Mozambique Paper on. LINKING TRADE PROMOTION ORGANIZATIONS (TPOs) AND NATIONAL STANDARDS BODIES (NSBs) FOR EXPORT SUCCESS

Transcription

1 Mozambique Paper on LINKING TRADE PROMOTION ORGANIZATIONS (TPOs) AND NATIONAL STANDARDS BODIES (NSBs) FOR EXPORT SUCCESS NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND QUALITY (INNOQ) MAPUTO, MOZAMBIQUE 2011

2 1. INTRODUCTION The National Institute of Standards and Quality (INNOQ) is a public institution, nationwide. The Institute now functions under the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, and it has legal personality and administrative autonomy. It was created in 1993 by the Law No. 2/93 of 24 March. The National Institute of Standards and Quality (INNOQ) was created with the fundamental objective of promoting and coordinating the National Quality Policy in Mozambique, through the implementation of the activities of Standardization, Metrology and Quality Management, aimed at the development of national economy. 2. THE ROLE, STRUCTURE AND SCOPE OF THE ORGANIZATION 2.1. STRATEGIC MISSION, VISION AND VALUES OF INNOQ The National Institute of Standards and Quality (INNOQ) has as it mission to promote quality in Mozambique and to be responsible for coordination, management and general development of the National Quality System (NQS) as well as other systems of classification in the regulatory field, conferred upon it by law. The institution's vision is to be recognized at national, regional and international levels as an efficient body, financially sustainable and credible in their various areas of activity. The principal values of the institution are: Credibility and integrity; Customer and employee satisfaction; Continuous improvement INNOQ S AFFILIATIONS Internationally The INNOQ is a corresponding member of: International Organization for Standardization (ISO); International Organization for Standardization (OIML). The INNOQ is the Inquiry and Notification point of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT); The INNOQ is an affiliate member of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC); The INNOQ participates in the activities of the CODEX Alimentarius. 1

3 Regionally The INNOQ participates in the following SADC structures: Southern African Development Community Cooperation in Standardization (SADCSTAN); Southern African Development Community Cooperation in Measurement (SADCMET); Southern African Development Community Cooperation in Legal Metrology (SADCMEL); Southern African Development Community Accreditation (SADCA); Southern African Development Community Accreditation Service (SADCAS); Southern African Development Community Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade (SADCTBTC); Southern African Development Community Committee on Technical Regulations SADCTRLC SEVICES PROVIDED BY INNOQ STANDARDIZATION Standards development is among the principal task of the National Institute of Standards and Quality (INNOQ). Being the National Standards Body (NSB) under the National Quality System, INNOQ represents Mozambique in international and regional standardization organizations. The institution is responsible for coordinating the national standards activity, with the collaboration of stakeholders. These parties are mostly also INNOQ partners and clients as the Government, institutions including laboratories, economic associations, producers of goods and services, importers, exporters and consumers. The INNOQ has developed around 250 national standards and for the purpose of trade, the development of Mozambican standards is done taking into account the country's needs and complies with international guidelines with the following main objectives: National interests; Rationalization of manufacturing or production and exchange of goods and services, through systematic and repetitive operations; Protection of consumer interests; Safety of persons and property: Uniformity of the communication. In this sense, INNOQ offers: A forum to participate in establishing standards of Mozambique; The possibility of proposing the development of standards in specific activities; The consultation, ordering and purchase of foreign and international standards; The consultation of catalogs and magazines specialized agencies; Participation in specific courses. 2

4 Among the services offered by INNOQ in the area of standardization, there is a large influx of companies looking for standards on quality management systems and environmental. Some industries have sought to product standards, the standards which stand on cement, fruit processing, cashew nuts, textiles, etc METROLOGY The INNOQ, through its Department of Meteorology, has a core area for the provision of calibration and verification of measuring instruments, to public and private sectors. Under the Industrial Metrology, INNOQ provides calibration services to companies and other economic agents in the areas of: Mass - Calibration services of weights and balances; Temperature - Calibration services for thermometers and temperature facilities; Volume - Calibration services burettes, volumetric flasks, pipettes Length - Calibration services of Meter and measuring tapes In Mozambique the activities of Legal Metrology is an assignment INNOQ, which also contributes to its uniform application in the world, through their participation in the International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML). It is the responsibility of INNOQ to carry out the verification of instruments under the Legal Metrology. However, in order to provide coverage nationwide INNOQ delegated powers to the Municipal Councils for the verification of measuring mass and volume. Thus, the services of verifying instruments for measuring mass and volume passed since the agreement, the jurisdiction of the municipal councils Mozambicans, but somehow, it still contains the local councils in collaboration with the INNOQ with regard to seals of approval or disapproval of the instrument, and the procedures of verification and calibration of the standards of the municipal councils. Has been noted that awareness about the importance of adherence to calibration services has grown within companies. This fact is revealed by the increasing number of companies looking for these services in all the areas of calibration services provided by INNOQ CERTIFICATION The INNOQ, through its Department of Certification, is beginning to offer the certification of Quality Management Systems (NM ISO 9001) and Environmental (NM ISO 14001), that are internationally recognized. Since its inception, has promoted public training courses in order to share updated knowledge about the evolution of technical standards of certification, among which we highlight the training courses on implementation of management systems. As a result of the current competitive environment that companies have faced in the market and the growing influx of them seeking the services of INNOQ in the area of certification, is under 3

5 way to establish the bases for the beginning of the process of certification of management systems quality that is one of the greatest challenges of INNOQ today. 3. THE EXISTING RELATION BETWEEN NSB s AND TPC s The trade promotion organization in Mozambique is the Institute of Export Promotion (IPEX) and, as well as INNOQ, this institution is overseen by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. These bodies are aware that everyday commercial transactions and international trade could not take place without the support of an effective standards and conformance infrastructure. And for that reason, there are some common strategic objectives established for the purpose of developing the export trade. The IPEX and INNOQ have cooperated to promote export trade with the active participation of members of IPEX in the technical committees of standardization so that there is great concern in reflecting the concerns of exporters in developing standards issues. On the other hand INNOQ has offered his services to the IPEX in matters of training in various courses for them promoted on standardization and conformity assessment. Despite these efforts to strengthen the link and cooperation between these bodies, at present, due to lack of testing facilities, and for only this year start with the certification process, INNOQ cannot help the TPO in the trade promotion effectively. 4. POTENTIAL FUTURE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NSB s AND TPO s As mentioned above, INNOQ is about to start with the certification process, and in parallel, are being built new facilities that include important infrastructure to support its activity as testing laboratories. With the new facilities will be possible to fortify the technical staff in order to meet the needs of existing services in the matter of improving quality. Thus INNOQ will be in time to cooperate effectively with the IPEX in promoting exports. 5. CONCLUSION There is a consensus on the importance and necessity of cooperation between the INNOQ and IPEX. So that in Mozambique there is an involvement in the activities of both organizations in order to promote the export trade. However, there is a need to INNOQ provide quality infrastructure as internationally accredited laboratories, as well as the certification in order to collaborate effectively with IPEX. 4