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

On behalf of the Asia Pacific Food Analysis Network (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, an “Intelligent Garden City” and the federal administrative capital of 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
• Food Microbiology
• Laboratory Accreditation Requirements

REGISTRATION
Local Participants Registration Fee: RM 600 (Flat rate)

Foreign Participants Registration Fee:
Early Bird rate (before 30th April, 2024) USD $135
Normal rate (after 30th April, 2024) USD $150

BENEFITS
Attending this PT4 Workshop will benefit you in several ways:

ARAC MLA Signatories
Following the latest ARAC MLA Group decision, ARAC has 5 MLA Signatories as follows:

New ARAC member: Syrian Arab Organization for Standardization & Metrology (SASMO)

Significant growth in the Arab Accreditation Cooperation (ARAC) membership has been achieved with the acceptance of the Syrian Arab Organization For Standardization & Metrology (SASMO) as an ARAC Associate Member in December 2023. This new membership was approved following a 30-day ballot and review period by the ARAC Executive Committee and ARAC General Assembly members. SASMO has the mission to develop the national infrastructure in the fields of standardization, metrology, conformity assessment and accreditation.

ARAC now has 23 members covering 21 Arab countries (Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen).

Capacity and refresher ARAC Peer Evaluators training course, 8 – 9 December 2023

This workshop aimed to review changes in the EA and ILAC/IAF requirements, share experience amongst evaluators in order to maintain best practices and introduce improvements in the procedures. The training, based on both presentations and group work, covered mainly the following points:

• • IAF/ILAC FAQs on ISO/IEC 17011:2017 interpretation (Team Member perspective)
  • Critical steps in the ARAC MLA process
  • Preparation for the peer evaluation

• • • Selection of CABs for witnessing
    • Document review
    • Selection of files for review
    • Planning the week for office evaluation (file review, interview with NAB Staff)
    • Office evaluation

• • Reporting

• • • What is expected by ARAC MLAG
    • Applicable ILAC&IAF and ARAC peer evaluations documentation and forms
    • The use of ARAC forms and reports used in the peer evaluation process and the ARAC IT Peer evaluators & peer evaluation management system
    • Learned lessons from the previous ILAC&IAF Peer Evaluation of ARAC
    • Examples on the implementation of ISO/IEC 17011:2017 requirements
    • IAF/ILAC FAQs on ISO/IEC 17011:2017 interpretation (Team Member perspective)
    • Identification of findings from case studies
    • Grading of findings
    • Use of ARAC Checklist
    • Use of self-assessment report

The opportunity was given to all participants to participate in the case studies & group exercises provided during the days of the workshop and followed by group discussions and presentation form representative.

Transition regional workshops: PTP (27 – 29 February 2024) and FSMS CBs (20-21 March 2024)
Further to the publication of the new versions of ISO/IEC 17043:2023 Conformity assessment General requirements for the competence of proficiency testing providers and ISO 22003-1 Food safety, Part 1: Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of food safety management systems competence and further to IAF MD 27 and the resolution endorsed by ILAC GA that allow a 3-year implementation period from the date of publication of these revised standards, ARAC organized these workshops to help the Accreditation Bodies and the ARAC Peer evaluators to make successful their transition to the new versions of these standards.
These workshops focused on the key updates and critical changes, outlining the transition considerations that shall be taken by the ABs, PTP and FSMS CBs. The ISO/IEC 17043:2023 workshop covers as well the statistical methods for use in proficiency testing by interlaboratory comparison according to the standard ISO 13528:2022.

Activities to Promote the IAF MLA and ILAC MRA: ARAC Stakeholders Community Workshop in Saudi Arabia
The awareness stakeholder workshop was conducted on 11th December 2023 with the participation more than 70 participants from the ARAC stakeholder community representing the conformity assessment bodies, regulatory authorities, industry & trade associations and consumer associations in KSA.
During this workshop, the participants stressed the role that ARAC plays in the development of the accreditation and conformity assessment infrastructure in KSA. This workshop aimed to give stakeholders in KSA a better understanding of the value of accreditation and accredited services, and in particular, regulators recognize and accept accredited conformity assessment results covered under the IAF MLA, ILAC MRA and ARAC MLA.

