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World Accreditation Day (WAD)
World Accreditation Day 2022 was successfully celebrated on 9 June with the theme:
“Accreditation: Sustainability in Economic Growth and the Environment”
Information and materials associated with WAD are all available from the ILAC website: https://ilac.org/news-and-events/
The ILAC MRA
The ILAC MRA Annual Report 2021 and associated infographic was published in June 2022 and is available from https://ilac.org/publications-and-resources/ilac-promotional-brochures/.
Work to extend the ILAC MRA to include the accreditation of biobanks continues following the adoption of the following resolution during the 25th ILAC General Assembly in 2022: ILAC Resolution GA 25.09 The General Assembly endorses the recommendation of the ARC to extend the ILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) to include accreditation of biobanking as a Level 2 activity, to the criteria specified in the Level 3 normative document, ISO 20387. ILAC will therefore accept applications for recognition as soon as the documents within ILAC applicable to the MRA are updated to cover this new scope.
The relevant documents, ILAC P4, P5 and R6 have now been revised and published on the ILAC website. ILAC is therefore now able to accept applications from the regional groups for evaluation to extend their scope of recognition to the ILAC MRA to include this new activity.
The scope of recognition of the recognised regions to the ILAC MRA is available from https://ilac.org/ilac-mra-and-signatories/recognised-regional-cooperation-bodies/.
There are currently 108 signatories to the ILAC MRA representing 116 economies. The ILAC MRA covers recognition for accreditation in the areas of calibration (ISO/IEC 17025), testing (ISO/IEC 17025), medical testing (ISO 15189), inspection (ISO/IEC 17020), proficiency testing providers (ISO/IEC 17043) and reference material producers (ISO 17034). The list of signatories to the ILAC MRA is available from the ILAC MRA Signatory Search.
Case studies and research on the recognition of the ILAC MRA by governments and regulators are available from the Public Sector Assurance website. The website is a collaborative initiative of the INetQI members and there are over 330 case studies, 90 research papers and 60 supporting materials available to view.
The Business Benefits website a reference website designed to demonstrate the monetary value of standards, conformity assessment and accreditation for businesses. The website represents another successful collaboration of the INetQI partners with over 95 case studies categorised into 6 areas of value. All of the case studies identify a clear financial benefit. The site also includes more than 75 research papers.
ILAC Membership
The ILAC membership as at 20 September 2022 is:
The ILAC membership consists of 154 organisations from 129 different economies worldwide. Over 85,000 laboratories, 13,000 inspection bodies, 600 PTP and 250 RMP are accredited by the ILAC Full Members (signatories to the ILAC MRA).The latest statistics and graphs on the number of accreditation bodies, accredited laboratories, inspection bodies, PTPs and RMPs are available from the ILAC Facts & Figures page.
Decision to Establish a Single International Organisation for Accreditation
The work to establish a Single International Accreditation Organisation in accordance with the 2019 JGA Frankfurt Resolutions continues with the contractor, Dr.-Ing. Thomas Facklam continuing to work closely with the Joint Steering Committee established to oversee this project.
Most recently an Extraordinary meeting of the ILAC GA was requested by some members and held on 15 September 2022. The meeting focussed on specific topics associated with the establishment of the new single international organisation for accreditation. An update on the project was provided by the ILAC Chair and presentations on the specific topics being considered were provided by each of the Regional Cooperation Body members as well as the ILAC LC Chair representing the ILAC Stakeholder members. The meeting provided a platform for contributions from all ILAC members and IAF invited observers, with 29 in total taking the opportunity to present their views on the topics being discussed, in addition to the written comments provided via the meeting chat function.
An IAF/ILAC Joint General Assembly is scheduled for 10 November 2022, where the one organisation project will again be the focus for discussion.
ILAC Meetings
All ILAC Committees, including the Executive Committee and the Joint IAF MLA and ILAC MRA Management (JMC), Joint Marketing and Communications and Joint Development Support Committees have held virtual meetings in 2022.
