Ministry of Commerce And Supplies - Enhanced Integrated ...

N T I S2010The NBSM as a secretariat of the Nepal Council for Standards under the existing Act has been given responsibilitiesto develop a Nepal Laboratory Accreditation Scheme (NEPLAS) for accrediting laboratories operating in Nepal.NEPLAS is based on SINGLAS (Singapore/ISO Guide 25). In this connection, the NBSM has developed laboratoryaccreditation directives and criteria against which laboratories are accredited in line with the internationalstandards and guidelines, including ISO/IEC 17025 and ISO/IEC Guideline 43. This programme has beenlaunched and the NBSM is aiming at greater participation of private laboratories. The NBSM laboratory isserving as a control and verification centre. So far, seven laboratories have been accredited under this scheme(NEPLAS) and a few more are in the pipeline. None of the government laboratories have been accredited evenunder the scheme of NEPLAS. The NBSM is collaborating with various international laboratory accreditationschemes such as NATA, TELRAC, HOKLAS, and APLAC, in proficiency testing programmes.As a part of complying with the WTO/TBT agreement, Nepal needs to form a separate national accreditationbody with international recognition. All government and private sector laboratories need to go for accreditationif their conformity assessment report and test results are to be recognized internationally. Unless a newaccreditation board is formed and unless the capacity of the new board is internationally recognized, Nepaleselaboratories will have to be accredited by some international accreditation bodies based in other countries ifthey want their conformity certification to be recognized outside Nepal. The current laboratory accreditationprocess adopted by the NBSM remains meaningless as its own laboratories are yet to be accredited from anyinternationally recognized accreditation body.The current projects like the SAARC regional SMTQ Phase II project and the EU-Nepal WTO AssistanceProgramme are assisting both the NBSM and the DFTQC in refurbishing and upgrading their laboratories andstarting the process of accreditation for certain testing and analyses by internationally recognized accreditingbodies.JICA has been supporting the construction of a new laboratory complex for the DFTQC and new equipmentand instruments like HPLC, GC/MS, and AAS have been secured. Furthermore, gap analysis has been done byexperts under the EU/Nepal WTO Assistance project to meet the accreditation requirements of the DFTQC’schemical and microbiological laboratories. The procurement of additional equipment/instruments andglassware has been initiated. It is expected that, by the end of 2010, all the requirements of equipment,documentation and staff will have been met and the accreditation process will begin.For establishing a credible calibration system with international traceability, the NBSM is strengthening its legalmetrology laboratory with support from the SMTQ Phase II project and the EU-WTO project, implementedby PTB Germany. Laboratory upgrading and staff training are nearly completed. The expectation is that theprocess of accreditation of the laboratory for calibration parameters, particularly mass and temperature, by areputed international accreditation board will also be completed within 2010.Currently, the NBSM is upgrading and refurbishing its chemical and microbiological laboratories for accreditationby some internationally reputed accreditation body, as in the case of the DFTQC.The current status of accreditation of major government and private laboratories of Nepal is shown in Table7.5.178NEPAL TRADE INTEGRATION STRATEGY 2010BACKGROUND REPORT