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Membership in International & Regional Bodies
International
SAZ has been a member body of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) since 1990. The SAZ has since 2001 also been a member of the International Electrotechnical Commission’s (IEC) Affiliate Programme. SAZ also actively participates in Codex Alimentarius’ international standardization work on foods.
Regional
At regional level, the SAZ is a member of the SADC Expert Group in Standardization, Quality Assurance, Accreditation and Metrology (SQAMEG) and actively participates in three of its committees, namely: SADC
Cooperation in Standardization (SADCSTAN), SADC Cooperation in Accreditation (SADCA), and SADC Cooperation in Measurement and Traceability (SADCMET). The aim of SADC STAN is to harmonise standards in the region in order to facilitate trade. SADCA’s objective is to facilitate the creation of a pool of internationally recognised and acceptable accreditation laboratories, certification and inspection bodies, and to provide Member States with accreditation as a tool for the removal of technical barriers to trade. Among others, SADCMET is responsible for coordinating metrology activities and services in the region, in order to provide regional calibration and testing service (of weighing and measuring equipment) with readily available traceability to the International System of units (SI units) of measurement, through legally defined and regionally and internationally recognised national measurement standards.
The SAZ is also a member of the Common Market for Eastern & Southern Africa’s (COMESA) Committee on Standardization and Quality Assurance. Realising the role standardization and quality could play in increasing intra and extra COMESA trade, the COMESA treaty was revised to include Chapter 15 which advocates the adoption of harmonised standards, measurement systems and quality assurance practice in respect of goods produced and traded within the common market. To this end a subcommittee on Standardization and quality assurance, metrology and testing (SQMT) was established to harmonise standards, systems and practices in the region.
At national level, SAZ is a member of various boards and committees.
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