WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/TBT/W/215
27 June 2003
(03-3447)
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:  English
THIRD TRIENNIAL REVIEW OF THE TBT AGREEMENT
Submission from Brazil
1. Since the First Triennial Review, the Committee has been emphasising the need for
information exchange among Members in order to increase their understanding on the issue of
conformity assessment procedures (CAPs) and the ways to minimise their eventual restrictive effectson trade.
2. In order to contribute to the discussions around the issue of conformity assessment, Brazil is
willing to share its experience with other Members concerning the development of its National
Conformity Assessment Programme.  By presenting the rationale employed in the design of, as well
as describing the Brazilian infrastructure for conformity assessment, including the types of CAPscurrently under use and the conditions for their application, Brazil hopes to provide the Committee
with useful information on the issue.
3. This communication focuses on the activities carried out by the National Institute for
Metrology, Standardization and Industrial Quality – Inmetro concerning CAPs.  Those authorization
procedures related to conformity assessment established by National Regulatory Agencies will be thesubject of a communication to be submitted to the Secrerariat in due time.
I. INTRODUCTION
4. In Brazil, the matters and activities related to Metrology, Standardisation, Industrial Quality
and Conformity Assessment are all part of the National Metrology, Standardisation and Industrial
Quality System – SINMETRO.  This System was created in 1973, by means of the Federal Law
number 5.900 and is comprised by public and private entities.  Its main scope is to establish an
infrastructure of technological services to assess the quality of products, of processes and of servicesby means of certification bodies, testing and calibration laboratories networks, training bodies,
proficiency-tests laboratories and inspection bodies, all accredited by the National Institute for
Metrology, Standardisation and Industrial Quality – Inmetro.
5. Inmetro acts as the executive secretary for the National Council for Metrology,
Standardisation and Industrial Quality – CONMETRO, the legislative body of SINMETRO.  TheCouncil is composed by the Ministries of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade; Science and
Technology; Health; Work and Employment; Environment; External Relations; Justice; Agriculture,
Feedstock and Food Supply; Defence; Inmetro; the Brazilian Technical Standards Association –
ABNT; the National Industry Confederation – CNI; and the Consumer´s Protection Institute – IDEC.
6. CONMETRO acts through its technical committees (in this case, the Brazilian Committee for
Conformity Assessment – CBAC), wh ich are open to the participation of distinguished bodies of the
academic field, industry and trade bodies, research centres and consumer´s protection institutes,
among other entities with special interest in metrology, standardisation and industrial quality in the
country.G/TBT/W/215
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7. Established in December 2001, the Brazilian Committee for Conformity Assessment replaced
the former Brazilian Committee for Certification (CBC).  Among the CBAC duties, it is responsible
to assist CONMETRO in structuring an internati onally harmonised conformity assessment system and
in proposing principles and policies on CAPs to be adopted under the Brazilian Conformity
Assessment System – SBAC.  Inmetro manages the SBAC, abiding to the policies issued byCONMETRO.
8. In addition to that, Inmetro is the official accreditation body of the Brazilian Government.  As
such, it adopts international guides and recommendations for accrediting purposes.
9. Within SINMETRO, the Brazilian Programme for Conformity Assessment – PBAC is
designed to  develop a long-term strategy and a thor ough management plan for CAPs in Brazil.  The
Programme is being constantly revised and re-checked, with the participation of governmental and
private entities associated with conformity assessment activities.
II. THE BRAZILIAN CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT PROGRAMME – PBAC
10. CAPs in Brazil are supported by two basic principles: technical performance and credibility.
In this sense, a body that assesses conformity must hold the technical apparatus required to do so,
such as installations, quality management systems, personnel and proper calibration of measurement
instruments.  The credibility of the body – as a result of a work guided by ethical and impartial action,as well as a committed concern to eventual impacts of conformity assessment in the market – must
also be acknowledged.  To achieve this goal it is imperative to have on-going mechanisms to observe
and evaluate this “technical-confidence” relationship, especially in terms of market surveillance in
conformity verification.
