TURKISH ACCREDITATION AGENCY
|
Law No. 4457 |
|
Date of Adoption : 27.10.1999 |
Purpose of Establishment
ARTICLE 1. —
Turkish Accreditation Agency (TÜRKAK) is established, related with the Prime
Ministry, subject to private law provisions, with its headquarters in Ankara,
as a legal entity having administrative and financial autonomy, to accredit the
local and international bodies rendering laboratory, certification and
inspection services, ensure them to operate in accordance with established
national and international standards, and thereby ensuring international
recognition of product / service, system, personnel and laboratory
certificates.
Definitions
ARTICLE 2. —
In this Law;
Agency means
Turkish Accreditation Agency,
Accreditation
means evaluation according to nationally and internationally recognized
criteria, approval of competence and assessment at regular intervals of
laboratories, inspection and certification bodies by the Agency,
Accrediting means the approval by the
Agency within the framework of the relevant legislation that private and public
laboratories and inspection and certification bodies carry out their activities
in voluntary and compulsory areas in accordance with nationally and
internationally accepted technical criteria,
Certificate means the certificates
showing compliance with standard and technical regulations, prepared by private
or public laboratories and inspection and certification bodies authorized by
competent public agencies and
organisations on the basis of field of activity to issue certificates in
compulsory areas within the framework of the relevant legislation, and the
certificates showing compliance with standard and technical regulations out of
compulsory areas within the framework of the relevant legislation,
Certification means the activities of
establishing in writing that the product/service, laboratory, system or
personnel comply with a certain standard or technical regulations,
Assessment means the determination of
whether the activities of, laboratories and systems utilized by and the
personnel of a certain organisation comply with the defined specifications
and/or standards,
Standard means the document which is
agreed upon and approved by an accepted body, aimed at establishing an order at
optimum level under existing circumstances, and containing rules, guidelines or
characteristics regarding activities and results thereof for common and
repeated uses,
Technical Regulation means the
document which defines product characteristics, processing or production
methods, as well as administrative provisions and which has to be complied
with,
Certification Body means the body
which certifies compliance with established standards or technical
specifications,
Calibration means the sequence of
procedures which established under certain circumstances the relation between
the values indicated by a measuring instrument or measuring system or the
values given by a measuring tool or a reference material and the corresponding
values obtained from measuring standards,
Quality means all of the
characteristics of a product or service that demonstrate its capability to meet
a certain requirement,
Marking means the utilization of a
certain mark to indicate that a product or product group complies with national
and international standards and/or relevant legislation in terms of health,
safety and protection of the environment and the consumer.
Duties and authorities of the Agency
ARTICLE 3. —Duties and authorities of
the Agency are as follows:
a) Make arrangements regarding the
activities of the Agency, establish the criteria and measures related with
accreditation, implement and, when required, modify, revise and annul the same,
b) Evaluate the private and/or public
agencies and organisations, which carry out activities on laboratory,
product/service, system, personnel and similar certification issues, applying
for accreditation according to relevant standards and criteria and decide
whether to accredit such organisation as a result of this evaluation, monitor
accreditted organisations, suspend the decision of accreditation temporarily or
permanently, when required, and provide coordination among all agencies and
organisations that will carry out activities in these fields,
c) Make arrangements encouraging the
use of markings and certificates issued by accredited organisations,
d) Establish relationships and
cooperate with international and regional accreditation bodies and those of
other countries,
e) Ensure the confidentiality of
information obtained in relation with the application, evaluation and
accreditation of the organisations applying for accreditation,
f) Carry out activities promoting the
importance of accreditation and the consciousness of quality,
g) Carry out training, research and
publication activities on issues within its terms of reference,
h) Purchase services on the issues
within its scope of activities,
i) Purchase, build, sell, lease and
put lien and mortgage on movables and immovables required for carrying out the
services,
j) Perform other duties related with
its field of activity.
Organs
ARTICLE 4. — Organs of the Agency are:
a) General Assembly,
b) Board of Management,
c) Board of Inspection,
d) Secretariat General.
General Assembly
ARTICLE 5. — General Assembly is the
most superior decision organ of the Agency and consists of;
a) Three representatives each from the
Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Undersecretariat of Foreign Trade; one
representative each from the Ministry of National Education, Ministry of
Health, Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs,
Ministry of Public Works and Settlement, Ministry of Energy and Natural
Resources, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Transportation, Ministry of
Labor and Social Security, Undersecretariat of Customs and Undersecretariat of
State Planning Organization,
b) Three representatives from Turkish
Standards Institute; one representative each from the Institution of Higher
Education, Turkish Scientific and Technical Research Institution, Department of
Small and Medium Scaled Industry Development and Support Administration,
Competition Agency and Export Promotion Center,
c) Three representatives each from the
Union of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Maritime Trade and Commodity Exchanges
of Turkey “TOBB” and Turkish Exporters’ Assembly; one representative each from
the first six Chambers of Industry with the highest number of members and first
two Chambers of Commerce and Chambers of Commerce and Industry with the highest
number of members, one representative each from the Union of Turkish Chambers
of Engineers and Architects, Union of Turkish Chambers of Agriculture, Turkish
Tradesmen and Artisans Confederation, Turkish Technological Development
Foundation and Turkish Lloyd Foundation; one representative each from maximum
three organisations accreditted by the Agency, to be elected by the General
Assembly with majority of votes for three years upon the recommendation of the
Board of Management.
