IAF and ILAC have launched the 2025 World Accreditation Day (WAD) poster contest, to select a design for the official WAD 2025 poster. WAD, which takes place yearly on 09 June, highlights how accreditation benefits businesses, industry, regulators and consumers. The 2025 theme is Accreditation: Empowering Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

SMEs are essential to the global economy, driving innovation, creating jobs and supporting local communities. However, these businesses often face challenges such as limited resources, competition and difficulty accessing markets. One tool that SMEs can use to address these challenges is conformity assessment, which can provide assurance that their products, services, processes or procedures meet specified requirements. Accreditation of a conformity assessment body confirms that the body is competent and reliable, providing confidence in its results.

Through accredited conformity assessment, SMEs can demonstrate their commitment to quality, safety, sustainability and compliance with recognized best practices. This can strengthen their reputation and consumer confidence, helping SMEs to attract and retain customers. Additionally, SMEs can increase their business opportunities and market access by proving their compliance with standards and regulations.

Accredited conformity assessment can aid SMEs in identifying areas for improvement in their operations, such as enhancing product quality and streamlining processes. For SMEs seeking funding, accredited conformity assessment can improve access to financial support, by signaling lower risk to lenders and investors. It can also enable the SME to meet requirements for government grants or incentives.

The IAF Multilateral Recognition Arrangement (MLA) and ILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) provide an infrastructure that allows accredited conformity assessment results to be recognized around the world. They enable the acceptance of products and services across borders, by removing the need for them to undergo additional tests, inspections or certification in each economy where they are sold.

IAF and ILAC welcome all interested parties to explore how accreditation empowers SMEs in the 2025 WAD poster contest, with a chance of winning the first-place prize of 1,500 USD or the second- or third-place prizes of 500 USD.

Individuals can submit up to three entries at https://tinyurl.com/ypdbyhpd by the submission deadline of 02 January 2025, 23:59 UTC. The contest rules, including instructions for how to submit entries, are available here.

Read about last year’s winner here and runners-up here.

Posted on behalf of Eurolab

Dear EUROLAB Members and Contacts,

IMEKO TC24 (Technical Committee on Chemical Measurements) would like to invite you to attend the next event of the series ‘IMEKO Talks on Chemical Measurements’.

It will be held on the 28th of November 2024 at 1 p.m. (CET – Rome time)

Title of the talk: LNG – a milestone toward a new era

Presenter: Dr. Aleksandra Aleksić  (NIS Gazprom Neft a.d.)

Short description of the discussion topic:   

Energy diversification and decarbonisation are topics greatly emphasized in the last few years in the media, even though sometimes sufficient technical rigour is not used. Among the various possibilities for their implementation, LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) and LNG terminals are globally recognized as interesting solutions in many ways. It seems that natural gas should certainly be a transit to the new energy horizon for several reasons. LNG is a relatively new industry branch that in a short period has to play the key role in the shift from the old to a completely new energy policy. Such a complex task opens up many others, thus driving science to new frontiers in many different fields. It implies great advances both in science and in industry and a replacement of so-called dirty with clean energies. Apart from the fact that this change seems inevitable, is it realistic and even possible? The session will present the LNG value chain and its role in the current energy landscape.

It is an online and free event (held on MS Teams platform); you can find the link on the IMEKO website: https://www.imeko.org/index.php/tc24-homepage/tc24-events/talks

Duration: about 45 minutes.

For additional information please contact: tc24.imeko@gmail.com

Posted on behalf of Eurolab

We are excited to invite you to our upcoming webinar on Guidelines for the Management of Digitalised Systems in Laboratories Accredited to ISO/IEC 17025, scheduled on 27 November 2024, from 10:00 to 12:00 CET. This session will explore EUROLAB’s new Technical Report, offering insights on managing digitalised processes in ISO/IEC 17025-compliant laboratories. 

Webinar Highlights 

• Overview of the Digitalisation Working Group’s work  

• Detailed presentation of the new Technical Report  

• Interactive Q&A and roundtable discussion with field experts 

You can register for the event here: Event Registration Page.

Registration fee: 70 € (all ticketing fees included).

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to enhance your knowledge and apply the latest digital management guidelines in your laboratory! 

The International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) have begun the process of incorporating the Global Accreditation Cooperation, a single international organization for accreditation. The target date for the Global Accreditation Cooperation to become operational, taking over the roles of IAF and ILAC, is provisionally January 2026.