Election of new ARAC EC members

During the 11th ARAC General Assembly meeting that was held in December 2023, Riyadh, KSA, the election of new ARAC Chair, Vice Chair, Committees Chairs and the Executive Committee members positions was made and the results of the elections were the following:

• Mr Adel Alkeaid from Saudi Accreditation Center [SAAC], KSA, elected as ARAC Chair
• Mrs Lana Marashdeh from the Jordanian Accreditation System, Accreditation Unit [JAS-AU], Jordan, elected as ARAC Vice Chair
• Mr Brahim Houla from GCC Accreditation Centre [GAC], GCC Countries, elected as ARAC MLA Committee and MLA Group Chair
• Mr Qasim Al-Shamsi from Emirates International Accreditation Centre [EIAC], UAE, elected as Capacity Building Committee Chair
• Mr Ali Almarzouq from Saudi Accreditation Center [SAAC], KSA, elected as Communication and Marketing Committee Chair
• Mrs Maryam Alsallaqi from Emirates National Accreditation System [ENAS], UAE, elected as ARAC Associate members representative

Congratulations to them and our best wishes for a successful mandates!

The 14th AFRAC General Assembly and meetings took place at the EKA Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya from 25 to 29 September 2023. For an update on the outcomes of the Committee meetings and General Assembly, please click the link below.
AFRAC GA meetings article

The Southern African Development Community Cooperation in Accreditation (SADCA) is a Cooperation of accreditation bodies in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. SADCA is a Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Cooperation Structure established under the TBT Annex to the SADC Protocol on Trade. SANAS has a mandate to provide an internationally recognised accreditation infrastructure. SANAS provides the Secretariat and Regional Coordinator function of SADCA. The current SADCA Secretariat is Fikile Skosana and the Regional Coordinator is Yolanda Vinnicombe.

SADCA held its virtual Committee Meetings from 4 – 8 March 2024 and the Executive Committee on 12 March 2024. Following the Committee meetings the 28th SADCA General Assembly meeting was held on 14 March 2024 at the Skyna Hotel in Luanda, Angola face-to-face and included facilities for members and stakeholders who were not able to travel to attend remotely via Zoom. The SADCA GA meeting was held as part of the 39th Southern African Development Community (SADC) Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Cooperation Structures Annual meetings.

The abovementioned meetings included meetings of the following committees SADCA Evaluators Working Group (EWG), Technical Committee (TC), TC Sub-Committees (Certification and the Calibration and Testing Sub-Committees) Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) Committee, MRA Council, Marketing and Communication Committee (MCC), Committees: Executive Committee (EXCO), and the General Assembly (GA). Many recommendations and decisions/resolutions were taken at the meetings, with the following being highlighted for the interest to SANAS, CABs and stakeholders.

Developments to take note of:

The SADCA EWG held on Tuesday 5 March, SADCA MRA Committee held on Wednesday 6 March and the SADCA MRA Council held on Thursday 7 March resulted in the following main resolutions:

