The State of Qatar participated in the seventeenth meeting of the Board of Directors of the Gulf Accreditation Center, which was held yesterday, Thursday, via visual communication technology (remotely), represented by the State of Qatar in the meeting, Eng. A number of important topics included (reviewing the report of the Director General of the Center during the period from December 2022 AD to May 2023 AD, following up on the recommendations of the sixteenth meeting held in Riyadh on December 13, 2022 AD, reviewing the memorandum of the General Administration of the Center regarding the position of Director General of the Gulf Accreditation Center, reviewing and approving the minutes of the seventeenth meeting to the Center’s Board of Directors).
On the other hand, the Qatar General Organization for Standardization and Standardization participates with its counterparts in the world in celebrating the International Day for Accreditation, which falls on the ninth of June of each year. It is a global initiative established by the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) to celebrate annually this event in order to enhance the value of accreditation. As a factor for the advancement of the national and international economy and as a means of consumer protection.
This year’s celebrations are held under the slogan “Accreditation: Supporting the Future of Global Trade” and focus on how accreditation supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which were adopted in 2015. The aim of this selection is to highlight the importance of accreditation in enhancing quality worldwide and facilitating trade as the global economy faced many challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how accreditation and conformity assessment adapts to developments in technology, changes in consumer behavior and the regulatory environment. .
In this context, the Qatar General Organization for Standardization and Standardization stresses the importance of accreditation in guaranteeing consumer rights and enhancing the confidence of economic actors and the authorities responsible for monitoring markets by accepting certificates and reports issued by accredited conformity assessment bodies in their various activities (granting the Qatari quality mark and certificate of conformity, releasing goods restricted…).
In addition, the regulations for registering private laboratories and certification bodies require accreditation systems recognized by the two international organizations ILAC and IAF as a condition for registration. The Accreditation Department of the Quality and Conformity Department has been registering quality certification bodies and testing and calibration laboratories since 2019, with more than 60 entities. . The Qatari market is witnessing growth in terms of certificates issued by registered conformity assessment bodies.
