International Agreements

EA was established as the official European accreditation infrastructure in accordance with Regulation (EC) No. 765/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 July 2008 establishing a legal framework for accreditation throughout Europe. This Regulation provides that each Member State shall appoint a single national accreditation body that the government shall entrust with the operation of accreditation as a public authority activity and grant it formal recognition in accordance with the requirements of international standards in both the private and public sector.

The most important regional international organisations governing accreditation globally are - International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation - ILAC in the field of laboratory and inspection body accreditation and International Accreditation Forum - IAF in the field of certification body accreditation. 

ATS as a signatory to the EA MLA

EA MLA is an agreement signed between the EA accreditation body members to recognise the equivalence, reliability and therefore acceptance of accredited certifications, inspections, calibration certificates and test reports across Europe (EA Region).

On the 24th May 2012, ATS became a full EA member and signed the EA MLA for the following fields of accreditation: testing laboratories, medical laboratories, calibration laboratories, inspection bodies, and certification bodies providing certification of products. Moreover, ATS signed the new EA MLA on 27th May 2014 that, in addition to testing, calibration, inspection and product certification, now includes certification of management systems and certification of persons.The status of signatory to the Multilateral Agreement (MLA) between ATS and EA was confirmed in 2018.

In the period from November 15 to 24, 2021,  ATS was subject to a new peer evaluation by the EA team of assessors in accordance with procedure EA-2/02 M: 2011 EA Policy and Procedures for the Multilateral Agreement (Annex 9).

By the decision of EA MAC, which is valid from 15.10.2022, the EA MLA agreement was extended to the field of PT providers. This Decision confirms all previously signed agreements, i.e. that ATS remains a signatory of the EA MLA in the fields of calibration (EN ISO/IEC 17025), testing (EN ISO/IEC 17025), including medical testing (EN ISO 15189), inspection (EN ISO/IEC 17020), management system certification (EN ISO/IEC 17021-1), product, process and service certification (EN ISO/IEC 17065), certification of persons (EN ISO/IEC 17024).

ATS as a signatory to the ILAC MRA

On 24th May 2012 ATS became a signatory to the ILAC MRA for testing and calibration, and on 25th October 2012 the ILAC MRA was signed for the field of inspection.

ATS as a signatory to the IAF MLA

Furthermore, on 25th October 2012 ATS became a signatory to the IAF MLA (Multilateral Recognition Arrangement) in the field of product certification on the basis of the said multilateral agreement with EA, whereas on 6th October 2014 ATS signed the IAF MLA in the field of management system certification and on 20th October 2016 ATS signed the new IAF MLA in the field of certification of persons.

On April 5, 2018, ATS became a signatory for the following sub-scopes within the scope of ​​ management systems certification: Information Security Management Systems (ISMS), Medical Devices Management Systems (MDMS) and Food Safety Management Systems (FSMS).

Two years later, on February 5, 2020, ATS became a signatory for the new sub-scope within the scope of ​​ management systems certification: Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OH&SMS).

Agreements on bilateral cooperation

ATS has concluded agreements on bilateral cooperation with the following bodies:

• Institute for Accreditation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BATA)
• Accreditation Body of Montenegro (ATCG)
• Institute for Accreditation of the Republic of Macedonia (IARM)
• Croatian Accreditation Agency (HAA)
• Romanian Accreditation Association (RENAR)
• Slovak Accreditation Service (SNAS)
• Slovenian Accreditation (SA)
• Belarusian State Centre for Accreditation (BSCA)
• Bulgarian Accreditation Service (BAS)
• Hungarian Accreditation Body (NAH)
• General Directorate of Accreditation of Republic of Albania
• Agreement on cooperation of accreditation bodies in the Western Balkans
• Hellenic Accreditation System (ESYD)
• Azerbaijan Accreditation Center (AzAK)