The Benefits of Accreditation

Competent, impartial and transparent accreditation builds trust globally, giving people confidence that products, services and systems are safe, reliable and contribute to a more sustainable everyday life.

Conformity assessment bodies

E.SY.D. accreditation implies successfully passing a rigorous evaluation process in accordance with internationally recognised standards. It also demonstrates the bodies’ technical competence to carry out their evaluation activities both in Greece and in the global market. An accredited body will obtain:

• Recognition. The prestige and trust acquired when a single agent, E.SY.D., grants accreditation can be asserted multiple times to publics such as clients or governments, reducing the possibility of their being subject to multiple assessments performed by clients and the competent administrations. Accreditation is now present in every economic sector, regardless of whether companies operate in the regulatory or non-regulatory field, in Greece, the rest of Europe and the world.
• Competitive advantage. Accreditation also provides an independent guarantee of the competence of your staff. It can help you set yourself apart from the competition, thereby enabling you to compete with other organisations, even the largest ones. In addition, in some sectors accreditation is a requisite for securing authorisation to be able to provide certain services; in others it is a de facto licence that key purchasers deem necessary.
• Access to markets. E.SY.D. accreditation is recognised and accepted worldwide, thereby creating opportunities abroad as it is increasingly required by public and private sector organisations across the world.
• Ongoing improvement. Accreditation is the tool usually employed by assessors to pinpoint areas for improvement, thereby providing the chance to improve the results of the organisation on an ongoing basis.
• Facilitates access to public procurement. As the use of accredited services is becoming more and more of a priority in public procurement contracts.

Business

Accreditation is a tool increasingly used by companies all around the world, as it adds value in terms of efficiency and safety, enables new markets to open up and makes it easier for businesses to access public procurement. These guarantees help them stand out in the market when facing clients and different interested parties. By relying on accredited bodies, companies will obtain:

• Product and service safety. Relying on technically competent conformity assessment services helps companies reduce the risks of producing or providing a defective product or offering a service without the necessary level of quality.
• Legal security. Accreditation is the safest and most internationally recognised parameter for choosing a reliable conformity assessment service provider so that, in the event of legal action, trusted accredited conformity assessment bodies allow a company to demonstrate due diligence.
• Prestige. Accredited services provide reliability and recognition to products or services, which directly impacts the company’s image and customers’ confidence.
• Savings and efficiency. Accredited conformity assessment services provide value in economic terms, since they reduce the possibility of the same product being submitted to redundant or repetitive assessments, with a consequent saving as product testing is costly and time-consuming, even though it was performed correctly the first time.
• Markets. E.SY.D.’s accreditation is recognised and accepted worldwide, which allows the results of accredited conformity assessment bodies to be more easily accepted by foreign markets. This acceptance, while allowing access to new business opportunities, contributes to reduced costs to manufacturers and exporters, thus reducing or eliminating the need for repeat tests in the importing country. Furthermore, in Europe, Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 states that national authorities shall recognise the equivalence of each Member State and shall accept the certificates concerned.
• Access to public procurement. Use of accredited services is increasingly prioritised in public tender contracts around the world, as proof of conformity with the requirements or the specification criteria, the award criteria or the contract performance conditions.

A guarantee for SMEs. On many occasions, SMEs have to make use of very complex technical services, such as laboratories or inspection or certification bodies, and they do not always have the means to assess the real competence they offer, as well as their validity and international recognition. To ensure that you have entities that provide you with security and guarantees both in Greece and internationally, you must choose services accredited by E.SY.D. And investing in accreditation can also become an investment in growth and expansion of markets.

Government

Accreditation is being increasingly used by many public administrations as a tool to guarantee the security and integrity of evaluation activities intervening in key sectors for public policies — healthcare, environmental protection, critical infrastructures, food safety or cybersecurity, among others. Accredited bodies provide the public sector with a set of means that can be used to implement their policies and achieve their objectives.

• Cost reduction. Accreditation provides a surveillance and control system without impacting the taxpayer, allowing central, regional or local governments to focus their resources on the aspects to be regulated. Thus, the technical weight of supervision is held by a specialised organisation, E.SY.D., without diminishing governmental powers, as the accreditation system allows a continuous coordination with the authorities.
• Agility. Accreditation enables the use of new, more agile and flexible regulation techniques, favouring self-regulation while ensuring the reliability of activities and helping increase public confidence.
• Harmonisation. As accreditation is a regulated activity in Europe, it can be used in different countries with a full guarantee of compatibility and harmonisation.

Currently, both in Greece and in Europe, accreditation is widely used by legislators. Many national and European regulations incorporate accreditation as a tool to deliver confidence in products and services, develop safe markets and strengthen consumer protection. Thus, the European Commission recognises accreditation as the preferred means to demonstrate technical competence for the proper functioning of the common market in the Member States, through Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council:

Where Community harmonisation legislation provides for the selection of conformity assessment bodies for its implementation, transparent accreditation, as provided for in this Regulation, ensuring the necessary level of confidence in conformity certificates.

Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council, recital 12

Accreditation examples. Some sectors where accreditation is applied: agri-food, healthcare, environment, automotive, telecommunications, urban planning control, industry.