Address by Mr. Noel Treacy, T.D., Minister for Science, Technology & Commerce at the Presentation to NSAI of NAB Accreditation for ISO 14001 and EMAS Environmental Management Certification Schemes on 9th September, 1998, at 11a.m. in the Conrad Hotel Dublin

I am very pleased to have been asked today, to make the formal presentation, of the National Accreditation Board Certificate, which denotes their official acceptance, on behalf of Government, of the National Standards Authority of Ireland for their work in assessing companies' Environmental Management to the rigorous requirements of the international standard ISO 14001 and the EU EMAS scheme.

For many years now, I am sure most other people in Ireland, have been aware, of the important role been played by the NSAI in leading industry in the area of technical and management standards which are increasingly required to remain competitive in the market place. The wide implementation by our industry nation-wide of the ISO 9000 Quality System has been a huge success, in past years.

It should be recognised that NSAI, as the national standards body, is responsible to Government for acting in an impartial manner to represent the views, not just of industry, but also of consumers, users and the public at large. This, of course, is reflected in the membership of the NSAI Board under the outstanding chairmanship of Mr. Dan Tierney. It is just over one year since new legislation was implemented with the intention of establishing NSAI as an independent agency.

Among other issues, this illustrated the Government's view of the national importance of standards in the continued development of Ireland's national economy.

I would like to acknowledge the great work which has been done by the NSAI Board in its short period of life. This has included the establishment of an US subsidiary operation and the appointment of a new Chief Executive together with various other important management appointments, as well as the formulation of a forward looking business plan and the review of operations to ensure that they are matched to the country's future needs and requirements.

It is a fact that the ISO 9000 Quality System Standard became very important when it was adopted as a European Standard for the Single Market launched back in 1992. Similarly an important role has been given to standards in our increasing concern for the natural environment.

This was initiated in the EU by the launch of the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme(EMAS) which encourages industrialists to operate the environmental aspects of their enterprises in a systematic manner which can be audited by an independent body.

This has been followed by the world-wide adoption of the international ISO 14001 standard for Environmental Management Systems - which itself complements the earlier ISO 9000 Quality Management Standard.

I can confirm that a recent review of EMAS following its operation for five years indicates that it will apply in a revised form from the year 2000 onwards. Its scope will be extended to virtually all manufacturing industries and service activities. Significantly, the ISO 140001 Standard will be recognised as the basis for the revised EMAS.

It is in this context, as demonstration of the NSAI commitment to remain to the forefront of providing services to Irish companies, that I am pleased to formally present the accreditation given by NAB for both ISO 14001 and EMAS to the NSAI Chairman Dan Tierney - and in doing so, to heartily congratulate the management, staff and Board of NSAI and NAB for this great achievement. As the person, charged with political responsibility for the NSAI, it gives me great personal reassurance for Government, on the commitment, dedication and effort of everyone involved with NSAI, and I wish to see continued collective success, in co-operation with Irish Industry, whose performance, competitiveness and standards are vital for continued national Economic Growth.