Keywords
Citation
(2001), "UKAS signs International Arrangement to enhance trade", Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, Vol. 48 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/acmm.2001.12848bab.015
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2001, MCB UP Limited
UKAS signs International Arrangement to enhance trade
UKAS signs International Arrangement to enhance trade
Keywords: UKAS, Trade
The United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) has signed an International Arrangement which will enhance the acceptance of technical data accompanying goods across international borders and will reduce the barriers to cross-border trading.
The Arrangement, which involves the 37 member states represented at the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC), means that the testing of goods in one country by a laboratory accredited to a signatory to the Arrangement, will be recognised by other signatories as being equivalent to tests performed under their own accreditation.
This will reduce or eliminate the need for re-testing the goods in the importing country. Linda Campbell, chief executive of UKAS, says, "The need for re-testing has been recognised as a technical barrier to trade for many years. Such barriers do not just add significant cost to goods entering a country, they can delay and, in some cases, prevent goods being accepted in foreign markets altogether".
The ILAC Arrangement is the fruition of two decades' work, which has seen the development of regional recognition arrangements (for instance, between countries in the European Union). These regional arrangements have now been translated into a global recognition.
The key to the Arrangement is the developing network of accredited testing and calibration facilities around the globe; facilities that are assessed and recognised as being competent by their specific accreditation authorities, such as UKAS.
The following economies will participate in the Arrangement: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, People's Republic of China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong-China, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Chinese Taipei, UK, USA and Vietnam.