The Japan Accreditation Service for agriculture, forestry and fisheries, Japan, is welcomed as an Associate member of ILAC.

We welcome JASaff and look forward to working with our JASaff colleagues.

 

 

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We welcome International Quality and Accreditation Services Pvt. Ltd., India, as a Full Member of ILAC.

As IQAS is a signatory to the APAC MRA for the accreditation of testing laboratories using ISO/IEC 17025, medical testing using ISO 15189 and calibration laboratories using ISO/IEC 17025, IQAS has been granted signatory status to the ILAC MRA and therefore, Full membership of ILAC. 

We welcome IQAS and look forward to working with our IQAS colleagues.

The full list of signatories to the ILAC MRA is available here.

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ILAC and IAF are pleased to announce the three winning designs in the 2025 World Accreditation Day poster contest, which received a total of 64 entries. This year’s contest invited contestants to explore the theme of Accreditation: Empowering Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

Congratulations to Joshua Egahi-Ojo Alhassan, who won the first-place prize of USD 1500. His design, inspired by nature, symbolizes the growth of SMEs through accreditation. In his poster, an accreditation symbol supports a microcosm of SMEs, which are overlooked by a tree bearing fruits in the form of industry icons. This powerful visual represents how accreditation fosters growth, leading to positive outcomes that benefit society. Learn more about the designer and his inspiration here.

The winning poster is available for download here.

We would also like to congratulate our second-place winner, Wardina Afiqah Mohd Hasrin, and our third-place winners, the team of Laura Uraine and Tania Blancas. Each runner-up entry earned a prize of USD 500. Learn more about these designers and their posters here.

Thank you to all participants!

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On 06 December 2024, the Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated was officially registered as a legal entity and is now an incorporated society in New Zealand. This milestone marks a pivotal step in the journey toward a single international organisation for accreditation, one that will unify the work of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC).

‘This is a historic moment for the global accreditation community,’ said Emanuele Riva, IAF Chair. ‘The establishment of the Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated marks the culmination of years of collaboration and shared vision. By bringing together IAF and ILAC, we are laying the foundation for a more streamlined global accreditation framework, one that will foster greater international cooperation and ensure that accreditation continues to play a vital role in supporting trade, quality and sustainability.  It will change the way we do things, and how we do them. This turning point will bring visibility to accreditation, but will also help the technical convergence between the different organisations and cultures present today in our community.’

This achievement would not have been possible without the dedication and work of countless individuals across the accreditation community. The collective efforts of the IAF and ILAC Chairs, Executive Committee members, all IAF and ILAC members, Secretariats and the other individuals who have contributed their time and expertise to the project have been instrumental in transforming this vision into reality.

‘The Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated represents the evolution of our work,’ said Etty Feller, ILAC Chair. ‘As we move into the next stages of this project, our primary focus will be ensuring a seamless transition from ILAC and IAF to the new organisation. We are deeply committed to working closely with our members, regulatory bodies and stakeholders to make the transition as smooth as possible.’

Ms Feller emphasized that ‘the creation of the Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated will position the accreditation community to better address global challenges and support the evolving needs of industry, regulators and consumers worldwide. My personal mission is to promote accreditation by qualified and competent organisations in a harmonized way for the benefit of the world.’

IAF and ILAC look forward to the next steps in this transformative journey and are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead for the global accreditation community and all who benefit from it. The effort to unify the accreditation landscape is a collective one, and the global accreditation community is now on the threshold of an exciting new chapter.

 

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Accredia, the Italian Accreditation Body, gets a makeover: new brand identity, same commitment on the market

Modernity, flexibility, accessibility and navigability were the keywords of the rebranding of Accredia, the Italian Accreditation Body, which presents itself on the market with a new graphic design and digital look consistent with its mission and commitment.

On the 3^rd of December, Accredia unveiled its new institutional logo and accreditation marks’ system, the result of a rebranding that represents an important step in Accredia’s growth process, with a distinctive sign that is consistent with its mission.

Accompanying the change of the logo, the new website reflects the development of accreditation in Italy, which for fifteen years has been contributing to the competitiveness of companies on the national and international market, thanks to the competence and impartiality of accredited bodies and laboratories.

The institutional website

The new web project offers an integrated form to Accredia’s digital identity, strengthened by the rationalisation of information and the restyling of the information architecture, which gives greater accessibility to content and documents and makes it easier to all users, particularly the professionals.

