COVID-19 restrictions have seen a significant increase in the use of remote techniques for auditing and assessing providers of conformity assessment activities as well as evaluating the accreditation bodies that provide these services.

IAF, ILAC and ISO have worked together to produce a survey to better understand the views of the conformity assessment community and those that rely on the results of conformity assessment, such as regulators, on the use of remote techniques for audit/assessment/evaluation activities. The survey seeks to gain input from the perspective of those carrying out the auditing/assessing or evaluation activities, as well as those subject to the activity and also those reliant on the outcome of these activities.

We encourage you to please complete the survey for your own organisation and/or as an individual carrying out a remote activity, and to also share the survey link with your customers, stakeholders and any others you feel may wish to contribute information for this survey.

The survey will run until 8 August 2021 and can be accessed via the following link: https://survey.alchemer.eu/s3/90343186/IAF-ILAC-ISO-Survey-on-Remote-Audit-Assessment-Evaluation

The signatory status of entidad Mexicana de acreditación a.c. (ema), Mexico, to the ILAC MRA has been extended to include the accreditation of Reference Material Producers using ISO 17034.

The full list of signatories to the ILAC MRA is available from https://ilac.org/signatory-search/ .

We are pleased to advise that the recognition of the IAAC MLA to the ILAC MRA now includes the accreditation of RMP using ISO 17034 as a result of the recent ILAC Arrangement Council ballot and the evaluation of IAAC for this scope extension.

The full list of signatories to the ILAC MRA is available from https://ilac.org/signatory-search/. This directory is searchable by economy and scope of signatory status as well as the name and acronym of the accreditation bodies that are signatories to the ILAC MRA. The scope of recognition of the recognised regions to the ILAC MRA is available from https://ilac.org/ilac-mra-and-signatories/recognised-regional-cooperation-bodies/. Information on the acceptance of calibration, testing and inspection results, programs provided by PTPs and reference materials produced by RMPs via the ILAC MRA is available from https://ilac.org/ilac-mra-and-signatories/.

This report provides information on the activities carried out as part of the global peer evaluation process in 2020 in order to ensure that both regulators and consumers of laboratory and inspection data, as well as users of proficiency testing programs and reference materials are able to maintain confidence in the services accredited by the signatories to the ILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA).  The ILAC MRA 2020 Annual Report and associated infographic is available here.

The Kuwait Accreditation System (Accreditation Affairs Section) (KAS) – Public Authority for Industry (PAI) (KAS-PAI), Kuwait, is welcomed as an Associate Member of ILAC.  KAS-PAI has been an Affiliate member since 9 May 2017.

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

9 June 2021 marks World Accreditation Day – Accreditation: Supporting the implementation of the SDGs (#WAD2021).

WAD is a global initiative established by the IAF and ILAC to promote the value of accreditation. This year’s theme focuses on the UN’s Sustainable Development Agenda and promoting the many ways in which accreditation can help meet these goals. Materials for supporting the promotion and celebration of this event including a poster, brochure and joint statement for your use, can be accessed here. Social media resources have also been made available for members and three videos focusing on people, planet and prosperity can be expected mid-May. 

In addition, the Public Sector Assurance and Business Benefits websites, which contain case studies, research and supporting materials demonstrating the benefits and value of accreditation, now feature an option for searching by SDG. We encourage members to visit these websites for additional materials to support their WAD activities.

Follow IAF (@IAF_Global) and ILAC (@ILAC_Official) on Twitter for the latest updates. If you are active on social media, use #WAD2021. 

Happy World Accreditation Day. 

The latest edition of the ILAC Newsletter, Issue 59 – April 2021, 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 from the ILAC Chair and the Secretariat.

The latest version of ILAC-G7:04/2021 Accreditation Requirements and Operating Criteria for Horseracing Laboratories has been published and is available from https://ilac.org/publications-and-resources/ilac-guidance-series/

This publication is a revision of ILAC G7:02/2016 and takes into consideration the 2017 versions of ISO/IEC 17011 and ISO/IEC 17025 as well as applicability of the document to other animal racing sports. In addition, the language in relation to the use of mandatory requirements has been clarified for those cases where the users of the document have agreed to comply with ILAC G7 including any regulatory requirements that may be applied in an economy.

The Third ILAC-WADA Communiqué issued with respect to the ILAC-WADA cooperation regarding the WADA anti-doping laboratories was published on 1 April 2021. The Communique is for the attention of all accreditation bodies involved in the accreditation of WADA anti-doping laboratories in accordance with ISO/IEC 17025 and is available from https://ilac.org/about-ilac/partnerships/international-partners/wada/ under Communiqués.

WADA anti-doping laboratories are required to maintain dual accreditation by demonstrating compliance with two international standards, namely:
      i) ISO/IEC 17025 General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories; and
      ii) WADA’s International Standard for Laboratories (ISL).

The ISL requires that the ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation of WADA anti-doping laboratories be granted by accreditation bodies (ABs) that are signatories to the ILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA), and this accreditation serves as the prerequisite for WADA’s laboratory accreditation.

This Third ILAC-WADA Communiqué provides comprehensive information on the roles and responsibilities, as agreed between ILAC and WADA, in regard to the sharing of information between WADA and any ILAC MRA Signatory AB that accredits an anti-doping laboratory.

The signatory status of the National Accreditation Agency of Ukraine (NAAU) to the ILAC MRA for the accreditation of inspection bodies using ISO/IEC 17020 was suspended on 24 March 2021. This suspension for inspection to the ILAC MRA is a result of the suspension of NAAU from the EA MLA for inspection and in accordance with IAF/ILAC A2 Annex 7.