The creation of a European single market entailed some guarantees for European citizens, including the establishment of safety and health standards for products and goods marketed Europewide, thus providing for harmonised guarantee thresholds throughout the EU territory.

In order to promote technology integration in Europe, non-binding specific technical rules and regulations have been drawn up by Standardisation Bodies. Anyway, although manufacturers are allowed not to comply with the aforesaid non-binding technical standards, products must meet basic safety and health requirements. In fact, technically compliant products automatically meet basic minimum requirements, while manufacturers who do not comply with technical standards must prove that their products meet the aforesaid safety and health requirements.

Products are Ce-marked if they comply with technical specifications or meet basic requirements.
Independent bodies (i.e. laboratories or certification agencies) assess compliance with technical standards or verify if products meet the above-mentioned basic requirements. Through standard procedures, said bodies must guarantee the quality of final and unfinished products, production cycles or design, as the case may be. Certification bodies and laboratories must be authorised by the relevant authorities.

Uni (the Italian National Certification Agency) is one of the authorised regulatory bodies, while Sinal is a laboratory certification agency. The certification system consists of accreditation bodies, test laboratories and certification agencies. State authorities authorise accreditation bodies that, in turn, recognise test and certification laboratories through ad hoc agreements.

Awareness should be increased of quality as a paramount competitiveness factor. As SMEs have problems in dealing with quality-related issues, Chambers of Commerce have long been available to promote awareness campaigns for entrepreneurs and business managers on the strategic importance of quality; organising workshops dealing with quality improvement methods and models; conducting technical training courses dealing with quality management, and so on.

In order to encourage businesses to deal with certification and quality-related issues, it is necessary to provide them with reliable information, and support them in making their choices through the provision of consultancy services.