The Department of Standards Malaysia (STANDARDS MALAYSIA) is the only accreditation authority in the country responsible for
national accreditation system for conformity assessment. It accredits
organisations engaged in conformity assessment activities that include
testing, medical testing, calibration, inspection bodies, certification
bodies for Quality Management System (ISO 9000) and Environmental
Management System (ISO 14000), product certification bodies,
Occupational Safety And Health System (OSH), HACCP Based Food Safety
System, Information Security Management System, and Forest Management
Certification. These organizations must apply for accreditation to
STANDARDS MALAYSIA, which then processes and submits the applications
to the STANDARDS MALAYSIA Director General who, in successful cases,
issues certificates of accreditation. The Director General reports to
the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) through the
Secretary General of the Ministry. In the daily management of
accreditation activities, the Director General is assisted by the
Director of Accreditation.
In order to operate en
effective, independent, impartial and credible national accreditation
system meeting the requirements of ISO/IEC Guide 61 and ISO/IEC Guide
58, a Council known as the Malaysian Standards and Accreditation
Council (MSAC) has been established. This Council advises the Minister
in matters related to the operation of the system.
The
system is open and accessible to any testing and calibration
laboratories, certification bodies, inspection bodies or any applicant,
irrespective of local or foreign bodies seeking to recognised as
competent for both their technical capability and quality system. To be
accredited, they must fulfil the accreditation conditions specified and
published by STANDARDS MALAYSIA.
STANDARDS
MALAYSIA accreditation service is non-discriminatory as its
accreditation criteria, policies and procedures are consistently and
uniformly applied to all applicants and accredited bodies.
All
applicants undergo STANDARDS MALAYSIA’s detailed examination of
documented procedures that must comply with the published criteria and
requirements. STANDARDS MALAYSIA also engages qualified assessors to
conduct ‘on-site’ assessments.
Decisions
on accreditation will be based on assessment reports, which undergo a
review by an impartial and independent Review Evaluation Panel. The
panel then submits their recommendation to the Director General who
then makes the final decision. Impartiality of STANDARDS MALAYSIA’s
accreditation system is thus assured at three levels, namely strategic
and policy level, assessment level and decision-making level.
SCHEME OF THE ACCREDITATION
STANDARDS
MALAYSIA was set up by the Government on 28 August 2006 under the
Standards of Malaysia Act 1996 (Act 549). Governed by MOSTI, STANDARDS
MALAYSIA operates as the sole National Standards and Accreditation body
in the country.
As stipulated
in the Act 549, the primary task of STANDARDS MALAYSIA with respect to
accreditation is to be responsible for the assessment and accreditation
of conformity assessment bodies (CABs). CAB, as defined by the MS
ISO/IEC 17011: Conformity assessment-General requirements for
accreditation bodies accrediting conformity assessment services and
that can be the object of accreditation, such as laboratories,
certification bodies and inspection bodies. The Accreditation Division
of STANDARDS MALAYSIA carries out this specific task.
Currently, there are 3 accreditation schemes available:
• Skim Akreditasi Makmal Malaysia (SAMM)
• Scheme for the Accreditation of Certification Bodies (ACB)
• Malaysia Inspection Bodies Accreditation Scheme (MIBAS)
SAMM
Is a unified national laboratory accreditation scheme and is
multi-disciplinary in its scope of accreditation activities. It covers
both calibration and testing & medical testing.
Fields
of testing - chemical, biological, electrical, thermal, mechanical,
Non-Destructive Testing (NDT), radioactivity testing, household
pesticide, toxicity, Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC), veterinary,
Genetically Modified Organism (GMO), nucleic acid, DNA profiling for
FST and fire accelerants for FST.
Fields
of calibration- Heat & Temperature Measurement, Electrical
Measurement, Mass-Mass –Related Quantities Measurement, Optical and
Photometric Measurement, Dimensional Measurement, Acoustic &
Vibration Measurement and Radioactivity Measurement.
Fields
of medical testing - Anatomical Pathology (Cytopathology), Anatomical
Pathology (Histopathology), Chemical Pathology, Haematology, Medical
Microbiology, Medical Microbiology (Virology)
ACB
This
scheme offers accreditation to any certification body, governmental or
privately own that has demonstrated compliance with published criteria
and requirements of STANDARDS MALAYSIA
Scheme
offers including Quality Management Systems (QMS), Environmental
Management Systems (EMS), Product Certification (including
Halal-Product certification), Occupational Safety and Health (OSH)
Management Systems, Information Security Management Systems (ISMA),
HACCP based Food Safety Systems and Forest Management Certification
(FMC)
MIBAS
Applicable
to all organizations providing inspection activities and receive formal
recognition of expertise, competence, quality systems, procedures,
equipment and facilities based on independent assessment.
