The authority Swedac is active in four main areas: accreditation, market surveillance, legal metrology and international development.
Accreditation
Swedac is the governmental authority that accredits companies and organisations that conduct inspections in open competition. Accredited activities can be found in a wide range of areas, some of which include nuclear power, the automotive industry, IT, health care, food safety, forensics and environmental protection.
The aim of accreditation is to ensure that inspections are carried out in a reliable and consistent manner, and that those conducting them possess the right skills and act independently. This is audited by Swedac through regular site visits.
Market surveillance
Products are allowed to move freely within the EU providing they meet requirements for health, safety and the environment, amongst others.
Designated authorities are responsible for market surveillance, which means monitoring the market and taking action against manufacturers and companies that market products not meeting the requirements in force. Relevant action may be, for example, decisions on sales bans, product withdrawal or fines.
In Sweden, there are 19 authorities with such responsibilities for market surveillance, and Swedac is responsible for the coordination of market surveillance in Sweden.
Read more on Market Surveillance Council´s website
Legal metrology
Swedac is the regulatory and supervisory authority in the field of metrology. This means that Swedac is responsible for the surveillance of various businesses making use of weights and measures in any form.
The surveillance includes conducting market surveillance. Amongst other things, this involves checking that scales and pre-packaged products meet the stipulated requirements.
Several of Swedac’s regulations are based on directives from the EU. One such directive is the Measuring Instruments Directive. The Measuring Instruments Directive covers several different measuring instruments such as water meters, electricity meters, automatic weighing instruments, fuel pumps and taxi meters.
Read more about Swedac’s role and what is applicable to measuring instruments under Services and Subject Areas.
International development
Swedac works internationally to disseminate information about conformity assessment inspection in open systems for harmonisation and to provide assurance for products and services in global trade without barriers.
The work is conducted within various international cooperation agencies.