11. The existence of an official body to accredit calibration and testing bodies and laboratories
(activities performed by Inmetro) served as a ba sis for the PBAC.  Besides, accredited networks of
calibration and testing laboratories, accredited conformity assessment bodies, a number of standards
and technical regulations and, additionally, follow-up and evaluation procedures, all served as further
elements to guide the conception and the establishment of the Programme.
12. From that basic infrastructure, the implementation of the PBAC demanded the creation of a
routine for identification and prioritisation of demands, comprising different areas, along with the
development of a methodology to choose the most adequate CAPs for the products, processes or
services involved.  After that, the existence of infrastructure for conformity assessment was analysed.
Afterwards, each specific programme was developed and implemented, if consented.  This consented
implementation demanded (i) debate among the different areas subject to the programme, (ii) previous
public disclosure of the programme, and (iii) fo llow-up and market surveillance, with a view to
providing feedback for the programme.
III. CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT MECHANISMS
13. In Brazil there are four types of conformity assessment mechanisms: (i) certification;
(ii) inspection; (iii) supplier´s declaration of conformity; and (iv) labelling.  The selection of the
proper mechanism of conformity assessment is made taking into consideration elements such as: risk
of failure of the product, process or service; impact and recurrence of the failures; volume ofproduction; time windows for technological changes in the sector; size and capacity of the producers
involved and their geographic dispersion; competitive impacts on the product and so on.  Based in
these elements the performer of the assessment of conformity will be determined (1
st party or 3rd
party), as well as the obligatory nature or not of the mechanism and the instruments for the evaluation,which may be type-approval tests, routine tests, manufacturing quality system assessments,evaluations of performed services, sampling, etc.G/TBT/W/215
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14. In cases of 3rd party assessment, the evaluating bodies are accredited by Inmetro, according to
ISO international standards and guides.  In the same manner, calibration and testing laboratories used
in 1st or 3rd party assessments are accredited in accordance with international practices.
A. CERTIFICATION
15. Certification is, by definition, a 3rd party-performed mechanism of conformity assessment for
products, processes, services, personnel, quality management and environmental management
systems.  The certification model will be determined depending on the product, production process,
raw material characteristics, economic aspects and the necessary level of confidence required, among
other factors.
16. The certification mechanism is applied to products, processes or services that may represent
hazards to the environment or to the health and safety of the consumer.  It is not applied, in general, to
performance assessment processes.
B. SUPPLIER ´S DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY - SDOC
17. In the case of SDoC of a product, process or serv ice, the following steps must be observed: (i)
choose an accredited laboratory; (ii) make the test of the product; (iii) acquire the proper form and fill
out the Supplier´s Declaration; (iv) send the Declaration, with relevant documents enclosed (test
report, Quality system certificate, etc.) to Inmetro; (v) evaluation by Inmetro of the completeness ofthe conformity assessment process; and (vi) obtain the license to bear the conformity mark in the
product.
18. By means of this mechanism, the supplier is responsible to ensure that a product, process or
service conforms to specific requisites.  The mi nimum amount of information that must be in the
Declaration, in accordance with the ISO/IEC Guide 22, includes the following: name and address ofthe declarating manufacturer, identification of the product, process or service, declaration of
conformity, regulatory documents used, place and date of issuance of the Declaration and signature,
name and duty of the authorised person.
19. In the Brazilian System of Conformity Assessment, SDoC is employed only in the obligatory
field.  It is applied only to products, processes or services that present a mild risk to the health andsafety of the consumer and to the environment.  It is not, therefore, a substitute for certification, once
the field of application of both mechanisms is different.  Additionally, when the goal is to evaluate the
performance of a product, SDoC is also used.
20. It is important to emphasise that SDoC, like all other conformity assessment programs, is
regulated by a set of pre-established rules that should ensure the same level of conformity safety as 3
rd
party conformity assessment programs.  In this sense, when 1st party programs are put into practice,
more active follow-up and market surveillance initiatives become necessary, especially throughconformity assessment.  Besides, an adoption of SDoC for a determined product must take into
consideration its “quality record” and the level of confidence of consumer-producer relations in the
specific sector.
