National Institute of Metrology Standardization and Industrial Quality

Last updated
Instituto Nacional de Metrologia, Qualidade e Tecnologia
AbbreviationINMETRO
FormationDecember 11, 1973(48 years ago) (1973-12-11)
Purpose National standards
Headquarters Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Official language
Portuguese
Website www.inmetro.gov.br

The National Institute of Metrology, Standardization and Industrial Quality (INMETRO) is a Brazilian federal autarchy, linked to MDIC, the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade. [1] [2]

Contents

In Brazil, certification bodies must be accredited by INMETRO. Electrical and electronic products that meet Brazilian requirements and that are certified by an INMETRO accredited organization must carry the mandatory INMETRO mark along with the mark of the certification organization, such as UCIEE (União Certificadora para o Controle da Conformidade de Produtos, Processos ou Serviços). [3]

General information

INMETRO acts as Executive Secretariat of the National Council of Metrology, Standardization and Industrial Quality (CONMETRO), an inter-ministerial collegiate entity which is the normative agency of the National System of Metrology, Standardization and Industrial Quality (SINMETRO).

SINMETRO, CONMETRO and INMETRO were created by Brazilian Law 5966, of 11 of December 1973. In this occasion, the INMETRO substitutes the National Institute of Weights and Measurements (INPM), significantly extending its range of performance for the Brazilian society.

In the scope of its ample institucional mission, INMETRO aims to fortify national companies, increasing their productivity by means of the adoption of mechanisms destined to the improvement of the quality of products and services. Being so, INMETRO mission incorporates the promotion of the quality of life of the Brazilian citizens and the competitiveness of the Brazilian economy, by means of Metrology and Evaluation of Conformity concepts and mechanisms.

Some of the main attributions of INMETRO are:

History

During the first Empire, several attempts had been made aiming to the standardization of measurement units used in Brazil, but only in 26 of June 1862, emperor Dom Pedro II promulgated the Imperial Law nº 1157 and with it officialized, in all the domestic territory, the French decimal metric system. Brazil was one of the first nations to adopt the new system, that would be later used in the whole world.

With the following century industrial growth, it became necessary to create more efficient instruments of control in the country, so as to stimulate and to protect producers and consumers. Thus, in 1961, the INPM - Instituto Nacional de Pesos e Medidas (National Institute of Weights and Measurements) was created, implanting the Brazilian network of legal metrology and quality control, establishing the International System of Units (SI) in the Brazilian territory. Soon after, it became clear that it was necessary also to follow the international trends related to technological advances, accuracy and, mainly, attendance to consumer requirements. It was necessary, in other words, to develop and implement Evaluation of Conformity concepts.

In 1973, INMETRO was created, in complementation to the CIP - Inter-ministerial Commission of Prices, including in its ample institucionalthe scope, the objective to strengthen national companies, increasing its profits by means of the protection to consumer rights and improvement of the quality of available products.

Marking

The institutional mark of the INMETRO is registered in the Federal Trademark and Patent Office - INPI - guaranteeing its property.

INMETRO Certification

Automotive Components

In order to enter the Brazilian aftermarket, automotive components have to be labeled with the Inmetro Mark as well as a third party certification logo that has been accredited by Inmetro. These specifications were issued within the Inmetro Ordinance 301/2011 on 21 July 2011, which aims to establish minimum safety requirements for automotive components.

Shock absorbers, electric fuel pumps for the Otto cycle engines, horns or similar equipment employed in automotive road vehicles, pistons, lock pins and lock rings, piston rings, bearing shell and lamps need to be compliant by January 21, 2013. Until then, manufacturers and importers have to be certified as automotive parts must be labeled with the Inmetro Mark from July 22, 2013. [4]

The compliance deadline for automotive wheels has been postponed by Inmetro Ordinance 445/2010 to January 1, 2013. It provides manufacturers and importers more time to prepare for compliance until the end of 2012. Only road wheels labeled with the Inmetro Conformity Identification Mark may be sold in Brazil from January 1, 2015. [5]

Related Research Articles

Metrology Science of measurement and its application

Metrology is the scientific study of measurement. It establishes a common understanding of units, crucial in linking human activities. Modern metrology has its roots in the French Revolution's political motivation to standardise units in France, when a length standard taken from a natural source was proposed. This led to the creation of the decimal-based metric system in 1795, establishing a set of standards for other types of measurements. Several other countries adopted the metric system between 1795 and 1875; to ensure conformity between the countries, the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) was established by the Metre Convention. This has evolved into the International System of Units (SI) as a result of a resolution at the 11th General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) in 1960.

The ISO 9000 family of quality management systems (QMS) is a set of standards that helps organizations ensure they meet customer and other stakeholder needs within statutory and regulatory requirements related to a product or service. ISO 9000 deals with the fundamentals of QMS, including the seven quality management principles that underlie the family of standards. ISO 9001 deals with the requirements that organizations wishing to meet the standard must fulfill.

CE marking Declaration of conformity with European standards

On commercial products, the letters CE mean that the manufacturer or importer affirms the good's conformity with European health, safety, and environmental protection standards. It is not a quality indicator or a certification mark. The CE marking is required for goods sold in the European Economic Area (EEA), but is also found on products sold elsewhere that have been manufactured to EEA standards.