The IAF/ILAC mid-term meetings were again also held virtually in April this year and included meetings of the ILAC AIC and Inspection Committees. The online platform, registration process and management of these meetings was provided by Say Something Communications.
The Joint IAF/ILAC annual meetings for 2022 that were scheduled to be held as hybrid meetings with the in-person attendance at Le Westin, Montreal, Canada from 2 – 11 November 2022 will now be held as a series of virtual meetings. The schedule and registration information for these meetings have been distributed and registration is open.
In addition to the meetings noted above all ILAC Committees, Working Groups and Task Forces are continuing to progress the items on their work plans via a combination of email and remote meetings.
Information on future meetings and events, including major regional meetings, can also be found in the ILAC Calendar.
ILAC Liaisons and other International Activities
The current list of ILAC liaison activities includes:
ILAC Liaisons with ISO and ISO/CASCO Policy Committees
ILAC Liaisons with ISO/CASCO Working Groups/Task Forces
ILAC Liaisons with Other Organisations
A joint CIPM-ILAC Webinar titled: Digital Transformation in the context of Accreditation was held on 30 June 2022. It was aimed at accreditation body and laboratory staff and addressed topics including: the SI digital framework, digital reporting in an accreditation body, opportunities and challenges with the introduction of digital calibration certificates and a Q&A session. The video recording and related materials from this webinar are now available from the ILAC – BIPM partnership page on the website.
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and ILAC have reviewed and re-signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in
August this year. The re-signing of the ITU-IAF-ILAC MoU continues to support and strengthen the three organizations’ commitment to cooperation and collaboration and the ongoing development of ITU-T’s Conformity and Interoperability (C&I) programme.
Information on ILAC’s partnerships, including copies of communiqués, joint procedures, press releases and MoUs, is available from the ILAC Partnerships page.
ILAC thanks all of the ILAC liaison officers, and their organisations, who volunteer their time to assist ILAC in carrying out these activities for the benefit of all ILAC members.
ILAC Secretariat
Stephanie Sun, the ILAC Project Officer returned from maternity leave on 1 August 2022 on a part-time basis.
The ILAC Secretariat staff currently includes: Annette Dever, Sharon Kelly, Hannah Yeoh, Rebecca Sheehan, Stephanie Sun (0.7 FTE), Rose De Rota (0.7 FTE), and Joelle Nicolas (0.8 FTE).
Documents and Brochures
Publications available since April 2022 include:
ILAC-P4:06/2022 ILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement: Policy and Management
ILAC-P5:06/2022 ILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement: Scope and Obligations
ILAC-R6:06/2022 Structure of the ILAC Mutual Recognition Agreement and Procedure for Expansion of the Scope of the ILAC Arrangement
ILAC-G19:06/2022 Modules in a Forensic Science Process
Follow @ILAC_Official on Twitter to receive the latest ILAC news, including information on meetings, events, liaison activities and new publications.
The April 2022 edition of ILAC News has been published and is available from https://ilac.org/latest_ilac_news/.
Subscribe to the latest news to receive updates from ILAC members and liaisons.
Standards and conformity assessment provide the tools to deliver trust and confidence about the environment in which we live. But what happens when this environment changes? Accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, digitalization has fundamentally altered the way we live, work and relate to each other. Conformity assessment actors have had to develop alternative ways of working based on AI, machine learning, remote auditing, constant data exchange and much more.
For this year’s ISO’s Annual Meeting being held from 19-23 September 2022, IAF, ILAC and ISO have collaborated to organize the virtual session ‘Has Covid launched the digital transformation of conformity assessment?’. The session will be moderated by Marcus Long (Chief Executive, Independent International Organisation for Certification and IAF Conformity Assessment Body Advisory Committee Chair), with panellists including Sheronda Jeffries (Technical Leader, Cisco Systems and IAF User Advisory Committee Vice-Chair), Amina Ahmed (Arab Accreditation Cooperation Chair and Chief Executive, Emirates International Accreditation Centre), Pavel Castka (Professor, University of Canterbury) and Eve Christine Gadzikwa (Chief Executive, Southern African Development Community Accreditation Services). H.E Omar Suwaina Al Suwaidi (Under-Secretary, United Arab Emirates Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technologies) will deliver opening remarks.
