auditorium - DEKRA Certification

CERTIFICATIONGerman accreditationin transitionThe German Accreditation Council (DAR), which, since 1991, has had responsibilityfor the central coordination of accreditation bodies in Germany, is currentlyfacing a period of change. Legal discrepancies have triggered a fundamentalreorganisation of the German accreditation system.BackgroundThe DAR, which represents the interestsof accreditation bodies both at a nationaland international level, is a working partywithout legally binding form. It receivesfunding from the German Federal Ministryof Economic Affairs (BMWA). TheDAR’s membership is made up of accreditationbodies from the legally regulatedand non-regulated sectors, with positionsusually held on an honorary basis. TheBoard of Directors and staff act accordingto an agreed code of practice.One of the DAR’s honorary members isthe German Association for Accreditation(TGA). Until recently, the TGA was responsiblewithin the legally non-regulatedsector for coordinating membershipand nominating new members. This wascarried out on the basis of a frameworkagreement that had been drawn up withother accreditation bodies. However, oneapplicant, interpreting this as restrictiveContact:Anuschirawan AdelHead of the Certification BodyDEKRA-ITSCertification Services GmbHTel. +49.711.78 61-29 56anuschirawan.adel@dekra-its.comYou can find more on this subject in“This month’s topic” for January onwww.dekra-its.com.practice as well as seeing the danger ofthe TGA abusing its monopoly position,made a formal complaint to the GermanFederal Cartel Office. This led to the TGAvoluntarily suspending their coordinationactivities in August 2003.It was this legal uncertainty that causedthe group for the coordination of thelegally regulated area (KOGB) torecommend its members to resign fromthe DAR, which some accreditationbodies, in fact, did. By this stage, reorganisationof the DAR was inevitable,although there had for some time beenmany good reasons for restructuring theorganisation:■ lack of cooperation between theaccreditation bodies■ considerable discrepancies between thelevel of competence and processing ofdifferent accreditation bodies■ the high costs of the certification bodiesbecause of the wide range of accreditation■ the divergence between the Germanaccreditation system and its internationalcounterpartsReorganisationBy means of strong centralisation, particularlyin those areas subject to legislationof the Länder, the BMWA wants to establisha clearly structured, uniform accreditationsystem. Legally regulated andnon-regulated sectors are to be merged insuch a way to enable a mutual recognitionof their findings. This kind of “one-stopaccreditation” would avoid twofold expenditure,as there would only be one body responsiblefor each area of activity. The remainingaccreditation bodies would haveto fulfil minimum criteria, which wouldbe monitored through peer assessments.It has already been decided to introducethe international IAF-MLA mark ofmutual recognition for accreditation inthe legally non-regulated sector. FromSpring 2004 onwards this stamp willappear on all ISO certificates issued byaccreditation bodies appraised by theTGA and will verify their worldwideacceptance.The position of DEKRA-ITSThe current approaches – especiallythe attempt to implement basic tenet:“certified once, accepted everywhere” –are explicitly welcomed by DEKRA-ITS.In the course of the legal reorganisation,measures should also be taken to reducethe number of self-proclaimed certificationand accreditation bodies whichhave recently taken advantage of thesituation accreditation is in to confoundthe market with their suspect offers of,for example, certification or accreditation“without on-site audits”, or even, “Helpand Guidance in dealing with deficiencies”.To remain on the safe side you canalways trust in the reliable services ofDEKRA-ITS.