Increasing the capacity of laboratories in Serbia through the exchange of experience at the international level

In order to better introduce all relevant actors in the system to work in an environment regulated by the new regulations on energy labelling and eco-design, the project "EU for Energy Labeling and Eco-Design" organised a study visit to Turkey from 1 to 4 February 2022.

Representatives of the conformity assessment bodies participating in the project got acquainted with the work of fully equipped laboratories that perform tests of energy related products in accordance with the new requirements of energy labelling and eco-design, which provide services in this field to Turkish industry.

During the study visit to Turkey, the Serbian delegation visited in Istanbul the wet appliance testing laboratory, refrigerating appliances testing laboratory, lighting laboratory, household oven testing laboratory, electric motor testing laboratory, air conditioning and heating technologies testing laboratories, as well as the Turkish Standard Institution (TSE) Quality Campus.

„Turkey first harmonized its legislation on energy labelling and eco-design with the aqcuis of the European Union, but the implementation of the new regulations had to wait several years until all actors in the system were prepared for it“, said expert Necmettin Tokur from the project „EU for Energy Labelling and Eco-Design", emphasizing the importance of this project for the system in Serbia - because that is exactly what it does - in parallel with the adoption of respective regulations.

The Serbian delegation, in addition to six representatives of conformity assessment bodies, consisted of representatives of the Ministry of Mining and Energy of the Republic of Serbia, the Ministry of Transport, Trade and Telecommunications, the Chamber of Commerce, the Serbian Accreditation Body and the project „EU for Energy Labelling and Eco-Design“.

"For us it was very important in Turkey to compare ourselves with other laboratories, to share experience and see how others conduct test. I hope that cooperation will be established with the TSE laboratory in the field of interlaboratory tests and comparisons", said Dragoslav Đorović, director of one of the CABs participating in the project - ANLAB.

"Strengthening of the potential of laboratories is important for better support to the economy. Laboratories are one of the factors in product development. Products that are not energy efficient or that do not have evidence that they are will not be exported", noted Đorović.

ANLAB is a CAB involved in the project with aim to raise its capacity to test the compliance of energy labelling regulations and the eco-design and characteristics of light bulbs.

"For our laboratory it is the new field, we had no previous project in it. I believe that in the upcoming period the interest in testing services in the area of energy labelling will increase. So far, we have conducted tests of luminaries related to safety requirements, and the same equipment we could use for energy efficiency assessment".