- Welcome Guest
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The Asia Pacific Food Analysis Network (APFAN) and the AOAC South West Pacific (AOAC SWP) Section in association with the University of the South Pacific (USP) Centre for Sustainable Futures and the Chemical Society of the South Pacific (CSSP), welcome you to join the upcoming APFAN PT5 Workshop / AOAC SWP Annual Meeting to be held in Suva in Fiji on 8th – 10th September 2025.
This International Workshop has the theme “Building Sustainable Food Analysis Capacity in the Asia Pacific – Enhancing Global Comparability”.
The Technical Program will cover a number of topics including:
The ISO/IEC 17025:2017 Management System
The ISO/IEC 17025:2017 Technical System
Food Composition and Nutritional Testing
Residue and Toxin Testing in Pacific Products
Analyses for Sustainable Futures
Food Microbiology Testing
Testing of Indigenous / Underutilised Foods
Capacity Building Initiatives in the Asia Pacific
Discussion of PT5 Results
The registration fees and Call for Papers will be made available in early June 2025.
We also acknowledge and welcome participants of the 12th OCEANIAFOODS (INFOODS) meeting on the 12th September – “Indigenous Peoples Food Systems and the Food Composition in Oceania”. Welcome also to members of the Pacific Islands Testing Committee (PITC) under the Pacific Quality Infrastructure Initiative (PQII) and associated national laboratory networks, with meeting rooms available on the 11th and 12th September after this Workshop.
For further information, please contact Stewart Jones, Coordinator, APFAN at: apfan.apfan@yahoo.com
The Spring Laboratory Committee Meeting
The Laboratory Committee met on 26 and 27 March in Bratislava, Slovakia, to discuss the following topics:
Following the summary report on the WS Subcontracting, a breakout session will be held during the next LC meeting in September 2025 to focus on policy related to:
The EA LC Working Group (WG) Health Care
The EA LC Working Group (WG) Health Care met in Skopje, North Macedonia, on 5 and 6 December.
Members attended a half-day workshop regarding challenges encountered in the transition of accreditation of medical laboratories to EN ISO 15189:2022. The outcome of the 7 working groups will be used for the coming meetings of the WG.
During the meeting, several items were presented and discussed:
In addition, participants discussed several questions, such as concerning, metrological traceability, validation and verification issues, and reporting of results. New periodic work items that may be discussed in the WG are related to Artificial Intelligence (AI) used in medical analysis.
The longtime convener of the WG, Rolf Straub, SAS (the Swiss NAB), convened his last meeting and handed over the lead to Hélène Méhay, COFRAC (the French NAB), who started her term in January 2025.
AFRAC HOLDS TRAINING WORKSHOP ON DECISION MAKING INCLUDING THE ROLE OF THE TASK FORCE GROUP
The African Cooperation in Accreditation (AFRAC) recently organised and conducted a virtual training workshop Decision Making Including the Role of Task Force Groups (TFG). The workshop, sponsored by PTB Germany, was held over two half-days on 14 and 15 January 2025. It was attended by a total of thirty (30) participants drawn from AFRAC and Southern African Development Community cooperation in Accreditation (SADCA) MRA Committee and Council members, peer evaluators, trainee peer evaluators and TFG members.
AFRAC is a cooperation of accreditation bodies (national and multi-economy), National Accreditation Focal Points (NAFP), sub-regional accreditation cooperations and stakeholders. The objective of AFRAC is to provide internationally recognised and accepted accreditation support to industry and to contribute to the protection of health and safety of the public and the protection of the environment, thereby facilitating trade and contributing to the improvement of Africa’s competitiveness within the global market. The AFRAC MRA Committee plan and manage the implementation and maintenance of AFRAC’s MRA. Peer evaluations are undertaken by a pool of qualified and registered peer evaluators. Decisions on and management of membership in the MRA is the responsibility of the MRA Council. The AFRAC MRA Committee and Council membership has been changing over the years with new members being admitted. Peer evaluators are also continually being trained, qualified, upgraded and registered.
The last training on AFRAC Decision Making Process was held on 6 July 2023. However, some new members of the MRA Committee/Council peer evaluators and trainee peer evaluators have not yet been trained. AFRAC-related documents are continuously being revised/developed. All those involved are required to be fully aware of the decision-making process and follow it consistently at all times. It is for this reason that AFRAC arranged the January workshop.