21. Until April 2003 three SDoC programs were put  into practice, on installation systems for
vehicle natural gas, on disposable lighters and on steel profiles for power transmission towers.  A newprogram is being developed at the moment, for vehicle catalysts.
C. I
NSPECTION
22. Inspection, applied mainly to conformity assessment of products and services, is
accomplished by analyses and judgements along with measurements, tests or calibration, whenG/TBT/W/215
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applicable.  These activities, fundamental to conformity assessment, may comprise the testing of
products, materials, installations, plants, processes and work procedures in all life cycles of these
items and aim to determine conformity to technical regulations, standards or specifications, as well as
to issue the reports related to the inspected items.
23. Inspection is normally applied in areas such as safety, operational performance and safety
maintenance for the whole life cycle of the products.  Its main goal is to reduce the risk of the
purchaser, proprietor, user or consumer.  Thus, the competence, the impartiality and the integrity of
inspection organisms are vital to the system.  Inspection organisms must have qualified and
experienced personnel, besides an internal quality system that underscores its technical performance.
D. LABELLING
24. Labelling is the conformity assessment mechanism in which, by means of testing, one could
determine and further inform the consumers on the characteristics of products, related especially totheir performance.  The use of a label to display the performance of products is becoming more and
more frequent, being a strong mechanism to instruct consumers.
25. In Brazil, labelling is helping the National consumer save electric energy, especially with
“white line” (refrigerators, freezers, airconditiong devices, etc.) home appliances and with other
products such as lamps, electric showers, heaters and gas ovens.  Another example of labelling inBrazil is the “Noise Label”, which informs the level of noise made by home appliances, within the
Silence Programme, developed by Inmetro, in partnership with the Ministry of Environment.
26. The label, especially when associated with the establishment of performance goals could
represent an important tool to optimise the use of energy in a country, since it stimulates on-going
technological developments in electric equipment in the National market.  It fosters the supply of
products with improved energy performance, thus elevating the quality of these products in
international terms.
IV. INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION
27. In the field of conformity assessment, Inmetro holds Mutual Recognition Arangements and
Agreements with the following:
IAF – Internacional Accreditation Forum;
ILAC – International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation;
EA – European Co-operation for Accreditation;
OIML – International Organization of Legal Metrology;
BIPM – Bureau International des Poises et Mesures.
V. CONCLUSION
28. When properly designed and implemented, CAPs become instrumental in providing
developing countries with the necessary technological infrastructure for increasing market access with
sustainability and transparency.G/TBT/W/215
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29. This is particularly relevant when considering mandatory CAPs, which aim at providing
consumers with the required level of protection on what concerns health and environmental issues.
30. On the other hand, it is important to keep in mind the absolute necessity to avoid turning such
a key instrument in increasing global trade and welfare into an unnecessary obstacle, particularly for
developing countries.  The latter highlights the importance of developing mutually compatible and
world-wide accepted CAPs.  Therefore, Brazil proposes to submit a paper on the issue of recognition
of CAPs with a view of contributing to th e discussions under the Third Triennial Review.G/TBT/W/215
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Appendix
Available Infrastructure for Conformity Assessment
• Accredited Certification Bodies
• Quality Systems (ISO 9000): 27
• Product: 29
• Environmental Certification (ISO 14001): 16
• Personnel Certification: 3
• Performance assessment: 9
• Training: 3
• QS 9000: 11
• AVQS: 3
• Accredited Inspection Bodies:
• Vehicular safety: 96
• Dangerous products: 10
• Quality System: 1
• Fire extinguisher: 1
• Accredited Performance Assessment Bodies:
• Noise Label: 6
• Red-light violator: 5
• Accredited Laboratories:
• Testing laboratories: 141
• Calibration laboratories: 204
• Products/Services subject to mandatory conformity assessment: 45
• Products/Services subject to voluntary conformity assessment: 86
• Emitted ISO 9000 Certificates: approx. 5,000
• Emitted ISO 14001 Certificates: approx. 370
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