The session will highlight topics such as how conformity assessment can help to enhance trust in ISO standards; how processes used during pandemic lockdowns have continued to deliver audits and assessments; how services such as accreditation, certification, testing, inspection, and validation and verification can continue to ensure trust is maintained during periods of accelerating change; key techniques and tools that will see digitalisation, data use and new technology play a more crucial role in conformity assessment; and the needs of conformity assessment users as the delivery of conformity assessment evolves.
The session will be held on 20 September from 18:00-19:00 GST (UTC+4). More information and registration are available here.
IAF and ILAC are excited to announce the launch of our new podcast, Accreditation Matters. This podcast series will feature discussions with international experts on important matters to the international quality infrastructure community and the way that accreditation supports regulators, global trade and consumers.
In our first episode, Brendon Moo of the National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA) interviews Kylie Sheehan of the Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand (JAS-ANZ), IAF MLA Management Committee Chair, and Jennifer Evans of NATA, ILAC Arrangement Management Committee Chair, on the role of accreditation and accredited conformity assessment services within the quality infrastructure community.
Ms. Evans and Ms. Sheehan highlight the importance of accreditation and the IAF Multilateral Recognition Arrangement/ILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement, their contribution to sustainability, and the work of IAF, ILAC, NATA and JAS-ANZ. They also share their views on the IAF and ILAC project to create a single international organization for accreditation.
Listen to our first episode now on Spotify, Apple Podcast and Google Podcasts.
The 2021 ILAC MRA Report and infographic is now available to download.
ILAC and its accreditation body members invest significant effort and resources to maintain the integrity and consistency of the ILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA), also known as the ILAC Arrangement, through a peer evaluation process.
This report provides information on the activities carried out as part of the global peer evaluation process in 2021 in order to ensure that both regulators and consumers of laboratory and inspection data, as well as users of proficiency testing programs and reference materials are able to maintain confidence in the services accredited by the signatories to the ILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA).
World Accreditation Day (WAD)
World Accreditation Day will be celebrated on 9 June with the theme:
Accreditation: Sustainability in Economic Growth and the Environment
This theme focuses on how accreditation supports many of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) including 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15.
The poster for #WAD2022 is available from https://ilac.org/news-and-events/world-accreditation-day-2022/ and congratulations are extended to Punyasorn Lumjuan who created this design as part of the competition run by ILAC and IAF earlier this year.
Social media cards for the different SDGs addressed in this year’s theme are also available from the members area of the website for use by members in promoting #WAD2022.
In the near future the Joint Statement from the ILAC and IAF Chairs will also be issued as well as a brochure and video to promote the event.
Follow ILAC and IAF on Twitter for more information about accreditation supporting the implementation of the SDGs in the period leading up to WAD.
The ILAC MRA
Updating of the ILAC documents, in particular ILAC P4, P5 and R6 is progressing well as part of the implementation of ILAC Resolution GA 25.09 to extend the ILAC MRA to include the accreditation of biobanks. The activity will be included in the MRA as a Level 2 activity using, ISO 20387: Biobanking – General requirements for biobanking as the Level 3 normative document.
There are currently 104 signatories to the ILAC MRA representing 105 economies. The ILAC MRA covers recognition for accreditation in the areas of calibration (ISO/IEC 17025), testing (ISO/IEC 17025), medical testing (ISO 15189), inspection (ISO/IEC 17020), proficiency testing providers (ISO/IEC 17043) and reference material producers (ISO 17034). The list of signatories to the ILAC MRA is available from the ILAC MRA Signatory Search.
The scope of recognition of the recognised regions to the ILAC MRA is available from https://ilac.org/ilac-mra-and-signatories/recognised-regional-cooperation-bodies/.
The ILAC MRA Annual Report 2021 and associated infographic will be published next month and will be available from https://ilac.org/publications-and-resources/ilac-promotional-brochures/.
