IJCA - Volume 3 - Flipbook - Page 48
46 The International Journal of Conformity Assessment
protocol is seen as complementary to numerous
other digitalization initiatives already underway within
the conformity and accreditation sectors, such as the
Digital Calibration Certificate11 and the emergence of
electronic accreditation seals12.
The approach recognizes the role of CABs as the
valid custodians of the data that they produce and
their authority over any revisions to such data. At
the same time, the obligation of CABs to respect
and implement the confidentiality requirements
of their customers remains central to the work.
The described approach does not preclude other
concurrent processes for conformity data exchange,
so the adoption of this model by individual parties
may occur on any timeframe without disrupting
existing trade provisions. Also, since the provision
of conformity assessment data is a relatively selfcontained aspect of trade, it is intended that the
approach could be adopted as a component of any
comprehensive digital trade process. The ideas
put forward have found fertile ground in related
United Nations initiatives, most notably the United
Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
Recommendation #49 - Transparency at Scale13.
As an important caveat to the proposed protocol,
in cases where legislative processes exist for
establishing product conformity within a jurisdiction
(such as CE Marking14), this work only seeks to
describe the exchange of CAB outputs up until the
point in the value chain at which a regulator, or other
authority, takes control of product conformity. Any
further exchange of CAB outputs beyond that point
would occur in a manner defined by the legislator.
Outside of the defined jurisdiction, the proposed
protocols may still have relevance for the purpose
of export (that is, to address overseas market
requirements). Additionally, even within the defined
jurisdiction, products may still be subject to voluntary
conformity assessment processes that relate to
product attributes not covered by legislative approvals.
Suppliers may see increasing pressure from their
customers to provide higher standards of conformity
evidence, commensurate with corporate reporting
obligations as well as to support opportunities to
generate pricing premiums for well-substantiated
green claims. CABs or scheme owners may
determine that the described data model can address
the needs of their customers by providing a reliable
and safe mechanism for data discovery. Parties
already acting as hosting platforms for conformity
data (e.g., some scheme owners and verifying bodies)
©Freepik
could deliver these new provisions on behalf of CABs,
serving a complementary purpose to existing hosting
activities. Some CABs may prefer such parties to act
on their behalf in implementing these provisions.
Conclusion
To enable integration of product conformity data with
digital trade processes, there is a need to address
short-term and medium-term trade digitalization
demands, while providing a transition pathway towards
full digitalization on a timeframe that may be more
manageable for CABs. It is hoped the UN/CEFACT
speci昀椀cation will generate constructive international
discussion among key quality infrastructure
institutions, relevant representative bodies, and the
wider conformity assessment community regarding
the merits of such an approach. Such international
engagement and dialogue is important in helping to
de昀椀ne and shape the role of conformity assessment in
a future digital trading environment.
Author Biography
Brett Hyland is the Stakeholder Engagement Manager
at Australia’s laboratory accreditation authority, NATA,
and is a current Project Lead at the United Nations
Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business
(UN/CEFACT). He brings a broad perspective to
conformity assessment matters, with a career that has
included management system certi昀椀cation, laboratory
operations and management, technical management
of accreditation operations, regulatory engagement,
and varied international representations. More recently,
Brett has led national and international activities aimed
at de昀椀ning standard protocols for handling conformity
data within the context of digital trade systems.
