Initiative and co-ordination to prepare laboratories in newly associated states for full implementation of the low-voltage directive (LVD)

The Czech partner was responsible for the 1st INCOLAB international conference organisation. After discussions with regulatory bodies, accreditation institute and typical industry representatives some conference topics were proposed. During the 2nd Steering Committee meeting in Delft project members agreed that conference has to emphasize the topics which are interesting to the Czech audience (it will form the majority of attendees) but there have to be also topics interesting for other countries. Project members also agreed that the conference topics should address industry, regulatory bodies and testing laboratories. Based on the discussion and agreement between members of the steering committee, a preliminary conference program was developed and agreed by the project co-ordinator. Project members decided that conference duration will be 1 day. The conference took place at Prague, 4 December 2004. It was open to all interested parties, in particular, those involved with the implementation of the Low Voltage Directive (LVD). The objective of the conference was to support measurement and testing (M&T) laboratories and related infrastructures in Newly Associated States (NAS) for full implementation of LVD. Equally important was to enhance their interrelations with regulatory and administrative bodies and with related industries. Particular emphasis of the INCOLAB project is to enable and facilitate mutual recognition agreements and the ability for competitiveness and this aspect was also taken in account. The lectures were given mostly in English, only some of them in Czech. Simultaneous interpreting was available. Conference proceedings were printed and distributed. The complete number of attendees was 74 from all vertices of an institutional triangle, 32 of them from abroad. The conference was welcomed by the President of the Czech Office for Standards, Metrology and Testing and conclusions were formulated by the project co-ordinator Janko Drnovsek and by the General Director of the CMI Pavel Klenovsky. Given presentations covered all the topics selected by the Steering Committee. Selection was made with respect to the fact that this conference has to tackle results and experiences of different project partners and participants connected with the problems concerned after the first year of the project. Of course a scope of topics must be rather broad in such case. A few topics were very challenging (software testing, financial and economic impacts, evaluation of measurement and test results, infrastructure problems, comparison of different directives). Conference attendees expressed their satisfaction that exchange of knowledge and expertise between the project members and between partners in an institutional triangle has started. Also good and new international relations were established. Presentation of software testing at the first glimpse didn't fit to the program, but it was extremely important and interesting at the same time, because also testing is more and more related to the software issues and requirements related to the characteristics of software. A very appreciated example was also the presented dilemma, where there is one appliance to which more than one directive is applicable. Some experience has been gained that could be used for the next conference organisation: -·Conference organizer should focus on how to attract more active participation of attendees and more space should be given for discussions. -·A broad scope of topics, which basically addressed most of dilemmas in the scope of the project, does not allow going into more detailed discussion. The next limitation is given by the fact that attendees are coming from various reasons and from different vertices of an institutional triangle. -·It will be useful to provide attendees with opportunity to evaluate the level of their satisfaction of the conference by completing of a simple but well structured questionnaire. -·Another remark was made on a broad agenda and lack of time for discussion. More general plenary session in the morning and a few parallel sessions (workshops) in the afternoon were proposed for the next conference.

The curriculum for post-graduate specialisation study "Technical quality" was developed in order to provide and disseminate knowledge and experiences related to assurance of technical quality, adoption or harmonisation and implementation of technical standards and directives, conformity assessment, accreditation, certification, quality systems, measurement and testing problems etc. Such study programme would not be helpful only to students before their first employment but especially to experts from industry and also public servants or governmental staff. The curriculum was developed according to the needs and requirements of the interested partners (industry, laboratories, regulatory and administrative bodies). Wider long-term objective is to facilitate the activities in the field of technical quality, comprising of technical harmonisation activities, conformity assessment techniques/procedures, metrology, quality assurance, and related legislation, by providing post-graduate students, industries, services and especially public servants, engaged in writing Slovenian technical legislation, with useful knowledge in the form of a University post-graduate a complete one year specialisation study or a custom made seminar from related areas when required. Before the study each student must chose a mentor from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering. Mentor guides a student during the study and proposes a topic of a seminar and a specialisation work, sometimes also study subjects. Study subjects are of selection type but at least 80% of study subjects should be chosen among above stated study subjects. Other study subjects could be chosen with consent of a mentor also at faculties, which carry out studies related to a field of interest and to a topic of a specialisation work. Study subjects are given by the lecturers of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering but occasionally also experts from industry or lecturers from abroad are invited. It is to emphasise that the specialisation is considered as an interdisciplinary postgraduate programme; therefore it requires only a general technical undergraduate background. The education programme is supposed to be a university one- year post-graduate specialization study. Lectures will cover theoretical backgrounds of relevant topics, while practical work will cover most representative measurement, testing, quality and conformity assessment techniques. It is intended for those postgraduate students, coming from industries, public sector etc. that do not want to obtain a masters or a doctorate degree, but want to obtain a degree of a specialist in the field of technical quality. Each study subject and a seminar is completed, when a written exam is passed. To begin with a specialisation work all exams must be completed. A specialisation work is completed after it is successfully defended in front of a commission. Thus a student achieves a title "specialist in technical quality". The proof of qualification, the diploma of a specialist in technical quality will be useful either as a result of continuous education, re-qualification or to ease the first time employment for young graduates and make them more employable. Especially for public servants, topics from the specialisation study could be tailored to their specific needs when required. When courses tailored to specific needs are performed, i.e. related to the Low Voltage Directive for market surveillance personnel, the faculty is free to decide upon a formal structure of the course. The proof of their attendance will be a diploma of attendance at a particular course. In order to achieve the desired outputs, human resources are of paramount importance. To meet the overall objectives very close relations between University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, and Slovenian industry, services, governmental and non-governmental institutions were established. This fact guaranties that appropriate curriculum and syllabuses could be developed. In addition, the Faculty of Electrical Engineering has a long lasting relation with participation in the EU projects. The Faculty of Electrical Engineering has set-up in the period of last ten years a group of junior teaching staff that has closely collaborated with industry, public sector and has experiences with work in the EU environment. This group, consisting of four teachers and four assistants fully engaged the acquisition of new knowledge and is capable to its efficient dissemination. One of extremely important elements of the proposed curriculum and its successful realisation is equipment for up to date experimental work. Study cannot succeed without adequate equipment support and proper practical training. The laboratory is well equipped and has sufficient resources to provide modern measurement and testing equipment suitable for realisation of the study programme.

