As a result of an on-site peer evaluation of The Kyrgyz Center of Accreditation (KCA) and the recent ILAC Arrangement Council ballot, the suspended signatory status of KCA to the ILAC MRA for the accreditation of testing laboratories using ISO/IEC 17025 has been lifted, effective 2 October 2018.

In addition, the scope of KCA’s signatory status to the ILAC MRA has been extended to include the accreditation of calibration laboratories using ISO/IEC 17025.

The full list of signatories to the ILAC MRA is available here.

A number of IAF/ILAC documents have been reviewed and approved for publication:

• IAF/ILAC-B1:09/2018 – The route to signing the IAF or ILAC Arrangements.
• IAF/ILAC-B2:09/2018 – How do I gain confidence in an Inspection Body?  Do they need ISO 9001 certification or ISO/IEC 17020 accreditation?
• IAF/ILAC-B6:09/2018 – Accreditation: Delivering confidence in the provision of energy.

These documents are available from here.

The signatory status of GCC Accreditation Center (GAC), Saudi Arabia, has been extended to include calibration (ISO/IEC 17025) and inspection (ISO/IEC 17020). The full list of signatories to the ILAC MRA is available here.

Dubai Accreditation Department (DAC) has changed its name to Emirates International Accreditation Centre (EIAC) as of 16 September 2018.

We look forward to continuing working with our EIAC colleagues.

The signatory status of Swiss Accreditation  Service (SAS), Switzerland, has been extended to include inspection (ISO/IEC 17020). The full list of signatories to the ILAC MRA is available here.

Systéme Ouest Africain d’Accréditation (SOAC), Cote D’Ivoire, is welcomed as an Affiliate member of ILAC.

We welcome SOAC and look forward to working with our SOAC colleagues.

The US CPSC has advised that accreditation to either ISO/IEC 17025:2005 or ISO/IEC 17025:2017 will be accepted for CPSC-accepted testing laboratories throughout the transition period that will end in November 2020.

CPSC is reviewing options in the future to update the applicable CPSC rules to specify the 2017 edition.

The full statement is available here.

The signatory status of General Directorate of Accreditation (DPA), Albania, has been extended to include inspection (ISO/IEC 17020). The full list of signatories to the ILAC MRA is available here.

ILAC G28:07/2018 Guideline for the Formulation of Scopes of Accreditation for Inspection Bodies has been published and is available from the Publications section of the ILAC website.

The aim of this document is to assist accreditation bodies in consistently meeting the requirements of ISO/IEC 17011:2017 associated with scopes of accreditation for inspection body accreditation and to encourage an effective and harmonised approach to scopes among accreditation bodies in relation to ISO/IEC 17020:2012. 

Ms Merih Malmqvist Nilsson, ILAC Chair and Chair of the recently established INetQI, participated in a WTO TBT Side event: Good Governance in Developing Modern Quality Infrastructure (QI) Systems. This event was co-organised by UNDO SDG and SECO (Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs). Ms Malmqvist speaking on behalf of INetQI, addressed the topic “Reducing the Cost of Trading through International Cooperation in QI and Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MRAs)”. https://unfss.org/2018/06/05/unido-seco-event-20-june-2018-good-governance-in-developing-modern-quality-infrastructure-systems/

Ms Malmqvist was joined by panellists from UNIDO, ISO/CASCO, SECO, ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States), and the Trade and Environment Division of WTO.

INetQI is a global network bringing together all the organisations involved in the global QI for the benefit of all economies. It has developed from DCMAS, https://www.dcmas.net/ a group that brought together the global players in metrology, accreditation and standardization in order to support the development of robust and sustainable quality infrastructures in developing economies.

INetQI brings together the global players of the Quality Infrastructure including: ISO, IEC, BIPM, OIML, UNECE, UNIDO, WTO, the World Bank and IAF and ILAC and will be officially launched later this year.