ERA-GUI-100.pdf - Europa

Guide for the application of the Art 14 (a) of the Safety Directive and Commission Regulation (EU) No 445/2011
on a system of certification of entities in charge of maintenance for freight wagons – VERSION 1.0
7 ACCREDITATION – RECOGNITION OF CERTIFICATION
BODIES
7.1 What does Accreditation mean?
It means “third party attestation related to a conformity assessment body conveying formal
demonstration of its competence to carry out specific conformity assessment tasks (Source
ISO/IEC 17000:2004)”
Accreditation, as defined in Article 2(10) of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 of the European
Parliament and of the Council, means that a National Accreditation body carries out a conformity
assessment with the requirements set by harmonised standards and, where applicable, any
additional requirements including those set out in relevant sectorial schemes.
Regarding specifically to the accreditation of the certification bodies to perform the certification of
ECMs, ERA has developed, with the sector, the corresponding accreditation scheme [17], available
in the following link:
http://www.era.europa.eu/Document-Register/Documents/Accreditation%20Scheme.pdf
7.2 What is EA (European cooperation for accreditation)?
EA, European co-operation for Accreditation, is a nonprofit association which was set up in
November 1997 and registered as an association in the Netherlands in June 2000 and revised in
November 2010 (Articles of Association).
EA is the European network of nationally recognised accreditation bodies located in the European
geographical area.
EA has been established by the European Commission as the official European accreditation
infrastructure. This became effective on 1st April 2009 in Brussels when the Guidelines for
Cooperation between the European Commission (EC), the EFTA, EA and the competent national
authorities were signed. These Guidelines set out the principles and objectives for the cooperation
between EA, EC, EFTA and competent national authorities, and provide criteria for the effective
and timely implementation of the reinforced role of EA.
The appointment of EA as the official European accreditation infrastructure follows the adoption of
Regulation (EC) no 765/2008 of the European Parliament and the Council of 9 July 2008
establishing a legal framework for accreditation in the EU/EFTA member states. This regulation
came into effect as of 1st January 2010.
A Framework Partnership Agreement between EA, EC and EFTA setting out the common
cooperation objectives as well as the administrative and financial conditions relating to Community
financing granted to EA for the implementation of European accreditation policy and of the new EC
Regulation, was signed on 30 June 2010 in Brussels. A similar FPA was specifically signed with
EFTA. These Partnership Agreements place EA in the same position as other organizations of
major European interest (European Standardization Bodies, for instance).
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