Technical harmonisation and conformity assessment

The Ministry of Employment and the Economy is responsible for a major part of the “technical infrastructure” of business activities, whose integral elements are standardisation and conformity assessments. The latter element includes especially measurement standard, accreditation, testing, inspection and certification activities. The Ministry aims to ensure that these basic systems are on such a level that they correspond to national and international standards and to provide Finnish enterprises with internationally competitive operating conditions.

The Ministry participates in the international harmonisation of technical legislation, standards and assessment procedures, which are aimed at promoting the mutual recognition of conformity assessments. A central operating arena in this is the European Union. The Ministry also participates in preparations for concluding mutual recognition agreements (MRA Agreements) between the EU and the external countries. These actions are coordinated in Finland by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.