Ear thermometers are clinical thermometers, which have to be tested for their accuracy. Their overall requirements and performance fall under the Council Directive 93/42/EEC. General test requirements are written in different standards (designation E-1965-98 ASTM 1998) or draft standards (prEN 12470-5:2000, Draft of JIS, Infrared ear thermometer, JMIF 2001). If the test of an ear thermometer shall determine its required accuracy all uncertainty components of auxiliary equipment shall be negligible compared to the uncertainty of an ear thermometer itself. One of the critical uncertainties represents the uncertainty of temperature due to the characteristics of a blackbody radiator (temperature stability and homogeneity, emissivity). The requirements for a blackbody radiator are very strict but it is very hard to determine their absolute values especially the emissivity. We will perform the analysis and comparison of different shapes of blackbody cavities according to the mentioned standards (and drafts) plus we will introduce a new shape. All the cavities will be analysed in terms of emissivity calculation and mounted in the same water bath. Blackbody radiators with different cavities will be evaluated also in terms of temperature stability and homogeneity. The comparison analysis will show how influential are other parameters besides an ear thermometer itself in testing of clinical ear thermometers to their overall accuracy. First outcome in the scope of this task was the doctorate thesis of Igor Puanik. An important part of the thesis consists of description of experiments related to ear thermometers and technical requirements based on the requirements of the Medical Device Directive and related standards. The second outcome were three articles related to the topic of the task, which were published in the SCI journals of the Institute of Physics: Puanik I., E. van der Ham, Drnovaek J., IR ear thermometers - what do they measure and how they comply with the EU technical regulation, IOP Physiol. Meas. 25 (2004) 699-708 Puanik I., Simpson R., Drnovaek J., Bilateral comparison of blackbody cavities for calibration of infra-red ear thermometers between NPL and FE/LMK, IOP Physiol. Meas. 25 (2004) pp. 1239-1247 PU`NIK, Igor, DRNOV`EK, Janko. Infrared ear thermometers - parameters influencing their reading and accuracy. Physiol. meas. (Print). [Print ed.], 2005, vol. 26, pp. 1075-1084. The third outcome of the task was a patent granted by the Slovene patent office. PU`NIK, Igor, BOJKOVSKI, Jovan, DRNOV`EK, Janko. Kopel za socasno umerjanje medicinskih brezkontaktnih in kontaktnih termometrov: patent atevilka 21628: patent je podeljen z odlocbo at. 600-198/04-JM-5 z dne 3. 5. 2005. Ljubljana: Urad RS za intelektualno lastnino, 2005. Copy of the patent document is enclosed to this report. The holders of patent filed also an inquiry for the patent at European patent office in Munich. At the end of the project the application was still under consideration. Copy of the application is enclosed to this report. As a spin-off result of this task and based on published articles Dr. Igor Puanik was invited by the convenor of the OIML - Organisation Internationale de Metrologie Legale dr. Jurgen Hartmann from Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt Berlin-Braunschweig, Germany to participate in the standardisation work for development of the new joint OIML and ISO standard on clinical thermometers. At the meeting of the working group ISO/TC 121/SC 3/JWG 8 in December 2005 at DIN, Berlin, Germany, Dr. Puanik was nominated as a member of the working group for preparation of testing methods for clinical thermometers. By the end of the project, 3 meetings were held (Berlin, Germany; Washington, USA; Limassol, Cypruss). At the meetings the international standard was developed to the stage of a committee draft and more than 500 comments from interested parties received through their national standardization bodies were discussed. The work will continue with the next meeting in April at the DIN, Frankfurt, Germany and later according to the needs. It is expected that the standard for clinical thermometers could be adopted by the end of 2008. Another spin-off of this task was the inter-laboratory comparison of blackbodies for calibration of ear thermometers between the national measurement institutes in Europe. The EUROMET comparison was initiated during the EUROMET TC THERM meeting on 5./6. April 2005 in Vienna. MIRS/FE-LMK was chosen to be the pilot laboratory. The procedures and instructions, which are given in the protocol, should be followed by all participants. Each laboratory should follow its common practice in calibration of infrared ear thermometers (IRETs), when calibrating IRETs against their own blackbody. The objective of the inter-comparison is to determine agreement of blackbodies and procedures in calibration of IRETs among European national laboratories.

The CMI web site includes a sub-tree INCOLAB with important links to other web presentations related to the conformity assessment, EC directives and their implementation, regulatory bodies, standardization (harmonized standards), services, metrological and testing laboratories, notified bodies, market surveillance, customer protection organizations. Useful presentations from INCOLAB conferences and workshops are included.

The State Agency for Metrology and Technical Surveillance was host of the second INCOLAB conference held in Sofia on 2nd - 3rd December 2004. The conference was aimed at presenting different aspects of LVD implementation and the problems arisen during the implementation period in the INCOLAB partners' countries. During the preparatory stage of the conference the following activities were performed: -·Collection, selection and evaluation of offers of hotels/specialized organizations for the conference organization, preparation of a contract -·Discussion with the INCOLAB partners and selection of the topics for papers that will be presented on the conference -·Selection of the papers that will be presented by the Bulgarian institutions participating in INCOLAB project -·Translation in English of the Bulgarian papers -·Preparation and coordination with the INCOLAB partners of the conference agenda and timetable -·Preparation of the INCOLAB conference materials (proceedings and other) -·Technical support of the conference -·Organization of technical visit at SAMTS' metrological laboratories. The topics presented and discussed during the INCOLAB conference were divided into 2 parts: -·2nd December 2004 - 10 presentations (Power Point) prepared by the INCOLAB partners The lecturers presented the experience of the INCOLAB partners in the process of LVD implementation. An active discussion on the existing problems and solutions found was organized and the LVD implementation in the view of conformity assessment, market surveillance and testing was discussed. -·3rd December 2004 - 2 seminars: a) Seminar -Legal, economic and financial aspects of the full implementation of LVD- moderator NMi, NL The seminar was aimed at presenting and discussing the legal, economic and financial aspects of the full implementation of LVD. The 5 presentations by the Dutch experts offered to the audience the viewpoint and experience of a Dutch test-house - TNO-EPS, a Dutch manufacturer - Philips, a Dutch market surveillance authority - VWA (Food and Wares Authority) and the NMi. Panel discussions were organized with the Bulgarian audience and the representatives of the INCOLAB partners. b) Seminar -Evaluation of measurement uncertainty in quantitative testing- moderator DFM, DK The content of the seminar was based on the INCOLAB publication -A practical guide for the estimation of uncertainty in quantitative testing- and addressed the following issues: - Basics of measurement uncertainty - concepts and methods - Generic uncertainty budgets for measurements in testing - Physical modelling versus empirical modelling - Examples from LVD and EMC testing - Discussions Eighty persons (20 persons representing the INCOLAB partners and 60 Bulgarians) participated in the conference. A lot of examples and practices in the LVD implementation were shared and discussed. Useful information and professional contacts were exchanged and established. The presentations and the seminar panels are available on http://www.incolab.info.

Due to the limited budget for training, especially on the EU members' side, the LMK and our Slovenian INCOLAB partner TCL (testing laboratory) prepared and conducted the training for LVD experts from NAS INCOLAB members: Czech Republic (3), Estonia (2), Bulgaria (4). Training program for LVD experts from NAS INCOLAB members in Slovenia was the following: Wednesday 5th May 2004 Arrival in Ljubljana Thursday 6th May 2004 8:30 transport from hotel to the Faculty of Electrical Engineering 9:00 welcome at the Faculty 9:30 presentation of the Faculty and LMK activities 10:00 visit of the LMK (primary and secondary metrology laboratory, holder of a national standard for temperature and humidity, testing laboratory) 12:00 lunch 13:30 presentation of testing activities at LMK related to the requirements of accreditation according to the ISO/IEC 17025 (traceability, validation of equipment and software) 16:00 discussion 17:00 transport to the hotel Friday 7th May 2004 8:30 transport from hotel to the Faculty of Electrical Engineering 9:00 preparation and performance of measurements (testing of heating in black test corner) 10:00 lecture on uncertainty evaluation in testing 12:00 lunch 13:30 analysis of measurement results 15:00 discussion 16:00 transport to the hotel Saturday 8th May 2004, Sunday 9th May 2004 Free activities, transport to Velenje Monday 10th May 2004 8:30 departure from hotel to the TCL 9:00 welcome at the TCL 9:30 presentation of the TCL and TCL activities 10:30 presentation of the testing activities at TCL according to EN ISO/IEC 17025 on the basis of EN 60335-1 12:00 lunch 13:30 practical presentation of the testing activities on the basis of EN 60335-1, EN 60335-2-6 and EN 50304 16:00 departure to the hotel Tuesday 11th May 2004 8:30 departure from hotel to the TCL 9:00 presentation of the Gorenje d. d. factory 11:00 practical presentation of the testing activities on the basis of EN 60335-1, EN 60335-2-24 and EN 153 13:00 lunch 14,30 practical presentation of the testing activities on the basis of EN 60335-1, EN 60335-2-4, EN 60335-2 7, EN 50084 and EN 60456 16:00 discussion 17:00 departure to the hotel Wednesday 12th May 2004 Transport to the Ljubljana airport (Brnik) Coordinator of the overall training activities was Mr. Igor Puanik from LMK. Coordinator of activities at the TCL was the technical director of TCL Mr. Emil Jeromel. According to the feedback of LVD experts, they were extremely satisfied with the course and organization of the training. The Bulgarian experts expressed their wish for receiving more similar trainings in the future, if possible.