Meeting rules and procedures of the General
Assembly
ARTICLE 6. — Meetings of the General
Assembly are headed by the Presiding Board consisting of a chairman and two
members to be elected from among the members. Members of the Board of
Management and Board of Auditors can not be elected for the Presiding Board.
The General Assembly convenes
ordinarily within May every year. Call for an ordinary meeting is made by the
Board of Management. Date, place and agenda of the General Assembly meeting and
the place and date of the second meeting in case majority can not be achieved
is announced by sending registered letters at least fifteen days prior to the
date of meeting.
The General Assembly is called for an
extraordinary meeting through the same method upon the decision of the Board of
Management or Board of Auditors or the request of one thirds of the members of
the General Assembly.
The General Assembly convenes with the
absolute majority of its full number of members. If the majority can not be
achieved, the second meeting is held with the participating members. Decisions
are taken by the majority of the members present in the meeting.
Duties and authorities of the General
Assembly
ARTICLE 7. — Duties and authorities of
the General Assembly are as follows:
a) Elect the principal and reserve members
of the Board of Management,
b) Discharge the Board of Management,
c) Decide on the annual budget
prepared by the Board of Management, monthly attendance fees of the members of
the Board of Management, fees of the members of The Board of Auditors and
meeting attendance fees of the members of the General Assembly and on financial
issues in this scope,
d) Decide on the staff titles and
staff numbers of the personnel to be employed in main service units and
advisory and auxiliary service units and increase the number of staff up to
maximum 75 persons, when required,
e) Decide on transferring the
authorities listed in paragraph (d) of this article to the Board of Management,
when deemed necessary.
Board of Management
ARTICLE 8. — The Board of Management
consists of seven members comprising three from the representatives of the
organisations listed in group (a), two from the representatives of the
organisations listed in group (b) and two from the representatives of the
organisations listed in group (c) of Article 5, including the Chairman of the
Board of Management. More than one representative of any organisation can not
take place in the Board of Management. Chairman of the Board of Management is
elected from among group (a) members. Furthermore, six reserve members are
elected in a fashion as to be two from each group.
Principal and reserve members of the
Board of Management are elected separately within the groups by concealed
voting from among the members of the General Assembly within the framework of
the principles of the first paragraph of this article. These elections are held
under judicial supervision and inspection.
The Board of management is elected for
a term of three years and the Board elects a chairman and deputy chairman from
its members. Chairman and members of the Board of Management are not permanent
personnel of the Agency.
Decisions to be taken by the Board of
Management are executed by the Secretary General.
Members of the Board of Management
should;
a) Bear the conditions set forth in
sub-paragraphs 1, 4 and 5 of paragraph (A) of article 48 of Law 657 on Public
Servant,
b) Be knowledgeable on product,
service, laboratory, system and personnel accreditation and on standards,
c) Be graduated from a Higher
Education Institution providing at least four years of education home or
abroad,
d) Speak at least one of the languages
of English, German and French,
e) Have worked in the public and/or
private sector for at least ten years.
Members of the Board of Management can
vote in the meetings of the General Assembly, except for their discharge.
The Agency is represented by the
chairman, or in his/her default, deputy chairman of the Board of Management.
The membership of any member who does
not attend the meetings of the Board of Management consequently three times or
totally four times in a year without any justification acceptable by the Board
of Management automatically ceases without the need for any further proceeding.
In case any membership of the Board of
Management becomes vacant for any reason, the reserve member of the group with
missing member is deemed to be elected for the vacant membership and completes
the assignment term of the former member. Any member, whose term expires may be
elected for two more terms.
Meeting rules and procedures of the
Board of Management
ARTICLE 9. — The Board of Management
convenes ordinarily at least once a month on the date to be notified by the
chairman. The Board is called for an extraordinary meeting by the chairman of
the Board upon the written application of more than half of the members.
Deputy chairman presides the meeting
in default of the chairman.
Meetings are held with absolute
majority of the full number of members of the Board of Management.
Decisions are taken by the majority of
the attending members.
