On November 24, 2008, the Accreditation Institute of the Republic of Macedonia (IARM) signed a Cooperation Agreement with the National Accreditation Body of the Republic of Bulgaria, Bulgarian Accreditation Service (BAS)
As part of the celebration, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Bulgarian Accreditation Service (BAS), in Sofia, Republic of Bulgaria, the two national accreditation bodies, IARM and BAS, signed a Mutual Cooperation Agreement. In addition to the representatives of the IARM and BAS, this solemn act was attended by senior representatives of the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria and the acting The Ambassador of the Republic of Macedonia to the Republic of Bulgaria, Mrs. Jadranka Chaushevska Dimova. The subject of the signed Cooperation Agreement is continuous cooperation between the two accreditation bodies for achieving a uniform accreditation process in the region and providing mutual support for the development and promotion of accreditation activities in both countries. Within the framework of the EA principles, the two signatories to the Agreement set out the following goals and objectives:
To develop and maintain mutual trust, To achieve and maintain equivalence and harmonization of accreditation activities in accordance with the guidelines of EA, IAF and ILAC,
Organize the exchange of accreditation information, applied at the national level,
Identify and promote the removal of technical or administrative barriers to trade in the field of accreditation,
To promote consistent interpretation and application of normative documents and to propose actions to facilitate the implementation,
Identify specific technical problems that may be the subject of collaborative projects,
Maintain working links with relevant bodies and promote infrastructure related to accreditation harmonization,
Debate on trends and establish criteria for the scope of accreditation and maintain channels for continuous flow of knowledge,
Mutually support membership in the full range of multilateral MLA mutual recognition agreements.
In order to realize the tasks and achieve the set goals, the two accreditation bodies agreed on the following:
To organize mutual visits of leading assessors, assessors and experts during the accreditation process,
Participate in the implementation of joint projects (such as joint accreditation assessments),
To take part in training activities developed by each of the accreditation bodies, To exchange assessors and leading assessors.
