International Acceptance of Iranian Certificates Should Lead to Lower Export Costs

The head of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce said: Acceptance of test results and inspection certificates issued in Iran in target markets could prevent repeated evaluation processes, reduce export costs and save exporters' time.

According to Mehr reporter, Mahmoud Najafi Arab, head of Tehran Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, in the celebration of International Standards Day, considered the management of energy imbalance and the development of renewable energies as requirements for improving the economic performance of the country and stated: "Increasing the energy production capacity is necessary, but solving the problem of imbalance is not possible just by building new power plants, and reducing waste, correcting the consumption pattern, and improving productivity should also be considered."

Referring to the role of energy efficiency standards in reducing production costs, he added: the implementation of these standards in industrial engines, production equipment and energy management systems can reduce energy consumption and the cost of business activities. Therefore, the standard should not be considered merely an administrative requirement, but can be a tool to increase productivity and improve the economic performance of companies.

The development of renewable energy needs to guarantee the quality of equipment

Referring to the economic opportunities of the development of renewable energies, the head of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce said: the increase in the installed capacity of renewable power plants this year has provided the basis for more activity for investors, equipment manufacturers, knowledge-based companies and technical and engineering service providers; However, the continued development of this sector depends on ensuring the quality and performance of the equipment.

Najafi Arab added: Solar panels, inverters, energy storage systems and grid connection equipment must be evaluated based on valid requirements in terms of safety, quality and performance. Having appropriate standards and efficient infrastructure for compliance testing and evaluation can reduce investment risk and increase the confidence of market participants.

He emphasized: In order to realize the goals of this year's slogan, there should be a practical connection between increasing energy production capacity, improving productivity, and standardizing communication equipment, so that the result can be seen in reducing production costs and strengthening the competitiveness of enterprises.

The head of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce called the international acceptance of test results and inspection certificates issued in Iran one of the important demands of economic activists and said: Alignment in international frameworks related to laboratory cooperation and qualification verification, including ILAC and APAC, is one of the country's achievements in this field.

He added: The expectation of the private sector was that after achieving this position, the necessary negotiations and agreements would be made with the export target countries so that the results of the tests and inspection certificates issued in Iran would be accepted in the destination markets.

Najafi Arab stated: In the absence of a mutual acceptance mechanism, Iranian exporters may be forced to test and inspect their products again in the destination country or a third country; A process that increases the cost and time of export.

According to him, this issue is still one of the challenges mentioned by economic activists, and the expectation of the private sector for its complete solution has not been fulfilled.

Stating that the technical validity of the certificates should become an economic advantage for the exporters, he stated: Alignment in the international qualification verification systems is not enough on its own, and utilizing its capacity requires mutual acceptance agreements, specifying the scope of acceptance of certificates and effective negotiation with the institutions of the target countries.

The necessity of private sector participation in developing technical regulations

Referring to the general approval of the establishment of the technical regulation system in the last meeting of the High Standard Council in the presence of the President, Najafi Arab said: the effective implementation of this system depends on the coordination between the executive bodies, preventing parallelism and the participation of the private sector in the process of drafting regulations.

He added: The stability and predictability of regulations, in addition to helping to improve the quality and safety of products, prevents the imposition of unforeseen costs on economic enterprises and provides the basis for better decision-making and increasing the confidence of investors.

The head of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce noted that the technical regulation system should lead to increased transparency, stakeholder participation, and facilitation of economic activities, rather than increasing the complexity of processes and the cost of business activities by creating new administrative layers.

Three proposals for the cooperation of the Tehran Chamber and the National Standards Organization

Emphasizing the necessity of transforming standardization policies into concrete economic achievements, Najafi-Arab proposed three axes for the joint cooperation of Tehran Chamber of Commerce and Iran's National Standards Organization with the participation of specialized organizations.

He considered the first axis to be identification of obstacles to standardization and assessment of compliance in the field of renewable energy and optimization of energy consumption and said: In this field, practical solutions should be provided to remove obstacles and reduce the costs of economic enterprises.

According to him, compiling a road map for the international acceptance of the results of Iran's tests and inspection certificates, by prioritizing export target markets and determining responsibilities and specific timing for negotiations, is the second proposed axis.

The head of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce named the third axis of cooperation as creating a mechanism for the effective participation of economic organizations in the formulation of technical regulations and preventing the formation of parallel qualification verification processes.

He announced: Tehran Chamber of Commerce is ready to summarize the issues and proposals of the private sector in cooperation with the National Standards Organization and other responsible institutions and to participate in turning these axes into executive programs.

In the end, Najafi Arab expressed hope that strengthening the interaction between the Chamber of Commerce, the National Standard Organization and other responsible institutions will lead to facilitating exports, developing industrial activities and increasing the competitiveness of the country's economic enterprises.