Law on Accreditation was adopted

On 12th October the Serbian Parliament adopted the Law on Accreditation.
Adoption of the Law on Accreditation as the last one in the field of quality infrastructure in the Republic of Serbia heralded the fulfilment of one of the necessary prerequisites for the EU membership.

The Law on Accreditation stipulates accreditation, status and operation of the national accreditation body in the Republic of Serbia and other issues of importance to accreditation.

Adoption of this Law will help attainment of full membership of the Accreditation Board of Serbia (ATS) in relevant European and International organisations for accreditation and participation in the work thereof (European Cooperation for Accreditation – EA, and International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation - ILAC) which is a prerequisite for efficient and optimal performance of accreditation activities and attainment of internationally recognised international standards in this field.

The Law will contribute to:
- harmonisation of this field with the legal framework of the Republic of Serbia;
- harmonisation with the WTO rules and Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT);
- establishment of impartial and transparent mode of performing accreditation activities in the Republic of Serbia;
- harmonisation with the EU legislation (Regulation on Requirements for Accreditation and Market Surveillance - No 765/2008/EC);
- harmonisation with the EU rules and practice (EA Guidance on the horizontal requirements for the accreditation of conformity assessment bodies for notification purposes);
- creation of conditions for signing a multilateral agreement with the EA on mutual recognition and equivalence of accreditation process, and
- harmonisation with the requirements of SRPS ISO/IEC 17011.

Although certain segments of legal solutions of the new Law on Accreditation are not significantly different to those defined in the old Law, this Law stipulates in detail: legal status, organisation and operation of the Accreditation Board of Serbia; accreditation granting and renewal, change in accreditation scope, accreditation suspension or withdrawal; cross-frontier accreditation and peer assessment performed by national accreditation bodies from other countries; surveillance performed by the ATS of conformity assessment bodies throughout accreditation certificate validity period, and surveillance of the ATS performed by the ministry in charge of accreditation affairs.