About PCA
Polish Centre for Accreditation (PCA) is the national accreditation body for Poland, appointed by government, to assess against nationally and internationally agreed standards, organisations that provide certification, testing, inspection, calibration, verification and validation services.
PCA is a non-profit-distributing state legal entity. It operates as an independent body providing a public authority activity and acting in the public interest. PCA is self-financing and charges fees to conformity assessment bodies to cover operational costs and other expenditures. PCA is supervised by the minister in charge of economy.
Accreditation by PCA demonstrates the competence, impartiality and performance capability of conformity assessment bodies. In short, PCA ‘checks the checkers’.
It is government policy to recommend the use of PCA accredited conformity assessment services whenever this is an option. The conformity assessment and accreditation policy in Poland reccommends Polish conformity assessment bodies seeking accreditation to do so from PCA as the sole national accreditation body for Poland.
PCA is appointed as the national accreditation body for Poland in line with Article 4(1) of Regulation (EC) 765/2008, setting out the requirements for accreditation.
PCA is a member of the following organisations:
- European co-operation for Accreditation (EA)
- International Laboratory Accreditation Co-operation (ILAC)
- International Accreditation Forum (IAF)
PCA’ involvement in international accreditation groups (EA, ILAC and IAF), provides for mutual recognition of accreditation and accredited services. This reduces the need for multiple assessments of suppliers, and as a consequence helps to reduce barriers to trade for organisations who hold PCA accreditation or certificates issued by a PCA accredited body.
Find out about international recognition and multilateral agreements signed by PCA.