The General Coordination for Accreditation (Cgcre) of the Inmetro is responsible for the activities of accreditation of certification bodies, inspection bodies, product performance and verification bodies and for the activities of accreditation of testing and calibration laboratories, as established by Decree nº 6275 in 28th November 2007, and by Inmetro Rule (Portaria) nº 82 in 1st April 2008, the latter of which has ratified its Bylaws.
The General Accreditation Coordination (Cgcre), a unit of the National Institute of Metrology, Standardization and Industrial Quality (Inmetro), is in charge of planning, conducting, guiding, coordinating and executing activities linked to the accreditation of certification bodies, inspection bodies, calibration and test laboratories.
Cgcre`s management system is based on the requirements set by ISO/IEC 17011:2005 and follows guidelines that places it in equal conditions with similar foreign bodies. Cgcre’s organizational structure, according to the organizational chart below, includes technical assistants, one Accreditation Support Sector (Secre), aiming to control and supervise the financial activities of the Coordination and the accredited bodies, as well as the five organizational units that follow: Division of Accreditation of Certification Bodies (Dicor), in charge of the execution of activities linked to the accreditation of certification bodies; Laboratory Accreditation Division (Dicla), responsible for the activities of laboratory accreditation; Division of Accreditation of Inspection Bodies (Diois), in charge of the execution of the accreditation of inspection bodies; Division for the Development of Accreditation Programs (Didac), in charge of the analysis of new accreditation demands and of keeping the international recognition agreements; and the Division of Capacitation and Qualification in Accreditation (Dicap), in charge of the capacitation and qualification of assessors and experts.
The types of accredited certification bodies include: quality management system, environmental management system, aerospace management system, food security management system, quality management system of civil construction corporation, social accountability management system, adventure management system and lodging means, forests management system, product and persons.
In relation to inspection bodies, the types of accreditation include: vehicular safety, land transportation of hazardous products and non-destructive tests.
Regarding accredited laboratories, the types included are: tests and calibration, clinical laboratories and monitoring unit according to the principles of Good Laboratory Practices at laboratories that carry out tests aiming at assessing the environmental risks and the risks to human health of chemical substances so that they are safely used.
With regards to new demands in the area of accreditation, there are two programs currently being elaborated: one for proficiency test providers, the other for reference material producers. Both are due to being implemented and available by early 2009. Besides these programs, it is worth mentioning the extension of the accreditation activity for products in the area of industrial valves (in the petrochemical field), animal food and organic products. New accreditation programs in new types of management systems were also developed: adventure tourism and lodging means (NBR 15331) and metrology (NBR 10012).

According to Article 13 of the mentioned Bylaws, it is the responsibility of Cgcre to plan, conduct, guide, coordinate and perform the activities of accreditation and, particularly:

I- to act as the accreditation body of certification bodies, inspection bodies, product performance verification bodies, training bodies and proficiency testing providers, as well as of testing and calibration laboratories and other bodies necessary to the development of the infrastructure of technological services of the nation;

II- to coordinate the regional and international recognition actions related to the activities of accreditation; and

III- to participate of regional and international fora related to the activities of accreditation.

Activities Performed

Mark and Symbol of Accreditation

Principles and Practice