THE JAPAN ACCREDITATION BOARD FOR CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT

"Is an ISO certificate obtained in Japan also accepted abroad?"
This is a question that everybody asks. The "harmonization" of "standards" was initially driven by the need to rationalize production and improve quality. Recent economic "globalization" and the development of a borderless world with a single, global market, has given "harmonization" or "standardization" a much greater significance in international standards and conformity assessment systems.
Conformity assessment is testing, inspecting or auditing against a standard and certifying that a product, system or process conforms to that particular standard.
"International Mutual Recognition" means that the test report, inspection report or conformance certificate obtained in one country is accepted in another country. Mutual Recognition must be based on confidence in the conformity assessment procedures of the other country. The international conformity assessment community has developed a system of rigorous peer evaluation to ensure that assessment procedures - testing, inspecting, certifying - are equivalent. This process underpins the concept of "International Mutual Recognition".

The World Trade Organization's Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade - the WTO/TBT Agreement - came into effect in January 1995. This Agreement requires that WTO signatories adopt a policy of non-discrimination between local and foreign suppliers, in order to facilitate international trade. More specifically, it binds the signatories to ensure that their national standards for products, processes and systems are consistent with international standards, such as those issued by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). WTO members are also encouraged to adopt international standards for conformity assessment - testing, inspection and certification. The objective is to prevent countries using different standards and conformity assessment procedures in such a way that they constitute unnecessary obstacles to trade. The TBT Agreement promotes "mutual recognition" among different signatory countries and encourages WTO Members to accept the results of the conformity assessment carried out by others.