Benin Royal Hotel hosted the public presentation ceremony of the international certificate of the West African Accreditation System (SOAC) on Monday, December 11, 2023. The objective of this system is to provide member countries with an accreditation body that can assess the competence of conformity assessment bodies, in particular certification bodies, inspection bodies and laboratories operating in the UEMOA area

Felicienne HOUESSOU

After the laboratories, the local certification market is being strengthened in the UEMOA zone. The implementation of this new expertise, which is accreditation, is in line with the achievement of the objectives of the 2021-2025 Priority Action Framework (CAP). The Chairman of the Board of Directors, Aboubacry Baro, is reassured that he has been fighting for a credible SOAC for more than 20 years. “Given the challenges of our economies, we are happy that SOAC is here to help meet them. The extension of the signature of SOAC peer recognition agreements, until 2027, makes it possible, in fact, to cover 5 technical areas today: calibrations, tests, medical biology and now product certification and management system certification,” he said. However, it invites stakeholders to combine efforts to overcome these constraints in order to provide a robust and cutting-edge SOAC to support the development policies of UEMOA member states. Aboubacry Baro did not fail to welcome the collaboration between SOAC and the JOURNALISM TRUST INITIATIVE for the certification of media content

In his launch speech, the representative of the Minister of Commerce Zéphiryn Pognon emphasizes that no sector of the economy can evolve without a conformity assessment system. “Accreditation by SOAC guarantees the credibility of conformity assessment certificates”, he said before congratulating the long process that made it possible to achieve the objectives of accreditation in the UEMOA zone

About SOAC

The West African Accreditation System was created in 2005 by Regulation No. 1/2005/CM/UEMOA of the UEMOA Council of Ministers establishing a scheme for the harmonization of accreditation, certification, standardization and metrology activities in UEMOA. According to Aboubacry Baro's presentation, SOAC prepared and then requested a new evaluation by AFRAC in January 2023 in order to extend the scope of its recognition. In five years, SOAC has thus achieved the goals set, becoming the only organization in West Africa internationally recognized before its peers from Ghana (GHAs) and Nigeria (NinAs). These results are for the benefit of economic operators, populations but also the technical ministries of the Member States who work with conformity assessment bodies whose certificates must be demonstrated to be reliable. He explains that the reputation of SOAC — UEMOA is now established as a unique accreditation body in West Africa that respects international standards. In Togo, 57 initial accreditation decisions have been issued since the start in 2018, 54 structures whose accreditation is active as of 7 December 2023. In Benin, 7 laboratories have been accredited, including CNHU/HKM (medical biology), ANM Temperature (Calibration) and ANM Masse (Calibration)