The OSA era has arrived, are you ready?

About OSA

OSA, short for Organization for the Safety of Abrasives, is the European abrasive cutting tool safety organization. To achieve the much-needed transparency in the international market, 17 European abrasive industry companies founded the OSA in March 2000. Now, with 45 members, it produces 70% of the world's handheld abrasive cutting tools. Membership is open to all companies (those producing and selling abrasive products such as corundum, silicon carbide, ceramic corundum, zirconium corundum, diamond, and cubic boron nitride).

－ Its abrasive products meet or exceed the safety requirements of the CEN standards.

Ensuring standards are maintained through the prescribed testing process and conditions.

And undergo inspections as required by the OSA.

Members have the right to use the OSA logo upon meeting these requirements.

China's Superhard Tool Industry Must Navigate Three Challenges for Global Expansion For Chinese superhard tool industry enterprises to enter the international market, they must address three key issues: first, the construction of market channels; second, breaking through technical barriers; and third, overcoming trade barriers. In terms of technical barriers, internationally, our past enterprises have mostly undergone layered certifications, starting with the early DSA and MPA, and now the new OSA. During the U.S. anti-dumping investigation, the EU anti-dumping application has already been sent to the European Commission. Now, the EU has decided not to initiate anti-dumping measures against Chinese enterprises, and they may shift to setting up some form of technical barrier, such as European certification. Certain certifications may pose very high entry thresholds and costs for Chinese enterprises in the future, as indicated by the OSA certification. Chinese enterprises need to act early on technical certifications, as the main Korean companies have already obtained the OSA certification five years ago, but only two Chinese companies have passed it! This demonstrates the extreme difficulty in obtaining such certifications!

Moving forward, the EU is highly likely to make certification and labeling more effective barriers for products. Therefore, acting early will certainly bring many benefits.

OSA stands for the Organization for Safety and Quality Alliance. OSA is the Abrasive Materials Safety Organization, and obtaining OSA certification demonstrates that the producer's products are highly safe.

OSA Certification Process:

Complete the application form and sign the OSA trademark usage and legal conditions document.

2. OSA selects test samples and conducts tests in accordance with the respective EN standards. (OSA requires applicants to possess the necessary internal testing equipment.)

3. Factory Audit: A representative from OSA and an independent technical inspector will conduct an audit of the factory. The purpose of the inspection is to verify that the factory has the necessary conditions and equipment to perform internal tests and maintain stringent quality standards.

4. Approval to become an OSA member. Should the applicant pass the tests and factory audit, their information will be forwarded to the board. Upon approval, the applicant will receive a membership certificate.

The OSA certification is based on the following three standards: EN 12413, EN 13743, and EN 13236.