“Development and sustainability of testing infrastructure in the Republic of Serbia”

The round-table on the subject of “Development and sustainability of testing infrastructure in the Republic of Serbia” was held on 9^th June 2014 in Andrevlje, Fruška Gora, and was organised by Informativni centar za poslovnu standardizaciju i sertifikaciju (BSC).

The round-table delegates were representatives of accredited laboratories, Directorate of Measures and Precious Metals (DMDM) and Accreditation Body of Serbia (ATS).

After a short opening address that was given by Marija Vujaković, BSC Director, Boris Laštro, DMDM representative, and Jelena Stojanović, ATS representative, gave short presentations on the operation of the Directorate of Measures and Precious Metals and Accreditation Body of Serbia, and the role and importance thereof as regards sustainability of the Serbian quality system in the field of testing/calibration. The presentations were followed by a discussion about the most important issues in the field of testing and calibration as regards quality system and harmonisation with the EU legislation and international standards. Representatives of accredited conformity assessment bodies (CABs) raised a series of questions pertaining to end user awareness raising on the importance of establishment of quality systems. It was also concluded that it would be useful to establish technical associations that would act as a link between respective ministries and accredited CABs and that could present and point to the importance and need to put in place quality systems for all fields of testing in the Republic of Serbia. The said discussion aimed at definition of current problems in certain fields of testing (e.g. in the field of civil engineering, adoption of new directives, etc.) that would serve as a basis for the selection of precisely defined topics to be covered at seminars and conferences.