I.                 ARAC MLA Signatories

 

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

II.                 ARAC 10^th Annual meetings: 

After much planning, ARAC has held very successfully its 10th Annual Meetings in Cairo, Egypt, from 04th to 8th December 2022 hosted by the Egyptian Accreditation Council [EGAC]. The schedule for these meetings was exceptionally busy and particularly so given the significant number of Committees & Working Groups meetings and events such as the 2nd ARAC community stakeholders workshop, the celebration of ARAC 10th anniversary and the capacity building activities that included Regional training workshops on Remote Assessments/Peer Evaluations using the Augmented Reality Glasses and the key documents/records to prepare for the ARAC Peer Evaluation process.

 

Significant achievements were made at these meetings including  the approval of the ARAC new strategy covering the period 2023-2025 and the decision to extend the ARAC MLA structure to include Proficiency Testing Providers, Reference Material Producers & Biobanking (all level 2) and Medical Devices Management System (MDMS), Information Security Management Systems (ISMS), Occupational Health & Safety Management Systems (OH&S MS) and Educational Organizations Management Systems (EOMS) (at level 4). 

 

III.               ARAC Stakeholders Community Workshop in Egypt:

The awareness stakeholder workshop was conducted on 05th December 2022 with more than 150 participants from the ARAC stakeholder community representing the conformity assessment bodies, regulatory authorities, industry & trade associations and consumer associations in Egypt.

 

During this workshop, the participants stressed the role that ARAC plays in the development of the accreditation and conformity assessment infrastructure in Egypt. The aim of this workshop was for stakeholders in Egypt to have a better understanding of the value of accreditation and accredited services, and in particular, for regulators to recognize and accept accredited conformity assessment results covered under the ILAC MRA, IAF MLA and ARAC MLA.

 

IV.              ARAC New Strategy 2023-2025

ARAC members have adopted a new ARAC strategy to guide ARAC work through the period 2023-2025 with a new vision “The leading accreditation group facilitating regional and global trade and supporting sustainable development”. It is based on the 4 pillars: International recognition, Operational excellence, Cooperation & Partnership and Capabilities Development. The main objective is to strengthen all interested parties’ confidence in accreditation and enhance ARAC into a professional, efficient service provider serving the ARAC Accreditation Bodies’ Members and stakeholders.