This year's theme for World Accreditation Day is Accreditation: Adding Value to Supply Chains.
With goods coming from all over the world, supply chains today are significantly more complex in terms of the speed, scale, depth and breadth of global interactions. Businesses operate in many different regulatory environments. As innovation accelerates and product life cycles shorten, pressure on supply chains increases. The quality, authenticity and traceability of raw materials depend on reliable information.
Businesses need to ensure the security of their data. They also need to choose sustainable suppliers who follow ethical practices. Procurement of resources and services often accounts for up to 70% of companies’ expenses. 80% of business uses testing, calibration, inspection and certification activities.
So, what is the role of accreditation?
Accreditation is the assessment of the impartiality, competence and consistency of conformity assessment activities. Accreditation therefore plays an important role in reducing the costs of trade and business and in ensuring trust in supply chains. Supply chains require assurances in the form of testing, inspection and certification.
Without trust, the free movement of goods and services risks being hampered by technical barriers and substandard products. Internationally recognized accreditation bodies sign agreements that ensure cross-border acceptance of products and services. These agreements cover economies representing 96% of global GDP, creating a global infrastructure that facilitates trade, regulatory approval processes, and trust in the supply chain.
Accreditation is uniform throughout the world and is recognized everywhere.