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Efficient
Quality Assurance Free From Politics
Wondirad Seifu, March 4, 2007, Addis Fortune
One of the most important discoveries of the last
century is the concept of “quality”, an area where a lot had been done in
managing it, and yet much remains to be done because establishing standards
is dynamic. Not surprising, the quality movement has changed since then and
reoriented the popular and traditional management under the concept of
Total Quality Management (TQM).
Although TQM suffers lately in the politics of
buzz-words, the good news is that it continues the endless journey,
integrating the ISO-9000 quality management system, an internationally
accepted standard for industrially processed goods. In the aftermath of the
Second World War, various types of national and international
infrastructures were established to spur the quality movement, including
the emergence of standard qualification and accreditation bodies.
Ethiopia joined the club much latter: The Quality and
Standard Authority of Ethiopia (QSAE) was
established 35 years ago. It is good to learn the leaps and bounds move by
the Authority has begun, with the ambition to kick-start a certification
scheme for the ISO-9000.
Hopefully, it will not take us too long to witness the
inauguration of its name that may be dubbed as “Quality and Standard
Institute of Ethiopia”. As it appears now, the QSAE could probably be the
only agency left in the world with its name qualified by the word
“Authority”
To become an internationally recognized ISO-9000
certification agency, the Authority has to be equipped with an
internationally accreditation body, which should meet the general criteria
stipulated under EN-45012 or ISO/ICE guide 62 documents. This is what I
would argue the Authority should aspire to get , with the help of a
German-based accreditation body as it was reported in your newspaper
headline,” First Ethiopian Certification to be Launched”, ( Volume 7 Number
354, February 11, 20078).
The effort by the Authority to join the world’s quality
revolution is encouraging; nevertheless, I am not comfortable with the
course of action it is taking in hosting a certification scheme for ISO-
9000.
Standard agencies are powerful instruments to enforce
policy on quality in order to foster sustainable development. Their
traditional role is advisory and facilitation, and not leadership in
quality. This would require them to distant themselves from routine
activities such as running laboratory testing, inspection, training and
calibration of shops, as well as weighing scales.
Unfortunately, what the Authority in Ethiopia has been
doing is not far from spending its recourses on activities better left to
the private sector. Consequently, lack of imagination on the part of the
Authority has crippled the potential for the emergence of a local industry
in quality management and inspection, although several thousands of such
firms have flourished in other parts of the world.
Hosting a certification scheme by the Authority as it
was reported in your newspaper, I am afraid, is not different from what it
has been doing for three decades. It is rather seen as a move to
consolidate all routine activities or an attempt to create a monopoly
platform in quality operations.
An agency that has been criticized for inefficiencies in
delivering laboratory services, which is not even recognized by ISO-17025,
is now seen aspiring to add the burden of certification scheme, with an
internationally accredited status. It is an ambition whose success will
depend on the Authority’s subsequent moves in clarifying some major issues.
Most important is the issue of independence: although
the Authority is supposed to operate within the domain of both the public
and private sectors, it is directly accountable to the Ministry of Trade
and Industry. Proving to the public that its decision making process in the
course of ensuring quality on its behalf is absent from political
interference will remain a sticky point.
The issue of real or perceived conflicts of interest in
certification and consultation services is what needs to be sorted out by
the Authority. The sooner this occurs the better it will be. This is
because many guidelines in quality management prohibit their marketing
together by the same agency. As there are thousands of accreditation bodies
in the world, so is there a good number those who work on certifications.
Competition among these bodies is apparent, as manifested by their forming
networks, with strict or loose codes of conducts. Why this is important is
because the accreditation status has a lot to do with how the market is
reacting to the certifying agency. When one views the recent agreement
between the Quality and Standard Authority of Ethiopia and the German
Association for Accreditation, it is obvious question the integrity and
reputation of the latter, and the decision of the Authority to pick this
particular Association.
Failure to address this issue has far dire consequences
than if its impact remains limited to one federal agency. Quality is not
confined to goods manufactured by the industrial sector; it also involves
the service sector. Many of the federal agencies such as Ministry of
Health, Education, Mining etc. run certification schemes, one way or the
other. Are all these agencies accredited to conduct their certification
services; by whom and under whose authority?
An accreditation process has been cascaded from top to
bottom as depicted by a pyramid shape:
at the top is a recognition body, followed by accreditation
agencies, and certification bodies that are certifying the private firms
involved in inspection at the bottom of the pyramid.
In order for Ethiopia to establish a quality assurance
system without prejudice or bias, it is very important and about time to
restructure the Authority as a federal agency that gives national
accreditation to the various federal and regional bodies that provide
certification services. In order to make this accreditation process
autonomous, thus credible, the private sector has to be brought onboard as
obviously the public domain ought not to be ignored.
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