European body recognises Georgia-operated accreditation systems

Trust and confidence in Georgian-made products will be raised among consumers and businesses in Europe as the European co-operation for Accreditation (EA) recognises and accepts the equivalence of the accreditation systems operated by Georgia.

The decision was made at the 39th General Assembly of EA, which was held on May 23-24.

The news was announced today at the Georgian Government’s Meeting, where the Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili thanked the Ministry of Economy and Georgian Accreditation Centre for their work in achieving this goal.

This is a very big achievement and a result of huge work and consistent reforms; and one more important recognition of a Georgian state institution by the relevant European association. This achievement will help Georgian production to be easily accepted on European market,” said the PM.

A Bilateral Agreement (BLA) that was signed between the EA and Georgia will apply to the following areas accredited by the united national accreditation body: examinations and calibration, product certification, certification of personnel and inspection.

A BLA has the same purpose and bilateral signatories to the EA Multilateral Agreement (MLA) and shall meet the same requirements as EA Full Members.

The EA MLA is a signed agreement between the EA Full Members whereby the signatories recognise and accept the equivalence of the accreditation systems operated by the signing members, and also the reliability of the conformity assessment results provided by conformity assessment bodies accredited by the signing members.

The EA is an association of national accreditation bodies in Europe that are officially recognised by their national Governments to assess and verify - against international standards - organisations that carry out evaluation services such as certification, verification, inspection, testing and calibration.