Bhutan Standards Bureau

ཨེན་ཨེཕ་པི།

BACKGROUND

The Bhutan Standards Bureau has established a National Accreditation Focal Point (NAFP) through the SAARC-PTB cooperation framework to facilitate accreditation of conformity assessment bodies in the country and provide access to international recognized accreditation services.

FUNCTIONS OF NAFP:

1)      Facilitate in providing internationally recognized accreditation to the conformity assessment bodies (CABs);
2)      Link between clients and Partner Accreditation Bodies;
3)      Identifying individuals and centers of national expertise;
4)      Monitoring of conformity assessment bodies working towards accreditation in their respective territories;
5)      Assist in the Training and Development of experts as assessors as well as laboratory and other conformity assessment bodies personnel;

The NAFP will provide services to facilitate accreditation of the following conformity assessment bodies:

1)      Testing and Calibration Laboratories;
2)      Certification Bodies;
3)      Inspection Bodies;

INTERNATIONAL LINKAGES:

The NAFP is a member of the SAARC Expert Group on Accreditation (SEGA) established under the SAARC-PTB cooperation framework on Accreditation. The NAFP is also the member of the following organization:

1)      Associate Member to APLAC and
2)      Corresponding Member to PAC

Asia Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (APLAC) is a cooperation of accreditation bodies in the Asia Pacific region that accredit laboratories, inspection bodies and reference material producers. It is recognized by the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) as one of five Specialist Regional Bodies (SRBs).

The Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (PAC) is an association of accreditation bodies and other interested parties whose objective is to facilitate trade and commerce among economies in the Asia Pacific region. Its ultimate objective is the creation of a global system that grants international recognition of certification or registration of management systems, products, services, personnel and other programmes of conformity assessment. The PAC promotes the international acceptance of accreditations granted by its accreditation body members, based on the equivalence of their accreditation programmes.

Partner Accreditation Bodies (Signed MoU with)

1)      National Accreditation Board for Testing & Calibration Labs (NABL, India)
2)      National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB, India)