Latest news from Kiwa

One of the ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is to capture and store or use released CO₂. To do this efficiently and safely, additional knowledge is needed about the properties of materials subjected to carbon dioxide. Kiwa has therefore invested in new facilities to investigate and test with high pressure CO₂.

In 2018, the Dutch government decided to strive for a fossil-free energy supply by 2050 at the latest. Following that purpose and because of all the problems surrounding gas extraction in the province of Groningen, the Netherlands was supposed to get rid of gas as quickly as possible. What is the current state of that electrification decision? Has the role of gas in the energy mix completely been played out? Kiwa conducted research and published the results in the report “How the Dutch all-electric ambition was caught up by reality”.

Fertilizer producer ICL (Everris International B.V.), supplier of plant nutrition and fertilization solutions for the agriculture, fruit and vegetable sector, the ornamental plant sector and golf and sports fields, was issued the first FPR certificate by Kiwa Verin on 12 April. Kiwa VERIN recently obtained full accreditation for the Fertilising Products Regulation (FPR) (EU) 2019/1009, the CE marking for fertilizing products, which will come into effect on 16 July.

Hydrogen will play an important role in the energy transition. In particular green hydrogen, produced using sustainably generated electricity, can become a sustainable replacement for natural gas in industry, mobility and the built environment. While concrete applications of hydrogen are already fully operational, there is still much to be discovered about the properties of the gas.

The Safety Culture Ladder (SCL), aims to improve the safety culture within organisations. The SCL does so by means of measuring and encouraging the safety awareness within a company with the purpose of decreasing the number of unsafe situations and therewith should lead to less accidents.

Every gas leak is one too many. Even though not every gas leak poses a direct safety risk, methane is a greenhouse gas and therefore contributes to global warming. Therefore, it is important to detect and reduce gas leaks as effectively as possible. To this end, Kiwa developed the Suction method on behalf of the European Gas Research Group (GERG), of which Kiwa has been a part for many years. To clarify how this new, accurate measuring method works, Kiwa made an explanation video.

Kiwa’s Sjoerd Delnooz, Harald Ophoff, Mariël Hout and Sander Lueb recently visited the headquarters of Gaz Réseau Distribution France (GRDF) in Paris. Like Liander, Stedin and Enexis in the Netherlands, GRDF is responsible for the distribution of natural gas in France. Because France also considers hydrogen to be an important source of renewable energy, Kiwa showed about seventy GRDF employees the main differences between hydrogen and natural gas with the help of the Hydrogen Table.

Within three months towards recertification for the internationally recognized standards ISO 9001 (quality), ISO 14001 (environment) and ISO 27001 (information security). Kiwa and T-Mobile Netherlands recently achieved this in a compact process in which recertification against these three standards was combined.

The Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) has published the Delegated Regulation (2022/30/EU), making compliance to the RED (2014/53/EU) articles 3.3 (d), (e) and (f) mandatory for cybersecurity aspects of IoT products. The Delegated Regulation will come in effect on the 1st of February 2022. After a transition period, compliance will become mandatory from 1st of August 2024.

Kiwa and Australian assurance, testing, inspection and certification services provider Intega Group have agreed on a partnership. Intega Group’s focus lies on the infrastructure and energy sectors. The company has over 1,900 employees across 100 offices primarily operating in Australia, the United States, Canada and New Zealand.

Kiwa and Vinçotte, the largest inspection, auditing and certification company in Belgium, are joining forces. This merger enables us to move towards creating a one-stop-shop for TIC services to support clients across the world with a wider range of services.

Cybercriminals are increasingly attacking IoT consumer electronics. If it is up to Kiwa and KPN Security, this will soon change. The two companies have combined their expertise to help manufacturers and suppliers who wish to independently assess and certify their IoT consumer electronics. This ensures consumers that certified products meet standard safety requirements.

Thermostats, doorbells, security cameras and other 'smart' products that do not meet minimum cybersecurity requirements are expected to be banned from the European market from 2024. This is the result of new EU legislation that was recently adopted, aiming to ensure that European consumers are better protected against cybercrime via web connected electronics.

As an independent expert in the field of testing, inspection and certification, Kiwa has its own state-of-the-art laboratories and test facilities. Here our professionals test new products against the applicable quality requirements and carry out research into materials in the most diverse circumstances. Now you can look around in Kiwa’s labs yourself, wherever and whenever you want, thanks to our virtual tours.

SanoMed Manufacturing BV produces cosmetics, wound care products and nutritional supplements. The Dutch company’s unique feature is the frequent use of natural ingredients such as honey and olive oil. But medical devices and products based on natural sources also have to comply with the applicable laws and regulations, so SanoMed turned to Kiwa for renewal of its ISO 13485 certification.

The introduction of the ViA scheme, effective January 1, 2022, has created an overwhelming demand for certifications according to the NEN Safety Culture Ladder (SCL) scheme. This has caused a capacity shortage in certification bodies, which has led the Governance Code Veiligheid in de Bouw (GCVB) to decide to temporarily relax the requirements imposed on the means of evidence. Below you can read what this means.