>Singapore will be the meeting place for the 14th Asia Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (APLAC) General Assembly and Technical Meetings from Dec 6-12 this year.
The members of APLAC will develop rules for accreditation, mutual recognition arrangements (MRA), and brainstorm approaches to encourage acceptance of accredited test results by regulatory bodies.
One of the key issues that will be discussed at the meeting is the revised European Technical Directive framework that uses accredited laboratory test results as basis for acceptance of products into the European Union (EU).
EU is a key market for many Singapore businesses, accounting for about $48 billion worth of exports and the new framework will potentially affect much of Singapore's trade with EU.
To date, Singapore has signed nine MRAs involving 51 economies covering the areas of testing and inspection.
The cross-border recognition of accreditation results helps to reduce the need for re-testing when products are exported to countries in the MRA network, saving cost and facilitating trade.
Mr Heng Chiang Gnee, SAC Chairman said, "Our efforts in accreditation in the past decade have earned us international recognition. More importantly, as a result of accreditation... their products and services are tested and certified here and accepted elsewhere. This is especially beneficial for small and medium-sized enterprises as it lowers costs and opens up new business opportunities for them."
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