Foreword by the Board of Supervisors

It gives us great pleasure to bring this Dutch Accreditation Council RvA public report for 2016 to your attention. It is a report on a year in which for a change the RvA itself has been the subject of two assessment reports. The one was on its own instructions, an image survey. This shows the RvA as a reliable and good accreditation organisation with integrity. The other one was on the instructions of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, to evaluate the RvA in its capacity as an autonomous administrative authority (‘ZBO’) over the first five years of its ZBO existence.

This shows that the RvA is in general wellappreciated and that it operates effectively and efficiently. These are outcomes which also make us as the Board of Supervisors happy. There are obviously also recommendations for further improvements. They are mainly in the area of communication and client contact, efficient management and information. The present report deals with this concretely on the basis of the strategic themes which have been determined for the period 2015-2020.

As chairman of the day at the conference which the RvA organised in connection with World Accreditation Day (9 June) I saw with my own eyes that in 2016 a lot of work went into communication and information. It was a session that was very well attended and where I was able to meet many accreditation stakeholders.

Another highlight considered with regard to accreditation was the appearance of the renewed cabinet position with regard to conformity assessment and accreditation. It gives shape to the integral approach to the supervision of public interests, as this was advocated several years ago by the Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy. It encourages parties such as policy departments, State inspectorates, conformity assessment bodies and the RvA to improve mutual information exchange. This is obviously without losing sight of each party’s role and responsibility. The position taken by the RvA for many years, namely that accredited conformity assessment cannot or should not replace enforcement supervision, but that they could complement each other, is endorsed in the cabinet position.

The total system of quality assurance, supervision and enforcement should give society confidence that all is well with the products and services they can enjoy. As the Board of Supervisors we keep our finger on the pulse of how the RvA deals with all those interests, optimises its management, responds to signals from society and looks for the dialogue, without losing sight of its special role.

In 2016 we performed that duty in word and deed. You can read more about it in our report to the annual accounts.

On behalf of the Board of Supervisors,

Drs. E.H.T.M. Nijpels Chairman