Case studies and research on the recognition of the ILAC MRA by governments and regulators are available from the Public Sector Assurance website. This website a collaborative initiative of the INetQI members is currently being updated with a significant number of new case studies collected in support of the WAD 2022 theme – Accreditation: Sustainability in Economic Growth and the Environment.
The Business Benefits website, also another successful collaboration of the InetQI partners, is a reference website designed to demonstrate the monetary value of standards, conformity assessment and accreditation for businesses.
ILAC Membership
The ILAC membership as at 7 April 2022 is:
The ILAC membership consists of 151 organisations from 129 different economies worldwide. Over 81,700 laboratories, 12,200 inspection bodies, 500 PTP and 200 RMP are accredited by the ILAC Full Members (signatories to the ILAC MRA).The latest statistics and graphs on the number of accreditation bodies, accredited laboratories, inspection bodies, PTPs and RMPs are available from the ILAC Facts & Figures page
ILAC Meetings
The ILAC-IAF meetings including all committees and working groups continue to be held on-line.
The April 2022 mid-term meetings have been scheduled as a virtual series of meetings and registration is currently open for these meetings that will be held over the next two weeks. Some Committees and working groups that organise and manage their own on-line meetings have already met earlier this month including the Joint ILAC and IAF Executive Committees (JEC) where the key topics discussed included progress on the Single Organisation Project and future joint meetings.
The Joint IAF/ILAC annual meetings in 2022 are however scheduled to be held in person at Le Westin, Montreal, Canada from 2 – 11 November 2022.
Information on future meetings and events, including major regional meetings, can also be found in the ILAC Calendar.
ILAC Liaisons and other International Activities
ILAC carries out a number of regular liaison activities with our international partners, participating in both the routine meetings (currently on-line) that underpin these relationships as well as any relevant ad hoc events that are scheduled throughout the year. The current list of ILAC liaison activities includes:
ILAC Liaisons with ISO and ISO/CASCO Policy Committees
ILAC Liaisons with ISO/CASCO Working Groups/Task Forces
ILAC Liaisons with Other Organisations
Information on ILAC’s partnerships, including copies of communiqués, joint procedures, press releases and MoUs, is available from the ILAC Partnerships page.
ILAC thanks all of the ILAC liaison officers, and their organisations, who volunteer their time to assist ILAC in carrying out these activities for the benefit of all ILAC members.
ILAC Secretariat
Stephanie Sun, the ILAC Project Officer is currently on maternity leave until July 2022.
The ILAC Secretariat staff currently includes: Annette Dever, Sharon Kelly, Hannah Yeoh, Rebecca Sheehan, Rose De Rota (0.7 FTE), Joelle Nicolas (0.8 FTE) and Stephanie Sun (maternity leave July 2021- August 2022).
World Accreditation Day (WAD)
World Accreditation Day was celebrated on 9 June with the theme:
“Accreditation: Supporting the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”
This was again primarily celebrated on-line this year, with many well attended webinars held globally including the Joint IAF/ILAC event hosted by the Joint Working Group Communications Co-chairs, Brahim Houla and Veronica Ramirez, and with presentations from UNIDO and ISO CASCO.
The engagement on social media around this event with our members and accredited CABs continues to grow each year and was of a high standard.
COVID-19 Update
IAF, ILAC and ISO, under the coordination of the IAF/ILAC/ISO Joint Strategic Group (JSG), developed a survey to better understand the views of the conformity assessment (CA) community and those that rely on the results of CA, on the use of remote techniques for audit/assessment/evaluation activities. These techniques have been widely introduced in a short period of time and used extensively as a result of the pandemic.
