European Accreditation Organization (EA)
The role of the European Accreditation Organization /(EA) in the matter of accreditation
- The European Accreditation Organization Multilateral Agreement (EA MLA) is an agreement signed by the EA members, by which the signatories recognize and accept the equivalence of the accreditation systems used by the signatory members, as well as the reliability of the conformity assessment results provided by the Conformity Assessment Body (CAB) to accredit the signatories members.
- The EA MLA is the foundation for realizing the goal of "Accredited Once, Accepted Everywhere."
Significance of the Multilateral Agreement of the European Accreditation Organization
- Market acceptance of conformity assessment results provided by EA MLA signatory members' accredited Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs) is extremely important for the European internal market in facilitating cross-border trade, as well as demonstrating compliance with European legislation for products and services contributing to health, safety and environmental protection.
- The EA MLA is signed by all EA members. The purpose of an EA Associate Member and an EA Bilateral Agreement (BLA) is the same, and signatories to a bilateral EA MLA must meet the same requirements as EA full members.
- Regulation (EC) No. 765/2008.
- National authorities recognize the equivalence of services provided by national accreditation bodies (NABs) that have successfully completed EA peer assessments (EA MLA signatories) and thus accept the accreditation certificates of those bodies and the certificates issued by accredited conformity assessment bodies.
- The National Accreditation Bureau of the Republic of Lithuania has signed a multilateral agreement of the European Accreditation Organization. The National Accreditation Bureau of the Republic of Lithuania is a full member of the European Accreditation Organization
- Sertika is annually supervised by the National Accreditation Bureau in the areas of testing and certification.
Source EA: European-co-operation for Accreditation
Benefits for industry and the business community:
- Increasing competitiveness: with EA MLA, companies can differentiate services by providing objective evidence of technical competence, impartiality and compliance with international requirements and avoid the costs of re-testing;
- Control reduction and quality improvement: Importing goods and services with an EA MLA accredited report or certificate can be both less risky and cheaper as businesses do not need to provide additional evidence;
- Export Support: As EA MLA is recognized internationally, it opens up new opportunities in the global market by removing trade barriers.
Benefits for users:
- Building trust: consumers' confidence in the market increases when they know that the products and services they choose are controlled by an independent and competent body, which itself is regularly evaluated by an impartial body;
- Veikimas visuomenės interesų labui: visoje tiekimo grandinėje vartotojų interesus gina EA MLA signatarai, Acting in the public interest: throughout the supply chain, the interests of consumers are protected by EA MLA signatories acting as "checkers".
Benefits for national governments and regulators
- Support the implementation of European and national laws by confirming compliance with standards and applicable requirements;
- Enhancing trade and economic growth by giving governments confidence in accreditation and competent suppliers of goods and services.
- Limiting costs and resources by eliminating several administrative obligations. EA MLA reduces the need to employ specialized assessment staff to carry out regulatory controls and avoids duplication of audits.
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