Strategy of the Czech metrological bodies and testing laboratories corresponds with INCOLAB objective - to support NAS laboratories and facilitate mutual recognition agreements based on conformity assessment in order to prepare the M&T laboratories for their future role in the enlarged single market. The main INCOLAB project contribution in that field was support of full understanding of requisites corresponding to the CE marking of products and of the role of partners in so called institutional triangle. Particular focus was concentrated to the metrological service and its necessary improvements. Results of completed analysis were included in the general CMI strategy plan (2005-2010), which was approved by the Czech government. Main projects are: - full implementation of quantum effect standards for the improvement of CMCs - improvement of CMCs in the field of large currents (over 1000 A) - improvement of the measurements in the field of discharge phenomena and pulse currents and voltages - improvement in the field of contactless temperature measurements The strategy plan and its performance are systematically evaluated by the Czech Metrology Institute and by the Czech Office for Standards, Metrology and Testing.

NMi completed the study visit program. The visitors from industry, testing labs and regulating bodies were invited and selected by the national contact persons of NAS countries. The study visits took place on 25, 26 September 2003 for the visitors from Slovenia and Bulgaria and on 9, 10 October for the visitors from Czech Republic and Estonia. The visitors got information about the Dutch perspective on Economic, financial and legal implication of the implementation of the LVD and the New Approach in general. Presentations were prepared by a Dutch testing house, a Dutch manufacturer and the Dutch Market Surveillance. The study visits in addition provided an opportunity of the visiting countries to get the institutional triangles together and strengthen them. It is expected that as a result the ascending and candidate member states (3 of them are at the moment member state) are better prepared for the changes by having learned from the experience in the Netherlands. In order for the New Approach to work effectively, the institutional triangle should be well established, i.e. the manufacturers, testing houses and market surveillance should be able to find each other. The study visits have contributed to this aim. Reports on the study visits from each visitor have been collected and summarized. The remarks and remaining questions in these reports formed the basis for a presentation in the first annual conference in Prague.

A part of the testing of safety of household and similar electrical appliances (in the scope of LVD) is also testing of moisture resistance related with insulation resistance and electric strength. For this reason the appliance is put into a climatic chamber, which has to provide a required relative humidity at certain temperature. Temperature is usually not a critical parameter but the relative humidity is. Especially because the required relative humidity is very high, usually 93%±2%. The requirement of standard is very strict and it is hard to meet the requirement, especially in older climatic chambers with pshychrometric regulation. Another difficulty represents the standard description of achieving such high humidity with the help of different salts (Na2SO4, KNO3), which is practically impossible. The largest problem represents the gradients of relative humidity inside a chamber (homogeneity). Therefore careful evaluation of climatic chambers in terms of absolute values, stability and homogeneity is important. It is also important whether a chamber is empty or full with load. The standard on evaluation of climatic chambers does not exist. The problem was analysed and as a part of the task a procedure on evaluation of climatic chambers was elaborated taking into account metrological parameters to support the testing requirements. On the basis of our evaluation procedure, and a draft of the standard for evaluation of climatic chambers we have developed an automated system for evaluation of climatic chambers. The system is portable so it can be used for on site measurements of climatic chambers as well as for the laboratory work. The system can be used with thermocouples as well as with platinum resistance thermometers. The uncertainty of the automated system satisfies all requirements. The final result of the system is a measurement report from which one can see the traceability scheme of measurements as well as positions inside a chamber's with lower or higher temperature than at a reference position. The system can also be used for determining thermal gradients and fluctuations inside the laboratory or any other larger space (warehouses, cold storage houses, etc.). In the case that the system is used for evaluation of larger objects, the uncertainty due to the thermometers cable length shall be taken into account. The results of measurements in the climatic chamber, which is used for LVD testing in LMK, showed some deviations from set values. With the use of calibrated thermometers and humidity sensors during testing the climatic chamber could be set to such values that the requirements in the standards for LVD testing are met.

In order to conduct product testing according to new technical requirements as well as according to ISO/IEC 17025 standard, availability of traceable measurement and reference standards is essential. It is the responsibility of an NMI to provide adequate metrological support to national testing needs, if it is required and justified to be solved on national level. NMI's metrological support is also needed in uncertainty calculations and other metrology related issues. The full text of strategy in Slovene is attached to the INCOLAB report and is available at http://www.mirs.gov.si/fileadmin/um.gov.si/pageuploads/Dokpdf/Splosno/Strategija.PDF. Short summary of the strategy plan for the development of national metrology infrastructure for the requirements of testing outlines the two main metrology areas that mainly deal with the subject: system of national measurement standards and legal metrology. These two areas are in principle key factors for the entire technical infrastructure of a country, regardless of what is the basic structure of the organisation of the national metrology system. The two areas provide the metrology support for all test requirements, either in regulated or in non-regulated area. It is important to realise, that regulated area covers only a part of testing related to safety, while the much broader concept of quality requires an extensive infrastructure of measurement standards in order to ensure traceability of measurements, appropriate uncertainty evaluations, organising the inter-comparissons, etc. The national metrology system as such, could be in principle a centralised one, a distributed system or in many cases a combination of both. Each formal structure has its specific characteristics, advantages and disadvantages, while the basic idea of supporting testing capabilities in order to enable conformity assessment should be fully realised. Legal metrology, especially with the respect to the implementation of Measuring Instrument Directive, incorporates to a great extent the producers of measuring equipment within the activities, which were traditionally covered by national legal metrology departments. Besides the responsibility of an NMI, there are other governmental bodies, responsible for the implementation of various other EU directives, transposed into national legislation. The real life implementation by a variety of different testing laboratories requires traceability for their test and measurement activities, which is the responsibility of the system of national measurement standards, either delivered directly at the highest level of national metrology laboratories, or by other, hierarchically lower levels, such as secondary or reference laboratories as a part of a national calibration service. It is therefore the responsibility of an NMI to develop and establish those metrology areas and activities, which provide assistance in measurement traceability to all regulated and non-regulated test requirements that are of certain importance within particular countries. It would be unrealistically to expect that all test requirements could realise their traceability on the national level, since in many cases that is not economically justified. In such cases, an NMI should be able to provide test laboratories with appropriate information of adequate providers of traceability. In most cases NMIs are able to provide traceability majority of basic SI units and a number of derived units. This is already a guarantee, that even derived units, which are not necessarily realised on a national level, could be traceable to the basic SI units, although not necessarily at the smallest uncertainty level. The responsibility of an NMI would therefore be to provide measurement traceability, if only possible, for all those areas of physical and chemical measurements, which are subject to the national (EU) legislation. In addition they should also cover areas of national importance in terms of industry, services, defence, etc. An important issue are the requirements for all such laboratories, since their traceability is the cornerstone for the conformity assessment of the tested products. It is therefore the absolute requirement that the quality systems of laboratories, which provide traceability, are fully in line with the standard ISO/IEC 17025, being ideally accredited or assessed according to the equivalent procedures to formal accreditation-by-accreditation bodies, being themselves EA members and MLA signatories.

