ATS signed the new IAF MLA in the field of MS certification

27 Oct 10:48International activities

After it signed a global multilateral mutual recognition agreement in 2012 (ILAC MRA) of the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) in the field of calibration, testing and inspection, and a multilateral mutual recognition agreement (IAF MLA) of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) in the field of product certification, the Accreditation Body of Serbia (ATS) continued extending the scope of its activities and signed the new IAF MLA in the field of management system (MS) certification. This was confirmed by means of IAF Resolution No 2014-16 that was adopted at the Annual IAF/ILAC Meeting held in Vancouver, Canada, in the period between 8^th and 17^th October 2014.

Signing of the new IAF MLA was made possible due to formal signing of the new EA Multilateral Agreement (EA MLA) on 27^th May 2014 at the 33^rd meeting of the EA General Assembly meeting when the new EA MLA, in addition to testing, calibration, inspection and product certification, included certification of management systems and certification of persons.

25 resolutions were adopted at the 28^th IAF General Assembly (GA), held in the period between 15^th and 17^th October 2014, whereas the most important ones are as follows:

- resolution on the new IAF MLA scope extensions in case of a large number of IAF Members, including the Accreditation Body of Serbia (ATS) when the said ATS scope was extended to include certification of management system certification

- resolution on the endorsement of ISO 14001:2015 as a normative document, whereas the transition period of ISO 14001: 2015 will be three years from the date of publication

- resolution on the endorsement of ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015 as a normative document, whereas the transition period for the implementation of ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015 will be two years from the date of publication

- resolution on the endorsement of ISO 50001 and ISO 50003 as appropriate standards for certification and accreditation in the energy management systems field, whereas the implementation period for ISO 50003:2014 will be three years from the date of publication (14^th October 2014)

- resolution on the admissions to the IAF MLA of the following IAF Members: NCA Kazakhstan and SLAB Sri Lanka

- resolution on the extension of the IAF MLA scope to include the accreditation of GHG Validation and Verification Bodies (main scope: ISO 14065)

- resolutions on the election of Mr Trevor Nash as Director representing Conformity Assessment Body Association Members, for a three-year term ending at the 2017 General Assembly, and on completion of terms in 2015 and 2016

24 resolutions were adopted at the 18^th ILAC General Assembly (GA), held in the period between 15^th and 17^th October 2014, whereas the most important ones are as follows:

- resolutions on the acceptance of the following organisations as Associates: GCC Accreditation Center (GAC), Saudi Arabia, and National Accreditation Agency of Ukraine (NAAU), Ukraine, and on the re-evaluation and extension of signatory status to the ILAC MRA of the Egyptian Accreditation Council (EGAC), Egypt

- resolutions on the new admissions to the ILAC Arrangement and extension of the accreditation scopes (OAA, ONAC, CYSAB, EGAC, RENAR, TUNAC, NAAU), and on the status of IRI (Industrial Research Institute), Lebanon, as a Stakeholder

- resolution approving the 2015 Budget

- resolution on the adoption of the ILAC Membership Fees Procedure (Ag 06.5a ILAC Membership Fees Procedure Revised 14 Oct 2014) and ILAC MRA Mark Registration Procedure, whereas the termination clauses included in the Fees Procedure will be effective from 1^st January 2015

- resolution on the endorsement of the extension of the ILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) to include accreditation of proficiency testing (PT) providers, whereas applications will be accepted as soon as the appropriate peer evaluation documents within ILAC are updated

- resolutions confirming the withdrawal of the ILAC G12:2000 Guidelines for the Requirements for the Competence of Reference Material Producers and ILAC-G9:2005 Guidelines for the Selection and Use of Reference Materials following the publication of ISO Guide 33 Reference materials-Good practice in using reference materials

- resolution endorsing the election of the following officers to the ILAC Executive Committee for two years:

Peter Unger - Chair
Merih Malmqvist Nilsson – Vice-Chair
Ileana Martinez – Arrangement Committee
Regina Robertson – Accreditation Committee
Arne Lund – Inspection Committee
Jon Murthy – Marketing & Communications Committee
Liliane Somma – Joint Development Support Committee
Etty Feller – Arrangement Management Committee
Steve Sidney – Laboratory Committee

IAF and ILAC Joint General Assembly meeting was held during the annual IAF-ILAC meeting in Vancouver when 5 resolutions were jointly adopted, whereas the most important ones are as follows:

- resolutions 2 and 3 (JGA Vancouver Resolutions) confirming the signing of the new tripartite Memoranda of Understanding between OIML, ILAC and IAF, and between UNIDO, ILAC and IAF.