ATS signatory to ILAC MRA and IAF MLA
International activitiesThe Accreditation Body of Serbia signed the ILAC MRA for the fields of calibration, testing and inspection, and IAF MLA for the field of certification of products at the Annual Meeting of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) that was held in the period between 16th and 26th October 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. At a gala dinner, that was held on 25th October 2012, the Accreditation Body of Serbia signed the ILAC MRA for the following fields: calibration, testing and inspection, and the IAF MLA for the field of product certification.
18 resolutions were adopted at the IAF 26th General Assembly, held in the period between 24th and 26th October 2012, whereas the most important ones are as follows:
- resolution on the current IAF membership changes and signing of the MLA confirming the admission of the new accreditation bodies including the Accreditation Body of Serbia,
- IAF Resolution 2012–08 - Transition Period for ISO/IEC 27006 shall be 18 months from the date of publication of ISO/IEC 27006: 2011 (01.12.2011),
- IAF Resolution 2012–09 –Transition Period for ISO/IEC 17065 shall be three years from the date of publication of ISO/IEC 17065:2012 (15.09.2012),
- IAF Resolution 2012–10 – Transition Period for ISO/IEC 17024 shall be three years from the date of publication of ISO/IEC 17024:2012 (01.07.2012),
- IAF Resolution 2012–11 – General Transition Period for all relevant newly published ISO/CASCO publications (standards) shall be two years from the date of publication, unless overridden by the need to produce a specific application document as agreed by the IAF Technical Committee,
- IAF Resolution 2012–12 – endorsing ISO/IEC TS 17021-2 as a normative document to be applied in conjunction with ISO/IEC 17021 for EMS. The deadline for conformance to ISO/IEC TS 17021-2 shall be the default two years from the date of publication. As the publication date was 15th August 2012, the deadline for Certification Bodies to conform is 15th August 2014, and
- IAF Resolutions 2012-13 and 2012-14 – the Report on the Financial Affairs of IAF and the Report of the Financial Auditor was received with appreciation, together with the report of the Financial Oversight Committee containing the recommendation that the 2011 financial accounts should be accepted.
The General Assembly congratulated the following members elected as IAF Committee (IAF Resolution 2012-20) chairs:
- Randy Dougherty (ANAB) - IAF Chairman,
- Xiao Jianhua (CNAS) - IAF Vice-Chair,
- Ekanit Romyanon (NSC) - IAF Technical Committee Chairman,
- Steve Keeling (JAS-ANZ) - IAF MLA Committee Chairman,
- Jon Murthy (UKAS) - IAF Communications and Marketing Committee Chairman,
- Martin Stadler (BDI) - IAF User Advisory Committee Chairman.
31 resolutions were adopted at the 16th General Assembly meeting of the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC), whereas the most important ones are as follows:
- ILAC Resolution GA 16.03 – the list of the new signatories to the ILAC Arrangement including the Accreditation Body of Serbia (for the fields of calibration, testing and inspection),
- ILAC Resolution GA 16.06 – notes the decision extending the ILAC Arrangement to include the accreditation of inspection bodies,
- ILAC Resolution GA 16.10 and ILAC Resolution GA 16.11 – accept the report of the Financial Audit Committee on the 2011 accounts and endorse the appointment of members of the Financial Audit Committee,
- ILAC Resolution GA 16.13 and ILAC Resolution GA 16.14 – note the financial report for the period 1st January 2012 to 31st August 2012 and approve the 2013 Budget,
- ILAC Resolution GA 16.17 – approves the proposal from the Executive Committee to extend the current Strategic Plan 2008–2012 for a further two years,
- ILAC Resolution GA 16.18 – confirms the results of the electronic ballots undertaken by ILAC since the ILAC General Assembly held in 2011,
- ILAC Resolution GA 16.19 – endorses the development of a guidance document on the management of extraordinary events related to accreditation bodies and accredited entities covered by the scope of the ILAC Arrangement,
- ILAC Resolution GA 16.20 – includes normative references to ISO/IEC 17025 and ISO 15189, the General Assembly resolves that accreditation of reference material producers is conducted in accordance with ISO Guide 34:2009 alone. This resolution rescinds ILAC resolution 8.12. In addition ILAC R6:07/2012 will be amended to reflect this decision,
- ILAC Resolution GA 16.21 – by 1st March 2016 all references to ISO 15189 in accreditation certificates shall refer to the latest edition of ISO 15189, whereas at the end of the transition period, accreditation of a laboratory to ISO 15189:2007 will not be recognised under the ILAC Arrangement,
- ILAC Resolution GA 16.22 – requires the immediate withdrawal of ILAC-G22:2004,
- ILAC Resolution GA 16.23 – the transition period for the implementation of ISO/IEC 17020: 2012 will expire on 1st March 2015. At this time, all accreditation certificates issued must reference the 2012 edition of ISO/IEC 17020,
- ILAC Resolution GA 16.25 – endorses the withdrawal of ILAC G25:01/2012,
- ILAC Resolution GA 16.26 – agrees that the Proficiency Testing Consultative Group will be disbanded and reconstituted as a Proficiency Testing Working Group under the Accreditation Committee (AIC). Participation will be open to all interested ILAC members and stakeholders, as well as PT providers,
- ILAC Resolution GA 16.28 – endorses the election of the following officers to the ILAC Executive
Committee:
Peter Unger - Chair
Merih Malmqvist Nilsson – Vice-Chair
Ileana Martinez – Arrangement Committee
Ragina Robertson – Accreditation Committee
Lal Ilan – Inspection Committee
Jon Murthy – Marketing & Communications Committee
Liliane Somma – Joint Development Support Committee
Andreas Steinhorst – Arrangement Management Committee (MRA).
IAF and ILAC Joint General Assembly meeting was held during the annual IAF-ILAC meeting in Rio de Janeiro when 7 resolutions were jointly adopted, whereas the most important one is as follows:
- JGA Rio de Janeiro Resolution 5 – IAF/ILAC A2 – defines that when the next revision of IAF/ILAC A3 is published to include the evaluation report on a single accreditation body, IAF/ILAC A2-07/2010 will be re-issued with this information removed (that is the current Annex 5 of IAF/ILAC A2-07/2010). The necessary corrections to the annex numbers will also be addressed.
Delegates
In addition to ATS representatives (Jasna Stojanović, ATS Acting Director, and Bratislav Milošević PhD, ATS Assistant Director), annual IAF-ILAC meeting was attended by Dejan Krnjaić PhD, Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, and Jelena Popović MSc, Assistant Minister at the Ministry of Finance and Economy.