Certification, accreditation, inspection and testing is a basic system to strengthen quality management and improve market efficiency under the conditions of market economy, and an important part of market supervision. Its essential attribute is “delivering trust and serving development”, which has the prominent characteristics of marketization and internationalization. It is known as the “medical certificate” of quality management, the “letter of credit” of market economy, and the “pass” of international trade.
1、 Concept and connotation
1). The concept of National Quality Infrastructure (NQI) was first proposed by the United Nations Trade Development Organization (UNCTAD) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2005. In 2006, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) formally put forward the concept of national quality infrastructure, and called measurement, standardization, and conformity assessment (certification and accreditation, inspection and testing as the main content) as the three pillars of the national quality infrastructure. These three constitute a complete technical chain, which is the government and enterprises to improve productivity, maintain life and health, protect consumer rights, and protect the environment An important technical means to maintain safety and improve quality can effectively support social welfare, international trade and sustainable development. So far, the concept of national quality infrastructure has been widely accepted by the international community. In 2017, after a joint study by 10 relevant international organizations responsible for quality management, industrial development, trade development and regulatory cooperation, a new definition of quality infrastructure was proposed in the book “Quality Policy – Technical Guidelines” issued by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in 2018. The new definition points out that quality infrastructure is a system composed of organizations (public and private) and policies, relevant legal and regulatory frameworks and practices needed to support and improve the quality, safety and environmental protection of products, services and processes. At the same time, it is pointed out that the quality infrastructure system involves consumers, enterprises, quality infrastructure services, quality infrastructure public institutions, and government governance; It is also emphasized that the quality infrastructure system depends on measurement, standards, accreditation (listed separately from conformity assessment), conformity assessment and market supervision.
2).The concept of conformity assessment is defined in the international standard ISO/IEC17000 “Vocabulary and General Principles of Conformity Assessment”. Conformity assessment refers to “the confirmation that the specified requirements related to products, processes, systems, personnel or institutions have been met”. According to the “Building Trust in Conformity Assessment” jointly published by the International Organization for Standardization and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, commercial customers, consumers, users and government officials have expectations for the quality, environmental protection, safety, economy, reliability, compatibility, operability, efficiency and effectiveness of products and services. The process of proving that these characteristics meet the requirements of standards, regulations and other specifications is called conformity assessment. Conformity assessment provides a means to meet whether relevant products and services meet these expectations in accordance with relevant standards, regulations and other specifications. It helps to ensure that products and services are submitted according to requirements or commitments. In other words, the establishment of trust in conformity assessment can meet the needs of market economy entities and promote the healthy development of market economy.
For consumers, consumers can benefit from conformity assessment, because conformity assessment provides a basis for consumers to choose products or services. For enterprises, manufacturers and service providers need to determine whether their products and services meet the requirements of laws, regulations, standards and specifications and provide them according to customers’ expectations, so as to avoid losses in the market due to product failure. For regulatory authorities, they can benefit from conformity assessment because it provides them with the means to implement laws and regulations and achieve public policy objectives.
3). The main types of conformity assessment The conformity assessment mainly includes four types: detection, inspection, certification and approval. According to the definition in the international standard ISO/IEC17000 “Conformity assessment vocabulary and general principles”:
①Testing is “an activity to determine one or more characteristics of the conformity assessment object according to the procedure”. Generally speaking, it is the activity of using instruments and equipment to evaluate according to technical standards and specifications, and the evaluation results are test data. ② Inspection is “an activity to review the product design, product, process or installation and determine its compliance with specific requirements, or determine its compliance with general requirements based on professional judgment”. Generally speaking, it is to determine whether it conforms to relevant regulations by relying on human experience and knowledge, using test data or other evaluation information. ③ Certification is “the third party certificate related to products, processes, systems or personnel”. Generally speaking, it refers to the conformity assessment activities of products, services, management systems and personnel in conformity with relevant standards and technical specifications, which are certified by a certification body with the nature of a third party. ④Accreditation is “a third party certificate that formally indicates that the conformity assessment institution has the ability to carry out specific conformity assessment work”. Generally speaking, it refers to the conformity assessment activity that the accreditation institution certifies the technical capabilities of the certification institution, inspection institution and laboratory.
It can be seen from the above definition that the objects of inspection, detection and certification are products, services and enterprise organizations (directly facing the market); The object of recognition is the institutions engaged in inspection, testing and certification (indirectly oriented to the market).