Duties and authorities of the Board of
Management
ARTICLE 10. — Duties and authorities
of the Board of Management are as follows:
a) Have the required arrangements such
as regulations, communiqués and circulars published in the Official Journal,
b) Examine and finalize the
accreditation decisions received from accreditation units,
c) Assign the Secretary General and
other personnel,
d) Prepare and submit to the General
Assembly the work Schedule and budget, and execute the same following approval,
e) Determine and identify the working
rules and procedures of the Agency and the personnel policy, and to monitor
their implementation,
f) Provide coordination among other
organisations related with accreditation,
g) Perform required procedures to
purchase, build, sell, lease and set lien and mortgage on movable and immovable
assets on issues within its field of activity,
h) Have works such as researches,
technical reviews, surveys and projects on issues required in relation with its
duties and the provision of all relevant goods and services performed by
contracts or bargains with domestic and foreign real and corporate persons and
purchase goods and services related with these issues,
i) Have accreditted organisations
announced in the Official Journal and notify the same to international
accreditation agencies,
j) Decide on complaints and
objections,
k) Conclude mutual recognition
agreements with international and regional accreditation agencies and those of
other countries,
l) Decide on membership in
international or regional accreditation agencies and on representation of the
Agency before international accreditation agencies, when required,
m) Determine the fees to be charged
against the services to be provided,
n) Decide on prepared regulations,
o) The Board of Management may
transfer a part of its authorities to the Secretary General, provided that it
clearly defines the limits thereof, when required,
p) Execute the other duties assigned
by the General Assembly.
Board of Auditors
ARTICLE 11. — The Board of Auditors
consists of one representative each to be notified by the Prime Ministry,
Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Members of the
Board of Auditors are not permanent personnel of the Agency.
It is imperative to bear the
qualifications sought for in the members of the Board of Management in roder to
be a member of the Board of Auditors.
The Board of Auditors may carry out
inspections at any time it deems necessary within the year. The Board of
Auditors prepares the Annual Audit Report by the thirty first day of March at
the latest and duly forwards it to the members of the General Assembly.
If the Board of Auditors detects
during its audits that one or more of the members of the Board of Management
have committed any offense related with their duties, it can call the General
Assembly for an extraordinary meeting to notify the situation. In case it is
proven that any other personnel has committed and offense related with his/her
duty, it notifies the situation to the Board of Management.
Secretary General
ARTICLE 12. — A Secretary General
reporting to such Board is assigned by the Board of Management for carrying out
the administrative, technical and secretariat affairs of the Agency and for
executing the decisions taken by the Board of Management. A maximum of two
Deputies of Secretary General can be assigned to assist the Secretary General.
The Secretary General attends the
meetings of the General Assembly and the Board of Management, without
participating in voting.
The qualifications sought for in the
members of the Board of Management are sought for in the Secretary General and
Deputies of Secretary General.
Duties of the Secretary General
ARTICLE 13. — Duties of the Secretary
General are as follows:
a) Carry out the main services,
advisory and auxiliary services of the Agency,
b) Provide coordination among all
units of the Agency,
c) Perform other works to be assigned
by the Board of Management.
Main service units
ARTICLE 14. – Main service units
reporting to the Secretary General are:
a) Product/Service Accreditation
Department,
b) Laboratory Accreditation
Department,
c) System Accreditation Department,
d) Personnel Accreditation Department.
Product/Service Accreditation
Department
ARTICLE 15. – Duties of the
Product/Service Accreditation Department are as follows:
a) Establish technical and expert
committees for the accreditation of product and service certifying bodies,
b) Perform or have performed the
technical review for the finalization of accreditation applications and submit
it to the approval of the Board of Management,
c) Monitor and control accreditted
bodies,
d) Propose the temporary or permanent
cancellation of accreditation to the Board of Management, when required,
e) Perform other works to be assigned
by the Secretary General on their issues.
Laboratory Accreditation Department
ARTICLE 16. – Duties of the Laboratory
Accreditation Department are as follows:
a) Establish technical and expert
committees for the accreditation of all types of calibration, analysis and test
laboratories,
b) Perform or have performed the
technical review for the finalization of accreditation applications and submit
it to the approval of the Board of Management,
c) Monitor and control accreditted
bodies,
d) Propose the temporary or permanent
cancellation of accreditation to the Board of Management, when required,
e) Perform other works to be assigned
by the Secretary General on their issues.
System Accreditation Department
ARTICLE 17. – Duties of the System
Accreditation Department are as follows:
a) Establish technical and expert
committees for the accreditation of all types of system certification bodies,
b) Perform or have performed the
technical review for the finalization of accreditation applications and submit
it to the approval of the Board of Management,
c) Monitor and control accreditted
bodies,
d) Propose the temporary or permanent
cancellation of accreditation to the Board of Management, when required,
e) Perform other works to be assigned
by the Secretary General on their issues.