Bodies and laboratories wishing to apply for accreditation or download documents of interest now have a new path, where different sections aim to provide precise answers or useful content, depending on the type of accreditation and specific requirements.

The synergetic work between web design and technological development, realised by the Cultur-e agency on a WordPress platform, has made the user experience ‘simple but not simplifying’, to improve navigation of the site by all users.

The institutional logo

 The change of logo represents a transformation and alignment to a more contemporary visual identity, designed by Melazero agency, combining three powerful symbols: the letter ‘A’ to indicate excellent quality, the triangle representing authority and stability, and the circle, symbolising inclusiveness, eternity and perfection.

Two main colours distinguish Accredia’s logo: graphite and ochre. Graphite, elegant and sophisticated, represents balance and stability. Ochre recalls positivity and the energy of the Sun, symbolising an openness towards the future and a commitment to change.

The choice of the font, Roboto, is also aimed at modernity: with simple and decisive lines, this font reflects Accredia’s contemporary spirit, adapting to every medium and format, always maintaining a fluid and natural reading.

The payoff is also new, becoming ‘Competing for growing’, signifying both Accredia’s commitment to guaranteeing the competence of bodies and laboratories, as well as the possibility for companies and professionals to better compete on the market, thanks to accredited certifications.

The accreditation mark

The mark that identifies the accreditation certificates, issued to accredited bodies and laboratories, synthesises the shape of the circle and, like the institutional logo, is characterised by two ochre-coloured parallel lines.

The stylisation of the central pole of the ‘A’ evokes the tick of a double check, symbolising Accredia’s role as ‘controller of controllers’.

The mark gives Accredia’s certificates the utmost reliability and facilitates the free movement of products and services on the global market, based on the competence and impartiality of the bodies and laboratories that have certified, verified, inspected or tested them.

The accreditation marks

Consistent with the institutional logo, accreditation marks dedicated to accredited bodies and laboratories have been designed to make conformity and calibration certificates, verification statements and test and inspection reports recognisable on the market.

Among the new features of the system, each accreditation mark is associated with a single conformity assessment scheme, so as to identify the specific activity in which the body or laboratory has obtained accreditation.

Public and private organisations and professionals who use conformity assessment services performed by accredited bodies, may also display the accreditation mark dedicated to them.

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Bangladesh Accreditation Board (BAB) is a statutory body established by “The Bangladesh Accreditation Act, 2006” under the Ministry of Industries, the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. The board is mandated by the act to make provisions for the issuance of accreditation certificates to different laboratories, certification bodies, inspection bodies, training institutions, or persons, in line with the relevant International and national standards and guidelines.

BAB started testing the laboratory accreditation scheme in 2011 and issued its first-ever accreditation certificate in 2012. Since this time, activities of BAB have been expanded in response to valued stakeholders, at home and abroad. BAB is currently operating 4 accreditation schemes for testing, calibration, and medical laboratories, inspection bodies, and certification bodies. As of October 2024, BAB has accredited 144 Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs) operating in both private and public domains.

In 2015 BAB signed a Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) with the Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (now APAC) and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC). Membership for Halal Accreditation with other similar international and regional organizations including the Standards and Metrology Institute for Islamic Countries (SMIIC) is in process.

The government of Bangladesh declared “The World Accreditation Day” 9 June as a National Day (Category C) in 2013. Every year this day is celebrated nationwide with great enthusiasm, to promote mass awareness about accreditation and dissemination of accreditation information. On the eve of the World Accreditation Day 2024, BAB published souvenirs highlighting the theme of the day and the importance of accreditation, and organized different seminars, symposium stakeholder meetings, and so on. A special supplement was published in the widely circulated daily newspapers and a television talk show was also aired on this occasion.

Zakia Sultana, Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Industries and Md. Anwarul Alam, Director General, BAB is seen in the World Accreditation Day 2024 rally

Like previous years, a colorful rally led by Zakia Sultana, Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Industries and Md. Anwarul Alam, Director General, BAB was held on the occasion of ‘World Accreditation Day 2024’. The experts, regulators, well-wishers, and beneficiaries from different stakeholders including senior officials of the Ministry of Industry, representatives of different accredited CABs, the business community, academia, quality and accreditation persons, and journalists from electronic and print media participated in the rally. Different electronic media aired and print media published the news with great emphasis.