The Training workshop which was facilitated by Mrs. Maureen P Mutasa was opened by the AFRAC Secretariat, Ms. Fikile Skosana who welcomed the participants, wished them a successful workshop and declared the training workshop open. The Facilitator, welcomed participants from both AFRAC and SADCA, introduced herself and gave background to the training workshop. She then asked participants to introduce themselves outlining their name, position in AFRAC/SADCA, name of accreditation body and position in accreditation body (AB). She informed participants about the objective of the training workshop, which was to impart knowledge on decision-making processes regarding evaluations of an AB including the role of the TFG, and to exchange experiences and knowledge through group discussions, so as to ensure consistent and harmonised decision making.
In her opening remarks the Facilitator thanked PTB Germany for sponsoring the training, the AFRAC Secretariat for her engagement and more importantly the opportunity to share knowledge and experiences, noting that the Facilitator was the immediate past AFRAC MRA Council chair, MRA Committee member and also served on the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) decision making body on evaluations IAF Multilateral Arrangement Committee (MLAC) amongst many other positions in AFRAC, SADCA, IAF and ILAC.
The Facilitator started the workshop by giving an overview of the AFRAC peer evaluation process, highlighting the relevant evaluation documents, some of which had been revised since the last training, the purpose of evaluations, the stages in the evaluation process, establishment of a TFG, consideration of the final evaluation report, and TFG summary review before submission to the MRA Council for decision making.
After the break, the Facilitator presented the terms of reference of the MRA Council covering the functions, composition, responsibilities, meetings and voting rights of MRA Council members. She then outlined the decision-making process, highlighting the role of all the players in this process. Time was spent on the competences and role of the TFG. The Facilitator then walked participants through F017: TFG Evaluation Summary Report and Recommendations to the MRA Council. She outlined all the 10 sections of F 017 and what information was to be completed under each section.
On Day 2 the Facilitator started by presenting two examples of duly completed F 017, highlighting the comments made, collaborations of the TFG with the Evaluation Team and the AB, and the recommendations. She recapped on the subjects covered on Day 1 of the workshop. She also explained classification and closing of findings from evaluations, which members should have a good understanding of, as this is an aspect for consideration in reviewing final evaluation report. She outlined the decision-making process and how, through the process as outlined in AFRAC M001, the MRA Council ensures fair, professional and impartial decisions. The documents for review by the MRA Council in the decision-making process were laid out as were the stages leading to the decisions. The timelines for the processes were highlighted, to ensure timely decisions. The Facilitator also covered the hierarchy of decisions on new applicant AB and MRA signatories, including reasons for and consequences of suspensions/withdrawal. Decisions on joint evaluations were also covered in detail.
Throughout the workshop the participants asked many questions and made numerous comments which were discussed by the group, drawing on the experiences of some of the participants. Areas of improvement to the MRA processes were identified. The interactions throughout the training workshop were very.
Based on feedback from the participants the overall feedback was that the workshop was well planned, organised and presented, and the content was very relevant. Training materials were circulated by the AFRAC Secretariat to all participants and those who were unable to attend the
1. 12th ARAC Annual Meetings: Advancing Accreditation and Strategic Vision
The 12th Annual Meetings and General Assembly of the Arab Accreditation Cooperation (ARAC) were successfully held on December 18-19, 2024, in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, hosted by the Saudi Accreditation Center (SAAC).
The event brought together over 50 participants from Arab Accreditation Bodies and key stakeholders, marking a pivotal moment for regional collaboration in accreditation. Key achievements included the enhancement of ARAC MLA signatories’ recognition scopes, the extension of the ARAC MLA structure, and the acceptance of new stakeholders. A major highlight was the launch of the development process for the new ARAC Strategy 2026-2030, which aims to align accreditation practices with emerging global trends and sustainable development goals.
These milestones reinforce ARAC’s role as a leading accreditation body, fostering confidence in regional and global trade while supporting sustainable economic growth across the Arab region.
2. New ARAC Stakeholder member: United Group of Conformity Assessment Bodies (UGCAB)
Significant growth ARAC membership has been achieved with the acceptance of the Saudi Green Building Forum (SGBF), KSA, as an ARAC Stakeholder Member in March 2025.
The participation of interested parties in ARAC fulfills two primary objectives. First, it strengthens trust among stakeholders in the accreditation process. By engaging a broad spectrum of voices—including industry representatives, regulatory authorities, conformity assessment bodies (CABs), and consumers—ARAC reinforces the transparency, credibility, and acceptance of its accreditation framework. This inclusive approach facilitates mutual recognition of ARAC’s systems, a critical factor in advancing quality infrastructure throughout the Arab region.
Second, stakeholder involvement enables these parties to actively share insights and feedback with ARAC. Their contributions help shape policies, technical standards, and conformity assessment practices, ensuring alignment with sector-specific needs and expectations. This collaborative dialogue keeps ARAC adaptive to market trends, regulatory changes, and technological developments. Moreover, it fosters the harmonisation of accreditation practices, reducing trade barriers and promoting compliance with international standards across member states.