4. The attributes of conformity assessment activities can be divided into three categories: the first party, the second party and the third party according to the attributes of conformity assessment activities:
The first party refers to the conformity assessment carried out by manufacturers, service providers and other suppliers, such as the self-inspection and internal audit carried out by manufacturers to meet their own research and development, design and production needs. The second party refers to the conformity assessment carried out by the user, consumer or purchaser and other demanders, such as the inspection and inspection of the purchased goods by the purchaser. The third party refers to the conformity assessment carried out by a third party organization independent of the supplier and the supplier, such as product certification, management system certification, various recognition activities, etc. The inspection and testing activities of certification, recognition and certification to the society are all third-party conformity assessment.
Compared with the conformity assessment of the first party and the second party, the third party conformity assessment has higher authority and credibility through the implementation of the independent status and professional ability of the institutions in strict accordance with the national or international standards and technical specifications, and thus has won the universal recognition of all parties in the market. It can not only effectively guarantee the quality and protect the interests of all parties, but also enhance market trust and promote trade facilitation.
6. Embodiment of conformity assessment results The results of conformity assessment are usually publicized to the public in written forms such as certificates, reports and signs. Through this public proof, we can solve the problem of information asymmetry and gain the general trust of relevant parties and the public. The main forms are:
Certification certificate, mark recognition certificate, mark inspection certificate and test report
2、 Origin and development
1). Inspection and detection inspection and detection have been accompanied by human production, life, scientific research and other activities. With the demand of production and trading activities for commodity quality control, standardized, process-based and standardized inspection and testing activities are increasingly developing. In the late stage of the industrial revolution, inspection and detection technology and instruments and equipment have been highly integrated and complex, and inspection and detection institutions specialized in testing, calibration and verification have gradually emerged. Inspection and detection itself has become a booming industry field. With the development of trade, there have been third-party inspection and testing institutions specialized in providing quality services such as product safety testing and goods identification to the society, such as the American Underwriters Laboratory (UL) established in 1894, which plays an important role in trade exchanges and market supervision.
2). Certification In 1903, the United Kingdom began to implement certification and add “kite” logo to the qualified rail products according to the standards formulated by the British Engineering Standards Institute (BSI), becoming the world’s earliest product certification system. By the 1930s, industrial countries such as Europe, America and Japan had successively established their own certification and accreditation systems, especially for specific products with high quality and safety risks, and implemented mandatory certification systems in succession. With the development of international trade, in order to avoid duplicate certification and facilitate trade, it is objectively necessary for countries to adopt unified standards and rules and procedures for certification activities, so as to realize mutual recognition of certification results on this basis. By the 1970s, in addition to the implementation of certification systems within their own countries, European and American countries began to carry out mutual recognition of certification systems between countries, and then developed into regional certification systems based on regional standards and regulations. The most typical regional certification system is the European Union’s CENELEC (European Electrotechnical Standardization Commission) electrical product certification, followed by the development of the EU CE Directive. With the increasing globalization of international trade, it is an inevitable trend to establish a universal certification system worldwide. By the 1980s, countries around the world began to implement the international certification system based on international standards and rules on a variety of products. Since then, it has gradually expanded from the field of product certification to the field of management system and personnel certification, such as the ISO9001 international quality management system promoted by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the certification activities carried out according to this standard.
3). Recognition With the development of inspection, testing, certification and other conformity assessment activities, various types of conformity assessment agencies engaged in inspection, testing and certification activities have emerged one after another. The good and the bad are intermingled, making users have no choice, and even some agencies have damaged the interests of interested parties, triggering calls for the government to regulate the behavior of certification agencies and inspection and testing agencies. In order to ensure the authority and impartiality of the certification and inspection results, the accreditation activities came into being. In 1947, the first national accreditation body, Australia NATA, was established to first accredit laboratories. By the 1980s, industrial developed countries had established their own accreditation institutions. After the 1990s, some emerging countries have also established accreditation institutions in succession. With the origin and development of the certification system, it has gradually developed from product certification to management system certification, service certification, personnel certification and other types; With the origin and development of the accreditation system, it has gradually developed from laboratory accreditation to certification body accreditation, inspection body accreditation and other types.
3、 Function and function
The reason why certification, accreditation, inspection and testing is a basic system of market economy can be summarized as “one essential attribute, two typical features, three basic functions and four prominent functions”.
One essential attribute and one essential attribute: transfer trust and service development.
To transmit trust and serve the development of market economy is essentially a credit economy. All market transactions are the common choice of market participants based on mutual trust. With the increasing complexity of social division of labor and quality and safety issues, the objective and fair evaluation and verification of the market transaction object (product, service or enterprise organization) by a third party with professional ability has become a necessary link in market economic activities. Obtaining certification and recognition from a third party can significantly enhance the trust of all parties in the market, thus solving the problem of information asymmetry in the market and effectively reducing the market transaction risk. After the birth of the certification and accreditation system, it has been rapidly and widely used in domestic and international economic and trade activities to transfer trust to consumers, enterprises, governments, society and the world. In the process of continuous improvement of the market system and market economic system, the characteristics of certification and recognition “delivering trust and serving development” will become increasingly apparent.
