The Institute for Accreditation of the Republic of Macedonia gained the status of a full member of the European co-operation for Accreditation on November 21, 2007.
EA is a non-profit organization based on membership by nationally accredited accreditation bodies located in the geographical territory of Europe. An EA operating as a non-competitive network has the following objectives:
Contribute to the elimination of technical barriers to trade by achieving a uniform approach to accreditation and conformity assessment services.
To provide technical support to the European Commission and EFTA in the implementation of the directives and the development of mutually recognizable agreements.
To promote the international recognition of accreditation and accreditation services by maintaining stable and secure multilateral agreements.
Stakeholders involved in the work of EA are:
conformity assessment bodies (laboratories, certification and inspection bodies);
European Commission;
EFTA;
regulators;
industry;
consumers.
Their interests are represented through membership in the EA Advisory Board and EA Committees. Unlike ISO 9001 certification, accreditation uses criteria and procedures specifically developed to determine technical ability. ISO 9001 certification demonstrates compliance with the requirements of the standard, and accreditation demonstrates specific technical capability.
