To understand what role accreditation plays, it is necessary to consider the drivers that create the demand for accreditation at the national, regional and international levels:
At national level
Everybody that has to demonstrate that products/services conform to national, regional or international standards, technical regulations, or any other kind of buyer specifications/contractual requirements.
These can be: regulators, export promotion agencies, government procurement agencies, exporters/importers, the general public, industry, conformity assessment service providers, engineering and consultancy firms/contractors.
At the regional level
To prove conformity with regional directives or regulations or MoUs in the context of regional cooperation organizations or trade blocs or economic integration communities.
At the international level
The requirements of the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (WTO TBT) in the following respects:
- WTO members have to ensure that procedures for assessment of conformity with technical regulations and standards do not create unnecessary obstacles to international trade;
- WTO Members shall ensure, whenever possible, that results of conformity assessment procedures in other Members are accepted, provided that there is assurance of adequate and enduring technical competence of the relevant conformity assessment bodies in the other Member, for instance through accreditation.