To improve national accreditation infrastructure in the country BAB organizes need-based training on different international standards and technical topics. This also helps in the facilitation of accreditation activities and making a competent assessor/expert pool.

Mr. Md. Anwarul Alam, Director General, BAB and Mr Hohammad Shhohaieb, Initiative Director, UK Bangladesh Standards partnership initiative, BSI along with the participants.

As part of the ministry-led innovation program for service simplification, BAB has a program to provide accreditation services appropriately by establishing a modern technology-based, efficient, accountable, corruption-free administrative and accreditation system. In this regard, BAB showcased “Pre-qualification Self-Assessment of Testing and Calibration Service Providers Interested in Accreditation through Online” on its website for feasibility and client’s opinion.

Mr. Md. Anwarul Alam, Director General, BAB describing the service simplification of BAB to Zakia Sultana, Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Industries.

BAB is committed to maintaining APAC/ILAC MRA status in compliance with international norms, and assists in the overall development of Bangladesh by trade facilitation; delivering confidence and protection of public interest through quality accreditation services without discrimination, and ensuring maintaining independence, impartiality, transparency and objectivity in the decision-making process. To this end, BAB regularly organizes meetings with significant stakeholders for feedback, opinions, and suggestions.

Mr. Md. Anwarul Alam, Director General, BAB and senior BAB officials along with the participants of the stakeholder workshop.

BAB always strives to establish itself as a reliable accreditation organization in regional and the international arena. Over time, the spectrum of BAB activities has been expanding. The Bangladesh government has taken different initiatives and approved new projects in the annual development program for modernization of accreditation infrastructure and capacity building. In the future, through increasing the work portfolios and activities, BAB will continue its significant role in the socio-economic development of the country.

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1. ARAC MLA Signatories

Following the latest ARAC MLA Group decisions ARAC has 5 MLA signatories as the following:

 

2. 5th Edition of the Arab Accreditation Week

Successful Conclusion of the 5th Edition of Arab Accreditation Week Showcases Regional Commitment to Excellence

The Arab Accreditation Week’s 5th edition, held from June 3rd to June 6th, 2024 under the theme “Together towards enhancing the role of accreditation in the Arab region in Empowering Tomorrow and Shaping the Future” marked a significant milestone in the region’s pursuit of excellence in accreditation and conformity assessment. The event successfully convened a series of technical sessions remotely, attracting over 1000 experts and participants from Accreditation Bodies personnel and conformity assessment bodies across the Arab region.

The virtual platform facilitated dynamic discussions and knowledge sharing among the different components of the accreditation infrastructure in the Arab region. The technical sessions covered a diverse range of topics, tailored to address the evolving needs and challenges faced by the Conformity Assessment Bodies and Accreditation Bodies at Arab level.

Highlights of the event included:

• A Regional Workshop on ISO/IEC 17043 and ISO/IEC 17034, providing insights into best practices and updates in proficiency testing and reference materials.
• A Regional Workshop on the Accreditation of Biobanking, exploring the latest advancements in establishing an accreditation program for biobanking.
• A Regional Workshop Reporting Statements of Conformity and Decision Rules, emphasizing the significance of clear and transparent reporting in conformity assessment.
• A Regional Workshop on the Accreditation of Laboratories according to ISO/IEC 17025:2017, delving into the requirements and challenges faced by laboratories in achieving accreditation.
• A Regional Workshop on External Quality Assessment Challenges in Medical Laboratories, addressing the critical role of external quality assessment in ensuring the accuracy and reliability of medical laboratory results.

The success of the 5th Arab Accreditation Week underscores the region’s commitment to fostering a culture of quality and continuous improvement. By harnessing the collective expertise and resources of stakeholders, the event has furthered the advancement of accreditation and conformity assessment practices, ultimately contributing to the enhancement of consumer protection and trade facilitation in the Arab region.

5th Edition of the Arab Accreditation Week

 

5th Edition of the Arab Accreditation Week Capacity Building Activities

 

3. New ARAC Stakeholder member: United Group of Conformity Assessment Bodies (UGCAB)

Significant growth in the Arab Accreditation Cooperation (ARAC) membership has been achieved with the acceptance of the United Group of Conformity Assessment Bodies (UGCAB), Iraq, as an ARAC Stakeholder Member in October 2024.

