Club of bologna proceedings

5. Problems to be solved 
Of course there have been and there will be 
many problems to be solved, mostly due to 
differences in the testing methodologies, costs 
of tests and the different environments in 
which the machines are tested and will be 
used by the farmers. 
One example of this are the difficulties which 
we encountered when comparing the 

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methodologies for soil tillage machinery; 
although these were mostly based on the same 
international standards there were certain 
differences. 
In fact, DLG carried out duration tests and 
CONAMA did not, while CONAMA was 
more demanding on safety requirements. 
Now CONAMA is starting to include 
duration test and DLG is studying the 
possibility of including further safety 
requirements. 
The end result will be a common 
methodology and full recognition of the 
certification, but in so far as there are 
differences the Agreement provides a 
recognition only of the test results. 
This example gives an idea of the potential 
offered by the Agreement for improving each 
activity, moving towards common testing 
procedures and common results. 
6. Conclusions 
We hope that to provided a comprehensive 
report on the reasons for certification, its 
activities, the problems to be solved and the 
final goals of the Agreement. 
At present, not all European testing stations 
have signed the Agreement, but we hope that 
in the future they will understand its 
importance and advantages in a market 
characterised by harmonised standards, free 
trade and a common currency. 
Such an Agreement provides an opportunity 
to improve testing activities, research and 
expansion by assigning business-oriented 
activities to the testing stations- a very 
important aspect in a climate of diminishing 
public funds. 
The Agreement was initiated within the 
European Union, but in the future it will be 
very important to extend this activity to 
countries outside the EU, in order to facilitate 
international markets. 
We can envisage an international network of 
testing stations for agricultural machinery, 
similar to OECD for tractors, with common 
standards, common studies to improve testing 
activities and to support ISO and EN working 
groups, and a common database with all the 
results ! 
This would be a fantastic tool for improving 
every kind of research in these fields, and to 
prevent overlapping investments and 
redundant activities. 
We think that, with this final message, we can 
open the discussion, which we hope will be a 
precursor to future extension of the 
Agreement to as many countries as possible, 
thereby providing a real service to all farmers. 

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