1 Conformity assessment of standards - The case of methodological standards R. Depoutot (Insee) Budapest, 2-3 May 2011

2 Conformity assessment of standards Standards define precise agreements consisting in rules, guidelines or characteristics for activities or their results. There is a general agreement that the standards: –Help users of the products or services in providing them with the information that these products/ services are developed - produced according to a standard that guarantees a certain level of quality –Require some control that there are properly implemented by producers who claim to do so CEN or ISO use similar procedures for conformity assessment All mandatory EU standards follow the same pattern for conformity assessment, with various degrees in the depth of the assessment (Council decision 93/465/EEC)

3 Assessment defined by decision 93/465 Mainly for products Various types: –“Internal production control” (option: with tests) –“conformity to type” (option: with several random tests) –“production quality assurance” (conformity to type + Quality assurance) –“product quality assurance” (production QA + standard test(s) for each product) –“product verification” (conformity to type+ independant test of products) –“unit verification” (each product is tested by independent body) –“full quality assurance” (audited quality system for design, production, final inspection and testing) - option: “design examination”

4 decision 93/465: “design examination” Option of “full quality assurance”: –examination of the design with a single notified body. –the application must enable the design, manufacture and operation of the product to be understood, and shall enable conformity with the requirements of the directive to be assessed. –It must include: […] the necessary supporting evidence for their adequacy […]. This supporting evidence must include the results of tests carried out by the appropriate laboratory of the manufacturer or on his behalf.

5 Conformity assessment of methodological standards: problem statement Eurostat assesses the conformity of some national processes to “methodological standards”: –Code of practice –Gross National Income –Public deficit and debt (Excessive Deficit Procedure) Depth of the assessment varies (depends from importance) What could be produced in conformity to methodological standards? –Statistical specifications (i.e. an intermediate product + a single unit - no “production chain”) If the ESS production process were integrated, the specifications could be used to: –be implemented independently by each (voluntary?) NSI, –or be implemented in an IT package made available to each NSI…

6 Conformity assessment of methodological standards: draft proposals Two issues: –How to assess the produced specifications? –By whom? How to? –Transpose the methods of decision 93/465 –«internal design control » is possible (self declaration), but … –«design conformity to type»: random selection of extracts from the whole specification + check for conformity of this sample (in cooperation with authors) –is quality assurance in design possible? If so, «design quality assurance» could be considered: QA + design conformity to type

7 Conformity assessment of methodological standards: draft proposals By whom? –Transpose the methods of decision 93/465: «Independent » national bodies Surveillance, sometimes unexpected visits –Issues in statistical design: Eurostat not bound to any NSI, much interest in good results But… not a natural candidate (specifying not its usual activity) Cost for community might be higher Assessment could be conducted by one NSI with financial incentives