Personnel Accreditation Department
ARTICLE 18. – Duties of the Personnel
Accreditation Department are as follows:
a) Establish technical and expert
committees for the accreditation of all types of personnel certification
bodies,
b) Perform or have performed the
technical review for the finalization of accreditation applications and submit
it to the approval of the Board of Management,
c) Monitor and control accreditted
bodies,
d) Propose the temporary or permanent
cancellation of accreditation to the Board of Management, when required,
e) Perform other works to be assigned
by the Secretary General on their issues.
Complaint and objection evaluation,
advisory and auxiliary service units
ARTICLE 19. — Advisory and auxiliary
services of the Agency are carried out by the Legal Advisory Department and
Directorates of International Relations, Training and Promotion, Information
Processing, Personnel and Administrative and Financial Affairs.
A board reporting to the Secretary
General is established for evaluating complaints and objections.
Advisory and Auxiliary Service Units
report to the Secretary General.
Personnel and their qualifications
ARTICLE 20. — Personnel of the Agency
are employed on service contracts. Those assigned to a duty in the Agency are
associated with the State Pension Fund upon their request.
Special qualifications to be sought
for in the personnel are determined through a regulation.
Staff titles and staff numbers of the
personnel to be employed in the Agency are given in the staff Schedule annexed
hereto.
The monthly salary to be paid to the
personnel employed on a service contract is determined by the Board of
Management in a fashion as not to exceed twice the salary of the highest level
of public servant, including all appropriations. Those payments made to the
highest level of public servant which are not subject to income tax are also
not subjected to income tax under this Law, as well.
For pension purposes, Secretary
General, Deputies of Secretary General and Main Service Department Chiefs are
considered at the same level with a General Director. Position of the other
personnel is determined through the regulation to be issued.
Revenues of the Agency
ARTICLE 21. — Revenues of the Agency
are as follows:
a) 1% of the gross revenues of
accreditted bodies gained against their activities in the scope of
accreditation within the year,
b) Fees to be received against the
services provided,
c) Subsidies to be provided from the
general budget,
d) All types of aids and donations,
e) Revenues of the immovables owned by
the Agency,
f) Revenues to be gained through the
interest brought by the above listed revenues.
Surplus of revenue-expenditure of
Turkish Accreditation Agency is transferred to the budget of the following year
of the Agency.
Miscellaneous
ARTICLE 22. — Membership of those
members of the Boards of Management and Inspection who lose their
qualifications as members for any reason whatsoever are deemed to automatically
cease as from the date of learning that such qualifications have been lost,
without the need for any further proceeding.
Cash, documents and all possessions of
the Agency are State’s possessions.
The penalties applied for public
servants are applied for the members of the Boards of Management and Auditors
and the personnel of the Agency for their acts and behaviors constituting
offenses. However, the provisions of the Provisional Law on the Prosecution of
Public Servants are not applied for the members of the Boards of Management and
Audýtors and the personnel of the Agency.
No procedure of the Agency regarding
its revenues and expenses is subject to State Procurement Law 2886, General
Accounting Law 1050, Allowance Law 6245 and the annexes and amendments thereto.
Revenues, proceedings and immovables
of Turkish Accreditation Agency are exempt from all taxes, duties and fees.
Regulations
ARTICLE 23. — Rules and procedures
regarding the implementation of this Law are established through regulations.
PROVISIONAL ARTICLE 1. — All support
services of the Agency until its initial General Assembly is made, its organs
are established and it becomes ready to perform all its duties within a period
of one year at the latest from the entering into effect of this Law are carried
out under the coordination of the Undersecretariat of Foreign Trade by an
agency and/or body to be designated by such Undersecretariat.
PROVISIONAL ARTICLE 2. — Expenditures
of the Agency incurred within the period until it becomes capable of normally
operating with its own sources are met from the general budget.
The Ministry of Finance is authorized
to make the required arrangements on this issue.
PROVISIONAL ARTICLE 3. — The personnel
providing technical services on behalf of National Council for Quality and
Accreditation may be transferred to the Agency within the period specified in
Provisional Article 1, provided that they bear the qualifications specified in
this Law and that their consent and that of the President of the Council is
received.
Effectiveness
ARTICLE 24. – This Law enters into
effect on its date of publication.
Execution
ARTICLE
25. – Provisions of this Law are executed by the Council of Ministers.
ANNEX
STAFF SCHEDULE
|
Staff Title |
Staff Number |
|
Secretary General |
1 |
|
Deputy Secteraty-General |
2 |
|
Chairman |
4 |
|
Legal Advisor |
1 |
|
Director |
4 |
|
Technical Personnel |
26 |
|
Administrative Personnel |
22 |
|
|
|
|
TOTAL |
60 |