There was an excellent response to the survey with more than 4000 participants representing the auditor/assessor/evaluator viewpoints as well as the audited/assessed/evaluated experience. The report on the outcome of the survey was released on 12 October 2021 and can be accessed from the ILAC website: Full Article and Survey Report
ISO 15189 Communiqué
The Joint IAF-ILAC-ISO Communiqué on ISO 15189 accreditation that was originally issued in 2009 to reinforce the fact that medical laboratories accredited to ISO 15189:2007 Medical laboratories – Particular requirements for quality and competence operate a recognised management system has recently been updated. The dates for the standards referenced in the Communiqué have been removed ensuring it continues to remain current as the standards are re-issued. The current editions of the standards referenced in the Communiqué are now implied. The November 2021 version of the Communiqué is available from https://ilac.org/about-ilac/partnerships/international-partners/iso/
Decision to Establish a Single International Organisation for Accreditation
The contractor, Thomas Facklam, for the IAF-ILAC Single International Organisation for Accreditation Project provided an update on this work to the ILAC General Assembly on 2 November 2021. A draft of the partial bylaws for the new organisation will be distributed to IAF and ILAC members for review and comment in the near future.
The ILAC MRA
ILAC Resolution GA 25.09 was approved at the ILAC General Assembly earlier this month endorsing the recommendation from the ILAC Arrangement Committee to extend the ILAC MRA to include the accreditation of biobanking facilities. The activity will be included in the MRA as a Level 2 activity using, ISO 20387: Biobanking – General requirements for biobanking as the Level 3 normative document. The ILAC documents applicable to the MRA will now be reviewed and updated to include this new scope to facilitate the regions applying for recognition for this activity.
There are currently 104 signatories to the ILAC MRA representing 105 economies. The ILAC MRA covers recognition for accreditation in the areas of calibration (ISO/IEC 17025), testing (ISO/IEC 17025), medical testing (ISO 15189), inspection (ISO/IEC 17020), proficiency testing providers (ISO/IEC 17043) and reference material producers (ISO 17034). The list of signatories to the ILAC MRA is available from the ILAC MRA Signatory Search.
The scope of recognition of the recognised regions to the ILAC MRA is available from https://ilac.org/ilac-mra-and-signatories/recognised-regional-cooperation-bodies/.
The ILAC MRA Annual Report 2020 has been published and is available from https://ilac.org/publications-and-resources/ilac-promotional-brochures/.
As reported at the ILAC General Assembly on 2 November 2021, all accreditation bodies that are signatories to the ILAC MRA completed the transition to the 2017 version of ISO/IEC 17011 by the November 2020 deadline.
In addition, ARAC, EA and IAAC confirmed all the accreditation bodies that are signatories to the MRA/MLAs had completed the transition to ISO/IEC 17025:2017 by the 1 June 2021 deadline. In the case of APAC, AFRAC and SADCA supporting information was provided advising of the actions taken (eg suspension or withdrawal of accreditation) by the accreditation bodies in relation to the accredited laboratories that had not completed the transition to the 2017 version of ISO/IEC 17025 by the deadline.
The ILAC AMC Chair, Jennifer Evans, in particular thanked the regional MRA/MLA Committees for their extensive commitment and work in supporting the achievement of these transition deadlines.
Case studies and research on the recognition of the ILAC MRA by governments and regulators are available from the Public Sector Assurance website. The website is a collaborative initiative of the INetQI members and there are over 330 case studies, 90 research papers and 60 supporting materials available. This material is now also searchable by UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
The Business Benefits website a reference website designed to demonstrate the monetary value of standards, conformity assessment and accreditation for businesses. The website represents another successful collaboration of the INetQI partners with over 95 case studies categorised into 6 areas of value. All of the case studies identify a clear financial benefit. The site also includes more than 75 research papers.
ILAC Membership
The ILAC membership as at 18 November 2021 is:
• 104 Full Members (signatories to the ILAC MRA) representing 105 economies;
• 16 Associates representing 22 economies;
• 4 Affiliates representing 8 economies;
• 22 Stakeholders; and
• 6 Regional Cooperation Bodies (includes 5 Recognised Regional Cooperation Bodies).