According to the planned activities within WP 5 the State Agency for Metrological and Technical Surveillance (SASM) concluded a contract with the Bulgarian Institute of Standardization (BIS) for development and placing on the BIS website of information database on the actual harmonized standards within the scope of 73/23/EEC Directive on Low Voltage Equipment. The contract is concluded in accordance with the requirements of Technical Annex, clause 8.2 to the INCOLAB project's basic contract, related to the WP5 activities. The database development is aimed at providing the necessary information on the actual versions of the harmonized standards within the scope of 73/23/EEC Directive on Low Voltage Equipment and it is intended for use by any interested party in Bulgaria. The information shall be constantly updated and offered free of charge for a period of at least 2 years. The users of the database are all Bulgarian institutions participating in the INCOLAB project as well as all interested parties in Bulgaria (producers, importers and traders of electrical equipment, consumers, regulatory bodies, etc.). The database is structured in a way as to give possibility for quick search of the required information (title, scope, key words, number of standard, year of coming into force, validity period, date of presumption of conformity, etc.) Hyper-connections to the sites of different standardization organizations (CEN, CENELEC, ISO, IEC, DIN, BSI) are also provided. The title page of the database is an information page giving information to the users that the database is developed under the INCOLAB project. A possibility for direct connection to the INCOLAB project site is provided as well. All necessary information and the database itself are available at that moment on the old website of the Bulgarian Institute of Standardization (http://www.bds-bg.org). The fully operated and modernized database together with the quick search tool will be installed and available by June 2007 on the new BIS website which is under construction at present. A link to the site of the State Agency for Metrological and Technical Surveillance (http://www.damtn.government.bg) shall be also provided by that time.

A survey on the Directive 73/23/EEC implementation in Bulgaria is made aimed at presenting the implementation process related to conformity assessment of electrical products. The main objectives of the survey are to provide a clear picture on the current situation in Bulgaria concerning the conformity assessment of electrical products within the scope of LVD as well as to find some solutions of the existing implementation problems. To achieve these objectives several questionnaires are developed and distributed to more than 250 Bulgarian producers/importers, CABs and testing laboratories as well as to many customers of electrical products. The data collected by means of these questionnaires present information on the existing situation related to the Bulgarian conformity assessment bodies within the scope of LVD (4 designated bodies). Some information on the demands of Bulgarian market of electrical appliances and the existing legislation in this field transposing the Law on Technical Requirements to Products and the COUNCIL DIRECTIVE of 19 February 1973 on the harmonization of the laws of Member States relating to electrical equipment designed for use within certain voltage limits (LVD) is given. Information on the national conformity assessment system and procedures used for providing compliance of the electrical appliances with the essential requirements is presented as well. Examples on the main difficulties to the CABs related to the comparatively low level of demands for providing CA services, together with some problems regarding the personnel qualification and maintenance of the quality management system are discussed. A comparison of the testing and CA procedures carried out before year 2003 and today as well as the process of updating and development of CA procedures are presented. The market surveillance mechanisms and consumer protection activities are also discussed and some possible solutions for preventing from placing on the market of dangerous electrical products are given. At the end some conclusions are made and some solutions of the existing problems to the CABs for achieving full LVD implementation are discussed. The analysis, the questionnaires and all information collected are available at SASM.

Many actions like inquiries, workshops, visits and presentations have been realized. Also the outputs of the measurement foresight programme were used as a significant indicator of practical needs. Contacts with accredited calibration and testing laboratories were established as well as contacts with typical manufacturers of electrical equipment and measuring instruments. The analysis was oriented to the traceability problems and to the general awareness of LVD requirements. Collected data were compared with best measurement capabilities of the Czech accredited laboratories. The results are shown that LVD relevant metrological services cover all current needs of calibration and testing laboratories. Some middle term foreseen needs were recognized and results were used in the CMI strategy plan and in some cases in the short-term projects. Challenging subject fields are improvement of calibration and measurement capabilities of large currents (over 1000A), improvement of measurements of discharge phenomena and pulse currents and voltages and full implementation of quantum effect standards of electrical quantities. Improvement of contactless temperature measurements and related calibration service was also recommended. This particular requirement has been taken into consideration in the framework of the INCOLAB and technical project has been prepared.

On 24-26 October 2006 the State Agency for Metrological and Technical Surveillance organized a training seminar on issues related to the market surveillance of electrical products within the scope of LVD and related NA directives. The training seminar was organized in two sessions in the towns of Plovdiv and Veliko Tarnovo in order to cover all regional structures in the country in the field of market surveillance and 72 market surveillance inspectors of SASM and the Commission of Trade and Consumer Protection participated in the seminar. The organization of the event included selection of the place for the seminar's carrying out, preparation and distribution of the training program, logistics. The training was carried out by Czech experts from the Czech Trade Inspection. The seminar was organized in several sessions and 6 PPT presentations on market surveillance issues were presented related to the following topics: organization and principles of the Czech market surveillance system; organization, responsibilities and activities of the Czech Trade Inspection; periodical training of inspectors; criteria and methods for detecting dangerous products; practices and product groups' approaches for analysis; risk assessment and determination of the risk level; risk assessment on site; practices for determination and detection of characteristic marks in the different product groups of potentially dangerous products; inspection planning, testing laboratories and data collection; detecting single dangerous products; RAPEX system; information systems and data exchange, results evaluation and data transferring; fines and corrective measures, restriction or withdrawal of dangerous products from the market. The training seminar was very useful for the Bulgarian experts as it gave them basic and practical knowledge on good European practices in the field of market surveillance, examples and experience exchange as well as practical methods and legislative knowledge.

A survey on the Directive 73/23/EEC implementation in Bulgaria is made aimed at presenting the implementation process reflecting the Bulgarian testing laboratories activities and their current problems. The main objectives of the survey are to provide a clear picture on the LVD implementation situation in Bulgaria and to find some solutions of the existing implementation problems. To achieve these objectives several questionnaires are developed and distributed to 15 Bulgarian testing laboratories and 4 CABs as well as to many customers of the test laboratories' services. In the period 2003-2006 there were more that 20 testing laboratories working in the scope of LVD but only 10 of them had been accredited (7 by BAS - Bulgaria and 3 by RvA - the Netherlands). The data collected by means of the questionnaires present information on the existing situation related to the Bulgarian testing laboratories performing activities within the scope of LVD. Some information on the demands of Bulgarian market for performing tests of electrical appliances, the existing legislation in this field, the harmonized standards and the test methods used is given. Examples on the main difficulties to the testing laboratories related to the modernization of the equipment used, personnel qualification, maintenance of the quality management system, updating and development of test methods, validation of technical equipment and methods, luck of measurement traceability for some specific ranges, time-consuming accreditation process, etc. are discussed. Some information on the national conformity assessment system and CA procedures used for providing compliance of the electrical appliances with the essential requirements is given as well. At the end some conclusions are made and some solutions of the existing problems to the testing laboratories for achieving full LVD implementation are discussed. The analysis, the questionnaires and all information collected are available at SASM.

