Oman’s accreditation centre eyes international recognition by year-end

Muscat: The Omani Accreditation Centre expects to secure international recognition before the end of this year, starting with calibration and testing laboratories, in a move designed to strengthen the credibility of locally issued test results and certificates in global markets, its director has said.

Dr Said al-Busaidi said the Centre, which operates under the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion (MoCIIP), had submitted its application for international recognition to the Arab Accreditation Cooperation (ARAC) and was awaiting a peer evaluation, the key stage in the process.

Speaking to the Observer, he stated: “The Omani Accreditation Centre has submitted its application for international recognition to the Arab Accreditation Cooperation, and we are currently awaiting the peer evaluation,”

The evaluation stage takes roughly three months, after which a specialised team from the cooperation carries out the assessment. Any corrective actions identified during the peer-evaluation visit would then be addressed before recognition is granted.

“God willing, we are hopeful of obtaining international recognition from the Arab Accreditation Cooperation before the end of this year,” the Director added.

Recognition would be rolled out in phases, beginning with calibration and testing laboratories and followed by inspection bodies, Dr Al-Busaidi added.

As the national accreditation body, the centre is responsible for assessing the competence of conformity assessment bodies operating in the Sultanate of Oman — laboratories, inspection bodies and certification bodies — against international standards. Securing global recognition would allow the test reports, calibration certificates and inspection results they issue to be accepted across other member economies without the need for re-testing, reducing costs and technical barriers for Omani exporters. The objective aligns with Oman Vision 2040 goals of economic diversification and expanding non-oil trade.

Membership of ARAC is the essential first step in that process. Once the centre is recognised by the regional cooperation, its status is elevated to the global level through the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC), the two worldwide associations of accreditation bodies, after which mutual recognition agreements are signed. ARAC itself has been recognised internationally by the IAF and ILAC as a regional accreditation group since 2017.

The remarks came during celebrations marking World Accreditation Day, observed globally on June 9. This year’s theme, “Innovation, Trust and Sustainability: The Power of Accreditation,” highlights the role of accreditation in underpinning quality infrastructure and supporting conformity assessment bodies, whether laboratories, inspection bodies or certification bodies.

Accreditation provides independent assurance that such bodies are competent, impartial and reliable, enabling regulators, businesses and consumers to rely on test reports, certificates and inspections without having to question them. The mechanism has taken on growing importance as markets become more complex and as sustainability claims and new technologies face greater scrutiny. World Accreditation Day was established by the IAF and ILAC in 2007 and is marked on 9 June each year.

For Oman, full international recognition of its accreditation system is expected to support efforts to localise testing and certification, raise confidence in domestically produced goods and services, and ease access to export markets — priorities that have featured prominently in the country’s broader economic diversification agenda.