On January 29, 2008, the Accreditation Institute of the Republic of Macedonia signed bilateral cooperation agreements in the field of accreditation with the Accreditation Body of Serbia and the Accreditation Body of Montenegro.
In accordance with the Central European Free Trade Agreement “CEFTA 2006”, ANNEX 1, Chapter IV Technical barriers to trade, in order to eliminate unnecessary barriers to trade (in terms of the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers), the Institute for Accreditation of Macedonia and the Accreditation Body of Serbia, as well as the Accreditation Body of Montenegro will cooperate and exchange information in the field of accreditation acting in accordance with the principles and norms adopted by European and international organizations in this field.
The purpose of these agreements is to ensure continuous cooperation between the contracting parties in order to harmonize the accreditation process of the region, with active participation of both accreditation bodies in the development and promotion of the accreditation process in the three countries.
Under the signed agreements, the contracting parties will cooperate in the field of accreditation of laboratories that perform testing and calibration, bodies that perform product certification, management systems, persons and control bodies.
These agreements cover the following activities:
– exchange of information on activities and documentation in the field of accreditation;
– joint organization of seminars and conferences
– mutual training of staff
– exchange of assessors and technical experts registered with the contracting parties, in order to get acquainted with the accreditation process on the spot;
– conducting a joint assessment
– Joint participation of the organizations from the Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and the Republic of Serbia in the interlaboratory comparisons.
As an expression of their determination to cooperate, the contracting parties will periodically, and at least once a year, establish programs for cooperation with specific projects.
