India’s National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB) has secured international equivalence for its accreditation programme for personnel certification bodies at the annual meeting of the Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (APAC) in Singapore.

NABCB signed the mutual recognition arrangement (MRA) of the APAC for its accreditation programme based on international standard, ISO/IEC 17024.

NABCB, a constituent board of the Quality Council of India - an autonomous body attached to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry - is responsible for the accreditation of certification/inspection bodies as per applicable international standards under an international system of equivalence. This signifies that the accreditation of personnel certification bodies by NABCB is now accepted as equivalent at the global level.

What is ISO/IEC 17024?

Conformity assessment - general requirements for bodies operating certification of persons specifies criteria for the operation of personnel certification bodies. The standard includes requirements for the development and maintenance of the certification schemes for persons upon which the certification is based.

With the above recognition, the NABCB hopes to facilitate the export of Indian services and skills into the world market by attesting that persons are certified following global standards by the certifying bodies.

Personnel certification would support many professionals in India, especially those who don’t have a formal education.

Any person carrying an ISO/IEC 17024 certificate with the NABCB logo will be recognised internationally. It can also be used by regulators for establishing confidence in certified personnel for different activities.

Importance of accreditation

Accreditation has become an essential tool for getting acceptance of inspection, testing and certification done in India internationally and it is referenced in many bilateral Free Trade Agreements like India-Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement in which NABCB accreditation is a requirement for certification of electrical/electronic and telecom products.

Accreditation reduces the risk for business and its customers by assuring that accredited Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs) are competent to carry out the work they undertake within their scope of accreditation.

Accreditation Bodies (ABs) that are members of APAC and the CABs they accredit are required to comply with appropriate international standards and the applicable APAC application documents for the consistent application of those standards.

ABs that are signatories to the APAC multilateral recognition arrangement (MRA) are evaluated regularly by an appointed team of peers to provide confidence in the operation of their accreditation programmes.

The NABCB has currently accredited one certification body for personnel certification and has four applicants. This programme will help professionals to get certified based on their competence in any required field.

The NABCB is already supporting the Ayush ministry and has accredited a certification body for certification for yoga professionals. This would promote the yoga certification scheme internationally.

Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation

The Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (APAC) was established on January 1 by the amalgamation of two former regional accreditation cooperations - the Asia Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (APLAC) and the Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (PAC).

The role of APAC

* The APAC’s primary role is to manage and expand a mutual recognition arrangement (MRA) among accreditation bodies in the Asia-Pacific region.

* The MRA facilitates the acceptance of conformity assessment results (test reports, test certificates, inspection reports and certification) across the region and with other regions around the world.

* Conformity assessment results that are produced by conformity assessment bodies (CABs) that have been accredited by one APAC MRA signatory are accepted by all the other APAC MRA signatories.

* This mutual recognition and acceptance of conformity assessment results reduces the need to undertake duplicate testing, inspection or certification, thus saving time and money, increasing economic efficiency and facilitating international trade.

* The APAC members include accreditation bodies, accreditation focal points and other organisations that have an interest in accredited conformity assessment results.

* The APAC is recognised by the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) as one of four APEC specialist regional bodies (SRBs) that support the work of the APEC Sub-Committee on Standards and Conformance.