1) Information materials for consumers. In cooperation with Phare 2000 Market Surveillance Project, Finnish Safety Technology Authority TUKES, and Swedish National Electrical Safety Board ELSAK, two leaflets for consumers were prepared in 2003: - CE-marking (4000 pieces) - Electrical Safety at Home (3000 pieces) The brochures were published both in Estonian and in Russian and distributed to more than 100 shops and shopping centres in 6 Estonian towns: Tallinn, Tartu, Parnu, Rakvere, Johvi, and Viljandi. Examples of the printed brochures were also attached to the original 2nd interim report of Estonia. The electronic version is available on Estonian safety website http://www.ohutus.ee as well as on the websites of project partners in Estonia. 2) Information materials for manufacturers/importers of electrical appliances. LVD Implementation Guide. LVD Implementation Guide was translated in 2003 and edited by Mr Endel Risthein from Tallinn Technical University, Mr Ago Pelisaar from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, and Mr Juri Loorens from Electrical Safety Controlling Centre. In addition, other experts were involved in the preparation of LVD Implementation Guide. The LVD Implementation Guide was published in total of 300 pieces (instead of 500 pieces that had been planned at first) at the beginning of 2004 in Estonian language, and it was distributed through EETEL, magazine "Electrical Field", Technical Inspectorate as well as other market surveillance institutions (e.g., Labour Inspectorate), Electrical Safety Controlling Centre and Tallinn Technical University. The electronic version of the guide is available on the web site of INCOLAB Project partners. 3) Other. Several articles were written by Diana Maurer and Eire Endrekson on INCOLAB Project and the latter's activities that were published in the magazine "Electrical Field".

A training seminar has been developed presenting the subjects in the document "Practical guide for the estimation of uncertainty in testing". The content follows the guide. The training material is now part of the materials used by DFM in subsequent training seminars on estimation of uncertainty, and is presently being integrated in the iMERA project.

As seen, there are a variety of black test corners (BTC) at various participating laboratories. Black test corner is considered as a system composed of diversity of dimensions, colour, smoothness, sensors, positions of the sensors, grid of the sensors, and probably wood material (plywood is not the same everywhere) and acquisition of the temperature value. The results could be much more consistent and comparable, if a uniform measurement instrument would be defined. At least present requirements from the standard should be specified in more details. Furthermore an IEC standard with a general procedure for measuring in the black test corner and more details on instrument itself should be prepared. Also a way of providing traceability of such a system should be described in such document. The results also proved the necessity of closer collaboration among test laboratories and technical committees of standardisation bodies and metrology. Besides information about particular BTC and performance of laboratories, additional information about test samples was obtained. Namely testing a number of samples of the same type model enabled to foresee the compliance to conformity with the requirement for the entire population of the same type model (product). Concern that appears is that product can be placed with the support of different testing laboratories with quite different measurement capabilities on the EU market. It can be the case that the product is in compliance with the requirements according to one testing laboratory, but not according to another laboratory, which brings at least confusion on the market and some product that should not be available. Incolab laboratory inter-comparison of measuring results in the BTC based on a variety of BTCs, different interpretations of written standards and different approaches to measuring/test procedures resulted in test reports, which required a grate deal of efforts to extract useful, reasonable and comparable results. Inter-laboratory comparison of measurements in the black test corner Page 44 of 44 The entire inter-comparison proved that in general, and for LVD in particular better specification for BTCs as an example for a complex measuring instrument is required. It should be encountered as a general approach in other written standard that complex measurement instruments such as BTC, a much more detailed test procedure should be specified as opposed to test procedure that are based on simple instruments with straight forward use.

On 13-14 November 2006 the State Agency for Metrological and Technical Surveillance organized a training seminar on issues related to the conformity assessment of electrical products within the scope of LVD and related NA directives. 18 experts from Bulgarian conformity assessment bodies and state CA authorities participated in the seminar. The organization of the event included selection of the place for the event's carrying out, preparation and distribution of the training program, logistics. The training was carried out by Czech experts from the Czech Office for Standards, Metrology and Testing and other Czech state authorities. The seminar was organized in several sessions and 6 PPT presentations on conformity assessment issues were presented related to the following topics: conformity assessment for LVD compliance of products that fall in the scope of different directives (GAD, PED, SPVD, CPD, etc.); practical aspects of the conformity assessment of products covered by more that one NA directive (e.g. conformity assessment procedures when applying LVD, EMC and RTTE, etc.); conformity assessment of products imported from 3rd countries (Asian or American origin); conformity assessment for LVD compliance of products produced according to non-harmonized standards (if any); practical cases: LVD implementation when assessing portable lights attracting children according to the requirements of EN 60598-2-10 and EN 60598-2-4; implementation aspects of the essential electrical and radio-tests given in Annex III and essential electrical and radio-tests given in Annex IV of RTTE Directive; interpretation of Annex III clause 2 of EMC Directive when discussing the aspects of essential requirements against which a notified body should perform the assessment; discussion on the necessity of laboratory testing when equipment within the scope of EMC Directive is produced according to non-harmonized standards or when they are partially applied, etc. The training seminar was very useful for the Bulgarian experts as it gave them basic and practical knowledge on good European practices in the field of conformity assessment, examples and experience exchange as well as practical methods and legislative knowledge.

The result of this subpart is to give a knowledge transfer from established EU countries to new member states within the area of testing, certification, and market control/surveillance. Parties involved are national authorities for different EU directives, testing laboratories, market control agencies, manufactures, importers etc. The focus lays on The Low Voltage Directive with horizontal aspect to other directives essential for electric equipment as EMC, Mashinery, R&TTE, MDD. The same aspects for an international market outside EU are also highlighted. Differencies/difficulties and conflicting requirements are pointed out. The final report together with presentations gives a summary of knowledge

Dissemination of information and knowledge was performed through the national dissemination workshops and special presentations (association of calibration laboratories, Consumers defence association, special presentation for the management representatives of the Czech Trade Inspection, Czech conference on electro technical and electronic industry etc.). The CMI web site has a special INCOLAB sub-tree. This task has been fulfilled in the close cooperation with the Czech Office for Standards, Metrology and Testing. COSMT issues series of guidelines and collections of documents; they are e.g. translated and amended Guidelines on the application of Council directive 73/23/EEC, July 1977 or text and comments to the Law on Technical Requirements for Products, 22/1977 Coll., as amended.

