Highlights of the 44TH EA General Assembly – Budapest, 20-21 November 2019
NoticesInternational activitiesThe 44th session of the EA General Assembly, organized by the National Accreditation Body of Hungary (NAH), featured 102 delegates from 47 national accreditation bodies of the EA, the European Commission, EFTA and 8 organizations of recognized stakeholders by EA.
During the 44th session of the General Assembly, the EA Work Program for 2020 was adopted, which defines the main goals, tasks and activities of EA and its committees. Also, the sign of the EA MLA agreement was adopted. It will be issued by accredited conformity assessment bodies (CABs) and it will serve as a clear and harmonized "passport of confidence" on CABs' certificates and reports. EA Multilateral Agreement (EA MLA) is an agreement signed by EA members whereby the signatories recognize and accept the equivalence of the accreditation system. This agreement also acknowledges and accepts the reliability of the conformity assessment results provided by the CABs accredited by the signatories to the agreement, making the "Once Accredited, Accepted Everywhere" goal truly effective.
In accordance with the IAF resolution (during the last IAF General Assembly meeting in October 2019), the General Assembly endorsed the extension of the EA MLA agreement under Level 2 - validation and verification to the ISO/IEC 17029 standard, as the new EA MLA level 3 standard, in accordance with document EA-1/06. The launch of a new level of agreement regarding the ISO/IEC 17029 standard - Conformity assessment - The general principles and requirements for validation and verification bodies will be decided by the Multilateral Agreement Council when the time comes.
The General Assembly paid a glowing tribute to the outgoing members of the r Mrs. Maria Papacik (ESYD, Greece), who has been Chair of the EA Inspection Committee (EA IC) from May 16, 2018.
The General Assembly approved two working items for the purpose of reviewing the following documents:
- EA Guidance on the Application of ISO/IEC 17020 in Periodic Inspection of the Roadworthiness of Motor Vehicles and their Trailers
- EA Multilateral Agreement Criteria for signing. Policy and procedures for development
It was noted that 19 activities from the EA Strategy 2025 Implementation plan document were successfully closed. This means that the implementation of the defined goals for 2025 is progressing well, and given the fact that some activities are interdependent, the content of which is closely linked to the results of others, the plan should be successfully completed within the stipulated timeframe.
Next year, EA will host a digitization event, which is a major challenge for the future of national accreditation bodies (NABs) and their future accreditation practices. What IT tools will CABs use in the future and how will they be evaluated? What IT tools can national accreditation bodies use to facilitate their work?
This event, open to all EA members and stakeholders, will cover a variety of topics and on this occasion a wide range of opportunities will be presented to the national accreditation bodies and stakeholders that digitization can offer them.
Also, in 2020, EA will celebrate the 20th anniversary of its existence and operation. The next General Assembly meeting will be organized by OLAS, the Luxembourg National Accreditation Body. It will take place in Luxembourg on 13 and 14 May 2020.
During this meeting, 17 resolutions were adopted. The most significant ones are listed here:
Resolution 2019 (44) 02
The General Assembly adopted version no. 4 proposals for the EA MLA mark (EAGA document (19) 11-18) and authorized the EA Executive Committee to continue the formal registration of the EA MLA mark.
EA Resolution 2019 (44) 03
The General Assembly, on the recommendation of the Executive Committee, adopted the EA Work Program for 2020 of 7 July 2019 (EAGA document (19) 11-9).
EA Resolution 2019 (44) 06
The General Assembly ratifies the results of the electronic ballots completed since the last General Assembly meeting according to Document EAGA(19)11-26.
EA Resolution 2019 (44) 08
The General Assembly, acting upon the recommendation of the Executive Committee, endorses the revised forecast of the accounts 2019 (Document EAGA(19)11-24).
Resolution EA 2019 (44) 09
The General Assembly, acting upon the recommendation of the Executive Committee, endorses the revised membership fee schedule for 2020 (Document EAGA(19)11-29).
Resolution EA 2019 (44) 10
The General Assembly, acting upon recommendation of the Inspection Committee, agrees that the EA IC starts a new work item to revise EA-5/02: EA Guidance on the Application of ISO/IEC 17020 in Periodic Inspection of the Roadworthiness of Motor Vehicles and their Trailers according to the rationale for revision set out in Document EAGA(19)11-14).
