Clariant Chemicals (India) Limited's Corporate Product Safety Lab received the prestigious ISO 17025 Certificate of Accreditation from the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL), Department of Science and Technology, Government of India recently. Located at Kolshet in Thane, near Mumbai, Clariant's Corporate Product Safety (CPS) Laboratory received the globally-recognized accreditation for its chemical testing. This milestone comes within two years of creation of the laboratory and is seen as a major endorsement of the quality of testing performed at this world-class facility.
The laboratory was primarily set up to cater to the requirements of Clariant Chemicals (India) Ltd. However, it now performs tests, within the scope of its accreditation on products manufactured by Clariant affiliates as well. It ensures that the products comply with the company's own stringent guidelines and the health, safety and environmental legislation of the various countries. This includes the new European chemicals regulation REACH.
Textile, leather and paper products, dyes and pigments, together with various industrial and fine chemicals are all tested in the laboratory. The ability to test in-house has also enabled the company to make significant annual cost savings. Dr Dileep Wakankar, head of the CPS expressed his views on why the CPS is so important in the global context: "Mounting awareness and concern for consumer and environmental protection, together with increasingly stringent statutory regulations, retailer standards and various eco-labelling requirements, have made product safety testing a mandatory pre-requisite for doing business in today's market. With globalization, meeting various norms, ensuring country-wise registration and providing compliance assurance has become vital for sustainable business growth."
He added, "Clariant places a high priority on safety issues and the new lab ensures that Clariant's products are always compliant with current legislation, regulations and standards. This assurance of safety in turn provides real value to our customers and their end users. Our Lab also conducts third party testing on demand."
There are subtle differences between ISO certification and ISO accreditation. While certification is for the whole organization, accreditation is for a specific laboratory and for specific tests. The CPS Lab has been accredited for 23 different tests. ISO 17025 accreditation not only assures established Management Systems, but also proves competency in testing and assures quality, reproducibility and accuracy of results.
Clariant is a global leader in the field of specialty chemicals. Clariant's businesses are organized in four divisions: Textile, Leather & Paper Chemicals, Pigments & Additives, Masterbatches and Functional Chemicals.