The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed how evaluations are conducted, with travel bans and lockdowns necessitating increased use of information and communications technologies.

The following addendum has therefore been published on the ILAC ilac.org/publications-and-resources/joint-ilac-iaf-series/ and IAF websites: IAF/ILAC-A1/A2: Addendum 01/2021 – IAF/ILAC Approach to Remote Peer Evaluations of Regions and Single Accreditation Bodies during the COVID-19 Pandemic to help maintain the harmonization of processes and the robustness of the IAF, ILAC and Regional peer evaluation systems.

This addendum to IAF/ILAC A1 and IAF/ILAC A2, which will remain in effect for the duration of the pandemic, provides policies for the role and conduct of remote peer evaluations and allows for a more flexible approach to remote witnessing activities during this period.

BIPM and ILAC recently held a joint webinar titled: Mining KCDB 2.0 in the Context of Accreditation. This webinar addressed topics including assuring the quality and access to the data in the BIPM KCDB 2.0 as well as an overview of the BIPM and ILAC publications addressing calibration and traceability. There was also a Q&A session. The video recording and presentations from the two sessions, that were well attended with 300 participants in each, are now available for downloading from https://www.bipm.org/en/news/full-stories/2021-02-ilac-webinar.html

The latest version of ILAC G17:01/2021 ILAC Guidelines for Measurement Uncertainty in Testing has been published and is available from https://ilac.org/publications-and-resources/ilac-guidance-series/

This document provides guidance and related references for the evaluation and reporting of measurement uncertainty in testing in order to fulfil expectations of the relevant clauses of ISO/IEC 17025:2017. The document also aims to assist laboratories in understanding the common approach taken by accreditation bodies when performing assessments against these requirements included in ISO/IEC 17025:2017.

The Georgian Center for Accreditation (GAC) is welcomed as an Associate Member of ILAC.  GAC has been an Affiliate member since 21 February 2005.

We welcome GAC as an Associate Member and look forward to continuing working with our GAC colleagues.

Many of the accreditation bodies that are members of ILAC https://ilac.org/ilac-membership/members-by-economy/ are now offering accreditation to biobanking facilities using the dedicated standard: ISO 20387 General requirements for biobanking that was published in 2018. This standard is applicable to facilities involved in the biobanking of biological materials and addresses both the technical competence and management system requirements for these facilities. Accreditation helps in demonstrating the reliability of banked materials and their associated data that is essential to underpinning confidence in their use. The recently published ILAC brochure – ISO 20387: Accreditation for Biobanking Facilities available from here provides information on the accreditation process and advantages of accreditation in this field.

In addition, ILAC is currently in the process of extending the ILAC MRA https://ilac.org/ilac-mra-and-signatories/ to include the global recognition of the accredited biobanking facilities. Additional information on this recognition will be made available throughout 2021.

The virtual meeting of the 24th ILAC General Assembly was held on the 22nd of October 2020.

The adopted resolutions from the ILAC 2020 General Assembly are now available here.

BIPM and ILAC are hosting a free Webinar titled: Mining KCDB 2.0 in the Context of Accreditation on 21 January 2021.

This Webinar is aimed at accreditation body and laboratory staff and will address topics including: assuring quality and access to the data in the BIPM KCDB 2.0; an overview of BIPM and ILAC publications addressing calibration and traceability and a Q&A session.

Full details including the links for free registration are available from https://ilac.org/about-ilac/partnerships/international-partners/bipm/

The signatory status of Perry Johnson Laboratory Accreditation, Inc (PJLA), United States of America, has been extended to include RMP (ISO 17034).

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

The latest edition of the ILAC Newsletter, Issue 58 – October 2020, has now been published.

The newsletter provides international, regional and national updates on accreditation and conformity assessment from ILAC members and stakeholders, as well as the ILAC Chair and Secretariat.

Organismo Dominicano de Acreditación (ODAC) is now a Full Member of ILAC. 

ODAC become a signatory to the ILAC MRA for testing and calibration (ISO/IEC 17025) and inspection (ISO/IEC 17020).  ODAC originally joined ILAC as an Associate Member in 2018, and we are now pleased to welcome ODAC as a Full Member of ILAC.

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