To provide regulators, specifiers and other stakeholders with information on the transition to the Global Accreditation Cooperation, IAF and ILAC have released a communication Download  on specifying the use of  Global Accreditation Cooperation accreditation. The communication addresses the transition from the IAF Multilateral Recognition Arrangement (MLA) and ILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) to the Global Accreditation Cooperation MRA, the use of the IAF MLA and ILAC MRA marks, and other related issues. Until the target date and establishment of the internal processes and procedures of the Global Accreditation Cooperation, IAF and ILAC will maintain normal operations.

IAF and ILAC are encouraging our members, regulatory bodies, scheme owners and other stakeholders to collaborate on making any necessary changes to regulations and specifications as soon as possible after the target date. This will aid in a smooth transition to the Global Accreditation Cooperation, which is positioned to improve the acceptance and recognition of accredited conformity assessment results across borders.

The signatory status of Swiss Accreditation Service (SAS), Switzerland, to the ILAC MRA has been extended to include the accreditation of Proficiency Testing Providers (ISO/IEC 17043) and Reference Materials Producers (ISO 17034).

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

The signatory status of Organismo Salvadoreno de Acreditacion (OSA), El Salvador, to the ILAC MRA has been extended to include the accreditation of Medical Testing (ISO 15189).

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

The signatory status of Jamaica National Agency for Accreditation Global Accreditation (JANAAC), Jamaica, to the ILAC MRA has been extended to include the accreditation of Calibration (ISO/IEC 17025).

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

The signatory status of Sri Lanka Accreditation Board for Conformity Assessment (SLAB), Sri Lanka, to the ILAC MRA has been extended to include the accreditation of Proficiency Testing Providers (ISO/IEC 17043).

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

Posted on behalf of EUROLAB

Dear EUROLAB Members and Contacts,

We are pleased to announce that registration for our upcoming Webinar on the “Mutual Recognition Agreements on Conformity Assessment and Challenges Faced by Laboratories in the EU and International Export Markets” is now open.

Don’t miss the opportunity to attend the webinar on 2 October 2024, from 10:00-13:30 CET to gain valuable insights into the crucial role of MRAs in global trade and the challenges and opportunities they present for laboratories in the EU and beyond. The discussion will be led by industry experts and policymakers, with a keynote address by Lucian Cernat, Head of Unit at DG Trade, European Commission.

Updates and news regarding the webinar will be posted on the EUROLAB website and LinkedIn page .

Register here by 29 September.

Reproduced on behalf of A2LA.

With great sadness, The American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) shares the passing of founding member and first president, John William Locke, at the age of 91. Locke passed away on September 11, 2024, after a brief illness.

John served as A2LA’s first president for 10 years from 1986-1996 and made monumental contributions to the global accreditation industry throughout his long, successful career.

“Without John, A2LA wouldn’t be here today,” said A2LA’s current President and CEO Lonnie Spires.

“Once I began traveling internationally and working with APLAC and ILAC, I saw his fingerprints everywhere on the international accreditation landscape,” said A2LA Vice President of Accreditation Services Trace McInturff. “John’s vision went beyond just establishing a domestic accreditation body that could service all industries in the United States. It included the goal of ‘one accreditation accepted everywhere’—which has been achieved with ILAC today.”

John Locke Award
Since 2006, A2LA has presented an annual award in John’s namesake, the John Locke Award—and is the highest honor presented by the association. The award honors a distinguished recipient for their years of hard work and dedication in accreditation. To achieve this honor, the recipient must achieve six out of seven of the following criteria:

• A commitment of their time and services to A2LA towards the advancement of accreditation;
• Commitment to and furtherance of the A2LA mission and vision;
• Extensive expertise in their industry, academia, and/or service sector;
• Innovative ideas adopted by their industry, academia, and/or service sector;
• Leadership in their industry, academia, and/or service sector, which has made a significant impact on accreditation;
• A high degree of respect from their peers; and
• An impeccable reputation for statesmanship, diplomacy, and fairness.

John W. Locke’s Life
John was born in LaSalle, Illinois on January 27, 1933, and grew up on a farm tending to animals. He attended high school and junior college at St. Bede Academy and went on to earn a Bachelor of Science Degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Illinois. In 1955, John married his wife Margaret Kincius, and together, they had six children.

During his career, John worked on Cold War era airplanes and missiles, and later on, worked for various government agencies. He then transitioned to developing standards for the accreditation of laboratories. After John retired from a successful career in the accreditation industry, he studied at seminary and was ordained a Deacon in the Catholic Church.

Honoring John’s Memory
John’s legacy will forever be remembered by A2LA’s leadership, staff, assessors, and even many longtime customers. A2LA’s headquarters, located in Frederick, MD, includes a conference room named in John’s honor, the Locke Conference Room.