In the instrument calibration industry, CNAS and CMA are the most common institutional qualifications, both of which are more authoritative core qualifications, but there are obvious differences in nature, whether it is the use of use or access, are completely different. In the professional language of the industry, the commonly used word for CNAS is "recognition" and CMA is "certification", so what is the difference and significance of the "recognition" and "certification" of these two qualifications?

The reason why CNAS and CMA are one "recognition" and the other "certification" is different in nature. CNAS accreditation is a voluntary act of the organization, which belongs to the independent application and the qualification obtained after being permitted. The CMA certification, is the relevant departments mandatory certification administrative license, if the agency needs to issue the verification results of social certification, it must have CMA certification. The definition of "certified" is more authoritative and official than "approved". So the nature of the two is not the same, what is the difference between the applicable objects? The first is CNAS, because the CNAS is aimed at the "recognition" of the instrument calibration ability of a certain institution, it can be applied to a wide range of objects, whether it is the first party, the second party or the third party, or even institutions or enterprises, can apply for CNAS, which is also one of the reasons why there are a large number of calibration institutions in the early days of the calibration industry. However, with the gradual development of the calibration industry, the market saturation has become higher, and the application threshold of CNAS seems to be not high, but in fact, the access threshold has been raised. You can apply to a wide range of people, but you have to pass a lot of conditions, For example, laboratory environment requirements, instrument calibration method standard requirements, the most important is the equipment requirements, according to the standard need to be equipped with equipment can not be less, even if in fact some equipment may have been used, but in order to pass the CNAS recognition, or need institutional equipment, the price of these equipment is generally not cheap, for the financial strength of the applicant institution has a threshold, Not to mention calibration capabilities and personnel experience. In terms of difference, in fact, there are many substantive differences between the two, which can be referred to CNAS-CL01: 2018(ISO/IEC 17025: 2017) and related application instructions and the "RB/T214-2017 inspection and testing machine 1 qualification identification ability evaluation inspection and testing institutions general requirements", the former is the CNAS evaluation basis, the latter is the CMA evaluation basis, seemingly similar "recognition" and "certification", there is still a big difference for the measurement industry.