Strategy process leader/strategy preparation coordinator. The process of finding a strategy preparation coordinator started in September 2004 and continued till January 2005. In February 2005, a contract was signed between the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and Aardeke LTD for the preparation of the strategy for the full implementation of Low Voltage Directive in Estonia. As Aardeke Ltd did not fulfil the duties according to the requirements settled in the contract, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications withdrew from the contract in September 2005 and the process to find a new strategy preparation coordinator started. On February 6, 2006, a contract was signed between the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and AsiConsult Ltd for the preparation of the strategy for the full implementation of Low Voltage Directive in Estonia. The outsourced professional strategist leads the strategy preparation process from AsiConsult Ltd. The responsible institution for the strategy preparation was Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications that took all final decisions in all the matters during the strategy preparation process and accepted the strategy document in December 2006. The strategy preparation expert group (working group) was formed already in March 2005 including persons from all the institutions involved in INCOLAB. Content of the strategy. The strategy preparation process was divided into three (3) main stages as follows: 1) Mapping the present situation in the field of LVD in Estonia among: - Local importers and producers (overview and statistics of LVD-products sector, interviewing the main producers, identification of test procedures and equipment for main products foreseen by relevant standards); - Laboratories (Testing and Calibration Laboratory of Electrical Safety Control Centre Ltd, Testing and Calibration Centre of Tallinn University of Technology); - Market surveillance authorities (Technical Inspectorate, Consumer Protection Board, Tax and Customs Board). 2) Objectives for the years 2007-2010 - Laboratories; - Market Surveillance; - General guidelines for producers and importers. 3) Action plan for the years 2007-2010: - Awareness of consumers (consumer survey, awareness campaigns for consumers, improvement of consumer-oriented information and feedback services); - Awareness of producers and importers (increase of translated standards, improvement of information services for producers and importers, support for producers from structural funds for consultation, testing, and certification); - Market surveillance (risk analysis, safety targets and goals, surveillance methods based on analysis' results, targets and goals, more attention to proactive measures, budgeting based on real needs, improvement of feedback from healthcare, police and rescue systems, improvement of co-operation with customs, development and integration of Estonian and European databases); - Laboratories (improvement of co-operation with international certification systems, development of Estonian certification system, improvement of testing services for Market Surveillance authorities, development of testing equipment based on today's needs of producers, importers and Market Surveillance authorities, analysis of future developments in Estonia and in the region, feasibility research, development of testing equipment based on results of analysis and research).

The coordinating institution organized the INCOLAB final conference, which took place in Bled, Slovenia, at Hotel Golf. Presentations of all speakers at the conference are available at http://www.incolab.info. Discussion held is summarized here. Mr. Gaber Begea expressed a concern that testing of measuring instruments was suggested to be performed by Notified Bodies (NB), which represented potential conflict of interest with manufacturers. Prof. Janko Drnovaek explained the current situation of market inspection in Slovenia with regards to the testing laboratories. Market inspectorate (MI) has a certain amount of budget from the ministry of economy. MI invites the interested testing laboratories to offer the testing and quote the price of testing. Although the price of testing may vary according to the requirements of standard, the final situation is reverse. Namely, for the certain budget of the MI testing laboratories have to offer a price, which is related to a larger number of test items. Consequently the price of test per item is lower and doesn't cover all costs. Mr. Frantiaek Jelinek from the Czech Republic suggested that a risk analysis performed in the scope of such a project could help a lot to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), who could not afford themselves such an analysis. Mr. Janez Renko from Chamber of Commerce in Slovenia explained that market inspection in Europe was exposed to very intensive import of products with low quality, which represented an enormous challenge and mainly difficulties, which were solved variously in different countries. He mentioned the workshop related to market inspection in Europe, which was held in April this year and was mainly dealing with a large problem of counterfeits. They became so good that it was many times hard to distinguish among them and originals. That represents a great challenge for market inspection and testing laboratories on the technical level. At the same time it is necessary to strengthen control of products also on administrative level. Market inspection must be in place and active but EC should consider how to coordinate activities of market inspections in the EU countries and other countries, if possible. Mr. Pavel Klenovsky agreed that due to poor coordination of market inspection activities in the EU many test were probably duplicated in several countries, if not performed even many times. According to his knowledge no such analysis was performed so far. Prof. Janko Drnovaek said that market inspection should be able among protection of consumers to protect also quality producers otherwise they would eventually decrease quality of their products with respect to the safety and lower production costs. Therefore it should never happen that in one- year market inspection did not perform any sampling of products in the market and sent them to testing to laboratories. It happened in Slovenia in 2002 because Market Inspection did not have any budget for this activity. Taxpayers paid their taxes while on the other hand the government did not fulfil its task. Not to mention that testing laboratories had their fixed costs regardless the number of tests performed. Prof. Drnovaek tackled the problem of accreditation. Namely, accreditation bodies should have the responsibility of assuring a similar level of assessment not only on a national level of laboratories but also on the international level. It should not happen that a certain laboratory obtained better measurement capabilities due to inexperienced or incompetent technical assessor. Assessors are hired by accreditation bodies but they both should be self-critical enough to admit in certain cases that assessment is not merely an administrative procedure but primarily technical work, which requires experience and knowledge at least on the level of assessed laboratory. Mr. Peter Vrtacnik from Slovenia said that there was obviously no intention in Europe to harmonise the market inspection approach. Mr. Cor van der Ploeg from the Netherlands said that a real solution was enforcement. Theoretically it is possible to join all inspections in one but there is no competition any more. Market inspection without knowledge (good relations with experts, testing laboratories, centres of excellence) is powerless. In the past he mentioned times of "separation fever", when many institutions were separated. The result was their ineffectiveness with time because of broken connections. Prof. Janko Drnovaek made a summary of the round table discussion. Conformity assessment is obviously far from ideal state for various reasons. Market inspection is not playing a protective role, as it should. Unambiguous understanding of standards is not good enough, therefore standards should be developed requiring related knowledge and closer cooperation of testing and metrology. The results of INCOLAB projects will be promoted within other projects, if possible within EUROMET as well.

The task deals with requirements and measurement procedures for testing of energy efficiency of electrical appliances such as washing machines, dryers, refrigerators, freezers and vacuum cleaners. Testing of energy efficiency enables to ascertain the efficiency of household appliances and their negative impacts on environment. Because ecology is becoming an important issue, it is necessary to distinguish energy consumptive appliances from efficient and energy saving appliances. Purchasing of such appliances is becoming stimulated by tax reductions and other benefits, currently increasingly important in Europe. Development of specific measurement methods is becoming increasingly important in the field of efficiency testing related to the environmental protection. Standardized tests are typically internationally agreed, but often many technical solutions have to be specifically developed. The reason is that national legislations are often ahead of international agreements, thus requiring specific test and measurement procedures. The task is a short presentation of requirements and measurement procedures for testing of energy efficiency of electrical appliances such as vacuum cleaners, washing machines, dryers, refrigerators, freezers etc. The testing procedure for vacuum cleaners was developed in the Slovenia, while other testing procedures are determined by several European and international standards. All these standards are not only interesting but also obligatory for manufacturers of household appliances, who try to obtain certificate of energy efficiency, reduced consumption of drinking water and reduced burdening of environment. According to the Slovenian legislative purchase of an appliance with the certificate of energy efficiency is stimulated by tax reductions and other benefits, which indirectly strengthens people s ecological consciousness.

Final national workshop -Implementation of EC directives and related infrastructure- has taken place on the 14th Dec 2006 in Prague. It was attended by 35 invited representatives of important INCOLAB parties. The programme was oriented to the LVD and EMC issues and to the comparison of different directives, including RTTE and MID as well as directives on medical devices. Most important presentations were: - Law on technical requirements for products and conformity assessment - LVD - practical experience - EMC- news, problems - MID, NAWI - placing products on the market - The role of notified and authorized persons - Infrastructure ans sources of information - Harmonized standards, significance, development, consequences - Analysis of risks - example - Discussion CD ROM with the programme and all presentations was distributed. Meeting of persons responsible for calibration service, testing and inspection was organized on 20th Dec 2006. Comprehensive information about INCOLAB results was presented and further implications were discussed. Participants were provided with the INCOLAB documents.

