Each European country has its own Accreditation Body.
Accredia is the body designated by the Italian government to certify the competence and impartiality of Italian conformity assessment bodies and laboratories.
Accredia is a
signatory of the International Mutual Recognition Agreements European co-operation for Accreditation (
EA), International Accreditation Forum (
IAF) and International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (
ILAC), which aim to promote the
free movement of goods and services. Because this, test reports and certificates bearing the Accredia mark are recognised in all countries that have signed the agreements.
According to General Regulation
RG-09 rev.12 EC - Rules for the use of the Accredia logo and mark and
Accredia Information Circular No. 4/2024, CATAS, as an accredited testing laboratory and certification body, will adopt the new mark and accreditation numbering system established by Accredia.
Unification of accreditation number per legal entityWith the introduction of the new system, the accreditation number will be unique for each legal entity, regardless of the type of accreditation it holds. Previously, CATAS was identified with the number 27 as a testing laboratory and 215B as a certification body. Now, both schemes will be associated with the unique identification number 00024 in Accredia's databases.
Changes in Laboratory’s Test ReportsFrom 1st April 2025, test reports issued by CATAS will bear the new accreditation mark and number. From that date, documents with the previous blue Accredia mark will no longer be issued. In the case of revisions of single tests in a test report file, all accredited tests will be updated (with an increase in the revision number and issue date) to ensure uniformity of the mark. The same criterion will be applied to translations of test reports before 1st April 2025; in these cases, documents in the original language will also be reissued.
Updates in the Certification Body’s CertificatesFrom 1st April 2025, the Product Certification Body will also issue certificates for certification schemes under ACCREDIA accreditation with the new mark and numerical reference, according to the accreditation body's guidelines. Therefore, the certificates of the Catas Quality Award - CQA Formaldehyde CARB and Catas Quality Award - CQA Formaldehyde TSCA Title VI (EPA) schemes issued according to the Californian and US low formaldehyde emission panel requirements, referring to first quarter of 2025 will bear the new accreditation mark references.
CATAS is committed to making this transition transparent and clear for its customers and is available for any clarification.
What does it mean for CATAS to maintain a certification scheme under ACCREDIA accreditation?
- The presence of a team of qualified inspectors, who operate in an impartial manner and whose competence on products and audit techniques is constantly updated and monitored;
- The establishment of a decision-making body, completely independent of the certification process, which operates downstream of all audit activities and makes decisions on certification, to guarantee the impartiality and independence of the body's decisions.
- The presence of a Committee for the Safeguard of Impartiality and Independence, made up of representatives of the categories of producers, consumers, control bodies and research organisations, which monitors the activity of the certification body with an external and above-board view.
- The verification of all certification processes through periodic on-site and monitoring inspections at certified companies by ACCREDIA.
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What does it mean for CATAS to be an accredited laboratory?
- It means having received formal recognition from ACCREDIA attesting its suitability to carry out specific types of analysis and produce technically valid results. Recognition implies the accreditation body's assessment of the laboratory's quality system by analysing procedures and documentation and verifying the technical competence required to perform laboratory tests correctly.
- Technical competence covers all phases of analysis, including equipment calibration and extends to related activities such as sampling, always paying attention to the relationship with the custom.
- Accreditation is maintained through periodic inspections of the laboratory by ACCREDIA teams of auditors.
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