EU sets out recommendations for accredited bodies in greater detail
In connection with the war in Ukraine, the European Commission has fleshed out its provisions for the accreditation and conformity assessment sector in a letter to the European co-operation for Accreditation (EA). Under these provisions, the EU Commission recommends that all accredited bodies based in the EU discontinue their conformity assessment activities for companies located in Russia or Belarus.
Recommendations to conformity assessment bodies
The recommendations of the EU Commission go beyond the earlier provisions. Previously, accredited bodies could not carry out conformity assessments for companies based in Russia or Belarus if these organisations were either on the European Union’s sanctions list or their products and services were affected by the ban on imports into the EU. The European Commission is now proposing to extend the measures in both countries to areas that are not themselves subject to any sanctions or an import ban.
The full text of the European Commission’s recommendations is published on the website of the European co-operation for Accreditation (EA).
No accreditation activities in Russia and Belarus
In the area of accreditation, Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle (DAkkS) has discontinued all activities in Russia and Belarus and withdrawn its accreditations. In addition, it will neither accept new applications for accreditation from these countries nor continue to process ongoing cases. In this context, DAkkS will also not carry out any surveillance assessments or witness audits for existing accreditations. This approach is in line with the current recommendations of the European Commission.