Objective of this study was to point out the complex of administrative and technical issues, which, as an integral system, can only ensure that electrical equipment will be safely operated over its technical lifetime. In this sense the study went beyond the problems of placement of products on the market and beyond technical requirements for products. Important role of manufacturers of measuring and testing instruments was demonstrated. Discussed issues were regulations relevant to the safety of electrical equipment in operation as well as safety of products (technical requirements, testing and measurement, market surveillance), safety of power distribution installations (technical requirements, testing and measurement, inspection) and safety at work (safe operation, training and skill, official examination). Realized interviews have documented high level of knowledge in the field at different levels of company management (design and production, marketing and sales, testing laboratory, metrological laboratory) and regulatory bodies.

Comparison of measurements in the black test corner started during the 3rd interim of the project (in 2004). From Estonia, Electrical Safety Controlling Centre was responsible for carrying out the tests (both starry and circular course). The testing of sample A (1st round, starry course) started on May 24, 2004 and the testing details were the following: Product: Digital Convection Oven Test procedure: EVS-EN60335-1; EVS-EN60335-2-9 p. 11 Content of the test: Determining the temperature's rise in black test corner Results: a report no 9-5/40 was sent to University of Ljubljana on June 3, 2004. The 2nd round (circular course) of inter-comparison testing was also carried out by Electrical Safety Controlling Centre Ltd. A test report no 9-5/3 was sent to University of Ljubljana. The results of all the tests (carried out both in Estonia and other project members) were introduced at INCOLAB Conferences both in Sofia in 2004 and in Bled in 2006. Based on results of the inter-comparison testing in the black test corner it has become evident that the Electrical Safety Controlling Centre could not perform larger number of testing in the scope of market surveillance without proper equipment. One of such items was a black test corner, which needed the upgrade. Because it was possible to realize it within the project, we obtained official endorsement from the European Commission for such action. The upgrade was performed in the last period of the project with the help of Slovenian partner University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Electrical engineering, Laboratory of Metrology and Quality, who made an extensive research on black test corners, which enabled a proper upgrade. With successful upgrade of the black test corner some objectives of the strategy plan for full implementation of LVD in the period 2007-2010 were already partially realized that is development of testing equipment based on today's needs of producers, importers and Market Surveillance authorities in Estonia as well as improvement of testing services for Market Surveillance could be realized.

In total, there were 10 seminars and training days organised in Estonia for Estonian market surveillance institutions, importers, whole and retail-sellers as well as manufacturers of electrical appliances. The seminars were organised in cooperation with INCOLAB project team (members of institutional triangle) as follows: 1) Seminar on LVD on April 9, 2003; 2) Seminar on LVD on December 17, 2003; 3) Information day on LVD Guide on May 13, 2004; 4) Seminar on the requirements on putting electrical equipment on the market on April 7, 2005; 5) Information day on market surveillance on December 22, 2005; 6) Information day on market surveillance on May 11, 2006; 7) A workshop on the preparation of LVD strategy on June 17, 2006; 8) INCOLAB Project final conference for Estonian partners on November 23, 2006; 9) Training day on LVD (legal framework, standards, and conformity assessment) on November 30, 2006; 10) A workshop on the implementation of the LVD strategy and action plan on December 15, 2006.

Inter-laboratory comparisons indicated problem of insufficiently explained dispersion of measurement results achieved with formally traceable thermocouples. Analysis of metrological requirements related to the LVD pointed out the need of contact less measurements of temperature. Those inputs justified a special short-term project - preparation of new inter-laboratory comparison of temperature measurement using thermocouples. Specialized handy, every day use calibrator has been purchased and technical project of comparison was elaborated wit proper measurement procedure. Relation between electrical measurements and temperature sensor calibration shall be clarified.

Testing of safety of electrical appliances is very important for assuring safety of users. The case study of testing of heating in the black test corner is an example for clear presentation of traceability of measurement. The safety of electrical appliances is very important and can be assured according to the EU directives that refer to particular technical standards (Low voltage directive 73/23/EEC, Machinery directive 89/392/EEC and Construction product directive 89/106/EEC). One of the tests for conformity assessment of electrical appliances is a test of heating of appliances. The appliance shall not influence the surrounding more than specified. In a case of overheating it can cause damage to the surrounding, or even worse, it can cause a fire. Proper knowledge of heating of the appliance in the measurement system called the black test corner is needed. An important standard that should be taken into consideration is the ISO/IEC 17025, which includes criteria for testing laboratories. This standard explicitly requires evaluation of measurement uncertainty and traceability. Each measurement system has a large number of measurement uncertainty contributions. Correct evaluation of the measurement uncertainty is very important. In final equation for calculation of measurement uncertainty the negligible contributions are not inserted, but only the main contributions. It is important to analyse for each measurement set-up which are the main measurement contributions and which are negligible. Analysis how to assure correct traceability measurements in the case study - testing of heating in the black test corner was performed. A systematic approach to the testing in the black test corner is presented and the possible solution proposed. At the moment laboratories use different methods of testing which are applicable only to particular tested appliances. For a good independent testing laboratory it is important that performed measurements are independent on the size of tested appliances. A testing device, so called black test corner, can be considered as a complete measurement system, which can be regularly recalibrated and thus providing traceable and reproducible measurements. The importance of testing in the black test corner is due to the fact that also low voltage appliances, which do not have to be electrically tested, could also cause fire.

A written practical guideline for the evaluation of measurement uncertainty in testing has been developed. The guideline is based on the standard documents "Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement" ("GUM"), ISO, 1993, and ISO 21748 "Guide to the use of repeatability, reproducibility and trueness estimates in measurement uncertainty estimation", ISO, 2002. The guide contains a summary of the general GUM method, hints on establishing model functions - a central concept in the GUM method, explanation and examples of the use of generic model functions relevant for electrical measurements, the use and limitations of empirical models and the statistical treatment of measurement data, descriptions of other tools such as translation of instrument specifications, use of calibration curves. Finally, the guide contains a few examples of uncertainty evaluation.

Diverse presentations, conferences, workshops, interviews were used to enhance discussion and support efficient cooperation of involved partners. The task was successfully completed with full understanding among involved subjects and especially in close cooperation with the Czech Office for Standards, Metrology and Testing (COSMT). COSMT is a state administration body subordinated to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Its activities include tasks set out in Czech legislation on technical standardization, metrology and testing and tasks related to the harmonization of Czech technical regulations and standards with the technical regulations of the European Union. COSMT is responsible for designation and notification of Conformity Assessment Bodies active under the New Approach Directives. Czech Trade Inspection as a top-level market surveillance body was also an active partner. Czech metrological infrastructure comprises the CMI and sufficient amount of calibration laboratories, mostly accredited acc. to EN 17025 (30 laboratories incl. CMI) and, generally, traceable to the CMI. Members of the Association of Accredited and Authorized Organizations are mostly engaged in the regulated area associated with the CE marking (as authorized and notified bodies), as well as in the unregulated area of quality of products, services etc. as accredited entities. Members of the Association are (among others) Electro technical Testing Institute, Engineering Testing Institute, Tech. and Test Inst. for Construction, Physical - Technical Testing Institute, TUV CZ, s. r. o., Inst. for Testing and Certification, VOP-026 Sternberk, s.p. They were important INCOLAB partners. Electro technical and electronic industry is a very important part of the Czech economy. It was represented for the INCOLAB tasks by TESLA Jihlava, a.s. (manufacturer of electric contact systems and diverse assembly parts), ETA, a.s. (manufacturer of home appliances), METRA Blansko, a.s. (manufacturer of electrical measuring instruments and diverse plant equipment), ILLKO, s.r.o. (manufacturer of electrical measuring instruments), MEATEST, s.r.o. (manufacturer and service, precise electronic measuring and calibration instruments) and generally Czech and Moravian Electrical and Electronic Association. Subjects given above demonstrated good level of cooperation and readiness to participate in the INCOLAB tasks.

