The National Standards Authority of Ireland is responsible for establishing standards for a wide range of products and processes and for the certification of these standards. This work is undertaken in direct co-operation with Irish industry together with international regulatory authorities under the auspices of the European Commission and other standards agencies which have a recognised worldwide remit. In the interests of individual consumers and to facilitate growth in trade and commerce, the mutual recognition and achievement of established standards is an absolute essential in the contemporary world.
The main purpose of the Bill is to establish the NSAI as an independent and autonomous agency and in so doing to underpin and enhance its role in the development and certification of a wide range of standards. The need to establish this agency on a legally independent basis results from a requirement of the European Commission and the necessity for the NSAI to have an administrative structure which is seen to be independent of all other client agencies. The current administrative and operational status of the NSAI, as a committee within the ambit of Forfás, is not in line with these requirements. Accordingly, this legislation will give effect to the change in its status which my Department has been independently advised as being legally necessary to underpin the certification work undertaken by the NSAI.
The principal purpose of standardisation is to facilitate trade and to establish common criteria for particular products or processes. Standardisation seeks to achieve the protection of consumer interests by ensuring adequate and consistent quality of goods and services; economy of effort, materials and energy consumption in the production of goods or the provision of services; enhancement of public safety, health and protection of the environment and the elimination of technical barriers to trade.
The agreement of all interested parties is essential if the benefits of standardisation are to be achieved. The main advantages which agreed standards confer are the limitation of unnecessary variation in design and manufacturing procedures; giving more stability to production and marketing for the manufacturer and simplifying procurement for the purchaser; the interchangeability of component parts giving access to wider markets for the manufacturer and a choice of suppliers to the purchaser; improved communications and information exchange between the manufacturer and the purchaser by reference to standards documents containing agreed requirements for design and performance and increased consumer confidence that goods ordered will comply with the required criteria and that quality and reliability can be assured.
The degree to which any product or process functions satisfactorily depends on the adequacy of the relevant standard specifications and the assurance of conformity to those standards. This clearly is an increasingly important task and one which has been well delivered to date in this country by the NSAI.
The NSAI currently operates as a semi-autonomous committee of Forfás and was established under section 10 of the Industrial Development Act, 1993. Its essential functions are the promulgation and formulation of standards on behalf of the Minister and the certification of products and processes that comply with these standards. The NSAI was originally set up under section 17 of the Industrial Research and Standards Act, 1961, to assist and advise the board of the Institute for Industrial Research and Standards in relation to standards.
In this context the IIRS was required to formulate for the Minister, in accordance with his directions, specifications for such commodities, processes and practices as the Minister may from time to time request; with the consent of the Minister, to declare any specification so formulated to be a standard specification for the commodity process or practice to which it relates; to make recommendations to the Minister as to the provision and use of standard marks for commodities, processes and practices that conform to standard specifications and to test and analyse commodities intended for sale or for use by the public for the purpose of ensuring conformity with standard specifications, encouraging the standardisation of commodities, processes and practices or generally with the object of ascertaining for the public benefit, the characteristics of such commodities.
The 1961 Act provided for the development of a body of standards by reference to existing national and international norms, provided for standards relating to public health and safety and contained powers to make these standards mandatory. It also established an Irish standard mark scheme under which Irish manufacturers can, under licence from the NSAI, demonstrate that their product meets the performance and safety requirements of a particular standard relative to that product.
In discharging its statutory functions, there are two broad categories of service which the NSAI provides — standards development and product and process certification. These services have now become central in their significance and an important aspect in enhancing the competitiveness of our industry and services sectors.
The standards development service provides industry with the opportunity of making an input into national, European and international standards. It does this by means of its standards membership scheme and through its national consultative committees. The standards membership scheme provides industry with up to date information on developments in relation to standards and technical regulations at national, European and international levels. Frequent meetings are held throughout the country at which the standards and technical regulations are explained and individual manufacturers are invited to demonstrate the effects of standards and regulations on their businesses. In addition, NSAI has established 14 consultative committees, each one dedicated to a particular business sector, in which requirements for individual standards or the Irish position in relation to European or international standard proposals is determined.
The certification service operated by NSAI has had a dramatic impact in Ireland over the past five years. The fact that over 1,300 Irish companies are now registered to the ISO 9000 series of standards for quality management systems indicates a clear recognition of the importance of developing and improving our management systems. By the end of 1997 there will be over 2,000 Irish companies registered by NSAI. Each company registered remains subject to a continuing programme of monitoring inspections for as long as its registration is valid.
Product and process certification is also an important service provided by NSAI. With increasing numbers of products being submitted for certification as complying with specified requirements in EU directives, demand for this service is expected to continue to grow. A range of additional EU directives, which seek to reduce the barriers to international trade and give reality to the concept of a common market, are currently under discussion or in the process of being implemented. Compliance with these requirements will involve continuing growth in the service of product certification provided by the NSAI.