Field
of Inspection- Agriculture and Agriculture Products, Industrial
Equipment and Machinery, Industrial and Commercial Construction and
Maintenance, Process Inspection, Building Construction and Maintenance,
Manufactured Goods and Natural Resources and Refined Products
THE BENEFITS OF ACCREDITATION
a) Accreditation ensures the integrity of quality and standards
Accreditation reduces risk for business and its customers by assuring
them that accredited bodies are competent to carry out the work they
undertake. Accreditation bodies, which are members of the International
Accreditation Forum (IAF), are required to operate at the highest
standard and to require the bodies they accredit to comply with
appropriate international standards and IAF Guidance to the application
of those standards. STANDARDS MALAYSIA as a member of the IAF strictly
observes these set standards and guidelines.
b) Assurance of accuracy, traceability and reproducibility of test reports / data
Test report / data generated by STANDARDS MALAYSIA accredited
laboratories provide Government bodies and regulators with the
confidence in order to make their decisions based on sound technical
judgement. These decisions relate to industrial efficiency and
technological development, enforcement of regulations for safety,
health, environmental protection and assure consumers interest are
protected.
Using an accredited laboratory benefits government and regulators by:
• Increasing confidence in data that are used to established baselines for key analyses and decisions;
• Reducing uncertainties associated with decisions that affect the
protection of human health and the environment;
• Increasing public confidence, because accreditation is a recognised mark of approval; and
• Eliminating redundant reviews and improving the efficiency of the
assessment process (which may reduce costs).
c) Greater prospects for international trade
Harmonizing
conformity assessment procedures around the world also has far-reaching
benefits for international trade in general. STANDARDS MALAYSIA is
actively engaged in developing reciprocal recognition arrangements
between accreditation bodies. Agreements among nations or regions on
the mutual acceptability of requirements, assessment methods,
inspection or test results, can reduce or remove ‘technical barriers’
to trade. STANDARDS MALAYSIA’s initiatives can help made-in-Malaysia
goods and services enter foreign markets with little or no hindrance.
STANDARDS
MALAYSIA has been recognised by the Pacific Accreditation Cooperation
(PAC), International Accreditation Forum (IAF), Asia Pacific Laboratory
Accreditation Cooperation (APLAC) and International Laboratory
Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC).
d) Tax Reduction
In
order to encourage the private sector to participate actively in
standardisation and accreditation activities, the Government has agreed
that effective from the year of assessment 2004, a tax reduction would
be given to companies, which incur expenditure in the relevant period
for participating in international standardisation activities approved
by STANDARDS MALAYSIA. The tax deduction is an incentive given to labs
and CBs under Laboratories Accreditation Scheme of Malaysia (SAMM) and
Accreditation of Certification Bodies (ACB) according to the Income Tax
Act 1967 (Amendment). The amendment specifies that the incentive is
based on “an amount equal to the expenditure, not being capital
expenditure, incurred by a company in the relevant period for the
purposes of:
i)
obtaining certification for recognised quality systems and standards,
and Halal certification, evidenced by a certificate issued by a
certification body as determined by the Minister; or
ii) obtaining accreditation for a laboratory or as a certification
body, as evidenced by a certificate issued by STANDARDS MALAYSIA.
Provided that the expenditure incurred in the relevant period shall be
deemed to be incurred by that company in the basis period for the year
of assessment in which the certificate is issued”.
Expenses incurred on services rendered by STANDARDS MALAYSIA, such as
assessment fee, annual certification fee and other miscellaneous fees
are also eligible for the tax reduction.
e) Grant for productivity and quality improvement and certification (ITAF 3)
This
grant is given to assist companies to improve productivity and quality
and to achieve international quality standards and certifications.
Small and Medium scale Enterprises (SMEs) involved in research and
development (R & D) work concerning the above-mentioned activities
can apply for the grant.
Eligible expenses
covered by the grant are cost of hiring technical experts; cost of
acquiring skills and technology through training and obtaining
technical information; service cost for related schemes; cost for
testing and calibration; cost of acquiring safety equipment, or
equipment used for product testing or the prevention of pollution; and
cost of materials used in designing and developing prototypes.
Application of ITAF 3 should be submitted to the Small and Medium Industries Development Corporation (SMIDEC)
For more details, please contact:
Department of Standards Malaysia (STANDARDS MALAYSIA)
Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation
Century Square, Level 1 & 2, Block 2300
Jalan Usahawan,
63000 Cyberjaya
Tel: 03-8318 0002 Fax: 03-8319 3131
Email: info@standardsmalaysia.gov.my
Website: www.standardsmalaysia.gov.my |