• Confirmation of competencies of 5 SADCA Peer Evaluators / Trainee evaluators and Mr Chankar Bheekhun (MAURITAS) as SADCA Team Leader;
• A workshop / training for evaluators and ABs on “the analysis of the extent and impact of findings raised during an evaluation” as required by IAF/ILAC A3, as well as the timelines to be met for responding to findings will be held in mid-2024.
• Registration of 3 candidates as SADCA trainee evaluators: Mr Thabo Chesalokile (SANAS), Ms Mookho Morienyane (SANAS) and Ms Varsh Gungoa (SADCAS);
• Appointment of additional SADCA representatives to the IAF / ILAC meetings: Mr Edward Mmatli (Botswana NAFP): Communication Professionals Meeting; Mr Victor Mundembe (SADCAS): IAF Database Management Committee (DMC) and IAF WG Digital; Mr John Ndalamo: IAF WG MS Certification (ISO/IEC 17021);
• Appreciation to Ms Pinkie Malebe (SADCAS) for her role and significant contributions as MRA Committee Vice-Chair since March 2018, the term of which has now expired.
• The MRA Committee achieved 94% of its 2023 Workplan activities.
• The SADCA A019 “MRA Council Terms of Reference” will be amended to include a clause for consideration of any regional integration matters affecting the SADCA MRA that are brought to the attention of the Council, and furthermore to include reference to AFRAC resolutions relevant to the SADCA MRA.
• A small Working Group consisting of the MRA Committee and/or Technical Committee will be stablished to consider any national or regional scopes related to capital goods and services, that SADCA can consider extending its scope into; and
• The Council recommended that AFRAC consider scopes/sub-scopes for automobiles as part of the AfCFTA priority areas.

The SADCA TC Sub-Committees held on Monday 4 March and the SADCA TC held on Wednesday 6 March resulted in the following main resolutions:

• Approval of the 2024 workplans of the Certification Sub-Committee and the 2024 Workplan of the Calibration and Testing Sub-Committee.
• Appointment of Gloria Mareka – (Malawi Bureau of Standards) as the Certification Sub-Committee Chair for a four-year term in line with the Sub-Committee Terms of references.
• The TC achieved 89% of its 2023 Workplan activities.
• Encouragement of SADCA members and Stakeholders to participate on the national mirror committees for the revision of the following accreditation related standards which are currently under revision:

• • ISO/IEC 17065;
  • ISO/IEC 17024;
  • ISO/IEC 17067; and
  • ISO/IEC 17012.

The SADCA MCC held on Tuesday 5 March resulted in the following main resolutions:

• Approval of a project plan for the 2024 SADCA Regional World Accreditation Day (WAD) celebration that will be undertake on 14 June 2024 virtually. All SADC member state members are invited along with their stakeholders. The celebration invite and registration details will be circulated to all in due course.
• Members were advised if the 2024 WAD theme and encouraged to celebrate the day in line with the World Accreditation Day theme on or around 9 June 2024 Accreditation: “Empowering Tomorrow and Shaping the Future”
• The MCC achieved 80% of its 2023 Workplan activities.

The SADCA EXCO held on 22 January 2023 in preparation of the annual meetings and again on Tuesday 12 March resulted in the following main resolutions:

• Plan for the GA meeting and certificate ceremony for members who contributed towards the achievement of international recognition of SADCA by ILAC and IAF.
• Approval of various documents which will be published on the SADCA website
• Reviewed and approved the 2023 SADCA Management Review report and proposed approval of the 2023 SADCA Annual Report which was compiled by Fikile Skosana (SANAS) and edited by Yolanda Vinnicombe(SANAS), Chankar Bheekhum (MAURITAS, Edward Mmatli (Botswana – NAFP) and Dr Ron Josias. which will be published on the SADCA website shortly.
• The 2024 SADAC EXCO workplan which is aligned to the SADCA 2022 – 2026 Strategic Plan was finalised and presented to eth GA.

The 28th SADCA General Assembly meeting was held on 14 March 2024 and attended by SADCA Members, Stakeholders and delegates from the SADC Region who have an interests in accreditation matters. During the General Assembly meeting the various SADCA documents were approved as well as the 2023 SADCA Annual Report, and Committees 2024 Work plans. All documents approved will be published on the SADCA website. Zambia was re-admitted as a SADCA Ordinary member following the review and approval of their membership application. The meeting received verbal reports form members states on accreditation activities undertaken during the period under review (Jan – Dec 2023). The GA expressed appreciation to the Government of the Republic of Angola and the SADC Secretariat for the excellent arrangements in hosting the hybrid SADCA GA meeting in Luanda, Angola.

