Assessing Competitiveness In Moldova's Economy - Economic Growth

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Development Alternatives, Inc. Moldova Competitiveness Assessment: Quality Assurance Infrastructure The government should consider consolidating state-owned certification bodies, where possible in some form under the DSM umbrella. This step would conserve resources and minimize the chances of overregulating industries. It would also funnel needed resources to DSM to participate in international certification and accreditation forums such as the international certification network IQNET and others. DSM participation in such forums is critical for the mutual recognition of certificates with target markets which would greatly facilitate trade and FDI. Accreditation According to the Law on Conformity Assessment, the Moldovan Accreditation Center is authorized to accredit testing and calibration labs, product certification bodies, services certification bodies, personnel of certification bodies, quality and environmental management systems certification bodies, and inspection bodies. The Center was established in January of 2004, and is currently focused on accrediting labs, inspection bodies, and certification bodies only. The Accreditation Center applies EN45010 in its own operation, and to this date has accredited 11 labs to ISO 17025, two inspection bodies to EN 45013, and several certification bodies to EN45011. Some in the private sector are still skeptical about the impartiality of the accreditation department, and see the Center as still being part of DSM. However it is too early to pass judgment on this issue. In any case, these concrete steps taken to lay down the law, establish the Center, and apply international and EU standards in its operation constitute a step in the right direction. The Center is a member of the International Laboratory Accreditation Center (ILAC). The government should press on with these reforms, further support the Center to hire staff needed and provide resources for subcontracting experts that can execute accreditation plans. Market Surveillance One of the most successful market surveillance models worldwide is the one established in the United Kingdom (UK). The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is the body responsible for market surveillance in the UK. HSE has established 202 offices, trading standards departments, in localities throughout the UK. They rely on internal specialists to survey the market for products based on the inherent risk and established accident and health data. This regime results in significantly lower fatalities and injuries from defective products than in most developed countries of the world including the U.S. and the remainder of the EU. 8 The HSE is just one example that shows that a single body responsible for market surveillance 8 Yvonne Halpaus, Partner, QNET LLC, Elk River, Minnesota. Website: http://www.ce-mark.com and http://CEpartner4U.nl for the Authorized Representative office in The Netherlands. July 2004 • DRAFT Page 7
Development Alternatives, Inc. Moldova Competitiveness Assessment: Quality Assurance Infrastructure can achieve the objectives and outperform other models in which multiple agencies are responsible for market surveillance. In Moldova, state inspectors that report to DSM and ministry inspectors carry out market surveillance based on mandatory standards as outlined in Article 17 of the Law on Standardization. One key difference between market surveillance in Moldova and that in the EU is that Moldovan inspectors not only examine products in the market or at borders, but also carry out inspections of production processes and products of local companies on a virtually continuous basis. Obviously, this degree of scrutiny is not warranted, since all companies are required to obtain product certification, and certification bodies inspect their facilities. Furthermore, frequent inspections create opportunities for corruption, undermining the system’s integrity and effectiveness. Article 27 of the Law on Conformity Assessment lays the groundwork for proper market surveillance; however, another law or implementing regulations are needed to work out the details for this activity. The government should consider consolidating the market surveillance agencies or departments into one or two agencies and limit their authority to inspection of products in the market and points of entry, except where suspicion of noncompliance is established on the basis of objective information. Benchmarking The ISO 9000 standard is the most widely known standard in the world. About 650,000 organizations/companies are certified to the standard. The following chart compares the number of firms that are ISO 9000 certified in both Moldova and Bulgaria per one million people of population. 9 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 ISO 9000 Certified Firms/ Million People Bulgaria Moldova 9 Population estimates were taken from the CIA Fact Book (July 2003 estimates); the number of certified firms in Moldova was taken from the TUV company website site iso.md, and the number of certified firms in Bulgaria was taken from the Bulgarian club 9000 website www.club9000.org. July 2004 • DRAFT Page 8
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