Tobacco Laboratory Quality Management System

1. Introduction to the tobacco laboratory quality management system

Tobacco laboratories belong to testing laboratories. They are institutions that determine the quality and characteristics of given cigarette products and their raw and auxiliary materials according to the prescribed standards and procedures. At present, tobacco laboratories are divided into three levels: national, provincial, and enterprise. They are usually called first-level stations, second-level stations, and third-level stations in the industry. The first and second-level stations respectively represent the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration and the tobacco monopoly bureaus of various provinces (municipalities, autonomous regions) to exercise the supervision and management functions of cigarette product quality. The third-level station is a department of the enterprise. It controls the product quality of the enterprise and issues product certificates. It represents the enterprise to provide commitments and guarantees on product quality to the society and consumers. Taking the second-level station as an example, there are currently three different institutions that have put forward review and approval requirements for it, namely "laboratory accreditation" implemented by the China National Accreditation Committee for Laboratories, "metrology certification/review and approval (acceptance)" implemented by the provincial product quality and technical supervision bureau, and "review and approval" implemented by the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration. The former adopts the principle of voluntary declaration for tobacco laboratory accreditation, and the latter two are administrative and mandatory management requirements.

2. Tobacco laboratory quality management system accreditation is divided into three categories: laboratory accreditation, metrology certification/review and accreditation (acceptance), and State Tobacco Monopoly Administration review and accreditation. The detailed introduction is as follows:

1. Laboratory accreditation

Laboratory accreditation refers to "a formal recognition by an authority that a laboratory is capable of conducting specified types of testing." In my country, the authority is the China National Accreditation Service for Laboratories (CNAL).

The committee formulated the "Laboratory Accreditation Criteria" (CNACL201-2001) based on ISO/IEC17025:1999 "General Requirements for the Competence of Calibration and Testing Laboratories" (idtGB/T15481-2000), and used it as a basis for the management and technical review of my country's laboratories. At the same time, the "Laboratory Accreditation Criteria" is also a standard used by laboratories to standardize and improve their own work, establish and implement their quality systems.

At present, many tobacco companies in my country have passed the ISO9000 series certification. Laboratory accreditation and ISO9000 series certification are different in terms of certification objects, certification bodies and certification contents.

According to the General Requirements for the Competence of Calibration and Testing Laboratories formulated by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), "Certification in accordance with ISO9001 and ISO9002 does not prove that the laboratory has the ability to issue technically valid data and results" and "Testing and calibration laboratories that meet this standard also operate in accordance with ISO9001 or ISO9002." From this, we can know that laboratory accreditation is a higher-level requirement than passing the ISO9000 series certification. In international trade activities, when it comes to verifying the quality of goods, the data and reports issued by the laboratory are more convincing if they are stamped with the "Laboratory Accreditation" seal.

2. Approved by the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration

As the competent department of the industry's quality inspection agencies, the Science and Technology Department of the State Administration implements a management system of review, approval and authorization for the industry's product quality supervision and inspection agencies. In combination with the international general standards for laboratory accreditation, in accordance with the "Tobacco Industry Product Quality Supervision and Inspection Network Management Measures" and the "Tobacco Industry Product Quality Supervision and Inspection Agency Review and Approval Rules", the provincial tobacco laboratories across the country are evaluated for administrative authorization within the industry.

From the above analysis, it can be seen that no matter which organization is accredited and evaluated, tobacco laboratories must establish a quality management system in accordance with the "Laboratory Accreditation Criteria".

3. Metrology certification/review and approval (acceptance)

Metrology certification/review and approval (acceptance) is a means for my country to conduct mandatory assessment of the inspection capabilities of all inspection institutions (laboratories) that are legally established or authorized to undertake product quality inspection tasks and issue notarized data to the society through metrology legislation. For provincial tobacco laboratories, metrology certification/review and approval (acceptance) is carried out by the Provincial Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision in accordance with the "Metrology Certification/Review and Approval Acceptance of Product Quality Inspection Institutions" review criteria formulated by the State Bureau of Technical Supervision. After passing the review, it will be authorized and reviewed every 5 years. The new version of the "Metrology Certification/Review and Approval (Acceptance) Review Criteria for Product Quality Inspection Institutions" is basically based on the current "General Requirements for Testing and Calibration Laboratories" international standard, and is formulated by adding relevant laws, regulations and safety requirements.

The above content is an introduction to the tobacco laboratory quality management system. If you have any objections to this content or want to learn more about the relevant information, it is recommended that you click on the online customer service or call our customer service for detailed discussions. We have the most professional and cutting-edge factory inspection guidance materials.