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SAARC Expert Group on Accreditation (SEGA)

BACKGROUND

A competent and efficient infrastructure of Accreditation bodies and conformity assessment bodies is a fundamental precondition to overcome potential technical barriers to trade in the in the SAARC region and between the SAARC region and other economies. Likewise, an effective Accreditation and conformity assessment infrastructure plays an important role at national level, e.g. in the fields of safety, health, and environmental protection. Hence the SAARC-PTB Workshops on Accreditation recommended establishment of an Expert Group under the framework of SAARC with accreditation bodies and nodal agencies dealing with accreditation to facilitate exchange of information and develop a framework for cooperation.

Considering the Report of the Fourth SAARC-PTB Workshop on Accreditation held in Kathmandu on 28-29 June 2010, the Seventh Meeting of SAARC Standards Coordination Board (SAARC Secretariat, Kathmandu 10-11 November 2010) “approved the establishment of a SAARC Expert Group on Accreditation (SEGA) to pursue the work relating to Accreditation in the region in collaboration with PTB under SAARC-PTB MOU”. The Report of the Seventh Meeting of the SAARC Standards Coordination Board was approved by the Thirty-eighth Session of Standing Committee (Thimphu, 6-7 February 2011). The Secretariat of SARSO is given the responsibility of coordinating and facilitating the activities for this cooperation under the SAARC-PTB project.

SEGA MEMBERS

Country Acronym SEGA National Members Address
Afghanistan ANSA Afghan National Standards Authority www.ansa.org.af
Bangladesh BSTI Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution www.bsti.gov.bd
Bhutan BSB National Accreditation Focal Point at

Bhutan Standards Bureau

www.bsb.gov.bt
India NABCB

NABL

National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies

National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories

www.qcin.org/nabcb

www.nabl-india.org

Maldives MoED Ministry of Economic Development www.trade.gov.mv
Nepal NBSM National Accreditation Focal Point at

National Bureau of Standards and Metrology

www.nbsm.gov.np
Pakistan PNAC Pakistan National Accreditation Council www.pnac.org.pk
Sri Lanka SLAB Sri Lanka Accreditation Board www.slab.lk

Meetings of the SAARC Expert Group on Accreditation (SEGA):

 Meeting No. Date Venue
First 3-4 September 2012 Malẻ, Maldives
Second 20-21 January 2014 Kathmandu, Nepal
Third 2-3 September 2014 Lahore, Pakistan
Fourth 18-19 November 2015 Colombo, Sri Lanka
Fifth 8-9 October 2016 Dhaka, Bangladesh
Regional kick-off workshop of the project phase 3 (2018-2021) 08-09 May 2018 Kathmandu, Nepal

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