Celebration on the occasion of the Accreditation Day in the Republic of Serbia

The Accreditation Body of Serbia (ATS) on 28th June, 2022 in ‘’mts Dvorana’’, Belgrade organized a celebration on the occasion of the Accreditation Day in the Republic of Serbia, when the first certificate of accreditation was issued 22 years ago. 

This was also an opportunity to mark and celebrate WAD, which is globally celebrated on June 9th, a date jointly established by ILAS (International Organization for Laboratory Accreditation) and IAF (International Accreditation Forum), through the promotion of accreditation from the current topic named as: Accreditation: Sustainability in Economic Growth and the Environment which aims to draw attention to how accreditation and conformity assessment provide global solutions to issues of general importance, such as sustainability in economic growth and environmental protection.

The ceremony in ‘’mts Dvorana’’ was attended by the representatives of the Ministry of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, representatives of state institutions and universities, distinguished guests from the region, members of ATS organs and bodies, assessors, experts as well as decision-making experts. 

Milan Ljušić, State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy 

On behalf of the Ministry of Economy, Milan Ljušić, State Secretary and President of the Management Board of ATS, addressed the audience. On this occasion, he spoke about the role of the Ministry of Economy as the coordinator for technical regulations and the body responsible for creating strategy and implementing the policy of development of standardization, accreditation and metrology. He also mentioned the activities of the Ministry of Economy in the field of quality infrastructure and accreditation in the past period, and pointed out the existence of multiple benefits from accreditation that have not only consumers and suppliers, but also the entire economy and quality infrastructure of the Republic of Serbia.

Anita Krulanović, director of the Accreditation Body of Montenegro

ATS had the great honour and pleasure to host Mrs Anita Krulanović, director of the Accreditation Body of Montenegro, with which accreditation body ATS nurtures one of the successful MoU.

MSc Dragan Pušara, ATS Acting Director

One of the most current information and news in ATS, which was announced to the guests of the meeting, is that on June 9th, 2022, by the decision of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, MSc Dragan Pušara, was appointed as the new acting director of ATS.
His biography was briefly presented, in which it is mentioned that by vocation he is a doctor of veterinary medicine, with postgraduate studies in the field of food quality and safety, at the faculties in Ghent and Nantes as a TEMPUS scholarship holder, and was trained in the filed of quality and management at universities in Jerusalem, Wageningen and Taiwan. He has 20 years of experience as a leader of projects and institutional teams as well as in managing complex regional initiatives. Some of the key achivements in his career are the creation of a national programme for certification of the food industry, the introduction of standards for trade in fresh food, as well as the implementation of the reform of the inspection system in Serbia. He is a lead assessor of several management system standards and an assessor of several accreditation standards and a member of the ATS team that successfully passed the first EA peer evaluation.

MSc Dragan Pušara, was not able to attend the ceremony, but addressed to the guests of the ceremony via video production. He referred to his business journey in ATS since 2007 through the functions of accreditation file manager, assessor, quality manager, as well as deputy director of ATS. During the presentation, he gave importance to the mission of ATS, which is to invest in the most important resource, and that is people, in this case ATS employees, with the aim of preserving and improving quality performance to meet all that accreditation challenges that will be brougth in the future. He also mentioned the successful results of the peer evaluation conducted by European co-operation for accreditation. He wished the guests of the gathering a happy Accreditation Day via a video message.

ATS had the great honour of having Maria Papatzikou as a special guest for the Accreditation day, Chair of the Multilateral Agreement Council (EA MLA) and a head of the quality management of the Hellenic Accreditation Body (ESYD), who addressed via digital production and commented on the successful cooperation of ESYD and ATS since 2009, which was recently successfully renewed by signing a MoU. Maria Papatzikou managed to make the guests of the celebration smile when she congratulated the Accreditation Day in Serbian.

Maria Papatzikou, Chair of the Multilateral Agreement Council (EA MLA) and a head of the quality management of the Hellenic Accreditation Body (ESYD)

20 years with us
The central part of the celebration referred to the segment ‘’20 years with us’’ and on that occasion, special attention was paid to accredited bodies that received the first accreditation certificate exactly 20 years ago. State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy Milan Ljušić presented letters of thanks and plaques, thus acknowledging the long-term cooperation of the bodies:

Institute of Public Health Vranje, Center for Hygiene and Human Ecology; Institut Mihajlo Pupin DOO Belgrade, Center for Gas Engineering; HIP – Petrohemija AD Pančevo, Corporate Affairs Sector, Laboratory Working Unit; Welding Institute DOO, Laboratory, Institute for Public Health Belgrade; JUGOINSPEKT BEOGRAD A.D.,  Sector for Agriculture and Food Industry- Topčider Instiute, Laboratory for testing the quality and health of products, Belgrade; Institute GOŠA doo Belgrade, Institute for testing and inspection; EKO-LAB DOO PADINSKA SKELA; Institute for Hygiene and Meat Technology, Laboratory for biotechnological research and inspection of food safety and quality; Alfa Inženjering doo Novi Sad; MESSER TEHNOGAS AD BELGRADE, Laboratory for mechanical and chemical testing and calibration; Institute for Public Health Subotica, Centreć for Hygiene and Human Ecology; NORTH CONTROL DOO SUBOTICA, NORTH Inspect; PANCERT DOO NOVI SAD.

Lauerates

Miloš Pavlović, director of the Welding Institute, spoke on behalf of all the laureates from the CABs.

Miloš Pavlović, director of Welding Institute

Assessors/experts who celebrated 20 years of work in the Register of ATS assessors and experts also received special attention at the celebration, who on this occasion received certificates of appreciation and plaques for long-term cooperation and contribution to the development of the accreditation system and the quality of ATS operations.
The State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy, Milan ljušić, presented certificates of appreciation and plaques, thus acknowledging long-term cooperation to:
Ranka Đurić; Branko Mašanović; Smiljana Raičević; Mirjana Đogo; Ljiljana Markićević; Natalija Jovičić Zarić.

Lauerates

Mrs. Mirjana Đogo, the lead assessor of the laboratory for testing and calibration, spoke in front of the laureates of assessors and experts. 

Mirjana Đogo, lead assessor for testing and calibration

During the solemn meeting, tributes were paid to the deceased associates and dear colleagues who passed away in the last year to whom gratitude was expressed for everything they did in their professional careers and work for ATS, as well as deep regret for the loss of great experts, friends and respected colleagues.

Dragan Dramlić, PhD and Aleksa Višnjić will forever remain in our hearts and will be remembered as experts who contributed to the development of the accreditation system with their knowledge and skills.

During the programme of the ceremony, the guests had the opportunity to enjoy a short promotional film prepared by IAF and ILAC on the occasion of the WAD, presenting the current topic ‘’Sustainability in Economic Growth and the Environment“.

Jasna Stojanović, Deputy Director of ATS, spoke a little more about the activities of ATS, new accreditation schemes, the successfully implemented peer evaluation, as well as the new Law on accreditation.

Jasna Stojanović, Deputy Director of ATS

About the current changes in documentation that are important for the work of accredited bodies was presented by MSc Milica Jovičić, assistant director for the accreditation process.

MSc Milica Jovičić, assistant director for the accreditation process of ATS

The programme of the celebration of the Accreditation Day ended after 2 hours, and the dear guests continued socializing at a cocktail party in the lobby of the ’’mts Dvorana’’, in a good and relaxed mood.

ATS employees

Sincerely, Your ATS