The China National Accreditation Committee for Laboratories (CNACL) recently signed the Asia-Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation Mutual Recognition Arrangement (APLAC-MRA).

This signing indicates that China's laboratory accreditation system is recognized internationally, and will facilitate the country's entry to the World Trade Organization, as well as further develop international trade and economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.

Liu Xinmin, deputy director of the department of international cooperation under the State Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision, said today that laboratory accreditation is a worldwide system for evaluating the management level and technical ability of laboratories.

This accreditation system is conducive to removing trade barrier and pushing forward international trade and technological exchange.

Multi-lateral recognition in laboratory accreditation also will avoid repeated measuring and adjustments, and test results in an accredited lab will be recognized by all signatories to the agreement, said one bureau technical official.

With the rapid development of the socialist market economy in China, a national lab accreditation system was imperative in trade and economic operation, the official said.

Thus far, a total of 13 laboratory accreditation organizations in countries and regions including China, Australia, Singapore, the United States, and Japan have signed the APLAC-MRA agreement.