Elections were held during the General Assembly Meeting for the following Office Bearers:

• Dr Ron Josias – was re-elected as the SADCA MRA Council Chair or a term of three years;
• Mr Xavier Mugari – Southern African Development Community Accreditation Service (SADCAS) was re-elected as the SADCA MRA Council Vice Chair for a term of three years;
• Mrs Yolanda Vinnicombe– SANAS was re-elected as the SADCA MRA Committee Chair or a term of three years;
• Ms Eve Gadzikwa– SADCAS was elected as the SADCA MRA Committee Vice-Chair or a term of three years;
• Mr Letoke Mahlase – SANAS was re-elected as the Technical Committee Chair for a term of three years; and
• Mr Victor Mundembe –SADCAS was re-elected as the Technical Committee Vice Chair for a term of three years.

Upcoming SADCA meetings

The next SADCA Executive Committee Meeting will be held in December 2024 – venue to be confirmed
The 29th SADCA General Assembly and Meetings will be held in March 2025 in Zimbabwe.

Fikile Skosana

I. ARAC MLA Signatories

Following the latest ARAC MLA Group decision ARAC has 5 MLA signatories:

II. New ARAC member: Djibouti’s Agency for Standards and Quality Promotion

Significant growth in the Arab Accreditation Cooperation (ARAC) membership has been achieved with the acceptance of Djibouti’s Agency for Standards and Quality Promotion (ADNQ) as an ARAC Associate Member. This new membership was approved following a 30-day ballot and review period by the ARAC Executive Committee and ARAC General Assembly members.

ADNQ has the mission, in collaboration with all the ministerial departments and the private organizations concerned, to contribute to the implementation of the policy of the Djiboutian government in the field of accreditation, standardization, metrology, certification and promotion of the quality of products and services.

ARAC now has 22 members covering 20 Arab countries (Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen).

III. Arab Accreditation Week 2023:

In its fourth edition and on the occasion of World Accreditation Day 2023, ARAC organized the Arab Accreditation Week [AAW] during the period 05-09 June 2023 under the theme “Together towards enhancing the role of accreditation in the Arab region in supporting the Future of Global Trade”.
Several online capacity-building activities were held during the AAW 2023 to strengthen the ARAC AB members and conformity assessment bodies’ competencies and to harmonise the implementation of the IAF, ILAC and new accreditation standards requirements.

1. Regional workshop on ILAC Policies
More than 300 participants from the ARAC ABs and their accredited CABs participated in this regional workshop. The main purpose of this workshop is to harmonize the accreditation practices among ARAC members and support the enhancement of members’ capacities in operating existing accreditation schemes of common interest to ARAC members.

ARAC Regional Workshop on ILAC Policies

2. Regional Training session on Measurement Uncertainty software

With the participation of testing & calibration laboratories in the Arab region, this training session was conducted on software that evaluates the measurement uncertainty by the propagation of variances and/or propagation of distributions using Monte Carlo simulations, according to the methods described in the Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (GUM) and its Supplement 1 (GUM S1), respectively.

ARAC Regional Training session on Measurement Uncertainty software

3. Regional Workshop on IAF Mandatory Documents
The event will be conducted in the context of implementing the ARAC capacity-building program. The main purpose of this workshop is to ensure that Accreditation Bodies and their accredited certification or validation/verification bodies in the Arab Region operate their programs in a consistent and equivalent manner. This workshop will provide a complete overview of the IAF Mandatory Document and will give general key insights and tools to comply with the requirements of these MDs.

4. Medical laboratories: ISO 15189:2022 transition regional workshop
Further to the publication of the new version of ISO 15189:2022 Medical Laboratories – Requirements for quality and competence and following the resolution endorsed by the ILAC General Assembly that allows a 3-year implementation period from the date of publication of this revised standard, this regional training session will support the Accreditation Bodies and Medical Laboratories in the Arab region in successfully transitioning to the new version of the standard relating to the competence and quality of Medical Laboratories.
This workshop focused on the key updates and critical changes for medical laboratory services, outlining the transition considerations of ISO 15189:2022 from ISO 15189:2012, including, but not limited to the focus on clinical utility, obligations to the patient and risk management.

