12.6. The Role of Market Surveillance in the Quality Infrastructure (QI)

Market surveillance shall be seen as a continuous evolution of conformity assessment activities as a basis for maintaining the validity of the statement or the mark of conformity (ISO/UNIDO, 2010). To ensure that market surveillance activities are carried out adequately, most countries establish regulatory authorities to carry out market surveillance (Kellerman, 2019). Some countries will establish one or more regulatory authorities with specific mandates within each ministry and some countries will establish only four or five larger regulatory authorities within sectors (e.g., telecommunication services, transportation, building and construction, etc.) (Kellerman, 2019). Small countries may sometimes consider establishing one regional regulatory authority for all products falling within the scope of technical regulations and market surveillance (Kellerman, 2019). Although surveillance activities should be conducted regularly, economic constraints usually lead to targeted surveillance where risks are likely to be higher and non-compliances are likely to be more common (ISO/UNIDO, 2010). For market surveillance activities to be efficient, regulatory authorities should be equipped with the necessary resources and responsibilities to conduct market surveillance activities (Kellerman, 2019).