The elimination of technical barriers to trade was recognised by the European Union as a priority task in the programme for the completion of the Single Market. Since the adoption by the Council of a new approach to technical harmonisation and standardisation in 1985, the harmonisation of European industrial standards addressed in EU technical legislation has become an essential instrument in achieving this objective.
In 1985 the European Commission recognised that a major problem was being encountered in the development of regulations and directives designed to increase safety and remove barriers to trade across the whole of the European Union. The difficulty specifically related to the inclusion of technical specifications in the text of the regulations and directives. It was decided that they should only specify the essential requirements — quality, performance and safety — and devolve responsibility for the drafting of the relevant standards to the European standardisation bodies. This freed up the process and several new approach directives have since been adopted covering a diverse range of products such as toys, machinery and medical devices. The European standards bodies are given mandates to provide manufacturers of the products concerned with a set of technical specifications recognised in the directives as giving a presumption of conformity to the essential requirements.
In a separate initiative, the Commission has given these harmonised European standards a prominent role in the opening up of public procurement markets. Directives on public supplies and works, telecommunications, transport, energy and water supply require purchasing authorities to refer to national standards, which transpose European standards, with a view to ensuring that manufacturers in all member states have an equal chance to obtain public procurement contracts. In more recent times the EU is negotiating mutual recognition agreements on standards with third countries, of which the US and Canada, New Zealand and Australia and Japan are examples.
The object of these negotiations is to agree terms for mutual recognition in relation to technical specifications laid down in the respective markets of each country and to accept the common testing, certification and marking of products. This will reduce the need for, and cost of, duplicate testing and certification, will open up those markets and will facilitate trade growth between the countries in question.
The NSAI has responded to this increasing role for standardisation. As indicated, it has established 14 consultative committees bringing together interests in various industrial sectors with the objective of monitoring worldwide standards work continuously, identifying projects relevant to Ireland and developing Irish positions relating to them. NSAI is also represented on the three European standardisation bodies. Each of these bodies has up to 5,000 standards projects under review at any one time. NSAI is also represented on the two international standards organisations, the International Standards Organisation, ISO, and the International Electronics Commission, IEC.
While the Authority develops national standards as required, the emphasis of its workload relates to the implementation of European and international standards. In addition, NSAI publishes and distributes a wide range of Irish and international standards, guidebooks and catalogues. It also publishes an annual guide to products and processes certified by NSAI during the year in question. It provides an information and education service for industry relating to standards and regulations applying in various export markets.
As a result of extensive consultation and planning by the European Commission, a more clearly defined European structure for testing and certification is evolving. European standards setting out operating criteria for laboratories, certification and inspection bodies and accreditation bodies have been published as the EN5000 series — under European rules these must be transposed into national standards in each member state. In addition, the Council of Ministers responsible for the internal market adopted a resolution endorsing the key issues of the Commission's document on a global approach to testing and certification. These issues include the development of national accreditation structures, the promotion of the EN 29000 and EN 45000 series of standards relating to quality assurance systems and the operating criteria for laboratories and certification bodies respectively, and the establishment of the European Organisation for Testing and Certification.
Accreditation involves giving national authorities the responsibility of assessing the abilities of test laboratories and certification bodies to properly carry out their tasks. It formally recognises competence by means of third party expert technical assessment against agreed criteria. It also involves regular surveillance and periodic reassessment. Accreditation in Ireland is carried out by Forfás through another autonomous committee, the National Accreditation Board, established under section 10 of the Industrial Development Act, 1993.
A consequence of developments at European level is that national accreditation systems must comply with requirements for the establishment of notified bodies. These are testing laboratories and certification/inspection bodies which are specifically designated by member states and notified to the European Commission to carry out the conformity assessment requirements as set out in the relevant directives. A number of different conformity assessment procedures are set out in the directives. They vary from simple product certification to product design, manufacturing procedures and quality system certification for complex products used, for example, in the medical field.
A key requirement of notified bodies is that, apart from having the necessary technical competence, they should operate independently and impartially and have a separate legal identity. They are expected to conform to operating, including organisational, criteria laid down in the EN 45000 series of standards. In our situation this requires that testing laboratories operated by Forbairt and NSAI certification procedures, and those of other bodies, be accredited within an independent and impartial system. Only in this way can they comply with the 45000 series of standards.
In summary, the objectives of the EN 45000 series of standards require that accreditation functions and certification functions be carried out by authorities which are absolutely independent of one another. Accordingly, under present structures the National Accreditation Board and the National Standards Authority of Ireland — both of which now operate as committees of Forfás — do not meet the key operating and assessment criteria required by the EN 45000 series of standards for such bodies. The National Accreditation Board cannot, in present circumstances, accredit NSAI as a certification body and the integrity of NSAI certificates, including the 1,300 ISO 9000 certificates already issued by them, could potentially be called into question in the continued absence of conformity with legal requirements relating to the operational independence of agencies.
