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The ILAC MRA has now been extended to include the accreditation of reference material producers (RMP) using ISO 17034!
This extension of the ILAC MRA has been implemented as a result of the recent decision of the members of the ILAC Arrangement Council that endorsed the recommendation of the AMC to recognise the EA MLA for the accreditation of RMP. This is a result of the re-evaluation of EA that included the extension for RMP carried out in 2018/2019.
We are therefore pleased to advise in accordance with ILAC R6, that the recognition of the EA MLA to the ILAC MRA now includes the accreditation of RMP using ISO 17034.
In addition, the ILAC brochure ‘Why become an accredited reference material producer’ has been revised and updated to reflect this extension of the ILAC MRA to include RMP and is available from https://ilac.org/publications-and-resources/ilac-promotional-brochures/
The latest edition of the ILAC Newsletter, Issue 57 – April 2020, has now been published.
The newsletter provides international, regional and national updates on accreditation and conformity assessment from ILAC members, committee chairs and liaisons, as well as the ILAC Chair and Secretariat.
World Accreditation Day (#WAD2020) will be celebrated again this year on 9 June. This global initiative established by ILAC and IAF aims to raise awareness of the importance of accreditation.
The theme this year focuses on how accreditation improves food safety. The materials for supporting the promotion and celebration of this event including a poster, brochure, joint statement and video are now available for your use from https://ilac.org/news-and-events/world-accreditation-day-2020-2/
The latest editions of IAF/ILAC A1:03/2020 “IAF/ILAC MRA Multi-Lateral Mutual Recognition Arrangements (Arrangements): Requirement and Procedures for Evaluation of a Regional Group” and IAF/ILAC A3:03/2020 “IAF/ILAC MRAs: Multi-Lateral Mutual Recognition Arrangements (Arrangements): Template report for the peer evaluation of an Accreditation Body based on ISO/IEC 17011:2017″ have been published and are now available from here.
These documents are used in the evaluations of regional cooperation bodies and accreditation bodies and were revised to remove the ‘Concern’ category of finding. From the date of implementation, findings during an evaluation will be categorised as either nonconformities or comments.
The transition policy published by ILAC and IAF in October 2017 requires all accreditation bodies that are signatories to the ILAC MRA and IAF MLA to have completed the transition to the 2017 version of ISO/IEC 17011 by November 2020.
As a result of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak and the increasing restrictions on travel and mandatory quarantine periods following travel, IAF and ILAC have released a statement providing guidelines regarding the evaluation activities required to ensure all accreditation bodies will be able to achieve this transition in the remaining 7 months. The statement is available from https://ilac.org/publications-and-resources/joint-ilac-iaf-series/ and joint IAF-ILAC publications area of the IAF website
ILAC and IAF will continue to monitor the advice in relation to the outbreak of COVID-19 to assess the developments and risks and will release additional statements as required in relation to any impacts this outbreak may have on the peer evaluation system in general to ensure the integrity of the MRA and MLA processes are maintained.
ILAC continues to monitor advice to assess the developments and risks following the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The situation has led to safety concerns and travel restrictions in some economies that may affect accredited conformity assessment activities.
Accreditation bodies may be considering and/or implementing alternative arrangements to conduct assessments such conducting assessments remotely or rescheduling activities if necessary. These arrangements where required are being put in place to ensure the health and safety of accreditation body staff, assessment team members and laboratory and inspection body staff, whilst not compromising the integrity of the accreditation process. Details of specific actions that may be required by an accreditation body to comply with the advice from the government authorities will be released as and when required within each economy. The contact details for the accreditation bodies that are signatories to the ILAC MRA are available from https://ilac.org/signatory-search/. This directory is searchable by economy.
In relation to the transition of accreditation bodies to ISO/IEC 17011:2017 a further joint statement from IAF and ILAC will be released later this week.
With regard to the transition of laboratories to ISO/IEC 17025:2017 a further statement will be released in mid-April following the receipt and review of the scheduled transition progress reports from the recognised regions later this month.
The following brochures have been revised “IAF/ILAC B7:03/2020 – Accreditation: Supporting the Delivery of Health and Social Care”, “IAF/ILAC B10:03/2020 – Accreditation: Delivering a safer world” and “IAF/ILAC B11:03/2020 – Accreditation: Adding Value to Supply Chains” and are available for your use from here.
Eurachem, in co-operation with CITAC and EQALM are holding their 10th Proficiency Testing Workshop from 12 to 15 October 2020 at the De Vere Beaumont Hotel in Windsor, UK.
The workshop is open to the international analytical community and includes four days devoted to training courses, invited lectures,
short communications, poster sessions and working group discussions. In particular the topics for the training sessions are:
The topics for the lectures and workshops include:
For further details and registration please visit: www.eurachem-pt2020.org
The World Metrology Day project is realised jointly by the BIPM and the OIML and is celebrated on 20 May each year.
The theme for 2020: Measurements for global trade was chosen to create awareness of the important role measurement plays in facilitating fair global trade, ensuring products meet standards and regulations, and satisfying customer quality expectations.
Indeed more widely metrology, the science of measurement, plays a central role in scientific discovery and innovation, industrial manufacturing and international trade, in improving the quality of life and in protecting the global environment.
The 2020 World Metrology Day Resource website is now available: http://www.worldmetrologyday.org/ and includes a Press Release, the Directors’ Message and the poster in English and French.
Please feel free to access these materials and use them to support and promote the importance of metrology and World Metrology Day.