A fundamental component of the quality infrastructure system is that of governance. The leading role in setting up a quality infrastructure system is played by the country’s government which gives the initial impetus and is ultimately responsible for ensuring that the quality infrastructure system fulfills policy objectives, meets the country’s needs, conforms to international standards and best practice, and complies with world trade rules. The government provides impetus by developing a Quality Policy and establishing the regulatory framework for the quality infrastructure system.
NATIONAL QUALITY POLICY
A Quality Policy is the basic government instrument for establishing goals, formalizing, and overseeing the development and performance of a Quality Infrastructure System. It can be defined as:the policy adopted to develop and sustain an efficient and effective quality infrastructure system. It sets out the objectives of the quality infrastructure system and a road map and schedule for setting it up. The government can use the development of the quality policy as an opportunity to increase awareness of the importance of the quality infrastructure system meet and how the different national actors can benefit from it. It can do this by inviting broad stakeholder participation to develop the quality policy. Examples of stakeholders include representatives of its own ministries and agencies, regulatory bodies, trade and industry associations, chambers of commerce, consumer associations, and providers and users of calibration, testing, certification and inspection services. Their input will help ensure that the quality policy and quality infrastructure system meet the needs of the nation, while their participation will encourage implementation of the policy and “buy-in” of the quality infrastructure system.
REGULATORY FRAMEWORK
Since one of the main benefits expected from the QIS is to increase the country’s ability to participate in global markets, it is important for the government to ensure that the nation implements standards and technical regulations consistently with world trade rules. These rules are established by the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Because of the mandatory nature of technical regulations, they have the potential to become technical barriers to trade (TBT) that prevent or hinder the flow of goods and services between nations. Although standards are generally voluntary, they become mandatory when referenced in regulations, for which they provide the technical content underpinning the policy objective of the regulation concerned.
In particular, the inconsistent use of standards and regulations can create technical barriers. This can happen because technical regulations in a country may be introduced by different ministries (e.g. Ministry of Transport for seat belts, Ministry of Health on labeling of foods, Ministry of Environment on packaging materials, etc.). Therefore, the quality infrastructure system needs to include a national regulatory framework that each regulator can work within in order to ensure consistency.