IAF and ILAC have released a new episode of Accreditation Matters, ‘The Role of Accreditation in the Public Sector’. This marks the third podcast in our sub-series on the role of accreditation in the food industry.

The episode is available on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts and Amazon Music, or for viewing on YouTube.

In this episode, Colin Christmas (IAF Working Group Food Co-Convener, IQNET representative) leads a discussion with Cristina Draghici (Director for Conformity Assessment and Consumer Matters, ISO), Cynthia Woodley (COO and psychometrician, Professional Testing Inc.), Elias Rafoul (Vice Chair, ISO/CASCO; Vice President – Accreditation Services, Standards Council of Canada), and Mike O’Neill (Head of Codex Policy and Strategy, UK Food Standards Agency).

Guests highlight the role of standards and accreditation in building trust in supply chains and facilitating trade. They note how it assists regulators in allocating resources, and reduces regulatory burdens on compliant businesses. They also discuss how accredited certification helps to ensure the competence of food safety workers, and the benefits that accredited persons certification provides to regulators.

We hope you enjoy listening to this episode!

The Dirección Técnica de Acreditación del Instituto Boliviano de Metrologia (DTA-IBMETRO), Bolivia, is welcomed as an Associate member of ILAC.

We welcome DTA-IBMETRO and look forward to working with our DTA-IBMETRO colleagues.

Published on behalf of AFPAN.

ABOUT APFAN

The Asia Pacific Food Analysis Network (APFAN) is a special project of the Federation of Asian Chemical Societies (FACS) and was formed at the Third Asian Chemical Congress in Brisbane in 1989.

APFAN’s mission is to serve the needs of food analysts in their dual roles to achieve food quality, food safety, and good nutrition and to promote food trade in the Asia Pacific region. APFAN helps its members to maintain and improve their abilities in food analysis and this is achieved by developing a network of food scientists and food technologists that encourages the sharing of ideas, concepts, and methods through online communication and in-person meetings.

On behalf of APFAN, in partnership with Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and the Department of Chemistry Malaysia (KIMIA), I am pleased to advise that Registration and the Call for Abstracts are open for the upcoming APFAN PT4 Workshop entitled: “International Workshop on Advancing Food Analysis, Safety and Testing Standards for Global Comparability”.

This three-day International Workshop will be held from 15th – 17th July, 2024 at The Everly Hotel, located in Putrajaya, Malaysia.

The Workshop will cover many topics including:
– Method Validation and Measurement Uncertainty
– Food Analysis
– Food Microbiology
– Proficiency Testing and Reference Materials
– Food Safety and Food Security
– Laboratory Accreditation Requirements

ABSTRACTS

The APFAN PT4 Organising Committee is pleased to invite authors to submit their abstracts for oral and/or poster presentations, to be presented during the Workshop.

The abstract’s template is here:

Due date for abstract submission: 15th June 2024

REGISTRATION

For more details, please visit the APFAN PT4 Workshop website here: or Download the Poster. For any enquiries, please contact the APFAN PT4 Organising Committee here:

In response to requests from members and other interested parties, we are pleased to announce that the ILAC LinkedIn page is once again functioning.

The page will complement our existing ‘X’ account @ILAC_Official.

The increased text allowable in the LinkedIn platform will enable us to provide more information on news items that are currently covered in ‘X’. We also plan to provide new content that is not suitable to condense into a tweet.

You can find the page on LinkedIn here:

We hope that you will subscribe and follow us on both LinkedIn and ‘X’.

Kind regards
The ILAC Secretariat

Published on behalf of OIML.

The April/May 2024 edition of the OIML Bulletin on the theme “Sustainability” is now available.

You can access the Bulletin here:

The issue contains eight papers in the “Technique” and “Evolutions” sections on how metrology can support sustainability:

• Metrology of light pollution on a legal basis: Current and future challenges,
• Catch the motion: measurement of PIR sensor detection range in the sensLAB at METAS,
• Phosphorus recycling from sewage sludge: an emerging technology that comes with novel challenges for metrology,
• Accelerating climate action with ISO standards,
• The crucial role of metrology for a sustainable future,
• Sustainability – What does it mean to metrology
• Developing metrological competencies to streamline innovation and promote sustainable development in Cuba, and
• Metrology: a tool to support climate action

In the “Update” section there are reports on:

The Editorial is written by CIML President Dr Bobjoseph Mathew.

The One Organisation Project Steering Committee (OOP SC) met on Friday 17 May 2024. The Steering Committee discussed the dispositions of comments received from IAF and ILAC members on the draft GLOBAC Constitution and General Rules. The Steering Committee also discussed the Transition Scenario to form GLOBAC and briefly discussed development of GLOBAC documentation.

The OOP SC will report to the IAF and ILAC Joint Executive Committees meeting to be held on Monday 3 June 2024. Following this meeting it is anticipated that the draft GLOBAC Constitution and General Rules and the Transition Scenario will be circulated to the IAF and ILAC members for ballot.

We welcome National Accreditation Center LLC (NAC), USA, as a Full Member of ILAC.

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

We welcome NAC as a Full Member and look forward to working with our NAC colleagues.

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

We welcome National Accreditation Centre of Iran (NACI), Iran, as a Full Member of ILAC.

NACI joined ILAC as an Associate member on 21 June 2004.  As NACI is a signatory to the APAC MRA for the accreditation of calibration and testing laboratories using ISO/IEC 17025, medical testing laboratories using ISO 15189, inspection bodies using ISO/IEC 17020 and proficiency testing providers using ISO/IEC 17043, NACI has also been granted signatory status to the ILAC MRA and therefore, Full membership of ILAC. 

