Positive EU assessment of the Serbian accreditation system for 2013

The European Commission’s "Serbia 2013 Progress Report”, published on 16^th October 2013 in Brussels, provided a positive assessment of the Serbian accreditation system. The following sectoral fields were analysed: standardisation, accreditation, metrology and market surveillance (Chapter 1: Free movement of goods).

Pursuant to the Stabilisation and Association Agreement and primary objectives to be attained during the EU accession process, the EC report provides the analysis of the Serbian legislation, administrative capacities, sectoral strategies and policies, and market development when compared with the EU acquis requirements.

Significant progress was reported in the field of conformity assessment and accreditation given the increase in the number of accredited conformity assessment bodies (CABs). The Accreditation Body of Serbia (ATS) signed the International Laboratory Accreditation Co-operation (ILAC) Mutual Recognition Agreement for the field of calibration, testing, and inspection, and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) Multilateral Agreement for product certification fields. For the first time a national certification body was recognised by the European Commission (EC), a body performing certification of organic products in line with the acquis, allowing Serbia to freely export and place its organic products on the EU market. ATS extended the scope of its activities in keeping with the newly published regulations transposing the “New Approach” Directives into national legislation. However, staffing levels of ATS remain insufficient to handle these new tasks.