Officials from Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar recently attended a special meeting on goods accreditation in Bali, Indonesia, on the threshold of the 26 th Meeting of ASEAN’s Consultative Committee on Standards and Quality (ACCSQ).

The March 17 event, which was supported by the German National Metrology Institue, focused on developing the accreditation services in the quartet of countries, especially for those without an independent body established for the task.

Requirements regarding the quality of goods and services increase continuously as a result of the global trade liberalisation and increasing demands by consumers, companies and legislators.

Objective testing, inspections and certification are of great importance in various fields, such as environmental protection, food, health and renewable energy.

Accreditation is a key service required by industry and government authorities to ensure quality checks are carried out by a competent conformity assessment body (CAB).

The CAB must demonstrate its ability to reliably accomplish tasks related to testing, certifying or inspection of a product, process, system or person.

Since 2009, the ASEAN bloc has supported ACCSQ and its related bodies to fulfil product quality targets set by the ASEAN Economic Community. Efforts have focused on reducing technical barriers to trade by harmonising standards and enforcing technical rules that are essential for the bloc’ economic integration.

As one of the most important development partners of ASEAN, Germany is helping the member states narrow the development gap in Asia.-VNA