3. ARAC Capacity Building activities
As part of the ARAC Capacity Building Committee’s program implementation, and in line with efforts to strengthen the skills of personnel from ARAC Accreditation Bodies (ABs) and ARAC Peer Evaluators involved in the accreditation process, the following capacity-building initiatives have been successfully conducted:
3.1. Workshop on the New ILAC P9:1/2024 Policy – 19th & 20th November 2024
This workshop focused on the implementation of the new version of ILAC P9, with the main objectives as the following:
3.2. ARAC Regional Transition Workshop for ISO 15189:2022 – 25th & 26th December 2024
This workshop covered the following topics
3.3. ARAC Regional Training Workshop on ISO/IEC 17029 and ISO 14065 – 13th & 14th January 2025
This workshop organised as part of the ARAC Capacity Building Committee’s Work Plan, aimed to achieve the following main objectives:
4. Activities to Promote the IAF MLA and ILAC MRA:
A study has been developed to assess the impact and benefits of accreditation in the Arab Region, employing a two-pronged approach. The study aims to:
a. Comprehensively evaluate the advantages of accreditation across the Arab region, with a focus on its impact on key areas such as:
b. Assess the impact of strengthening the accreditation ecosystem, including:
5. ARAC Unveils Comprehensive Approach for Developing New Strategy 2026-2030:
The ARAC strategic development process for the ARAC Strategy 2026-2030 has been launched, marking a significant step toward strengthening the region’s accreditation infrastructure. A dedicated Steering Committee has been established to oversee and guide the strategy’s development, ensuring it aligns with ARAC’s long-term vision and the evolving needs of its members and stakeholders.
The new strategic framework will prioritise enhancing ARAC’s role in promoting quality, fostering collaboration, and supporting the sustainable growth of the Arab accreditation system. To achieve this, the development process will include extensive consultations with members and stakeholders, ensuring the strategy is both forward-thinking and responsive to the dynamic challenges and opportunities within the accreditation landscape.
This comprehensive approach underscores ARAC’s commitment to advancing regional cooperation, driving innovation, and maintaining high standards of accreditation across the Arab world. The ARAC Strategy 2026-2030 is set to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of accreditation, ensuring it remains robust, inclusive, and adaptable to the changing global environment.
6. 6th Edition of the Arab Accreditation Week:
The 6th Edition of the Arab Accreditation Week 2025, AA 2025, will be held in June 2025 under the theme “How Accreditation Empowers Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the Arab Region,” the event will highlight the critical role of accreditation in enhancing SME competitiveness, market access, and trust.
The week-long program will feature capacity-building workshops, awareness sessions, and panel discussions with key stakeholders, including policymakers, industry leaders, conformity assessment bodies, and SME representatives. Participants will explore how accredited conformity assessment supports SMEs in meeting regulatory requirements, improving product quality, and expanding into regional and global markets.
1. ARAC MLA Signatories
Following the latest ARAC MLA Group decisions ARAC has 5 MLA signatories as the following:
2. 5th Edition of the Arab Accreditation Week
Successful Conclusion of the 5th Edition of Arab Accreditation Week Showcases Regional Commitment to Excellence
The Arab Accreditation Week’s 5th edition, held from June 3rd to June 6th, 2024 under the theme “Together towards enhancing the role of accreditation in the Arab region in Empowering Tomorrow and Shaping the Future” marked a significant milestone in the region’s pursuit of excellence in accreditation and conformity assessment. The event successfully convened a series of technical sessions remotely, attracting over 1000 experts and participants from Accreditation Bodies personnel and conformity assessment bodies across the Arab region.
The virtual platform facilitated dynamic discussions and knowledge sharing among the different components of the accreditation infrastructure in the Arab region. The technical sessions covered a diverse range of topics, tailored to address the evolving needs and challenges faced by the Conformity Assessment Bodies and Accreditation Bodies at Arab level.
Highlights of the event included:
The success of the 5th Arab Accreditation Week underscores the region’s commitment to fostering a culture of quality and continuous improvement. By harnessing the collective expertise and resources of stakeholders, the event has furthered the advancement of accreditation and conformity assessment practices, ultimately contributing to the enhancement of consumer protection and trade facilitation in the Arab region.
5th Edition of the Arab Accreditation Week
5th Edition of the Arab Accreditation Week Capacity Building Activities
3. New ARAC Stakeholder member: United Group of Conformity Assessment Bodies (UGCAB)
Significant growth in the Arab Accreditation Cooperation (ARAC) membership has been achieved with the acceptance of the United Group of Conformity Assessment Bodies (UGCAB), Iraq, as an ARAC Stakeholder Member in October 2024.
