Peer assessment: helping to remove international trade barriers

摘要

Peer assessment is at the core of a growing number of arrangements for recognition and acceptance of conformity assessment results worldwide. The purpose of this article is to introduce the new standard, ISO/IEC 17040: 2005, Conformity assessment - General requirements for peer assessment of conformity assessment bodies and accreditation bodies, and to discuss ways in which it can be used to facilitate international trade and the sharing of advances in technology.