Supporting the work of Regulators
TAF has been making efforts to promote the value of accreditation and the ILAC MRA for many years. Echoing the theme of 2011 World Accreditation Day, TAF is pleased to announce two recent progresses in establishing collaborations with domestic regulators.
1) MoU signing with the New Taipei City Government
The credibility of TAF accreditation in the civil engineering testing field has been recognised by various local governments and domestic prosecutor offices. Some TAF accreditation personnel have been invited to provide consultancy in auditing or surveillance of public construction works.
To build up an information exchange mechanism and a technical cooperation platform, on 18 July 2011, the Procurement Office, New Taipei City Government signed an MoU with TAF. The MoU aims to combine the efforts of both parties to enhance the technical level and the reliability of civil engineering testing results, so as to ensure the quality of public construction works. TAF provides expertise in related technical issues and cooperates with the Procurement Office in promoting the effective management of civil engineering tasks and the value of accreditation. Where needed, TAF accreditation experts will also take part in the auditing, surveillance or unscheduled visits.
2) Cooperation with the Bureau of Energy, Ministry of Economic Affairs
The Bureau of Energy, Ministry of Economic Affairs announced a new regulation for manufacturers of high-voltage electric power equipment under the Electricity Act in 2009, taking effect on 1 January 2012. Manufacturers of high-voltage electric power equipment, e.g. switchboards, prefabricated substations, etc., must have their testing laboratories accredited by TAF or an ILAC MRA Signatory, and this equipment must be tested in-house before being permitted into the Taiwan market. To ensure smooth implementation of this new regulation, the Bureau of Energy (BOE) and TAF started the preparation for this work and technical environment in 2008. A series of seminars and training courses for assessors and laboratories were conducted during 2009 – 2011. Representatives from BOE, TAF and TAF Assessors participated in a number of discussions and provided suggestions in management and technical issues, so as to ensure consistency in assessments. After making these efforts, the TAF assessment process is ready for providing such accreditation services to meet the requirements of the new regulation.
World Accreditation Day Event
On World Accreditation Day, 9 June, TAF held a “Supporting the work of regulators panel discussion” in the NTUH International Convention Centre. Mr Alan Tousignant, Economic Section Chief of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), was invited to give the opening remarks. The panel discussion was composed of two sessions: the status of acceptance and use of accreditation by international regulators and domestic regulators. Dr Jay-San Chen, TAF President, and Mr Nigel Jou, TAF CEO, acted as the chairperson and moderator respectively. Twelve experts were invited to share experiences from various perspectives: Mr Perry Fung, General Manager of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council – Taiwan Branch, Mr Shyr-Cherng Wang, Director of the 5th Division of the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI), Mr James Lou, Deputy Director of the National Communications Commission, Mr Te-Ming Wang, Senior Consumer Protection Officer of the Consumer Protection Commission, Mr Walter Yeh, Executive Vice President of the Taiwan External Trade Development Council, and Mr Hsing Hsu, Deputy Secretary General of the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association, Ms Linda Chen, Secretary General of the Bureau of Energy, Mr Chuan-Wei Lin, Director of the 3rd Division of BSMI, Ms Yu-Wen Chuang, Director of the Department of Planning, Council of Agriculture, Mr Shaw-Ying Yuan, Director of the Department of Supervision Evaluation and Dispute Resolution of EPA, Mr Sen Chen, Deputy Director of the Department of Labor Health and Safety, Council of Labor Affairs, and Dr Ho-Sheng Wu, Director of the Research and Diagnostic Center, Center for Disease Control. TAF also designed fourteen different two-metre high flyers with information on cooperative accreditation programs with various regulators or acceptance/use of accreditation in regulations. These flyers were exhibited in the venue, and TAF staff responsible for different fields provided information and answered questions on the site. Some 190 participants from regulatory and private sectors, conformity assessment bodies, associations and societies attended the event.
Training Course on RMP
TAF officially launched its accreditation service for RMP in May 2011. To enhance the comprehension of ISO Guide 34 and assist RMPs in preparing for accreditation application, TAF cordially invited Mr Wong Wang Wah from HKAS to give a 2-day lecture in Taipei on 12 – 13 July for 40 participants from potential RMPs and TAF staff. Mr Wong also shared the HKAS accreditation experiences and exchanged ideas with TAF colleagues in TAF Taipei Office on 14 July. TAF thanked Mr Wong for his contributions to TAF’s RMP accreditation service and expressed gratitude to HKAS for its kind provision of expertise.
Cross-strait PT program on LED street lighting
To accommodate the market needs of LED lighting products, TAF and CNAS organised the very first PT program on street lighting for distribution curve of luminous intensity and photometry quality. Two reference labs, the Green Energy and Environment Research Laboratories of the Industrial Technology Research Institute (Taiwan) and the National Lighting Test Centre (China) began the planning in early 2010, and the program was completed in July 2011. There were ten participating LED testing labs (five from each party) in this program. This is a successful trial for PT programs on LED products, and can serve as a reference for other PT programs on LED products in the future.