The ILAC membership consists of 152 organisations from 128 different economies worldwide. Over 81,700 laboratories, 12,200 inspection bodies, 500 PTP and 200 RMP are accredited by the ILAC Full Members (signatories to the ILAC MRA).The latest statistics and graphs on the number of accreditation bodies, accredited laboratories, inspection bodies, PTPs and RMPs are available from the ILAC Facts & Figures page.
ILAC Meetings
The ILAC-IAF meetings including all committees and working groups continue to be held on-line.
The 25th ILAC General Assembly was held virtually for the second year running on 2 November 2021. The Adopted Resolutions are available to download from the ILAC website.
The April 2022 mid-term meetings will also been scheduled and conducted as a virtual series of meetings.
The Joint IAF/ILAC annual meetings in 2022 are scheduled to be held in person at Le Westin, Montreal, Canada from 2 – 11 November 2022.
Information on future meetings and events, including major regional meetings, can also be found in the ILAC Calendar.
ILAC Liaisons and other International Activities
ILAC carries out a number of regular liaison activities with our international partners, participating in both the routine meetings (currently on-line) that underpin these relationships as well as any relevant ad hoc events that are scheduled throughout the year. The current list of ILAC liaison activities includes:
ILAC Liaisons with ISO and ISO/CASCO Policy Committees
• ISO-IAF-ILAC JSG (Joint Strategic Group)
• ISO/CASCO Plenary
• ISO/CASCO CPC (Chairman’s Policy Committee)
• ISO/CASCO STAR (Strategic Alliance and Regulatory Group)
• ISO/CASCO TIG (Technical Interface Group)
• ISO TC 69/ SC6 (Application of statistical methods)
• ISO TC 176 (Quality Management & Quality Assurance)
• ISO TC 212 Plenary (Clinical Laboratory Testing and In-Vitro Diagnostic Systems) and WG1 (ISO 15189 revision)
• ISO TC 272 WGs 1-5 (Forensic Sciences)
• ISO TC 276 WG2 (Biobanking)
• ISO TC 334 (Reference Materials – formerly ISO/REMCO)
ILAC Liaisons with ISO/CASCO Working Groups/Task Forces
• ISO/CASCO CPC TG Future of CASCO Toolbox
• ISO/CASCO WG 56 Revision of Guide 60 – Code of Practice
• ISO/CASCO WG 57 Revision of ISO/IEC 17043
ILAC Liaisons with Other Organisations
• BIPM-ILAC WG Bipartite
• BIPM-ILAC-ISO-OIML Quadripartite
• OIML-CS Management Committee (MC)
• CITAC (Cooperation on International Traceability in Analytical Chemistry)
• EUROLAB Conference
• IEC/IECEE International Electro-technical Commission (ILAC-IAF-IEC Steering Committee)
• INetQI International Network on Quality Infrastructure
• JCGM Joint Committee for Guides in Metrology Plenary and WGs 1 (GUM) and 2 (VIM)
• JCTLM Joint Committee on Traceability in Laboratory Medicine
• ITU International Telecommunication Union
• OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
• WADA World Anti-Doping Agency
Information on ILAC’s partnerships, including copies of communiqués, joint procedures, press releases and MoUs, is available from the ILAC Partnerships page.
ILAC thanks all of the ILAC liaison officers, and their organisations, who volunteer their time to assist ILAC in carrying out these activities for the benefit of all ILAC members.
ILAC Secretariat
Stephanie Sun, the ILAC Project Officer commenced maternity leave in July 2021 for 12 months.
Vanessa Oconer Muhi, ILAC Quality Officer, left the Secretariat to take up a permanent position at the beginning of July 2021.
The ILAC Secretariat staff currently includes: Annette Dever, Sharon Kelly, Hannah Yeoh, Rebecca Sheehan, Rose De Rota (0.7 FTE), Joelle Nicolas (0.8 FTE) and Stephanie Sun (maternity leave July 2021- August 2022).
Documents and Brochures
Publications available since April 2021 include:
Statement 03/2021: Replacement of Assessments During the COVID-19 Pandemic
ILAC G7:04/2021 Accreditation Requirements and Operating Criteria for Horseracing Laboratories