§ Mr. TrendTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement about the outcome of his review of the status of the national measurement accreditation service and the National Accreditation Council for Certification Bodies.
§ Mr. Ian TaylorMy Department published a consultation document in April on the future provision of accreditation services in the United Kingdom. In the light of the response to this consultation, which favoured a merger of NACCB and NAMAS, the Government propose that a new company limited by guarantee be established during 1995 to take on the current functions and staff of NACCB and NAMAS. This will involve the transfer of around 60 posts out of DTI.
The company will carry out, under a memorandum of understanding with DTI which will recognise its national status, the assessments currently carried out by the two organisations covering laboratories, test houses and certification bodies. It will also cover environmental verifiers and inspection bodies and, as appropriate in future, others in related fields. The new body will make recommendations to the DTI which will grant accreditation. As a consequence accredited organisations will continue to be entitled to use marks incorporating the royal crown.
I expect a single, integrated private sector organisation to achieve efficiency savings leading to lower costs for industry. The organisation will also be in a strong position to promote United Kingdom interests in the rapidly developing international markets for certification and testing services in both the voluntary and regulatory spheres. With this in mind, the Government have decided that the body should be open to applications from non-United Kingdom organisations seeking accreditation.