Accreditation of conformity assesment bodies (CAB) in Serbia.

In the international exchange of goods and services, accreditation gets more and more important. Based on strict adherence to international standards, and determining conformity with them, accreditation became the only authoritative category that proves competence of organizations to perform various services in domestic and international traffic. Yugoslav Accreditation Body was established 15 years ago, which later grew with the changing regulations in Accreditation Body of Serbia ATS. By the new Law on Accreditation ATS is registered as an institution, which, as the only in Serbia, entrusted accreditation business. ATS last year signed the EA MLA agreement on mutual recognition for accreditation of laboratories for testing and calibration, medical laboratories, inspection bodies and certification bodies for certifying products. Last year it also signed an agreement with ILAC MRA for field testing, calibration and inspection. Accreditation is mentioned directly or indirectly in almost all laws and regulations governing quality and safety of products and services. In Serbia there are 546 accredited CAB in different areas and different scope of accreditation. This year, under the auspices of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, is formed Association of accredited CAB, as ATS partner, strengthening infrastructure of conformity assessment, support the accreditation system, impact of the adoption and harmonization of national legislation, and to promote its own services. Problems in the work of ATS are particularly in evaluating the organizations, which is primarily related to the harmonization of the criteria for assessing. Stricter assessment criteria in order to be in global trends, undertake work to strengthen the education of all participants in the process of accreditation.