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ILAC Secretariat News April 2024

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The ILAC MRA 

The scope of recognition of the recognised regions to the ILAC MRA is available from   Recognised Regional Cooperation Bodies International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ilac.org)

There are currently 114 ILAC MRA Signatories representing 118 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 ILAC MRA Annual Report 2023 and associated infographic will be published in May 2024 and available on the website shortly thereafter.

Work to extend the ILAC MRA to include the accreditation of biobanks has now been completed, however no applications have been received to date.

World Accreditation Day 2024 – Accreditation: Empowering Tomorrow and Shaping the Future 

09 June 2024 marks World Accreditation Day (WAD), a global initiative established by IAF and ILAC to highlight the value of accreditation. As WAD falls on a Sunday this year, the majority of events will take place on Monday 10 June.

WAD 2024 Resources

The joint statement by the IAF and ILAC Chairs, the brochure and the poster are now available for downloading here along with editable versions of the poster to enable members to add their logos or translate the text. Editable versions of the Brochure are available upon request from the ILAC Secretariat.

WAD 2024 Video

The WAD 2024 video is now available from the IAF/ILAC YouTube channel or using the direct link

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 is 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 of 30 April 2024 is:

  • 114 Full Members (signatories to the ILAC MRA) representing 116 economies;
  • 17 Associates representing 19 economies;
  • 20 Stakeholders;
  • 6 Recognised Regional Cooperation Bodies

The ILAC membership consists of 155 organisations from 130 different economies worldwide. Signatories represent about 95% of Global GDP. Over 76,000 laboratories, 10,500 inspection bodies, 400 PTP and 30 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.

Establishment of a Single International Organisation for Accreditation

Work commenced on the IAF-ILAC Single Organization Project on 1 March 2021 to establish a Single International Organisation for Accreditation in accordance with the 2019 JGA Frankfurt Resolutions. The contractor managing this process is Dr.-Ing. Thomas Facklam.

The contractor is currently working closely with the Joint Steering Committee on various tasks associated with this project and in 2022 both the ILAC Extraordinary GA and the IAF/ILAC JGA focused on topics associated with this project.

ILAC Meetings 

The Mid Term meetings were held virtually during April 2024 and were well attended. Minutes are currently being finalised and will be distributed to the various Committee members in due course. The virtual management of these meeting was once again provided by Say Something Communications

The IAF/ILAC annual meetings will be held in-person in Berlin, Germany from 1 – 10 October 2024. Further information on the meetings, and registration details, will be provided once the schedule

In addition to the meetings noted above all ILAC Committees, Working Groups and Task Forces continue to progress the items on their work plans via a combination of email and remote meetings.

ILAC Liaisons and other International Activities 

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/CASCO TIG -Technical Expert Group (TEG)
  • 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)
  • 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 31, Revision of ISO/IEC 17020
    • ISO/CASCO WG 57 Revision of ISO/IEC 17043
    • ISO/CASCO WG 61, Revision of ISO/IEC 17012

    ILAC Liaisons with Other Organisations

    • BIPM-ILAC WG Bipartite
    • BIPM-ILAC-ISO-OIML Quadripartite
    • OIML-CS Management Committee (MC)
    • Meeting of Signatories to the Joint Statement on the Digitalization
    • 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
    • UNECE-WP6- Metrological recommendations
    • 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

    The new ILAC Secretariat staff commenced work on 1 January 2024.

      • Michael Fraser – ILAC Secretary
      • Johanna Acuna – ILAC Arrangement Program Manager
      • Belinda Mort – Marketing and Communications Manager, Finance Administrator
      • Wanji Yang – Technical Committee Program Manager, ILAC Administrator
      • Rose De Rota – Member Services
      • Nonlanhla (Nyaki) Halimana – Joint Development Support Program, Member Services
      • Paul Smith – Finance Officer
      • Karla Sanchez – Social Media Coordinator (job share with IAF)
      • Krista Eager – Marketing Coordinator (job share with IAF)

     

    The new staff wishes to acknowledge and thank the former Secretariat staff – Annette Dever, Sharon Kelly, Hannah Yeoh, Stephanie Sun, and Joelle Nicolas.

    Documents and Brochures

    The following publication has been finalised and released since October 2023: