Curtis-Straus Accredited by Standards Council of Canada

Curtis-Straus, a Bureau Veritas company, is pleased to announce it has been accredited as a Certification Body by the Standards Council of Canada with the scope to include product safety certification for a broad range of electrical products including consumer, medical, IT and telecoms equipment. Coupled with Curtis-Straus’ existing United States Government recognition as a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL), Curtis-Straus can now offer a bi-national product safety certification allowing market access in the U.S. and Canada from a single approval process. The intersecting scope includes two broad categories of products; Information Technology Equipment and Medical Devices.

Jon Curtis, Director at Curtis-Straus, stated, “Accreditation is a valuable way for us to demonstrate that we are not only dependable, but are also dedicated to delivering a quality service. Through the accreditation process, clients can be assured that we are an expert market access partner with our people, expertise and equipment being regularly assessed”.

The Curtis-Straus Mark is an accepted mark that demonstrates product compliance for both the US and Canadian markets. To maintain the integrity of this mark, a factory inspection / market surveillance program is required by the Standards Council of Canada. Bureau Veritas inspectors monitor products that bear the Curtis Straus Mark to make sure they continue to be manufactured in accordance with the specified safety requirements. This is completed through a series of on-site factory inspections, generally two to four times per year depending on the product and the volume of production at a specific factory.

Coupled with their comprehensive European and Asian network of laboratories and offices, and as a result of this latest accreditation, Bureau Veritas now provides an extremely attractive market access solution to discerning clients seeking superior turn around, lower cost and high quality services to access more markets.


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Further Information Contact:
Jim Lewis, Founder & Director of Sales/Marketing, Curtis-Straus
Tel: +1 (978) 486-8880
Email: james.lewis@us.bureauveritas.com
http://www.curtis-straus.com

About Bureau Veritas

Bureau Veritas is a leading international conformity assessment body with 280,000 clients, 23,000 employees, 700 offices and laboratories in 140 countries. They have been active in testing and inspections since 1828; forward-looking and fast-growing, they have realized a 16% growth per annum since 1995.

The electrical product services division of Bureau Veritas, benefiting from significant investment in recent years, now encompasses many of the major international test and certification companies including ADT, Curtis-Straus and LCIE. Together, they provide state-of-the-art capabilities and knowledgeable experts and laboratories in every major trading region of the world. Bureau Veritas supports clients all over the world locally, whilst testing is carried out at the source of manufacture so as to improve time to market.

Curtis-Straus LLC was founded by industry experts Jon Curtis and Isidor Straus on the belief that testing laboratories must offer expertise, accuracy, and reliability in a client friendly atmosphere. Curtis-Straus LLC strives to provide accurate, reliable testing, expert design advice and expedited reports while accommodating their client's needs.

Their services for manufacturers, importers and retailers of electrical equipment focus on five key areas, as below. Partnering Bureau Veritas helps their clients demonstrate that their products meet regulatory, quality, and performance requirements.

- Testing (EMC, Safety, Environmental, NEBS/FOC, RF/Protocol: GSM/WLAN/WiMAX, SAR, RoHS, ATEX, Performance)
- Certification (CE marking, TCB, NRTL, RoHS, NF, GS, CB)
- Inspections, Audits & Assessments (Social Audits (CSR/SA8000), Factory Inspections (Quality, IT & Security), RoHS HSPM, pre- & post-shipment, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001)
- Training (Managing Compliance: CE marking / FCC, Environmental: RoHS/WEEE/EuP, ATEX, Safety/EMC/RF)
- Consultancy (RoHS/WEEE/EuP, document reviews, specification development, 1 – 5 star product compliance assessments, failure and reliability analysis, complaint analysis, approvals management, benchmarking)

About Jon Curtis

Jon Curtis is Director and co-founder of Curtis-Straus LLC. He is also technical editor of Conformity Magazine, published by Curtis-Straus for 10 years. Jon is a registered Professional Engineer and a long standing member of ANSI accredited standards committee C63. Well known in the field of regulatory compliance, he has designed the test equipment used in dozens of laboratories world-wide and is a frequent author of papers in the field.

About the Standards Council of Canada (SCC)

The SCC is committed to ensuring that Canadians benefit from standards. Located in Ottawa, the Standards Council has a 15-member governing Council and a staff of approximately 80. The organization reports to Parliament through the Minister of Industry and oversees Canada's National Standards System.

Standardization is the development and application of standards - publications that establish accepted practices, technical requirements and terminologies for products, services and systems. Standards help to ensure better, safer and more efficient methods and products, and are an essential element of technology, innovation and trade.

Globally, the SCC represents Canadian interests at the international organizations that develop product and service standards. The SCC also works closely with international partners to ensure that certifications from their accredited bodies will be recognized in the countries that clients of these bodies may want to trade with.

About Certification

A certification mark is a clear sign that a product not only meets the established standards for safety and quality, but that the company has gone to the effort of proving it. When it comes to demonstrating safety and quality, a certification mark will improve chances for success in competitive domestic and international arenas.

Knowing that a product or service has been scrutinized by an independent organization and found to meet the applicable standards is a measure of confidence the market can trust. It also ensures that company’s procedures and practices are best in class and at least as good as its competitors.