ARAC transition regional workshop on ISO 15189:2022

IV. Establishment of PTP Network Information System in the Arab region

Following the recommendation taken during the ARAC stakeholders community workshop held in December 2022, Cairo, Egypt, the Arab Proficiency Testing Providers Network Information System was established at the end of September 2023. This PTP Network IS will support the CABs in the Arab region in finding a suitable Proficiency Testing scheme provided by the PTPs in the Arab region.
This PTP Network Information System is open to any of the PT providers that are operating in the Arab region who wish to include their programs in the database.

V. ARAC upcoming events:
5th – 7th December 2023: Newcomer ARAC Peer Evaluators training course, Riyadh, KSA

8th – 9th December 2023: Capacity and refresher ARAC Peer Evaluators training course, Riyadh, KSA

10th – 14th December 2023: 11th ARAC Annual Meetings, Riyadh, KSA

The contact details for the ARAC Secretariat are:
Email: secretariat@arabarac.org
Website: http://www.arab-accreditation.org
Tel: +212 600 78 56 78

San Marino Accreditation Service is a new EA Member

San Marino Accreditation Service (SMAS), the National Accreditation Body of San Marino, fulfills the requirement set out in EA-1/17 S1 Criteria for Membership. SMAS becomes a new EA Member.

San Marino Accreditation Service (SMAS) is a small accreditation body with top manager Denis Cecchetti and technical director Linda Sartini.

SMAS is the only National Accreditation Body in the Republic of San Marino. It was established as a division of the Economic Development Agency – Chamber of Commerce S.p.A. (EDA-CC) through the Law No. 71 of 26 May 2004 which provides that the Chamber of Commerce performs a service of public interest. SMAS exists to facilitate the exchange of products and services and conducts the accreditation body function exclusively for certification bodies.

The launch of the National Accreditation Body of San Marino is part of the national strategy to structure the Republic of San Marino as an Official Business Gate. It is also an initiative to align the jurisdiction with international standards in view of the Association Agreement with the EU.

EA has 49 Members from the European Union and the European Neighbourhood Policy. Click here to access the full Directory of EA Members, and here to access to SMAS website.

Click here to read the full interview of SMAS.

Training
EA organized two training sessions: one Refresher Training for Team Members (TM) authorized for Product certification and Inspection, and one Train the trainer course on ISO 15189:2022.

The Refresher Training for TM authorized for Product certification and Inspection covered the outcome of the application review, criteria for selection of team members, witnessing, decision-making process, latest EA MAC Decisions, documents related to the peer evaluation process, revision of EA-2/02 EA Procedure for the evaluation of a National Accreditation Body following the completion of the re-engineering project, and MS Teams under EA One Drive – the platform used for peer evaluations.

The Train the Trainer course on ISO 15189:2022 focused on the relevant changes of the new standard ISO 15189:2022 and where particular focus is needed.

Publication of three EA Reports

EA published three reports between May and July 2023:

• The EA MLA Report, with comprehensive information about the EA MLA for the period 2022
• The EA Annual Report, in pdf and online for the first time, which highlights EA’s main activities for 2022
• The EA IAF/ILAC Regions Report for the period January-July 2023, with a complete update of EA peer evaluations and signatories of the EA MLA, as well as the major activities and developments in EA for the period

Approval of the Memorandum of Understanding on the European Quality Infrastructure
The General Assembly approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between CEN, CENELEC, EA, EURAMET, and WELMEC on creating and implementing the European Quality Infrastructure. This MoU aims to create the European Ql Network, a partnership of regional quality infrastructure organizations that collaborate to strengthen the Quality Infrastructure in Europe.

Video on the EU Emission Trading System
EA released a video on the EU Emission Trading System (ETS) and the role of accreditation. The EU ETS is the first international emissions trading system. It was established in 2005 and remains the largest carbon market. It is a vital part of the EU policy to counteract climate change and a tool to reduce greenhouse gas emissions cost-efficiently.

