TY - CONF A1 - Thiele, Joachim T1 - The role of accreditation for trade and industry: Accreditation in Germany and Europe N2 - Accreditation of conformity assessment bodies (testing and calibration laboratories, inspection bodies, certification bodies for management systems, persons, products) confirms their competence. Accreditation contributes to international trade and globalisation by mutual recognition of certificates issued and can reduce multiple testing and certifications. It is a tool to avoid technical barriers to trade. The difference between the regulated and the voluntary areas of conformity assessment is explained. Reference is given to the international standards for conformity assessment (ISO/IEC 17000 series). Accreditation is the preferred means of the European Commission to become a notified body for certain EC Directives. Therefore the European Commission cooperates closely with the European cooperation for Accreditation EA and its national accreditation body members. The elements of the quality infrastructure and the role of BAM are explained. Practical examples and experiences of the BAM quality management system and the BAM certification body are reported. BAM is a Notified Body and offers services in special fields of the voluntary and the regulatory areas of conformity assessment. BAM has a long tradition in supporting German and European accreditation activities. BAM runs the secretariat of the Accreditation Advisory Board (AKB) for the national German accreditation body DAkkS and supports the German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) in this field. The BAM databases for Proficiency Test Providers EPTIS and for reference materials COMAR contribute to the accreditation worldwide. The advantages of accreditation are highlighted. The number s of accreditation bodies worldwide, the number of granted accreditations in Germany and an overview of some main fields of system certification and industrial branches are given. T2 - Quality Infrastructure Training Accreditation and CA II – Final workshop CY - Kyiv, Ukraine DA - 23.06.2016 KW - Accreditation PY - 2016 AN - OPUS4-36739 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -