Emirates Standardization and Metrology Authority establishes a national accreditation system

Mr. Walid Al Mansouri, the General Manager of ESMA said in a statement: "establishing the National Accreditation System (NAS) will support the ongoing efforts to document all the procedures and practices in evaluating the standards of goods and services. The accreditation system is a basic practice of all World Trade Organization (WTO) member countries, as it protects the consumers of these countries against products not conforming to the conditions and standards of safety and quality."

Al Mansouri noted that the existence of a federal authority for standardization in the UAE is not only important, but has also become imperative, as conformity assessment certificates for national institutions and products lost credibility mainly because they originate from bodies that lack the technical competency to inspect, test, and certify.

He added that WTO has identified through different agreements, such as the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), the role of standardization and metrology and conformity assessment systems as enhancing the quality of goods production and flow of international commerce. Therefore, WTO advocates greater compatibility between the various conformity assessment systems of goods and services to avert duplication in testing and certification.

The General Manager mentioned that UAE established a national accreditation system to comply with the international treaties and to boost the export sector. The standard of UAE goods and services will be recognized by international specialized entities such as International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and International Accreditation Forum (IAF). NAS is also the basis of a GCC accreditation system, which will complement the Arab Accreditation Board recently established during an Arab Industrial Development and Mining Organization meeting.

ESMA's board of directors recently approved the Authority's organizational structure comprising an independent department of accreditation system across the Emirates. The Authority oversees, under the UAE Federal Law No. (28) 2001, all the activities related to accreditation of testing laboratories and standardization of both public and private sectors, in addition to accrediting the companies which provide the ISO 9000 and 14000 certification.