The Dept. of Business & Trade (DBT) are exploring the conformity assessment challenges that UK businesses face when exporting their products to Thailand and to the US. Conformity assessment procedures include, but are not limited to, mandatory product testing, inspection, audit, certification, and marking. 
 
They want to find out what the challenges related to conformity assessment are, when they arise and how much they cost businesses. This will help to build an internal evidence base on the conformity assessment landscape for UK exporters. As such, they are conducting virtual one-hour long interviews in-house through April.
 
Why are they doing this?
Through this research, the DBT aim to better understand businesses’ experiences of conformity assessment procedures to identify opportunities for process enhancement. Information received will feed into policy development in this space. The research is not linked in any way with regulatory compliance, and the information gathered from businesses will be used only for research and insight purposes. They are interested in businesses who comply with the following regulatory areas: 

• US exports in machinery, measuring instruments, noise emissions, safety of electrical equipment, and PPE sectors.
• Thailand exports in automotive, safety of electrical equipment, machinery, radio and telecoms, electromagnetic compatibility sectors. 

 
Who will they invite to interview? 
DBT will be contacting UK-based manufacturers who operate in the listed sectors above to take part in an in-depth interview. UK manufacturers however will first have to be checked against eligibility criteria with a few screening questions via email.
 
How will recruitment work?
If you are happy to take part in interview, please provide kia.banks@businessandtrade.gov.uk with the following details:
 
Required:

• Contact Name
• Contact Email
• Which country you export to (Thailand and/or United States)
• Product Sector/Regulations
• Exported Product