The inclusion of interested parties in ARAC serves two key purposes. First, it aims to build trust among all stakeholders involved in the accreditation process. By involving diverse parties ranging from industry representatives, regulatory bodies, conformity assessment bodies (CABs), to consumers, ARAC ensures that its accreditation framework is transparent, credible, and widely accepted. This collaboration fosters mutual recognition of ARAC’s accreditation systems, which is crucial for enhancing the quality infrastructure across the Arab region.
Secondly, involving stakeholders allows these interested parties to actively contribute their perspectives and feedback to ARAC. This engagement ensures that the needs and expectations of various sectors are reflected in ARAC’s policies, technical standards, and conformity assessment practices. By enabling a platform for stakeholders to express their views, ARAC remains responsive to the evolving demands of the market, regulatory frameworks, and technological advancements. This collaboration also promotes the harmonization of accreditation practices, reducing trade barriers and ensuring that accreditation systems across member states are aligned with international standards.
4. Next ARAC meetings:
18th – 19th December 2024, Makkah, KSA: ARAC Executive Committee & General Assembly Meetings.
EA Autumn 2024 Technical Committees’ Meetings
The EA technical committees met in September 2024, for the Autumn meetings, in Brussels, Belgium.
The Horizontal Harmonization Committee (HHC)
Gabriel Zrenner chaired its last HHC meeting and will leave starting from 2025 the chairmanship to the current Vice-Chair Kristina Hallman (SWEDAC, the Swedish National Accreditation Bodies), and her future Vice-Chair to Jenni Harjuoja (FINAS, the Finnish NAB). Gabriel Zrenner has tremendously shaped the HHC for the past 7 years. The good thing for EA is that he is joining the Executive Board.
DAkkS, the German NAB, presented its project on the digital accreditation symbol and AI Act standardization work. DAkkS was the first Accreditation Body worldwide to introduce a digital accreditation symbol as an electronic seal.
HHC members participated in a workshop on accreditation scopes in the Accreditation for Notification (AfN) area. The focus was on 4 major EU legislations (Construction Products Regulation (CPR), Pressure Equipment Directive (PED), Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and Machinery), discussing potential scope harmonization and its use in revising EA 2/17.
70 participants attended the meeting on 11-12 September. The next HHC meeting will be held in March 2025, in Brussels.
The Laboratory Committee (LC)
LC members participated in a workshop conducted by Belén Villamiel (ENAC, LC Vice-Chair) and Richard McFarlane (UKAS) on externally provided product and services/subcontracting, taking into account the level 3 accreditation standards under the LC responsibility:
64 participants attended the meeting on 18-19 September. The next LC meeting will be held in March 2025, in Bratislava.
The Certification Committee (CC)
Wolfram Hartmann (DAkkS) has been reelected as the CC Vice Chair, for his second term.
Members had extended discussions about questions asked by colleagues, and the answers will be published shortly on the EA website in the CC FAQ section.
A workshop on flexible scopes in certification will be organized in March 2025.
A resolution concerning the transitional arrangements for ISO 55001 – Asset management — Asset management system — Requirements will be put on the agenda of the EA General Assembly in November.
70 participants attended the meeting on 24-25 September. The next CC meeting will be held in March 2025, in Budapest.
The Inspection Committee (IC)
Marko Verbovsek, the IC Vice-Chair, stepped down and a new vice-chair is being approved within the Committee.
IC members continued to review the full list of questions/answers for publication in the IC FAQ section on the website.
Marek Wilgos (the IC Chair) presented the outcome of the survey on Crime Scene Investigation, which will be forwarded to the LC Chair (Sergio Guzzi) to consider cooperation between IC and TN Forensics.
In 2022, ISO voted to revise ISO/IEC 17020:2012 Conformity Assessment – Requirements for operation of various types of bodies performing inspection. IC members discussed thoroughly the changes to be made in the future standard expected to be published in November 2025.
Members participated in a workshop on sampling, proficiency testing (PT), and interlaboratory comparisons (ILC) in inspection, and examined for instance the criteria that should be considered when analyzing the need to use of PT/ILC in an inspection activity.
60 NABs and stakeholders attended the Inspection Committee meeting on 26-27 September. The next IC meeting will be held in March 2025, in Budapest.
