DOCUMENTS Country Report Expertise Centre COUNTRY REPORT 2006 - 2007

4.5 Questionnaire

In connection with the seminar, a questionnaire was sent out to the 600 invitees, in order to monitor quantitatively the perceived changes of the quality infrastructure during the period of the MEDA project namely 2002-2006. The distribution of the 56 people who actually attended the workshop was as follows: Ministries: 26; industry: 16; associations: 6; consultants: 8.

The results of the questionnaires that were returned from 38 responders to the seminar are given in appendix 17, and a summary table is given below. It contains short versions of the questions, and the percentage of YES that was given for 2002 and 2006.

The questionnaire has five parts, namely legislation; standardisation; testing, certification & inspection; accreditation and metrology. For each part a number of key indicators were selected for comparison between the situation in 2002 and 2006. Further the metrology part asked for statistical information, but only five contributed with this information.

Although the statistical basis for definite conclusions is weak, considering the small number of responses, the results of the enquiry may be summarised as follows:

• Legislation

The knowledge of legislation and CE-marking has been good during the whole period; but the knowledge has increased significantly since 2002. Although this is undoubtedly attributable to the project, the country report action has not in itself been a driver. This is an indication that the country reports have not been circulated amongst the responders.

• Standardisation

One of the key points in adopting EU practices is the broad participation in mirror committees, and this has improved during the period. However, two major obstacles prevail. Draft standards are still not widely circulated for comments, and according to the perception of the majority of the responders, there are still a significant number of mandatory standards. This perception is in conflict with the fact that the majority of mandatory standards have been withdrawn during the period 2002-2006. However, an explanation could be the fact that the new legislation in the field of new and global approach directives refers to standards; but the standards are in fact voluntary whereas the compliance with directives is compulsory.

• Testing, certification & inspection

Although industry representatives were in minority amongst the seminar participants the answers to the questionnaire reflect an increased focus on CE-marking, both seen in the increase of providers and users of the marking process. But although the situation has improved significantly, it is still the opinion that Turkey does not have the required capacity for testing and certification in Turkey. This is worth noting since the Ministry for Industry and Trade maintains the position that the number of identified conformity assessment bodies within its area of responsibility covers most needs.

• Accreditation

The questionnaire confirms the findings of the assessment team that there has been great progress in the field of accreditation during the project period. The use of accreditation as well as its use in the notification process has become widely accepted.

• Metrology

Also here, all indicators have improved during the period 2002-2006. More responders now find metrology important and are conversant with the key metrology terms such as traceability, measurement uncertainty, and interlaboratory comparisons; but only a modest increase in the number of providers and users of metrology services were reported amongst the responders.

However, the five providers of calibration services that supplied statistical information give an indication of a dramatic increase in the number of calibrations that are provided by them. With three providers who started their activities during the period, the reported number of certificates has increased by a factor of 5 during 2002-2006. A similar increase was reported in the number of certificates that the responders bought for calibrations of their own instrumentation.

19 responders gave statistical information on the details of development during 2002 to 2006, as summarised in the figures below:

The first three graphs show measures of the effort that has been put into ensuring quality in laboratories and production industries: Firstly the participation in interlaboratory comparisons has increased substantially year by year, and the same is true for the purchase of calibrations. On the other hand, participations in courses have remained steady, which indicate that time set aside for education is fixed; but the success of the courses arranged by the Expertise Center indicates that these courses have been given priority over other courses during the period.

The last two graphs show the results in terms of the quality efforts in laboratories and production industries. The issuing of calibrations certificates and test reports has increased significantly, and this is a clear sign of the focus on quality in the period; however, this effort has had its price in the diminishing effort in a less visible activity namely publications. However, it is also possible that the substantial publication activity of the Expertise Center has influenced demand on responders to produce their own material.

In conclusion, the responses to the questionnaire confirm in a quantitative way the findings of the assessment team, although on a weak statistical basis.