Ensuring better goods under National Quality Policy

Economic development largely depends on competitive trade and industrial environment of a country. Therefore, policy interventions are required to boost trade and industrial development and expansion of exports. If industrialists, traders and exporters of our country wish to get benefit from world trade, they must produce quality goods and services. People from different parts of the world are now arguing for liberalisation and globalisation of trade.
Why do we need a national quality policy? We need to meet the demands of the time, to cope with the standards and systems of international trade of goods and services. As we mainly export to the European Union, the USA and Canada, we need to harmonise our system as per the demands and requirements of importers and customers from those countries. Apart from this, we also need to fulfill the requirements of the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) agreement of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
To promote standards, standardisation and accreditation as a means of advancing the national economy, we have to formulate a National Quality Policy (NQP). The NQP provides direction and guidelines for the modernisation of structures and systems for metrology, standards, accreditation and conformity assessment. The NQP also addresses harmonisation of the associated Technical Regulation Framework (TRF) in improving its role in guarding health and safety of the public and protection of the environment.
The primary objective of the National Quality Policy is to ensure that goods and services emanating from or traded in Bangladesh are designed, manufactured and supplied in a manner to meet the needs, expectations and requirements of the purchasers and consumers as well as those of the regulatory authorities in the domestic and global markets. Implementation of the Quality Policy should raise the conscientious awareness among both the suppliers and the consumers, and it is an undertaking by government to introduce and maintain a quality culture in public life and society.
What are the key considerations for a national quality policy? They are: I) standardisation II) metrology and III) conformity assessment such as testing, certification etc. The Accreditation and Technical Regulation Framework (TRF) is also an integral part of a national quality infrastructure. Entirely all of these are regarded as a toolbox, and used by all players in the economy to increase productivity in production and service delivery, and to overcome trade barriers. This, in turn, creates jobs, promotes investment leading to meaningful use of natural resources, improves the nation's competitiveness and ultimately contributes to more prosperity and a better standard of living for all.
It is widely realised by now that the most effective way of building and promoting the National Quality Infrastructure (NQI) is by means of an integrated approach rather than dealing with each NQI component separately. That is why a large number of countries are right now drafting and adopting National Quality Policies. It is expected that this will be the norm rather than the exception in the near future.
When there are confusions and questions about quality, the solution is often sought in standards. However, standards without a corresponding conformity assessment capability i.e. testing, certification, inspection etc. are meaningless.  Similarly conformity assessment capability without trust and recognition is handicapped.
If one experiences any problems with the acceptance of the report or certificate for his goods or services abroad, it means that the National Quality Infrastructure and services in his country are not recognised by the importing country. There are two ways to solve this problem: you can hasten your national accreditation body by intensifying efforts to obtain international recognition. In this case, the time and cost of accreditation services is less. Alternately, you can apply to the certification body and testing laboratory, which are accredited by internationally recognised accreditation bodies. In that case, the time and cost of the services could be quite higher.
At present, Bangladesh has all the elements of a national quality infrastructure. It has the Standards Division in the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institutions (BSTI) for formulating, issuing and publishing national standards and adopting international standards. A standard helps ensure quality, safety, economy, reliability, compatibility, interoperability, efficiency, effectiveness, ecology and other vital characteristics. The National Metrology Institute (NMI), which is working in the BSTI, has been recognised by the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) and Comité International des Poids et Mesures (CIPM). The testing facilities are also done by the BSTI and by some public, private and other international organisations. We have the apex quality assurance body i.e. the Bangladesh Accreditation Board to provide accreditation which has already accredited 16 testing and one calibration labs including NML-BSTI.
Bangladesh is moving to develop and establish an effective and efficient the National Quality Infrastructure (NQI) that would demonstrably meet international standards. Finalisation of the national quality policy is in progress with the support from the relevant stakeholders. The proposed quality policy will focus on quality and technical competency to ensure the proper environment that exists for national goods and services to gain a competitive edge in international arena. Introducing international quality infrastructure will help flourish better business and industrial environment in Bangladesh. Implementation of the National Quality Policy may take another few years, taking into consideration the international trends and national priorities.
Regional cooperation among the national quality infrastructure bodies effectively will promote mutual recognition arrangement throughout the region. The formation of the South Asian Regional Standards Organisation (SARSO), having headquarters in Dhaka, is a good example of such cooperation and integration. The SARSO is mandated for cooperation in areas of standardisation and accreditation. The area of Conformity Assessment has been addressed in the SAARC Multilateral Arrangement on Recognition of Conformity Assessment (MARCA).
The private sector has a very prominent role in development and implementation of a Quality Policy and its participation and cooperation is absolutely essential in order to achieve maximum benefits from the NQP. Participation of representatives in national monitoring committees and technical committees who are dealing with standardisation, accreditation and metrology or related activities from the private sector is also essential.
The immediate outcome of the NQP will be designing, establishment and implementation of a world-class metrology, standardisation, accreditation, inspection, testing and certification infrastructure.  And this will support the application of its techniques, practices and service provision to demonstrably comply with international standards throughout the country. In this respect, international rule-based requirements will take precedence over past or current national customs and practices or those of immediate neighbours.
In parallel to the establishment of the NQI, the technical regulation regime of Bangladesh will be reviewed and justified including its related legislation, to meet international requirements such as the WTO TBT and Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary Specification (SPS) Agreements and international best practices, i.e. a common, national Technical Regulation Framework. This includes the establishment of effective cooperation among the NQI institutions and the national regulatory authorities, and with their international counterparts.
The service delivery of the NQI is mostly dependent on a trained and skilled workforce. The same applies to the implementation of common, national Technical Regulation Framework. Hence, developing human resources is necessary to support the various standardisation, quality and technical regulation programme.
By framing a national quality policy, Bangladesh could easily maximise its benefits and produce better goods and services for internal and international market.

The writer is Director General, the Bangladesh Accreditation Board.  [email protected]