Click here to watch the video.

Dr. Ron Josias, the AFRAC Chair during the Opening Ceremony	The Minister for Trade and Industry, Tunisia, CEO TUNAC and the AFRAC Chair
AFRAC Delegates following proceedings at the Technical Subcommittees	Critical Thinking focusing on next steps
TUNAC Delegates following proceedings	TUNAC Delegates following proceedings
Technical Committee Meeting Chaired by Thabo Chesalokile of SANAS	AFRAC MCC Meeting

1. Strengthening institutional capacity and stakeholder engagement
2. Conclude outstanding negotiations
3. Private sector development and resource mobilization
4. Value chain development and industrialization.

Awareness session on the AfCFTA

Ms Deneswaree Mohun

Training on IAF MD25 conducted by Sonia and Ghada of TUNAC

AFRAC members attend the Joint ILAC MCC & IAF CMC Mid-Term Meeting

•  How to create a marketing campaign by Maha Alhasin;
• How to manage communication activities at regional level by Zaki Alrubaei; and
• Digital Marketing & the latest trend and Managing digital and marketing data from Islam Aziz.

The 2023 Asia Pacific Accreditation Body Cooperation (APAC) Annual Meeting took place from June 23 to July 1, 2023, at the JW Marriott Resort in Anaheim, California. This marked a significant milestone as it was the first in-person annual meeting for APAC since 2019, due to the pandemic. The event drew over 150 delegates from 27 economies who came together for this important gathering.

The APAC 2023 meeting was hosted by APAC’s Full Members based in the United States of America, which included the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA), AIHA Laboratory Accreditation Programs (AIHA-LAP), ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB), International Accreditation Service (IAS), IOAS, Perry Johnson Laboratory Accreditation, Inc. (PJLA), and United Accreditation Foundation (UAF).

The event’s schedule commenced on Friday, June 23, with a select group participating in the APAC-PTB ADAPT WG / PSC Meeting. Additionally, the APAC MRA Management Committee meeting, the Executive Committee meeting and a two-day APAC Nominated Evaluator Training were held starting on June 24th. Over the weekend, members of the Joint ILAC/IAF Communication & Marketing (CMC) also convened for discussions.

The official Opening Session took place on Monday, June 26th, and began with a warm welcome from Jennifer Evans, APAC Chair, and CEO of NATA. Jennifer was followed by Raj Nathan, APAC Vice Chair and President of IAS, who extended a warm welcome on behalf of the host economy, the United States. Raj also introduced the leaders of all the U.S. Host Accreditation Bodies.

The Opening Session featured a cultural presentation by Red Boy Productions, a Native American Dance Troupe that showcased traditional dances from multiple tribes and provided insight into their culture. The Opening Session also featured presentations from notable individuals such as Stephen Faessel, Anaheim City Council Member; Kent Shigetomi, Director of the Multilateral Non-Tariff Barriers Office at the U.S. Trade Representative; Rick Titus, Accreditation Assets & Strategy Manager for UL Solutions; Sam Palmer, Former Assistant Director for the Clark County Department of Building and Fire Safety in Las Vegas, Nevada; DeAnn Benesh, Past President of AOAC International; and Osama Younan, General Manager and Superintendent for the City of Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety. These presentations primarily centered on the regulatory perspectives of accreditation and the significance of mutual recognition across international borders.

The Opening Session concluded with a panel discussion featuring presentations by members of the U.S. host accreditation bodies. The theme for the panel discussion was “United States and Accredited Conformity Assessment Structure in Support of Global Supply Chains”. The presentations and discussions underscored how the United States has benefited from the principles of the World Trade Organization, including the promotion of fair competition among Accreditation Bodies. It was highlighted that the presence of multiple Accreditation Bodies competing within the same market in the U.S. has positively impacted promptness, customer service, and, most importantly, choice. To cap off Monday evening, a Welcome Reception was held on the rooftop of the J.W. Marriott, featuring a DJ for entertainment and a breathtaking view of the fireworks display from Disneyland.

