Accredia / International / Closing conference of the EU Twinning project: strengthening Georgian Accreditation System

Closing conference of the EU Twinning project: strengthening Georgian Accreditation System

News
16 March 2023

The results of the EU Twinning project to support GAC, the Georgia’s National Accreditation Body, in enhancing the accreditation and conformity assessment systems according to the EU and International requirements.

On Wednesday, 15th of March, 2023, at 13:00, the closing conference of the EU-funded Twinning project “Strengthening Georgian Accreditation System with the Focus on EU Technical Regulations” took place at the Tbilisi Marriott Hotel.

The closing conference aimed to present the project’s results and benefits and inform Georgian society about the role and importance of accreditation and its impact on the economy and international trade facilitation.

The opening and welcome speeches were delivered by the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia Mr. Genadi Arveladze, Mr. Dominik Papenheim, Cooperation Team Leader in the Delegation of European Union to Georgia, the Ambassador of Federal Republic of Germany to Georgia H.E. Mr. Ernst Peter Fischer, the Ambassador of Italy to Georgia H.E. Mr. Enrico Valvo, The Chairperson of the Sectoral Economy and Economic Policy Committee of the parliament of Georgia, Mr. David Songhulashvili and Mr. Julian Weber, Representative of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action .

The keynote speeches provided about the quality infrastructure, benefits of accreditation, future of accreditation and Georgia’s path towards development of accreditation system. These were demonstrated by Dr. Stephan Finke, Chief Executive Officer of DAkkS and the Member States Project leader, Mr. Filippo Trifiletti, Director General of Accredia and by Mrs. Natia Mikeladze, Director General of the Georgian Accreditation Center (GAC).

Mr Papenheim spoke of the EU’s ongoing support to Georgia’ efforts in fulfilling its commitments under the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area of the EU-Georgia Association Agreement. Through this EU Twinning, the Georgian Accreditation Center has forged strong and successful working relations with its German and Italian counterparts that will extend far beyond the end of the project.

In his presentation, Mr. Filippo Trifiletti mentioned that he is very proud to be able to contribute to the strengthening of the Georgian Accreditation Center, intending to consolidate the Quality Infrastructure and promote the international trade and participation in the single European market. Today Georgian Accreditation Center is recognized by the worldwide accreditation Associations European Accreditation, International Accreditation Forum and International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation, as well as having shared expertise, knowledge and experiences with all the professionals involved in the project.

Mrs. Natia Mikeldaze reviewed the progress achieved by the Georgian Accreditation Center during the last three years and highlighted the role of the Twinning project in those achievements. She expressed her gratitude to the EU delegation in Georgia and the Twinning partners for the very useful support and cooperation for the implemented twinning project.

The presentations on the Twinning project, its outcomes, deliverables, challenges and benefits were presented by the Resident Twinning Adviser (RTA) Mrs. Tamara Schramm together with her counterpart and Deputy Director General of the Georgian Accreditation Centre Mr. Giorgi Chitadze.

The second half of the conference continued with panel discussion on the topic of “The Role of Accreditation in the Global Trade”. The panellists were the CEO of the German Accreditation Body (DAkkS) Mr. Stephan Finke, the Director General of the Italian Accreditation Body (ACCREDIA) Mr. Filippo Triffiletti, Representative of DAkkS, Mr. Wolfram Hartmann and the Head of international trade policy department in the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, Mrs. Mariam Gabunia. The panel was moderated by the first Deputy Director General of the Georgian Accreditation Center and the project RTA Counterpart Mr. Giorgi Chitadze.

Panel discussion were attended by the representatives of the conformity assessment bodies, different governmental agencies, business associations. The think-tanks and the NGO’s involved in the international trade studies were also invited to the panel discussion.

The project started in December 2019. It has been financed by the EU with 1 400 000 EUR.

The objective of the project is to support and enhance the Georgian Accreditation and Conformity Assessment System according to European and international requirements.

The main beneficiaries of the project are the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia (MoESD) and The Unified National Body of Accreditation – Georgian Accreditation Center (GAC). The EU Member State Partners are the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), the German Accreditation Body (DAkkS), supported by the Italian Accreditation Body (ACCREDIA) and the German Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM).