Twinning project
"Strengthening activities of the National Accreditation Agency of Ukraine (NAAU)”
In accordance with the initiative of the Government of Ukraine within the framework of the European Commission’s program TACIS, the Twinning project “Strengthening activities of the National Accreditation Agency of Ukraine (NAAU)” has started on the 1st of February 2008.
This Twinning institutional program, which is financed by the European Commission, represents the cooperation between the National Accreditation Agency of Ukraine and the Consortium, headed by the Netherlands Standardization Institute (NEN). Other members of the Consortium are as follows: the Swedish Board for Accreditation and Conformity Assessment (SWEDAC), the Netherlands Metrology Institute (NMi-VSL) and the Netherlands Accreditation Council (RvA).
Goal
The EU-Ukraine Action Plan of 21st of February 2005 sets as a priority the gradual approximation of the Ukrainian legislation, norms and standards with those of the European Union in preparation for the progressive participation in the Internal Market.
According to the Action Plan, priority should be given to sectors where there is potential trade with the EU and where technical barriers of trade exist or where there are costly and/or complex conformity assessment procedures.
This project will support this process by strengthening the accreditation activities in the selected priority sectors and other areas deemed relevant.
Purpose
The main objectives of this project are:
- to build up the knowledge among the Ukrainian industry, vendors and national authorities about the importance of accreditation and conformity assessment;
- to increase the competence and capacity of NAAU to assess the competence of laboratories, certification and inspection bodies etc., thus fulfilling European and international conformity assessment requirements in the harmonized, non harmonized and voluntary sectors.
Sectors covered by this project:
Sectors in the New Approach Directives:
Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC)
Low voltage equipment (LVD)
Machinery Vessels
Simple Pressure Vessels
Other sectors:
Food and Agriculture
Environmental Policy
Medicare
Occupational health and safety
Information security
Automotive industry
Certification of persons
Inspection
Oil sector
Project phases
The project is carried out in accordance with the approved program which comprises from the following phases:
1. Within the first months, the experts from the EU Member State Partner will evaluate the current situation in the field of accreditation in Ukraine and will conduct seminars aimed at raising awareness and increasing the general knowledge in the sphere of European accreditation and conformity assessment.
2. Based on the results of the preliminary evaluation the experts from NAAU and experts from the EU Member State Partner will be working on improving accreditation in the food and automotive industries. Same activity is foreseen in other priority sectors chosen in order to ensure the conformity to European standards and to prepare for full implementation of Acquis communautaire.
3. At the same time, the Ukrainian experts will be trained and go through internship in Ukraine, the Netherlands and Sweden, which will provide an opportunity to analyze and master the existing practice in the EU Member State Partner.
At this stage, NAAU with the assistance of experts from the Netherlands and Sweden will develop documentation (procedures, guidelines, surveys, technical documents etc.) that are necessary for the realization of the project.
4. The last phase of the project is composed of the suitability assessment of documents and trainings, as well as the action plan for full integration of Acquis communautaire into the Ukrainian accreditation.
Members of the Twinning project’s working group:
- On behalf of the Member State Partner - Project Leader, Mr. Robert Huigen; Junior Project Leader, Mrs. Wenell and the Resident Twinning Advisor (works directly at NAAU), Mr. Oleg Chevtchenko.
- On behalf of the Beneficiary country - Project Leader, Mr. Dmytro Zorgach, Chairman of NAAU and the Resident Twinning Advisor’s Partner, Mr. Valerii Krasiuk, Head of the international cooperation and information maintenance department at NAAU.
Contacts
Valerii Krasiuk, NAAU - +38(044) 2944339
E-mail: krasiuk@naau.org.ua
Oleg Chevtchenko, prof., dr., NEN, NAAU - +38(044) 5509485
E-mail: oleg.chevtchenko@nen.nl