We welcome NACI as a Full Member and look forward to working with our NACI colleagues.

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

An article explaining the Walbrook AI Accord as presented at the April 2024  INetQI meeting: 

A global initiative providing ways in which professionals and firms worldwide can respond to the ethical challenges of Artificial Intelligence 

AI has the potential to affect society and individuals materially in both positive and negative ways. Without ethical guidelines and regulations in place, the misuse or mishandling of data can result in harm to individuals or groups. As AI becomes more advanced and widespread, there are growing concerns about issues such as bias, transparency, accountability, and safety.

The Walbrook AI Accord has launched an initiative to develop ethical AI standards. Initially the standards are embodied in course for professionals working with AI. The Initiative has now moved to promote standards for firm-wide certification. The approach is international rather than national, and promotes the use of existing ISO standards rather than the creation of new ones.

The Walbrook Accord serves as an invitation to collaborate on a voluntary and non-binding basis. It serves as a conduit to unify our collective endeavours and foster stronger connections over time. We are gratified by the support from ISO, IAF and other organisations. There is no set deadline for participation and we look forward to others joining. This initiative is inclusive and open to all.

The primary focus of the Accord is to facilitate three tangible outcomes:

• Advocating for the adoption of Quality Infrastructure for AI assurance;
• Developing assurance standards and methodologies; and
• Facilitating training and skill development for AI assurance professionals

We hope that INetQI and its members will endorse this initiative and help propel it to the next phase, ultimately establishing a robust assurance framework for the ethical deployment of AI. This will enable enterprises to demonstrate that their AI systems are safe, compliant, and aligned with societal values.

From the Lord mayor’s website:

“We are promoting the use of ISO/IEC 42001:2023 Artificial Intelligence – Management System by firms. For comparison, this is an organisational certification similar to ISO 9000, ISO 14000, etc. At the TIC Summit 2024, being held on 14 May in Brussels, representatives of more than 25 nations’ quality infrastructure bodies will be signing the Walbrook AI QI Accord.”

Matt Gantley’s responses to FAQs

Can you please clarify how ILAC members can endorse the initiative?
There is no limit – the Walbrook AI Accord is an invitation to collaborate

Are the individual ILAC members able to sign the Walbrook AI Accord?
Yes they can agree to support it individually. We would hope that ILAC can support it at an international level so that the initiatives and outcome of the Accord can be shared with all ILAC members. Especially for AI testing and training/skills development.

If so, what is the mechanism, i.e. who do they need to contact to progress their endorsement of the Walbrook AI Accord?
We haven’t agreed a process for lodging support – but for now if ILAC or any ILAC members email Matt Gantley or Hanane Taidi we will make sure they are included in all the communications and the first round of organisations expressing support.

You can read more of the 695th Lord Mayor’s Ethical AI Initiative here:

You can access the slide presentation from the recent INetQI meeting here: and the accompanying Agenda paper here:

CEN, CENELEC, EA, EURAMET, and WELMEC join forces to reinforce and promote the European Quality Infrastructure
On 7 March, the five Regional Quality Infrastructure Organizations of Europe, the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), the European Committee for electrotechnical standardization (CENELEC), the European co-operation for Accreditation (EA), the Association of the National Metrology Institutes in Europe (EURAMET), and the European Cooperation in Legal Metrology (WELMEC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to create the European Ql Network.
The Network Partners are organizations who represent, with a unique voice, their areas of activity.
Through the agreement, the Network Partners pledge to collaborate to strengthen the Quality Infrastructure in Europe, including:

• Raising awareness of QI and its benefits towards industry stakeholders and the European Commission;
• Increasing the understanding and visibility of each other’s services and activities;
• Sharing information on matters of common interest and opportunities; and
• Representing the European Quality Infrastructure at the international level.

Adoption of the EU Cybersecurity Certification Scheme on Common Criteria
The European Commission adopted on 31 January 2024 the implementing regulation concerning the EU Cybersecurity Certification Scheme on Common Criteria (EUCC). It is the first approved scheme under Regulation (EU) 2019/881 (Cybersecurity Act).

This regulation specifies the roles, rules, obligations, and structure of the European Common Criteria-based cybersecurity certification scheme in accordance with the European cybersecurity certification framework outlined in the Cybersecurity Act.
The implementing regulation refers to documents known as State-of-the-Art (SoA). There will be – inter alia – three SoA documents regarding:

• Accreditation of ITSEFs (Information Technology Security Evaluation Facility),
• Accreditation of Certification Bodies (CBs), and
• Authorisation of CBs and ITSEFs.

Webinar on European Blockchain technology for the use in accreditation and certification
327 participants attended the webinar organized by EA, under the auspices of the European Commission, a webinar on European Blockchain technology for the use in accreditation and certification, on the 29th of February 2024.

Jose Manuel Panizo Plaza (European Commission, DG DIGIT) and Lia Potec (European Commission, DG MOVE) explored the role of the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI) in the context of the European accreditation and certification ecosystem. The discussion centered on the prospective role of EBSI in facilitating the real-time dissemination of the accreditation status pertaining to Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs). Furthermore, it addressed the verification of the certification status associated with a myriad of products and services certified within the European Union by said CABs

Annual Report 2023
The EA Annual Report 2023 has just been released.

You can read the interactive report here:

You can download the full report here