International Projects
Safe Market and Development Cooperation
Accredia contributes to strengthening Quality Infrastructure worldwide and overcoming technical barriers to trade.
Accredia plays a fundamental role in ensuring that products placed on the European market comply with safety requirements, protecting consumer health and the environment, and guaranteeing fair competition.
Companies must only place safe products on the EU market, inform consumers of any potential risks associated with them, and ensure that dangerous products are traceable so that they can be withdrawn quickly and consumers protected.
Member States, through their designated National Authorities, monitor the market to ensure that safety legislation is enforced and impose penalties where necessary. The Supervisory Authorities work closely with customs authorities, which play a crucial role in protecting consumers from unsafe products imported from third countries.
Accredia’s contribution is part of its technical assistance and strengthening of Quality Infrastructure worldwide, which aims to ensure product safety and facilitate trade between countries in different areas.
Accredia participates in calls for proposals and projects promoted by European and international Institutions engaged in development cooperation, offering know-how in accreditation and conformity assessment. Through these initiatives, the organization supports the implementation of quality standards that promote product safety for consumer protection, in line with EU regulations and international best practices, contributing to the creation of agile, safe, and traceable markets.
Twinning Projects
Accredia participates in Twinning projects as a “Mandated Body,” transferring know-how and helping to strengthen institutional capacities in beneficiary countries.
Twinning is one of the European Commission’s main tools for promoting institutional cooperation between Public Administrations in EU Member States and those in countries identified as Neighborhood Countries.
The aim is to transfer skills, technical knowledge, and best practices to facilitate alignment with European standards and EU regulations. Twinning projects have an average duration of one to two years, with the possibility of extension.
Accredia participates in projects as a “Mandated Body,” i.e., a private legal entity similar to a Public Administration, contributing to strengthening institutional capacities in beneficiary countries.
Accredia Twinning
Twinning per Georgian National Agency for Standards and Metrology (GEOSTM)
Duration: February 2022 – July 2024
Objective: to help Georgia meet the requirements of the AA (EU-Georgia Association Agreement) and the DCFTA and Association Agenda in the fields of standardization and metrology, improving the Quality Infrastructure and services, aligning them with European and international best practices.
Partners: representing the EU Member States Italy and Spain, Accredia, the National Metrology Research Institute (INRiM) and the Italian Standardization Body (UNI), the Spanish Metrology Center (CEM), International and Ibero-American Foundation for Public Administration and Policies (FIIAPP) and Spanish Association for Standardization (UNE).
Twinning per Georgian Accreditation System (GAC)
Duration: April 2021 – May 2023
Objective: to support and improve the Georgian accreditation and conformity assessment system; to promote the recognition of GAC in the international accreditation network EA, IAF and ILAC and cooperation with the European Union.
Partners: representing the EU Member States Italy and Germany, Accredia, Unioncamere, Die Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle GmbH (DAkkS) and the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) participated.
Twinning per Armenian Accreditation System (ARMNAB)
Duration: September 2021 – March 2023
Objective: to review the legal and procedural framework in accordance with ISO/IEC 17011 and the provisions of EC Regulation 765/2008, and to strengthen the institutional capacity of the ARMNAB accreditation body to provide accreditation in line with EA rules.
Partners: representing the EU Member States Italy and Germany, Accredia, Die Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle GmbH (DAkkS) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) participated.
Twinning per National Accreditation System of the Republic of Azerbaijan (AzAK)
Duration: July 2017 – July 2019
Objective: to improve the organizational structure and staff skills of AzAK, promoting the development of a national conformity assessment system serving the market, Institutions, and consumers, as well as promoting the recognition of AzAK in the international accreditation network EA, IAF, and ILAC and cooperation with the European Union.
Partners: representing the EU Member States Italy and Germany, Accredia, Die Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle GmbH (DAkkS) and the Latvian National Accreditation Bureau (LATAK) participated.
Twinning per National Accreditation Center of the Republic of Moldova (MOLDAC)
Duration: January 2015-December 2016
Objective: to contribute to strengthening MOLDAC to address EA peer assessment and sign the EA Multilateral Agreements (MLA) international mutual recognition agreements, and to improve the commercial competitiveness of the Republic of Moldova by harmonizing the country’s Quality Infrastructure with international and European standards.
The project was conducted by Accredia on behalf of Italy as an EU Member State.
Twinning per Egyptian Accreditation Council (EGAC)
Duration: January 2015 – September 2016
Objective: to improve the technical and institutional capacities of EGAC and support the performance of the Egyptian Quality Infrastructure in the context of national reform priorities and in line with the EU and international best practices, within the framework of the negotiations on the Agreement on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Products (ACAA).
Partners: representing the EU Member States Italy and Germany, Accredia, Die Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle GmbH (DAkkS), the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), TÜV Rheinland Consulting GmbH, and the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) participated.
Other projects in Europe and worldwide
TAIEX
Accredia has conducted and manages Technical Assistance and Information Exchange Instrument (TAIEX) projects on accreditation and conformity assessment for government bodies and institutions in Albania, Turkey, and the countries of the European Neighbourhood Policy (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Israel, Libya, PA, Jordan, Lebanon) through workshops and expert missions.
TAIEX is the European Commission’s short-term technical assistance and institution-building instrument, aimed at providing support for the correct interpretation of legislation and the transposition of European standards and provisions for their application and transposition into national legislation. It is aimed at countries in the Western Balkans, the Southern Neighbourhood and the Eastern Partnership, beneficiaries of the NDICI Instrument and certain EU Member States.
UNIDO
Accredia participates in projects of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) to contribute to Sustainable and Inclusive Industrial Development (ISID) in developing countries and economies in transition.
Accredia has provided its expertise to support African countries that are members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in implementing their Quality Infrastructure. It has contributed to the accreditation of conformity assessment bodies in Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Niger, and Senegal participating in the West Africa Quality System Programme (WAQSP).