Ouagadougou, October 10, 2024
Workshop on the accreditation needs of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) Regulators
A SOAC delegation, composed of the Chairman of the Board of Directors Mr. Aboubacry BARO, the Resident Representative – Director General, Marcel GBAGUIDI and the Competences Coordinator, Jean Philippe GORI, went to Ouagadougou on October 10, 2024, notably to present, during a workshop, the accreditation services which participate in implementing the priorities set by UEMOA, a West Africa Regional Regulator, to support the development of member states.
The representatives of UEMOA were the Directors and executives of the technical departments of the UEMOA Commission, notably the Department of Business Development, Mines, Energy and Digital Economy (DEMEN), the Department of Agriculture, Water Resources and Environment (DAREN), the Department of Community Land Use Planning and Transport (DATC), the Department of Human Development (DDH), the Department of Economic Policies and Domestic Taxation (DPE), and the Department of Regional Market and Cooperation (DMRC).
It should be recalled that UEMOA is a regional institution created 30 years ago that advocates the economic integration of eight West African states (Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo). As such, UEMOA bodies such as the Conference of Heads of State, the Council of Ministers and the Presidency of the Commission have the necessary authority to take legal acts that are mandatory in the member states. The Commission is the executive body of UEMOA. The Commission is headed by a President assisted by a college of Commissioners; the latter head specialized Departments.
Under the leadership of the current President of the Commission, Mr. Abdoulaye DIOP, the last college of Commissioners, in office since 2021, adopted a strategic document entitled “UEMOA Priority Action Framework 2021-2025 (CAP 25)”. CAP 25 identified three areas of intervention, in particular the axis 1 “Deepening the foundations of economic integration”, one of the flagship actions of which will be the development of efficient transport and transit infrastructure in the States; Axis 2 focuses on “Improving the effectiveness of sectoral interventions” with, among the flagship actions, the promotion of sustainable agriculture and the strengthening of nutritional food / food security;
Finally, axis 3 focuses on “the consolidation of institutional governance”, in particular with the establishment and operationalization of strategic steering tools, but also the establishment of steering and monitoring systems for the policies, programs and reforms of the Union.
The workshop of October 10th showed that the mobilization of testing and calibration laboratories accredited according to ISO IEC 17025 and inspection bodies accredited according to ISO IEC 17020 contributes to the development of quality transport and transit infrastructures (Axis 1). The use of these accredited bodies, in fact, makes it possible to guarantee that the service providers in charge of carrying out the infrastructures to be built will do so in accordance with the applicable standards.
The ISO IEC 17065 and ISO IEC 17021-1 accreditation standards are, for their part, intrinsically linked to the promotion of sustainable agriculture and the strengthening of nutritional food / food security (axis 2). It is, in fact, the accredited product and service certifiers who give credibility to the companies that operate in this field by certifying their products and/or their service and/or their management system.
Finally, the effectiveness of governance can be materialized by certifiers of management systems or persons respectively accredited according to ISO IEC17021-1 and ISO IEC 17024, to name but a few.
At the end of the workshop, tSOAC and UEMOA parties decided to meet again to better refine the needs in relation to the axes of CAP 25 but also in relation to the 2030 strategic plan currently being developed.
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:
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:
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:
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:
Please register using the Registration Form here: https://shorturl.at/hqFOS
Please note that the Early Bird Registration and Abstract Submission deadlines are 30th April.
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 available here
Due date for abstract submission:
Early Bird: Before 30th April 2024
Normal: After 30th April 2024
The Organising Committee will provide notification of acceptance of abstracts by 31st May 2024.
ABOUT APFAN
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. Join us as we celebrate our 35th anniversary in 2024.
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.
APFAN’s vision is to create a stable and peaceful Asia Pacific region where its people benefit through improved health and prosperity. APFAN seeks to achieve ‘equivalence’ of standards between economies in both food safety and food trade systems, thereby strengthening food security in the region.
In recognition of the need to improve the proficiency and capabilities of regional food testing laboratories, APFAN is conducting a multi-phase project that produces and distributes Proficiency Testing (PT) materials free of charge to food analysis laboratories in the Asia Pacific region. Follow-up PT Workshops have been held in Indonesia (PT1) in 2018, in Thailand (PT2) in 2019 and in the Philippines (PT3) in 2023. The PT4 Workshop will be held in Malaysia in July 2024, at which the PT5 materials will again be distributed free of charge to participants. These Workshops discuss the PT results in detail, to enable the participant laboratories to improve their methodologies and adopt a more uniform approach to regional food analysis.
For more details, please visit the APFAN PT4 Workshop website here or refer to the Workshop APFAN 2024 PT4 Brochure
For any enquiries, please contact the APFAN PT4 Organising Committee at apfanmalaysia@gmail.com
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:
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:
Congratulations to them and our best wishes for a successful mandates!