Two typical characteristics Two typical characteristics: marketization and internationalization.
Market-oriented feature authentication and recognition originate from the market, serve the market, develop in the market, and widely exist in market trading activities such as products and services. It can transmit authoritative and reliable information in the market, establish a market trust mechanism, and guide the market to survive the fittest. Market entities can achieve mutual trust and recognition, break market and industry barriers, promote trade facilitation, and reduce institutional transaction costs by adopting authentication and recognition methods; The market supervision department can strengthen the quality and safety supervision, optimize the market access and in-process and post-event supervision, standardize the market order and reduce the supervision cost by adopting the authentication and recognition method. The international characteristic certification and recognition is the international prevailing economic and trade rules under the framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The international community generally regards certification and recognition as a common means to regulate the market and facilitate trade, and establishes unified standards, procedures and systems. First, international cooperation organizations have been established in many fields, such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the International Accreditation Forum (IAF), and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation Organization (ILAC). Their purpose is to establish an internationally unified standard and certification and accreditation system to achieve “one inspection, one test, one certification, one recognition and global circulation”. Secondly, the international community has established comprehensive certification and accreditation standards and guidelines, which have been issued by international organizations such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). At present, 36 international standards for conformity assessment have been issued, which are widely adopted by all countries in the world. At the same time, the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (WTO/TBT) of the World Trade Organization also regulates national standards, technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures, and establishes reasonable objectives, minimum impact on trade, transparency, national treatment, international standards and mutual recognition principles to minimize the impact on trade. Third, certification and accreditation means are widely used internationally, on the one hand, as market access measures to ensure that products and services meet the requirements of regulations and standards, such as the EU CE Directive, Japan PSE certification, China CCC certification and other compulsory certification systems; Some international market procurement systems, such as the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), also use certification and accreditation as the procurement access conditions or evaluation basis. On the other hand, as a trade facilitation measure, it avoids repeated testing and certification through bilateral and multilateral mutual recognition. For example, the mutual recognition arrangements such as the testing and certification system for electronic and electrical products (IECEE) and the quality conformity assessment system for electronic components (IECQ) established by the International Electrotechnical Commission cover more than 90% of the world’s economies, greatly facilitating global trade.
Three basic functions Three basic functions: quality management “medical certificate”, market economy “letter of credit”, and international trade “pass”. Certification and recognition, as the name implies, is to evaluate the conformity of products, services and their enterprise organizations and issue public certificates to the society to meet the needs of market entities for various quality characteristics. With the government departments reducing the “certificate” of access restrictions, the function of “certificate” to promote mutual trust and convenience between market entities is increasingly indispensable.
The “physical examination certificate” certification and approval of quality management is a process of diagnosing and improving whether the production and operation activities of enterprises conform to the standards and specifications by using various quality management methods according to the requirements of standards and regulations, and is an effective tool to strengthen the overall quality management. The certification and accreditation activities can help enterprises identify the key links and risk factors of quality control, continuously improve quality management, and continuously improve the quality of products and services. To obtain certification, enterprises need to go through multiple evaluation links such as internal audit, management review, factory inspection, measurement calibration, product type test, etc. After obtaining certification, they also need to carry out regular post-certification supervision, which means that a full set of “physical examination” can continuously ensure the effective operation of the management system, and effectively strengthen quality management. The essence of market economy is credit economy. Certification, accreditation, inspection and testing transmit authoritative and reliable information in the market, which helps to establish a market trust mechanism, improve the efficiency of market operation, and guide the survival of the fittest in the market. Obtaining third-party authoritative certification is a credit carrier that proves that an enterprise organization has the qualification to participate in specific market economic activities and that the goods or services it provides meet the requirements. For example, ISO9001 quality management system certification is the basic condition for domestic and foreign bidding and government procurement to set up enterprises to participate in bidding. For those involving specific requirements such as environment and information security, ISO14001 environmental management system certification and ISO27001 information security management system certification will also be used as qualification conditions; The government procurement of energy-saving products and the national “Golden Sun” project take the certification of energy-saving products and new energy certification as the entry conditions. It can be said that the certification and acceptance inspection and detection provide the market subject with credit certification, solve the problem of information asymmetry, and play an irreplaceable role in transmitting trust for market economic activities. Due to the characteristics of internationalization, the “pass” certification and recognition of international trade are advocated by all countries as “one inspection and testing, one certification and recognition, and international mutual recognition”, which can help enterprises and products enter the international market smoothly, and play an important role in coordinating international market access, promoting trade facilitation and other important functions in the global trading system. It is an institutional arrangement to promote mutual market opening in the multilateral and bilateral trading system. In the multilateral field, certification and accreditation are not only the international rules for promoting trade in goods under the framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO), but also the access conditions for some global procurement systems such as the Food Safety Initiative and the Telecommunication Union; In the bilateral field, certification and accreditation is not only a convenient tool to eliminate trade barriers under the framework of the Free Trade Area (FTA), but also an important issue for trade negotiations between governments on market access, trade balance and other trade negotiations. In many international trade activities, certification certificates or test reports issued by internationally renowned institutions are regarded as the prerequisite for trade procurement and the necessary basis for trade settlement; Not only that, many countries’ market access negotiations have included certification, recognition, inspection and testing as an important content in trade agreements.