Throughout the week, delegates actively participated in Working Groups and Technical Committee meetings, addressing the MLA/MRA activities of APAC. The APAC Communication & Promotion Committee also convened to explore ways to promote accreditation and highlight the work undertaken by the various APAC committees.

With the APAC community reuniting in person after four years, the overarching theme was to “Celebrate Accreditation”. The hosts organized several social events for members. One of the standout moments of the meeting was the Hollywood-themed Cocktail Reception and Official Banquet Dinner held on Thursday evening. Participants particularly enjoyed the live music, magician performances, and caricature artists that added to the evening’s entertainment.

Upon the conclusion of the APAC 2023 Annual Meetings, the host economy distributed a survey link to gather feedback from attendees regarding the Annual Meeting. Attendees expressed high satisfaction with various aspects of the event, however noted opportunities to shorten the meeting timeframe. Overwhelmingly, attendees noted that face-to-face interactions with both familiar and new colleagues were a highlight of the Annual Meetings.

A fire laboratory assesses the performance of a product by testing according to a test method (notably the European test standard). Based on different measurements (e.g., temperature, radiating heat flux, etc.) but also from observations, the fire laboratory will provide the fire performance based on criteria and thresholds given in the test standard. The description of the product, the measured values, and the resulting fire performance are given by the laboratory in a fire test report.

Based on test reports, the fire laboratory issues a European classification report or national approval according to the rules specified in the classification standards.

Some National Accreditation Bodies agreed to accredit according to ExAp¹ (extending the field of application) and classification standards², however some didn’t.

ExAp application is not a test standard and is not a product standard. This was therefore discussed in relation to which is the most relevant accreditation standard covering the technical aspect of the ExAp standard. Many fire laboratories accredited according to EN ISO/IEC 17025 are also accredited as certification bodies according to EN ISO/IEC 17065. However, there are fire laboratories accredited to only EN ISO/IEC 17025 and Notified Bodies accredited only to EN ISO/IEC 17065.

EGOLF (the European Group of Organisations for Fire Testing, Inspection, and Certification) decided to support accreditation to EN ISO/IEC 17025 but asked for a common approach. As part of its harmonization mission, the EA Laboratory Committee (EA LC) established a new Task Force Group to clarify the situation.

The EA LC agreed that each laboratory can apply to be accredited by its National Accreditation Body for both Fire Classification & ExAp standards using ISO/IEC 17025 requirements on Opinions & Interpretations.

This represents a step towards harmonization (even if a NAB may decide not to develop such an activity).

EGOLF welcomed this approach as an excellent starting point since some laboratories did not previously have the possibility of accreditation for Fire classification and ExAps.

 Thanks to the EA LC TFG, the way for laboratories to apply for accreditation to EN ISO/IEC 17025 and to perform assessments is now understandable and simplified.

¹ In the fire testing field, you cannot test any size or characteristics of a certain product. The DiAp (Direct Field of application) given in each European test standard allows application scope directly from the fire test. The DiAp depends on the product properties and/or intended end-use applications (e.g., the size of the door leaf).
It is assumed that the same test results will be obtained if we test the item with minor differences in shape, dimension, etc.

ExAp means Extended field of Application. ExAp rules are also specified in the European standard called the ExAp standard. ExAP allows a larger application domain than DiAp.
This larger domain is accepted based on additional information. This information may come from additional tests, additional measurements during the test, and specific calculations. Those are defined in the ExAp standard (the application of these rules requires knowledge of tests standards and interrelation of the ExAp standards).

² The classification standards define the criteria and threshold for defining the performance classification of the fire product. The input for the Fire Classification report is the test reports (including the DiAp) and ExAp reports. The existing classes are defined at the European level allowing the circulation of products. The level of performance required for a building is defined by Member states.