International Organization of Legal Metrology

The International Organization of Legal Metrology, is an intergovernmental organization that was created in 1955 to promote the global harmonization of the legal metrology procedures that underpin and facilitate international trade.

GOST refers to a set of technical standards maintained by the Euro-Asian Council for Standardization, Metrology and Certification (EASC), a regional standards organization operating under the auspices of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to carry out specific conformity assessment tasks.

Product certification

Product certification or product qualification is the process of certifying that a certain product has passed performance tests and quality assurance tests, and meets qualification criteria stipulated in contracts, regulations, or specifications.

ISO/IEC 17025General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories is the main ISO standard used by testing and calibration laboratories. In most countries, ISO/IEC 17025 is the standard for which most labs must hold accreditation in order to be deemed technically competent. In many cases, suppliers and regulatory authorities will not accept test or calibration results from a lab that is not accredited. Originally known as ISO/IEC Guide 25, ISO/IEC 17025 was initially issued by the International Organization for Standardization in 1999. There are many commonalities with the ISO 9000 standard, but ISO/IEC 17025 is more specific in requirements for competence and applies directly to those organizations that produce testing and calibration results and is based on somewhat more technical principles. Laboratories use ISO/IEC 17025 to implement a quality system aimed at improving their ability to consistently produce valid results. It is also the basis for accreditation from an accreditation body.

The National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) is the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) member body for the Republic of Ireland. The NSAI is also a member of the European Organisation for Technical Approvals.

ISO 13485Medical devices -- Quality management systems -- Requirements for regulatory purposes is an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard published for the first time in 1996; it represents the requirements for a comprehensive quality management system for the design and manufacture of medical devices. This standard supersedes earlier documents such as EN 46001 and EN 46002 (1996), the previously published ISO 13485, and ISO 13488.

The South African National Accreditation System (SANAS) is the official accreditation body for South Africa. Founded in 1996, SANAS is headquartered in Pretoria, South Africa. SANAS accreditation certificates are a formal recognition by the Government of South Africa that an organisation is competent to perform specific tasks.

The International Accreditation Forum, Inc. (IAF) is the world association of Conformity Assessment Accreditation bodies and other bodies interested in conformity assessment in the fields of management systems, products, services, personnel and other similar programs of conformity assessment. Its primary function is to develop a single worldwide program of conformity assessment which reduces risk for business and its customers by assuring them that accredited certificates may be relied upon.

Bureau of Indian Standards

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is the National Standards Body of India under Department of Consumer affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Government of India. It is established by the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016 which came into effect on 12 October 2017. The Minister in charge of the Ministry or Department having administrative control of the BIS is the ex-officio President of the BIS. BIS has 500 plus scientific officers working as Certification Officers, Member secretaries of technical committees and lab OIC's.

Standard (metrology) Object, system, or experiment which relates to a unit of measurement of a physical quantity

In metrology, a standard is an object, system, or experiment that bears a defined relationship to a unit of measurement of a physical quantity. Standards are the fundamental reference for a system of weights and measures, against which all other measuring devices are compared. Historical standards for length, volume, and mass were defined by many different authorities, which resulted in confusion and inaccuracy of measurements. Modern measurements are defined in relationship to internationally standardized reference objects, which are used under carefully controlled laboratory conditions to define the units of length, mass, electrical potential, and other physical quantities.

State Committee on Standardization, Metrology and Patents (Azerbaijan)

The State Committee on Standardization, Metrology and Patents of Azerbaijan Republic is a governmental agency within the Cabinet of Azerbaijan in charge of Azerbaijani technical regulations, metrology, valuation of technical compliance, accreditation, quality standardsin Azerbaijan Republic. The committee is headed by Ramiz Hasanov.

Rostest is the largest organization of practical metrology and certification on the territory of the Russian Federation. The main goal of Rostest is governmental standards control aimed at ensuring and maintaining uniformity of measurements in industry, health care, communication systems, trading, military defense, and resource counting as well as environmental protection and other economic activities.

The National Standardization Agency of Indonesia is the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) member body for Indonesia. BSN is a non-ministerial Indonesian government agency with the main task of carrying out governmental tasks in the field of standardization and conformity assessment in Indonesia.

The Testing, Inspection and Certification (TIC) sector consists of conformity assessment bodies who provide services ranging from auditing and inspection, to testing, verification, quality assurance and certification. The sector consists of both in-house and outsourced services.

Turkish Standards Institution

The Turkish Standards Institution is a public standards organization whose mission is to increase the competitiveness of Turkey, facilitating trade on national and international levels and develop society's standard of living by providing standardization and conformity assessment in diverse fields.

References

  1. NIST Special Publication. The Institute. 1999.
  2. Londono, Carmina (July 1999). Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) Conformity Assessment Infrastructure (PDF). Gaithersburg, MD: National Institute of Standards and Technology.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-04-12. Retrieved 2009-08-05.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. INMETRO, "Ordinance 301/2011" (Portuguese), Accessed 20.08.2012
  5. INMETRO, "Ordinance 445/2010" (Portuguese), Accessed 20.08.2012