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 |
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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