Standard
ISO/IEC 17021-1
Insurer provides lower premium to accredited organisations
In the UK, Howden, an independent Lloyd’s broker, created a professional indemnity scheme for clients operating under accreditation, which helped it gain a full understanding of the client’s risk profile and so obtain more accurate pricing for the cover required. This scheme also provides insurers with access to new, potentially profitable, lines of revenue. Those with less long-tail exposure tend to be more […]
Certification of products with official labelling has become a commercial asset
The French Institute of Origin and Quality (INAO) has issued a report on the food products covered by the official labelling of quality and origin. The quantity placed on the market for each sector as well as its related turnover have increased significantly since 2014. For example the honey sector saw production increase by 102% […]
Insurance association: Standards and Accreditation support risk and add value (2018)
AIRMIC, the Association of Insurance and Risk Managers in Industry and Commerce, has published a white paper on the value that standards and accredited conformity assessment can play in the management of risk. The report states that there is plenty of evidence that organisations perform better when they adopt voluntary quality standards, yet for the most […]
The Economic Value of Accreditation in Australia (April 2018)
The National Association of Testing Authorities, Australia (NATA) is Australia’s national authority for the accreditation of laboratories and producers of reference materials, and a peak body for the accreditation of inspection bodies and proficiency testing scheme providers. It commissioned the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) to conduct research to evaluate the economic value of accreditation […]
Standards support business competitiveness in Colombia (2018)
A study titled “Standardisation: a contribution to the competitiveness of Colombian organisations, case studies to measure the economic impact of technical standards.” was published in 2018, to increase the awareness of the multiple benefits that the technical standards bring to Colombian organisations. This publication describes not only the evolution of standardization in Colombia, but also […]
The Correlation between the number of accredited laboratories and domestic GDP (January 2017)
A study has been carried out by the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul to investigate the correlation between gross domestic product and the total number of accredited laboratories in North, Central and South America. It concluded that there is a strong positive correlation between the total number of accredited laboratories and the gross […]
Guide for the Use of Standards and Accreditation in public procurement
The Spanish Public Sector Contract Law 9/2017, which came into force in March 2018, aims to provide greater transparency, better value for money, and increased economic rationality of public funds. It considers that public purchase processes should include qualitative, environmental, social and innovative aspects which aim to “award criteria to obtain the highest quality works, […]
Intrer-governmental agency promotes use of quality infrastructure to make renewable energy investment decisions
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is an intergovernmental organisation that supports countries in their transition to a sustainable energy future, and serves as the principal platform for international cooperation, a centre of excellence, and a repository of policy, technology, resource and financial knowledge on renewable energy. It has published a summary document for policy […]
Directory of accredited Conformity Assessment Bodies in West Africa (August 2017)
In order to improve trade prospects and the quality of products and services in West Africa, this directory provides a list of accredited testing laboratories, inspection bodies and certification bodies in the region (as of August 2017). The directory was sponsored by UNIDO to ensure that public and private organisations are aware and have access […]