The inclusion of interested parties in ARAC serves two key purposes. First, it aims to build trust among all stakeholders involved in the accreditation process. By involving diverse parties ranging from industry representatives, regulatory bodies, conformity assessment bodies (CABs), to consumers, ARAC ensures that its accreditation framework is transparent, credible, and widely accepted. This collaboration fosters mutual recognition of ARAC’s accreditation systems, which is crucial for enhancing the quality infrastructure across the Arab region.

Secondly, involving stakeholders allows these interested parties to actively contribute their perspectives and feedback to ARAC. This engagement ensures that the needs and expectations of various sectors are reflected in ARAC’s policies, technical standards, and conformity assessment practices. By enabling a platform for stakeholders to express their views, ARAC remains responsive to the evolving demands of the market, regulatory frameworks, and technological advancements. This collaboration also promotes the harmonization of accreditation practices, reducing trade barriers and ensuring that accreditation systems across member states are aligned with international standards.

 

4. Next ARAC meetings:

18th – 19th December 2024, Makkah, KSA: ARAC Executive Committee & General Assembly Meetings.

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EA Autumn 2024 Technical Committees’ Meetings

The EA technical committees met in September 2024, for the Autumn meetings, in Brussels, Belgium.

The Horizontal Harmonization Committee (HHC)

Gabriel Zrenner chaired its last HHC meeting and will leave starting from 2025 the chairmanship to the current Vice-Chair Kristina Hallman (SWEDAC, the Swedish National Accreditation Bodies), and her future Vice-Chair to Jenni Harjuoja (FINAS, the Finnish NAB). Gabriel Zrenner has tremendously shaped the HHC for the past 7 years. The good thing for EA is that he is joining the Executive Board.

 

 

DAkkS, the German NAB, presented its project on the digital accreditation symbol and AI Act standardization work. DAkkS was the first Accreditation Body worldwide to introduce a digital accreditation symbol as an electronic seal.

HHC members participated in a workshop on accreditation scopes in the Accreditation for Notification (AfN) area. The focus was on 4 major EU legislations (Construction Products Regulation (CPR), Pressure Equipment Directive (PED), Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and Machinery), discussing potential scope harmonization and its use in revising EA 2/17.

70 participants attended the meeting on 11-12 September. The next HHC meeting will be held in March 2025, in Brussels.

The Laboratory Committee (LC)

LC members participated in a workshop conducted by Belén Villamiel (ENAC, LC Vice-Chair) and Richard McFarlane (UKAS) on externally provided product and services/subcontracting, taking into account the level 3 accreditation standards under the LC responsibility:

• ISO/IEC 17025:2017 Testing and Calibration Laboratories (Externally provided product and services);
• ISO 15189:2022 Medical Laboratories (Externally provided product and services);
• ISO/IEC 17043:2023 Proficiency Testing Provider (Externally provided product and services);
• ISO 17034:2016 Reference Material Producers (Subcontracting);
• ISO 20387:2018 Biobanking (Externally provided product and services).

64 participants attended the meeting on 18-19 September. The next LC meeting will be held in March 2025, in Bratislava.

 

 

The Certification Committee (CC)

Wolfram Hartmann (DAkkS) has been reelected as the CC Vice Chair, for his second term.

Members had extended discussions about questions asked by colleagues, and the answers will be published shortly on the EA website in the CC FAQ section.

 

 

 

A workshop on flexible scopes in certification will be organized in March 2025.

A resolution concerning the transitional arrangements for ISO 55001 – Asset management — Asset management system — Requirements will be put on the agenda of the EA General Assembly in November.

70 participants attended the meeting on 24-25 September. The next CC meeting will be held in March 2025, in Budapest.

The Inspection Committee (IC)

Marko Verbovsek, the IC Vice-Chair, stepped down and a new vice-chair is being approved within the Committee.

 

 

IC members continued to review the full list of questions/answers for publication in the IC FAQ section on the website.

Marek Wilgos (the IC Chair) presented the outcome of the survey on Crime Scene Investigation, which will be forwarded to the LC Chair  (Sergio Guzzi) to consider cooperation between IC and TN Forensics.

In 2022, ISO voted to revise ISO/IEC 17020:2012 Conformity Assessment – Requirements for operation of various types of bodies performing inspection. IC members discussed thoroughly the changes to be made in the future standard expected to be published in November 2025.

Members participated in a workshop on sampling, proficiency testing (PT), and interlaboratory comparisons (ILC) in inspection, and examined for instance the criteria that should be considered when analyzing the need to use of PT/ILC in an inspection activity.