EA Resolution 2019 (44) 11
The General Assembly adopted the following resolutions, adopted at the 33rd Annual General Meeting of the IAF General Assembly in Frankfurt from 28 to 30 October 2019, as applicable to EA and its members:
IAF Resolution 2019-14 – (Agenda Item 9) Endorsement of ISO/IEC 17029:2019 as a Normative Document
-The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the Technical Committee, resolved to endorse ISO/IEC 17029:2019, when published as an IAF normative document.
IAF Resolution 2019-15 – (Agenda Item 9) Accredited Certification Only Issued Against Normative Documents That Contain Requirements
-The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the Technical Committee, resolved that accredited certification shall only be issued against documents/standards that contain requirements.
IAF Resolution 2019-16 – (Agenda Item 9) Withdrawal of IAF MD3:2008 – Advanced Surveillance and Recertification Procedures
-The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the Technical Committee, resolved to immediately withdraw IAF MD3:2008 Advanced Surveillance and Recertification Procedures (ASRP)
Certification bodies will have one year following withdrawal, to transition their certified organizations away from IAF MD3.
IAF Resolution 2019-17 – (Agenda Item 9) Transitional Arrangements for ISO 22301:2019
-The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the Technical Committee, resolved that the Transitional Arrangement for the Revision of ISO 22301 Societal security – Business continuity management systems – Requirements be three years from the last day of the month of publication of the revised standard.
All ISO 22301:2012 certifications shall expire or be withdrawn at the end of the transition period.
Within this transition timeline:
- ABs shall be ready to carry out transition assessments for ISO 22301:2019 within six months from the last day of the month of publication of the revised standard.
- CABs shall complete the transition with ABs for ISO 22301:2019 within 18 months from the last day of the month of publication of the revised standard.
- CABs shall cease conducting initial and recertification audits to ISO 22301:2012 18 months from the last day of the month of publication of the revised standard.
IAF Resolution 2019-18 – (Agenda Item 9) Transitional Arrangements for ISO 14064-3:2019
-The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the Technical Committee, resolved that the transition arrangement for the revision of ISO 14064-3 shall be four years from 30 April 2019. Any Greenhouse Gas Validation and Verification engagements commenced after 30 April 2023 shall be performed to ISO 14064-3:2019.
Within this transition timeline:
- ABs shall be ready to carry out ISO 14065 assessments using 14064-3: 2019 for conformity assessment schemes that reference ISO 14064-3 within 18 months from 30 April 2019.
- Where local legislation/regulation requires accredited validation/verification referencing ISO 14064-3:2006 and has not been amended to reference ISO 14064-3:2019, the use of ISO 14064-3:2006 in accredited validation/verification may be extended.
IAF Rezolucija 2019-19 - (tačka 9 dnevnog reda) Prelazni periodi za standard ISO 14065: 202h
-The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the Technical Committee, resolved that the transition arrangement for the revision of ISO 14065 shall be three years from the date of publication of ISO 14065:202x.
- ABs shall be ready to carry out transition assessment against the new version of ISO 14065 within 12 months from the date of publication.
- All accreditation against the new version of ISO 14065 shall require accreditation to ISO/IEC 17029.
- Where local legislation/regulation requires accredited validation/verification referencing ISO 14065:2013 and has not been amended to reference the new version of ISO 14065, the use of ISO 14065:2013 in accredited validation/verification may be extended.
IAF Resolution 2019-24 – (Agenda Item 10) IAF MLA Sub-Scope Extension to ISO 45001
-The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the Executive Committee, endorsed the extension of the IAF MLA under the Main Scope of Management Systems Certification – ISO/IEC 17021-1 to the Sub-Scope ISO/IEC TS 17021-10 as Level 4 Sub-Scope and ISO 45001 as Level 5 Sub-Scope in accordance to IAF PL3 Policies and Procedures for the Expansion of the Scope of the IAF MLA.
EA Resolution 2019 (44) 12
The General Assembly, acting upon the recommendation of the Executive Committee, endorses the revision of EA-1/06 in order to introduce ISO/IEC 17029 in the EA MLA Structure as aforementioned. Due to the limited amendments, the General Assembly agrees that the draft document shall be circulated for comments to EA General Assembly members and stakeholders only (stage 2 according EA-1/14 Procedure for Development and Approval of EA Documents and Adoption of ILAC/IAF Documents).
