Welcome to the official website of the General Directorate of Accreditation (DPA)

The Mutual Recognition Agreement with EA is a signed agreement between the EA Member Accreditation Bodies in order to recognize and accept the equivalence of their accreditation systems. They provide equivalent credibility of certificates and reports issued by bodies that are accredited by National Accreditation Bodies, members of EA-MLA. This eliminates the need for accredited testing / certification / inspection services in any European country where product and service providers will sell their products and services. National Accreditation Bodies receive the status of a signatory member of EA Mutual Recognition Agreements only after a very rigorous mutual evaluation of their operation in accordance with the internationally recognized standard for ISO / IEC 17011 Accreditation Bodies and the specific requirements of European Regulation 765 / 2008. Mutual assessments are carried out on a regular basis by specialists from the National Accreditation Bodies of other countries. The process is overseen by representatives of the European Commission, national authorities and other supporters in the field of business. The EA Mutual Recognition Agreement is internationally recognized by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the International Laboratory Accreditation Body (ILAC). This means that EA-MLA signatories benefit from world recognition through ILAC and IAF Mutual Recognition Agreements and consequently use ILAC / IAF MLA brands. The General Directorate of Accreditation was accepted in May 2015 with full rights at the European Accreditation Organization (EA). In November 2015, the DPA signed the EA-MLA (Mutual Recognition Agreements) in the field of testing labs. In May 2016, the DA received full membership rights at the ILAC (International Organization of Laboratory Accreditation) for the field of test labs and signed the ILAC (ILAC-MRA) Mutual Recognition Agreement in the field of testing. This means that test reports issued by DA accredited laboratories are equivalent and accepted at European and International level. Also, DPA enjoys full membership status at the International Accreditation Forum (IAF). We underline that the General Directorate of Accreditation during 2018 became the signatory of EA-MLA in the field of Inspection and Certification of Management Systems and remaining a signatory of EA-MLA in the field of Testing. During the meeting held on April 25-26, 2018 in Belgrade, the Multilateral Recognition Arrangement (MLA) took into consideration the re-evaluation outcome of the DA. Based on the evaluation report and the additional report provided by the Task Force Group (TFG) established to review the evaluation report, the council members confirmed that the DPA fully complies with EA requirements and that sufficient confidence was gained in relation to the operational and technical performance of the accreditation activities covered under EA-MLA. The Council confirmed that DPA remains an EA-MLA signatory in the field of testing and becomes a signatory member of EA MLA in the field of management system certification in accordance with ISO / IEC 17021-1 and inspection in accordance with ISO / IEC 17020. Consequently, all certificates issued by laboratories accredited by DA, certificates of management and inspection systems issued by certification and inspection bodies accredited by the DA will be equivalent and accepted at European level. The international recognition of services provided by accredited conformity assessment bodies enables companies to easily expand their business to foreign markets without presenting their products and services for additional checks at entry sites. Upon obtaining the status by the General Directorate of Accreditation as a signatory member of EA-MLA in the field of testing according to ISO / IEC 17025 standard in the field of ISO / IEC17021-1 management system certification and in the field of inspection according to ISO / IEC 17020, the free movement of goods and services in foreign markets was achieved. The signing of these agreements is not only a great achievement for the General Directorate of Accreditation, but enables a conformity assessment body to be accredited more than once for the same accreditation field, enabling the free movement of products and services in foreign markets without being subjected to re-testing or re-certification at the entry site, thus making accreditation to serve as a valid passport in all international markets. We also underline that the signing of these agreements by the General Directorate of Accreditation is good news not only for business that will not be subject torecharge costs for the products they will export, bringing serious and measurable benefits, but also for the economic system which will be improved as a result of increased number of exports. The signing of the three mutual recognition agreements in 2018 has realized the European and international recognition of testing reports, certification of management systems and inspection reports issued by bodies accredited by DA. Specifically during this year are signed:

• April 2018 – The respective Technical Committee took the decision to extend EA-MLA in the field of inspection and certification of management systems
• 16 July 2018, DPA has become a full member of the mutual recognition agreement with the International Laboratory Accreditation Organization (ILAC) in the field of inspection after the test of 2016 signed
• In July 2018, DPA applied to become a signatory member of mutual recognition agreements with IAF in the field of certification of management systems. After completing all evaluation processes, in October 2018, DPA signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) in the field of certification of management systems