60 NABs and stakeholders attended the Inspection Committee meeting on 26-27 September. The next IC meeting will be held in March 2025, in Budapest.

 

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EIAC jointly hosted the APAC annual meetings in Dubai

The annual meeting of Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (APAC) was jointly hosted by the Emirates International Accreditation Centre (EIAC), Emirates National Accreditation System (ENAS) and GCC Accreditation Center (GAC). The Meetings are held from July 13 to July 18, 2024, in Dubai, UAE. This was the first time that annual meetings and general assembly of APAC were held in the UAE and middle east region.

Over 200 delegates attended the 2024 APAC Annual Meeting.

EIAC’s peer re-evaluation conducted by ARAC

The re-evaluation of Emirates International Accreditation Centre (EIAC) was conducted on 06-10 May 2024. The peer evaluation was conducted by the Arab Accreditation Cooperation (ARAC). The six-member peer evaluation team was comprised of peer evaluators from Egypt, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Jordon and South Africa.

The peer evaluation covered the existing scope ISO/IEC 17025 (Testing and Calibration), ISO/IEC 17020 (Inspection) and ISO 15189 (Medical).

EIAC hosted executive committee meetings of ARAC

The Emirates International Accreditation Centre (EIAC) hosted the executive committee meetings of Arab Accreditation Cooperation (ARAC) in Dubai, UAE on 18 July 2024. The meetings were held in connection with ARAC’s mid-year meetings.

EIAC granted ISQua hospital accreditations

The Emirates International Accreditation Centre (EIAC) granted accreditations to three hospitals and a day surgery center. The accreditations were granted according to the International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua) requirements & standard.
The accreditation certificates were officially delivered during the celebrations of the World Patient Safety Day.

EIAC attended Joint IAF-ILAC annual meetings in Berlin

The joint annual meetings of IAF-ILAC were held in Germany on 1-10 October 2024. The EIAC delegation headed by Ms. Amina Ahmed Mohammed, CEO, attended the meetings. The EIAC strongly support the activities of IAF and ILAC and an MRA/MLA signatory to both organizations.

EIAC conducted training on forensic and crime scene

The Emirates International Accreditation Centre (EIAC) has conducted various training.

EIAC launched a new training series on the “Integrated Forensic Management System (EIAC-IFMSO)”. The module is developed by taking guidance from ILAC G19, with a strong emphasis on quality assurance aspects. Aspects from multiple standards including ISO/IEC17020, ISO/IEC 17025, and ISO 15189 are included across various forensic disciplines.

In this regard training was conducted on 23-27 September 2024. The training highlighted the future directions in integrated forensic testing and crime scene inspection & analysis, utilizing multiple management systems and its accreditation, with a specific focus on relevant forensic and criminology scopes.

Delegates had interactive sessions to understand the effective application of accreditation criteria in accordance with multiple standards. Mr. Mohammed Abdel Motagaly was the resource person for this training.

Series of ISO 15189 training including transition training to new version of ISO 15189 were conducted in May, June and October 2024.

ISO/IEC 17025 training and training on measurement uncertainty, method validation and metrological traceability were conducted in June, July and September 2024.

 

EIAC’s delegation attending APAC annual meetings

 

EIAC hosted ARAC executive committee meetings

 

EIAC granted accreditations to hospitals

 

EIAC’s delegation attending joint IAF-ILAC annual meetings

 

EIAC’s training on ISO forensic and crime scene

 

 

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Medellín, Colombia.- The Dominican Accreditation Body (ODAC, by its acronym in Spanish) will host the next General Assembly of the Inter-American Accreditation Cooperation (IAAC).

The announcement was made at the Thirty-Second General Assembly of the IAAC, held in the city of Medellín from August 18 to 23, which brought together more than 100 attendees from 27 countries in the Americas and the Caribbean region.
Once a year, all IAAC members hold technical meetings to contribute to the homologation of criteria for accreditation processes and international standards.

 

The discussions held at this event generate a positive impact on the quality infrastructure of the countries involved; in addition to serving as an incentive to promote competitiveness through the evaluation of accredited conformity.
The executive director of ODAC, Ángel David Taveras Difo, welcomed with great enthusiasm and commitment that the institution coordinates this activity for the first time.

“We assume this responsibility with integrity, which we are sure will enhance our country’s brand,” the official said.

The next general assembly is scheduled to take place on August 2025, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

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