CHINA NATIONAL ACCREDITATION BOARD FOR CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT (CNAS) INTRODUCED

The laboratory of HESHAN LEO METROLOGY AND TESTING SERVICES CO. LTD. has been accredited by China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment (hereinafter referred to as CNAS). CNAS is the national accreditation body of China unitarily responsible for the accreditation bodies, laboratories and inspection bodies, which is established under the approval of Certification and Accreditation Administration of the People’s Republic of China on Certification and Accreditation.

CNAS was founded on March 31, 2006 by merging the former China National Accreditation Board for Certifiers (CNAB) and China National Accreditation Board for Laboratories (CNAL). CNAB was the national accreditation body responsible for the accreditation of management system certification bodies and product certification bodies. CNAL was the national accreditation body responsible for the accreditation of laboratories and inspection bodies and related activities.

The purpose of CNAS is to promote conformity assessment bodies to strengthen their development in accordance with the requirements of applicable standards and specifications, and to facilitate the conformity assessment bodies to effectively provide service to the society by means of impartial conduct, scientific means and accurate results.

China national accreditation system for conformity assessment has been a part of international accreditation multilateral recognition system, and is playing an important role in it.
The former CNAB was the accreditation body member of International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (PAC), as well as the signatory to IAF Multilateral Recognition Arrangement (MLA) and PAC MLA. The former CNAL was the accreditation body member of International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and Asia Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (APLAC), as well as the signatory to ILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA on testing and calibration) and APLAC MRA (testing, calibration and inspection body) . By July 2008, 40accreditation bodies have signed IAF MLA for Quality Management System（QMS）, and 36 accreditation bodies have signed IAF MLA for Environmental Management System(EMS). Meanwhile, 61 laboratory accreditation bodies from 47 economies have signed ILAC MRA by July2008. CNAS has replaced the former CNAB and CNAL as the members and MLA/MRA signatories of IAF, ILAC, PAC and APLAC.

By the end of July 2008, CNAS has issued 321 accreditations to126 certification bodies in various fields (e.g. QMS, EMS, product certification etc.) These certification bodies have issued about 50 0,000 accredited certificates. By the end of July 2008, CNAS has accredited 3641 laboratories and 138 inspection bodies.