A national seminar on the INCOLAB project activities and IVD implementation was held on 21-22 November 2005 in Sofia, Bulgaria. The seminar was organized by the State Agency for Metrology and Technical Surveillance (SASM) and more than 130 participants representing producers, importers and traders of electrical appliances, testing laboratories, conformity assessment bodies, certification bodies, state authorities, etc. were presented there. The organization of the event included selection of the place where the event was carried out, preparation and distribution of a preliminary program and call for papers, selection of the papers that would be included in the program and preparation of the final program, logistics. 25 PPT presentations had been selected and presented during the 2-day seminar. The papers were structured in two main directions: a) implementation aspects of the Ordinance on essential requirements and conformity assessment of electrical appliances intended for use in specific voltage limits transposing LVD in Bulgarian legislation, b) development of the national conformity assessment system. The first 13 papers presented on 21 November 2005 were distributed in 4 sessions. The main topics were related to the development of the national conformity assessment system; the role of INCOLAB project activities for facilitating the process of LVD implementation in Bulgaria and the participation of a Bulgarian testing laboratory in the inter-laboratory comparison, organized by the LKM Slovenia within INCOLAB project; the activities of Bulgarian testing laboratories under the LVD scope, their role and the existing problems in the full implementation of LVD; the RAPEX system and its role for detecting and preventing from placing on the market dangerous electrical products. A round table -Challenges to the testing laboratories and the future tendencies in their development- was organized at the end of the first seminar day where the producers and consumers- points of view on the LVD implementation were presented and the application of good European practices and possible solutions of the existing problems were discussed. The 12 papers presented on the second day of the seminar were also distributed in 4 sessions. The national conformity assessment system as well as the requirements and responsibilities of the CABs were discussed; the activities of the market surveillance authorities and their role for preventing form placing on the market of dangerous products as well as the position and activities of non-governmental organizations in the process of consumer protection and market surveillance were presented; the role of cooperation between these organizations and the state authorities was discussed as well. Two round tables were organized: -Conformity assessment of products within the scope of more than one NA directive- and -CABs and market surveillance authorities - responsibilities and cooperation- where the actual situation in Bulgaria was discussed. The main responsibilities and tasks of the authorities, their role in the harmonization and full implementation of LVD and other directives, the necessity of improving the cooperation and interaction between the participants in the national institutional triangle were also discussed. The 25 PPT presentations are available at SASM.

The final national seminar carried out within the INCOLAB project activities was held on 4-5 December 2006 at the National Palace of Culture - Sofia, Bulgaria. The seminar was organized by the State Agency for Metrological and Technical Surveillance (SASM) and more than 110 participants of different Bulgarian companies and institutions (producers, importers and traders of electrical appliances, testing laboratories, conformity assessment bodies, state authorities, etc.) were presented there. The organization of the event included selection of the place where the event was carried out, preparation and distribution of a preliminary program and call for papers, selection of the papers that shall be presented and preparation of final program, logistics. 20 papers had been selected and presented during the 2-day seminar. The 13 selected papers presented on 4 December 2006 (PPT presentations) were distributed in 4 sessions and the main subjects in questions were: future development of Bulgarian technical legislation in the conditions of EC membership; the national conformity assessment system and especially the activities concerning LVD and other related NA directives' implementation; the position of Bulgarian chamber of electrical engineering and the existing problems related to the application of European technical norms in this field; the activities of Bulgarian CABs within LVD and related NA directives and their readiness for working in condition of a common European market; consumer protection and market surveillance of electrical appliances and goods; role of the INCOLAB project activities in finding solutions of existing problems in LVD implementation, etc. Two round tables related to the NA directives implementation and the activities of the national working groups on the implementation of the Ordinance on conformity assessment of products were organized and a wide discussion on matters related to testing, conformity assessment and market surveillance of electrical products was carried out. The role, interaction and activities of the different partners in the national institutional triangle were discussed as well as the ways of achieving more effective cooperation and control on the electrical products placed on the market. The second day presentations (7 PPT presentations) were concentrated on the INCOLAB project activities. The main goals and tasks of the project, the participating countries and the national beneficiary organizations were presented in brief, the tasks performed in the period 2003 - 2006 as well as the achieved results were given. The activities of the State Agency for Metrological and Technical Surveillance, Commission of Trade and Consumer Protection, Executive Agency "Certification and Testing" and the other Bulgarian project beneficiaries in the period 2003-2006 were presented by giving information on the tasks performed during the 4-year project period: preparation of analyses on the LVD implementation in Bulgaria, preparation and putting into use of LVD harmonized standards' information database, organization of seminars and international conference, technical training of experts, participation in inter-laboratory comparison in testing. A final presentation was made giving overall picture of the INCOLAB project activities performed by all partner-countries and institutions participating in the project in the period 2003-2006. The 20 presentations are available at SASM.

A survey on the implementation of Directive 73/23/EEC in Bulgaria is made aimed at presenting the implementation process directed to the Bulgarian producers, importers, traders and consumers. The main objectives of the survey are to provide a clear picture on the LVD implementation situation in Bulgaria and to find some solutions of the existing implementation problems. To achieve these objectives several questionnaires are developed and distributed to more than 200 Bulgarian producers, importers and traders as well as to many customers of electrical appliances. The information collected by means of these questionnaires comprises data on the existing situation of the electrical appliances market in Bulgaria were more than 200 producers/importers and more that 1000 traders are working. Some data on Bulgarian legislation in this field transposing the Law on Technical Requirements to Products and the COUNCIL DIRECTIVE of 19 February 1973 on the harmonization of the laws of Member States relating to electrical equipment designed for use within certain voltage limits (LVD) is given. Short information on the conformity assessment process in the country is given as well. A comparison of the testing and CA procedures carried out before year 2003 and today is made giving some ideas on the procedures used by the producers/importers when prove compliance with the essential requirements to their electrical appliances. Analysis of the collected data is made and some examples on the main difficulties to the Bulgarian producers/importers and traders are also given in order to present their viewpoint on the LVD implementation process in the country. The market surveillance mechanisms and consumer protection activities are also discussed and some statistics are presented, some proposals on possible solutions for preventing from placing on the market of dangerous electrical products are given. The common problems of the end consumers of electrical appliances as well as their viewpoint on the LVD implementation are presented. Some conclusions are made and ways for solving the existing problems and achieving full LVD implementation are presented. The analysis made, the questionnaires and all information collected are available at SASM.

Realized study deals with those ILC organized by the CMI and related to the LVD and EMC directives. It was shown that inter-laboratory comparisons are very practical instrument of improvement of tests and calibrations and of dissemination of knowledge as well (including statement of uncertainties). Unsatisfactory results lead immediately to corrective actions. The potential of organized ILC is being systematically developed. Guidance for participants is available.

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