Accreditation of veterinary inspection systems

Accreditation of Veterinary Services could be a key factor in facilitating international recognition of certificates. For this to occur, accreditation must be conducted within the international normative framework on compliance evaluation. The EN 45004 standard for inspection bodies is the most appropriate organisational reference. It makes a clear distinction between the technical activity of inspection, and decisions which fall within the competence of public authorities. However, there are few international normative texts describing inspection methods, which is a major obstacle to the development of a widely recognised accreditation system. Organisations that accredit inspection bodies exist in many countries, but there are no agreements on multilateral recognition. This paper describes the accreditation cycle and outlines the possibilities for accrediting networks or individual sites.