Bearing in mind the necessity for proper accreditation, I have had a number of different approaches examined, including a number put forward by the staff interests in NSAI. I consulted my own legal advisers, the NSAI itself, the National Accreditation Board, the European Organisation for Tests and Certifications and the European Commission. The advice I received was that the setting up of an independent national standards body was necessary. I am, therefore, proposing that responsibility for the accreditation of the laboratories, certification bodies and inspection bodies should remain with Forfás, but that Forfás' responsibility for standardisation and certification matters, at present delegated to the NSAI as a committee of that agency, should be transferred to the NSAI as an independent statutory body under the responsibility of the Minister for Enterprise and Employment.
Section 38 is a centrally important section of the Bill. It deals with the transfer of staff to the new authority. As a result of staff concerns regarding their future terms and conditions of employment, a complete redrafting of section 38 was undertaken on my instructions. Staff representatives requested that they remain as staff of Forfás and be seconded to the NSAI. A fundamental issue was the reason for the establishment of NSAI as an independent body in the first place. It must be accredited under the full terms and conditions attaching to a certification body as set out in the European standard EN 45012. This requires, inter alia, that staff will be independent in the discharge of their functions and, therefore, any control of staff in an operational sense on the part of Forfás would negate this requirement.
Subsubsection (1)(a) and (b) of section 38 provides for the staffing of the authority, and subsection (1)(a) provides fully for the permanent staff to remain as staff of Forfás. They are, however, required to fulfil all their functions in accordance with the directions of the NSAI. This achieves the requirement of accreditation and meets staff interests. Responsibility for all contract staff will transfer fully to the NSAI on the establishment day. Subsection (2) of section 38 guarantees that the terms and conditions relating to tenure of both permanent and contract staff will be no less favourable than they are at present. Subsection (3) guarantees the rights of staff to apply for and be considered for promotion in either Forfás, Forbairt or IDA Ireland. This will ensure that their promotion rights cannot be negatively affected by transferring to the authority. Subsections (4) and (5) give those necessary guarantees that their terms, conditions and scales of pay will not be lessened, and also provides that they can be increased in accordance with any collective agreement negotiated on behalf of the staff.
The provisions of the Bill, as amended by the Dáil, ensure fully that personnel in the NSAI cannot be disadvantaged in any way when, on the passage of this legislation, the agency is established as an autonomous legal entity and is functionally separate from Forfás. In the course of our debate on the Report and Final Stages in the Dáil last week, Opposition spokespersons were gracious in accepting that I had positively addressed fundamental concerns which existed at the outset of consideration of this proposed legislation. I did this by way of amendments which I put down in my own name, and through accepting a number of significant amendments proposed by the deputy leader of Fianna Fáil, Deputy O'Rourke, and others. There is now general agreement that, by reference to the constraints placed on me to effect change in the legal status of the NSAI by establishing it as an autonomous entity, these proposals are balanced and fair. I have listened to the concerns of staff representatives and politicians and acted on them.
The Bill also provides the Minister with the right to appoint not more than 13 members to the board of the new authority. The Bill follows the common international approach in requiring that only those persons who are already directly interested and involved in the standardisation process should be considered for representation on the board. It requires that the board comprise the widest range of interests possible, without any one section predominating. It will thus be possible to ensure that consumer interests as well as safety experts will be represented, together with a range of interests of manufacturers and industrialists. The chief executive officer will automatically become a member of the board.
I believe the fullest involvement of staff at all levels of the organisation will enhance morale and increase efficiency. Workers should be facilitated in making the fullest contribution to the operations of the NSAI and be directly involved in its decision making processes. Accordingly, on my own initiative, I have made provision for representation of worker representatives on the board of the NSAI so that they can have the influence and authority to inform decisions, be they of an operational or policy nature. Such worker representation has not been a feature of the NSAI board to date. However, it will now give all employees the confidence to approach the organisational change which is in prospect with renewed assurance and the positive expectation of an even better working environment characterising the newly constituted NSAI.
The autonomous establishment of the NSAI is a significant development. It involves a necessary change in the structure and status of the organisation. That change will enhance its role and ensure that an awareness of the importance of standards and their certification is further profiled nationally and internationally. It will bring the best out of the organisation and ensure its future prosperity through the most effective delivery of its important national task.
I have outlined the main provisions of this Bill and the rationale which gave rise to its introduction. It is not a contentious piece of legislation and has been refined and improved on the course of its passage through the Dáil. It is informed by an increasing focus on the part of the European Union and international agencies on the importance of establishing and achieving product and process standards. That importance reflects the role which agreed and recognised standards now play in facilitating trade growth, economic development and employment creation. When enacted, the legislation will reinforce the independence of the National Standards Authority of Ireland by making its certification and standards development services totally independent of other agencies, charged with delivering different tasks.
The role of standards and their certification is central to the whole process of economic development. This legislation will put the NSAI on a very sound legal and administrative footing. It is important to do this quickly. I commend the Bill with confidence to the Seanad and look forward to constructive and informative debate on its provisions.
