS will collaborate with all organizations involved in conformity assessment activities, to facilitate the implementation of the following international standards in their operations.

1. ISO 17020 standard: General criteria for the operation of bodies performing inspection,

2. ISO 17025 standard: General criteria for the operation of testing laboratories and

3. ISO Guide 65 standard: General criteria for certification bodies operating product certification.

2. Benefits of Conformity Assessment.

Conformity assessment is an important marketplace communication device - a means of exchanging information between buyer and seller. It is vital for buyers, sellers and other interested parties to understand the conformity assessment process, to competently judge the value of a particular assessment scheme and to use the information resulting from that scheme to make intelligent marketplace choices.

1. Conformity assessment can verify that a particular product meets a given level of quality or safety and provides user with explicit or implicit information about its characteristics, the consistency of these characteristics and/or performance of the product.

2. Conformity assessment can also increase a buyer’s confidence in a product, furnish useful information to a buyer, and substantiate a company’s advertising and labelling claims regarding a product.

Benefits of conformity assessment activities as it relates to the various groups are:

Suppliers and Producers:  Reputable Producers and Suppliers are able to distinguish their products/services from those of disreputable ones, hence being able to compete more effectively in an open marketplace.

Consumers: Use information from conformity assessment activities as a means for selecting products/service in the marketplace.

Regulators: Use information from activities to enforce regulations, in protecting the environment, public health and safety.

3. Details of the Programme.

The conformity assessment programme of GNBS is involved in the following activities.

1. Facilitating the development of an internationally recognised national conformity assessment system through the activities of the National Committee on Conformity Assessment (NCCA).

2. Conducting training on the relevant international standards for staff from conformity assessment agencies.

3. Providing assistance to the staff from these agencies on developing their documentation.

4. Providing assistance to the staff from these agencies on implementation activities.

5. Facilitating contact with accreditation bodies if needed.

These activities are done on request from the relevant agency or as a request from the National Committee on Conformity Assessment.