TURKAK, the Turkish NAB, published an article regarding its 20^th Anniversary. Click HERE to read the detailled article on TURKAK’s website.

 

The “20^th Founding Anniversary of Turkish Accreditation Agency (TURKAK)” was celebrated on 1 November 2019 in Antalya with the participation of Mr. Mevlüt ÇAVUŞOĞLU, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Further participants in the event included Ambassador Mr. Faruk KAYMAKCI, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Director for EU Affairs; Governor of Antalya Mr. Münir KARALOĞLU; representatives of the regional association “European Accreditation” (EA) with which TURKAK is affiliated through international agreements, umbrella associations “International Accreditation Forum” (IAF) and “International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation” (ILAC) and other regional associations, as well as TURKAK stakeholders and senior representatives of various public institutions and organisations.

The event featured speeches, panel discussions, twentieth-year short film viewing, an introductory video for TURKAK process automation project, and was concluded with the presentation of plaques.

Mrs. Banu MÜDERRİSOĞLU, Secretary-General, expressed in her opening remarks her respect and gratitude to President Mr. Recep Tayyip ERDOĞAN, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Mevlüt ÇAVUŞOĞLU for trusting and supporting her in the sensitive processes through which our country was going. Emphasising that she would continue to work always aspiring the better, and understanding this was a relay contest, Mrs. MÜDERRİSOĞLU thanked all directors and staff who served.

Minister of Foreign Affairs ÇAVUŞOĞLU stated in his opening remarks that the founding of TURKAK twenty years ago meant an important step toward international recognition of conformity assessment bodies; boosted the competence of such bodies; he closely followed and was proud of the domestic and international work by TURKAK; and wished success and assured support to Secretary-General MÜDERRİSOĞLU in her new office.

Ambassador Faruk KAYMAKCI, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Director for EU Affairs, informed in his opening remarks that TURKAK was founded as a requirement of the Customs Union; that accreditation underlied the trade volume of 2.3 trillion EUR since 1996; accreditation work, i.e. the work of TURKAK, was the invisible part of the iceberg; and we must be proud. He also announced to the representatives from international organisations that he had full confidence that joint work would contribute to the world of quality, placing better products on the markets and improving world trade volume.

The representatives of Turkish Standards Institute (TSE) and Turkish Lloyd, as the first organisations accredited by TURKAK, also delivered speeches. Prof.Dr. Adem ŞAHİN, President of TSE, congratulated the twentieth anniversary of TURKAK, expressed his pride in being one of the first accredited organisations, and emphasised that TURKAK played a significant role in the economic development of our country. Ms. Ayfer ADIGÜZEL, Vice-Chair of Turkish Lloyd’s Board, spoke in similar vein, congratulating TURKAK’s twentieth anniversary, her pride in being one of first accreditees, and they were conscious that conformity assessment meant a product’s passport.

Senior representatives of international organisations delivered speeches as well. Dr. Andreas STEINHORST, Executive Secretary of the European Co-operation for Accreditation (EA), stated that considering that every country could only have one and sole national accreditation body, EA with members from 50 countries was mandated by the European Commission to implement accreditation in a stable and harmonized manner in Europe and ensure that national accreditation bodies would be observed and recognised; and continued its activities in 50 countries. He noted that TURKAK, as one of full member organisations, was a very important and active member of EA and actively took part in EA committees, and the certificates and reports accredited by TURKAK are recognised in Europe both in the voluntary and mandatory areas.

Ms. Maria PAPATZIKOU, Vice-Chair of EA stated that she was pleased that TURKAK, a highly active member, was a member of the EA family; one of the first agencies with recognition in all scopes, that she was happy to have worked in previous years with colleagues from TURKAK who were competent in their fields and TURKAK’s contribution to EA peer-evaluation system was highly significant with its competent peer-evaluators, and lastly, congratulated Mr. Orbay EVRENSEVDİ, who was elected to chair the EA Inspection Committee.

Starting his speech by congratulating our Secretary-General Banu MÜDERRİSOĞLU for her appointment, Mr. Thomas FACKLAM, Former Chair of EA and Former Chair of the International Accreditation Forum, stated that TURKAK increased its competence day-by-day and proved its competence in all scopes of EA. Mr. FACKLAM also stated that the EU Committee activities not only hosted meetings but also included team building activities, as accreditation meant being an interconnected family.

Ms. Maria Isabel LOPEZ MARTINEZ, Vice-Chair of the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) stated that she was proud of TURKAK, a member of ILAC, which evolved every year, and signed an agreement in the field of Proficiency Testing two months ago and possessed all the characteristics of hard-work, a good strategy, a correct vision and patience, which were necessary to fulfil the requirements of EA, ILAC and IAF. She also noted that she felt very close to TURKAK, and the Mexican Accreditation Agency (EMA) of which she was a member was founded in the same year as TURKAK and they had many similarities.

Mr. Emanuele RIVA, Vice-Chair of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF), stated that when they talked about the 20^th year of TURKAK, they actually talked about very parallel timeline dates with the IAF as it had a past of 26 years. He stated that accreditation contributed significantly to economies by giving the examples that companies in his country, where only 3% were certified, produced 40% of the Gross Domestic Product, and on the other hand, only 13% of Italian companies engaging in exports were accredited but they accounted for 53% of the export volume. In conclusion, he emphasised that they celebrated, by this event, not only the twentieth anniversary but also the added value to the market.

The panel on the “Role of Accreditation in Product Quality and Safety, Current Situation and Future Perspective” was moderated by Dr. Halil İbrahim ÇETİN, General Director of Industry and Productivity and former Secretary-General of TURKAK, and featured the panellists including IAF representative Norman BRUNNER, EA representative Kevin BELSON, African Accreditation Cooperation (AFRAC) representative Ron JOSIAS and TURKAK Founding Secretary-General Atakan BAŞTÜRK who expressed their valuable opinions.

The congratulations message of ILAC Chair Ms. Etty FELLER, who was unable to attend the event, was read at the end of the panel.

Before the closing, Minister of Foreign Affairs ÇAVUŞOĞLU presented plaques to panellist guests and foreign speakers, as well as colleagues who retired from our Agency.

Further during the event, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by the Deputy Secretary-General Aleksander RADOVSKI, who was one of the numerous international representatives and represented the Bulgarian Accreditation Service (BAS) and the host TURKAK Secretary-General Banu MÜDERRİSOĞLU on behalf of and between TURKAK and BAS.

As TURKAK family, we would like to extend infinite gratitude to President Mr. Recep Tayyip ERDOĞAN, who trusted and supported us in this important day of the young and dynamic Agency of our country that we have been serving with confidence and pride for twenty years, and Mr. Mevlüt ÇAVUŞOĞLU, Minister of Foreign Affairs, who honoured us with his participation; Ambassador Faruk KAYMAKCI, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Director for EU Affairs; Mr. Münir KARALOĞLU, Governor of Antalya; representatives of EA, ILAC, IAF and all other international associations, representatives of public institutions and organisations, private sector, all our stakeholders and all of team members. We also commemorate our deceased team members with respect and affection.

For TURKAK’s event gallery, visit: 20years.turkak.org.tr

Click HERE to read the detailled article on TURKAK’s website