Four outstanding functions: improving market supply, serving market supervision, optimizing market environment, and promoting market opening.
To guide the improvement and upgrading of quality and increase the effective supply of the market, the certification and accreditation system has been fully implemented in all sectors of the national economy and in all fields of society, and various types of certification and accreditation have been formed covering products, services, management systems, personnel, etc., which can meet the needs of the market owner and regulatory authorities in all aspects. Through the conduction and feedback function of certification and recognition, guide consumption and procurement, form an effective market selection mechanism, and force manufacturers to improve the management level, product and service quality, and increase the effective supply of the market. In recent years, in accordance with the requirements of the supply-side structural reform, the Certification and Accreditation Commission has played the role of both ensuring the “bottom line of safety” and pulling the “top line of quality”, carried out the upgrading of the quality management system in the certified enterprises, and carried out the high-end quality certification in the fields of food, consumer goods and services, which has stimulated the enthusiasm of market entities to independently improve quality. Facing the government departments to support administrative supervision and improve the efficiency of market supervision, the market is generally divided into two parts: the pre-market (before sales) and the post-market (after sales). In both the access to the former market and the post-market supervision, certification and accreditation can promote the government departments to change their functions, and reduce direct intervention in the market through indirect management by a third party. In the former market access link, the government departments implement access management for the fields involving personal health and safety and social public safety by means of mandatory certification, binding capacity requirements and other means; In the post-market supervision, the government departments should give play to the professional advantages of the third party institutions in the post-market supervision, and take the third-party certification results as the supervision basis to ensure the scientific and fair supervision. In the case of giving full play to the role of certification and accreditation, the regulatory authorities need not focus on the comprehensive supervision of hundreds of millions of micro-enterprises and products, but should focus on the supervision of a limited number of certification and accreditation, inspection and testing institutions, with the help of these institutions to transmit the regulatory requirements to enterprises, so as to achieve the effect of “shifting the weight of two to four”. To promote the construction of integrity for all sectors of the society and create a good market environment, government departments can take the certification information of enterprises and their products and services as an important basis for integrity evaluation and credit management, improve the market trust mechanism, and optimize the market access environment, competition environment and consumption environment. In terms of optimizing the market access environment, ensure that the enterprises and their products and services entering the market meet the requirements of relevant standards and laws and regulations by means of certification and recognition, and play the role of source control and market purification; In terms of optimizing the market competition environment, certification and accreditation provides the market with independent, impartial, professional and reliable evaluation information, avoids resource mismatch caused by information asymmetry, forms a fair and transparent competition environment, and plays a role in standardizing the market order and guiding the survival of the fittest in the market; In terms of optimizing the market consumption environment, the most direct function of certification and recognition is to guide consumption, help consumers identify advantages and disadvantages, avoid being infringed by unqualified products, and guide enterprises to operate in good faith, improve products and services, and play a role in protecting consumer rights and improving the quality of consumer goods. The WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) regards conformity assessment as a technical trade measure commonly used by all members, requires all parties to ensure that conformity assessment measures do not bring unnecessary obstacles to trade, and encourages the adoption of internationally accepted conformity assessment procedures. When China entered the WTO, it made a commitment to unify the market conformity assessment procedures and give national treatment to domestic and foreign enterprises and products. The adoption of internationally recognized authentication and accreditation can avoid the inconsistency and duplication of internal and external supervision, improve the efficiency and transparency of market supervision, help create an international business environment, and provide convenient conditions for China’s economy to “go out” and “bring in”. With the acceleration of the construction of the “the Belt and Road” and the Free Trade Zone, the role of certification and accreditation has become more apparent. In the Vision and Action for Promoting the Joint Construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road issued by China, certification and accreditation are regarded as an important aspect of promoting smooth trade and rule connectivity. In recent years, China and ASEAN, New Zealand, South Korea and other countries have made mutual recognition arrangements in certification and accreditation.
Post time: Mar-16-2023