From Quality Infrastructure to Sustainability: A 14-Step Roadmap for Voluntary Conformity Assessment in Brazil and Beyond

Rodrigo Leão Mianes (), Afonso Reguly and Carla Schwengber ten Caten
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Rodrigo Leão Mianes: Engineering School, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre 90035-190, Brazil
Afonso Reguly: Engineering School, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre 90035-190, Brazil
Carla Schwengber ten Caten: Engineering School, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre 90035-190, Brazil

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 21, 1-27

Abstract: Quality Infrastructure (QI) underpins safe, sustainable, and competitive markets through metrology, standardization, accreditation, conformity assessment, and market surveillance. While mandatory schemes address immediate safety concerns, voluntary conformity assessments offer strategic advantages for emerging technologies by enabling market differentiation, regulatory anticipation, and gradual adaptation without compliance burdens. Focusing on Brazil’s National Institute of Metrology, Quality, and Technology (Inmetro), this study addresses operational gaps in implementing voluntary schemes under the modernized regulatory framework introduced by Inmetro’s Ordinance No. 30/2022. Using electric mobility to illustrate sustainability pathways, we show how voluntary assessments can operationalize and enable measurement of environmental and social co-benefits. Our five-stage qualitative methodology integrated documentary analysis of Brazilian regulations; comparative examination of approaches in the European Union, the United States, and South Korea; development of a 14-step methodological roadmap aligned with ISO/IEC standards; expert validation through a structured questionnaire with twelve specialists from government, industry, academia, and certification bodies; and systematic consolidation of feedback. The roadmap provides operational guidance on product definition, technical requirements, certification processes, and continuous improvement, with optional modules for advanced technologies and ESG criteria. Expert validation confirmed viability while identifying barriers (costs, laboratory capacity, cultural limitations) and enablers (fiscal incentives, procurement recognition). When applied to electric mobility, voluntary battery certification enhances safety and performance, charging infrastructure assessment improves reliability, and component schemes enable circular economy principles, directly supporting the Sustainable Development Goals. We conclude that strategically designed voluntary conformity schemes can accelerate regulatory convergence, strengthen competitiveness, and contribute to sustainability outcomes in modernizing economies.

Keywords: quality infrastructure; voluntary conformity assessment; regulatory modernization; electric mobility; sustainability; Brazil; certification schemes; ISO standards (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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