Quality and safety in the enterprise


 

Promotion of quality

National week

National Quality Week is a national event about quality, designed to raise awareness among economic operators of the importance of quality management in a context marked by the globalization of trade and increased competition.

This event is organized by the Ministry on a yearly basis, in collaboration with the Moroccan Union for Quality (UMAQ) and partner organizations. A number of Moroccan cities offer seminars and round tables on the theme of quality, company visits, exhibitions and stands. Business leaders are invited to share their experiences of implementing quality systems in their companies.

The day of the launching of this event is marked by the organization of an international forum and training workshops in the field of quality management.

 

National award

The National Quality Award, organized each year by the Moroccan Union for Quality (UMAQ) in collaboration with relevant partners, was created by the Ministry to reward companies in each category that have distinguished themselves by setting up an exemplary quality approach and to give to deserving organizations certificates of encouragement and recognition.

The National Quality Award is open to all companies no matter what their sector of activity and size. It offers them a means of self-assessing their performance regarding quality and measuring their progress. It also provides organizations promoting quality with a tool to encourage companies to adopt a quality approach and thus enhance their competitiveness.

The award process includes the following steps:

  • Submission of applications;
  • Sending application files to candidate organizations by the Secretariat of the National Quality Award;
  • Submission to the Secretariat of 3 copies of the application file, of which two must be anonymous (i.e. no mention of the name or logo of the company);
  • Evaluation of applications, then selection of candidates that will receive a visit for evaluation;
  • Evaluation visits to selected candidates;
  • Meeting of the jury and naming of winners;
  • Award ceremony.

The reference document for the award is built around criteria for quality management: an evaluation table allows performance of candidate companies to be measured in terms of quality and the progress made.


 

CSNCA (High Council for Standardization, Certification, Accreditation and Promotion of Quality)

Introduction

The High Council for Standardization, Certification and Accreditation (CSNCA) was established by virtue of law No. 12-06 relating to standardization, certification and accreditation, enacted on 11 February 2010.

In addition to standardization, the new law broadened the scope of the CSNCA to certification, accreditation and promotion of quality.

Another reform to the regulations concerned the composition of the board: in addition to the public authorities, the CSNCA includes members representing the private sector, civil society and labour organizations.

The diversity of the board’s composition will increase the involvement of the private sector and partners in the definition of the national strategy relating to the standardization, certification, accreditation and promotion of quality, and involve them in its implementation.

 

Mission

The CSNCA was set up to help the government defining the national policy for standardization, certification, accreditation and promotion of quality. It is also charged with advising the government on all questions concerning the aforementioned.

 

Organization

The CSNCA, chaired by the head of government, consists of representatives of the ministries concerned, the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM), concerned federations and professional associations, as well as trade union representatives, consumer associations, institutions of scientific research and training, laboratories and technical centres, professional associations, and bodies of certification, inspection and testing.

The operation of the CSNCA is governed by rules and regulations defining the bodies for the preparation and monitoring of its activities. The CSNCA, whose secretariat is provided by the Ministry, relies on four specialist committees to carry out its activities: the Standardization Committee, the Certification Committee, the Accreditation Committee and the Committee for the Promotion of Quality.

Each committee is chaired by a member of the CSNCA, elected by an absolute majority, and is composed of permanent members. It meets when necessary to discuss issues submitted by the CSNCA and in return delivers a progress report containing its findings and recommendations.

The CSNCA has a Council Board, whose president is appointed by the head of government and whose members are the presidents of the specialist committees. Its responsibilities are to:

  • Coordinate and ensure coherence of the actions and recommendations of the CSNCA;
  • Oversee the monitoring of actions taken by the CSNSA;
  • Produce the annual report of the activities of the CSNCA;
  • Consider matters relating to the activities and missions of the CSNCA.

 

Activities

The CSNCA began work in June 2012. One of its first actions was to review standardization, certification, accreditation and quality at the national level, based on the actions of various economic operators and available statistics. The work of the different committees allowed a route-map to be made which defines the different strategic areas of development of these activities.

The CSNCA also adopted a set of resolutions in favour of the development of standardization, certification, accreditation and promotion of quality. These resolutions concern in particular the application of Moroccan standards in public procurement, and the reference to these national standards in regulations and the promotion of quality. It also prepared a national quality charter on the basis of all its recommendations in order to strengthen the commitment of the public and private sectors in promoting quality.