The European co-operation for accreditation (EA), has published on its website that the revised document EA-INF/03 has been released, in which you can see the new status of ATS as a signatory to the EA MLA Agreement in the field of Proficiency Testing Providers (PTP).
You can download the document HERE
The 21st International Congress of Metrology (CIM) will be held from March 7th to 10th, 2023 in Lyon, French Republic. Participants will have access to 200 conferences divided into technical sessions, oral presentations, posters and round tables.
You can view in detail HERE
Sincerely,
Your ATS
The International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC), announced the winner of the poster design competition for this year’s WAD, on the theme: ‘’Supporting the Future of Global Trade’’, which is traditionally celebrated on June 9th annually.
Vivek Vardhan won first place among many designers and won a prize of $1,500. This colorful design is inspired by the Sanskrit phrase: ‘’Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’’ which means: ‘’The world is one family’’, highlighting the importance of accreditation in promoting quality worldwide and facilitating trade as the global economy has gone through many challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic.
You can view it in detail HERE
Sincerely,
Your ATS
Regarding the decision on the extension of the EA MLA agreement to PT providers (EN ISO/IEC 17043) which is valid from October 15th, 2022 during the 52nd session of the General Assembly of the European co-operation for accreditation (EA General Assembly) held in Brussels, on November 23rd and 24th, 2022, ATS was honored and recognized for the results of work in the field of accreditation of PT providers, by organizing a ceremonial signing of extension of the EA MLA agreement to the field of PT providers (EN ISO/IEC 17043).
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You can view it in detail: HERE►
Sincerely
Your ATS
Within the framework of the IPA 2017 ''EU FOR SERBIA - Support for safer products'' for institutions of the quality infrastructure of the Republic of Serbia, under the auspices of the Ministry of Economy, a study visit to the institutions of the European Commission was made possible in Brussels, 11th to 13th October 2022.
The delegation from Serbia consisted of representatives from the Ministry of Economy, the Accreditation Body of Serbia, the Directorate for Measures and Precious Metals, the Institute for Standardization of Serbia, and the Ministry of Trade, Tourism, and Telecommunications.
Representatives of institutions from Serbia were able to visit the European Commission (DG GROW) as well as other organizations such as CEN/CENELEC, Association ''Small Business Standards''.
You can view it in detail: HERE►
Sincerely,
Your ATS
Summarizing impressions from the 42nd EA of the Committee for Communications and Publications (CPC) of the European co-operation for accreditation (EA), which was attended by representatives of the Accreditation Body of Serbia (ATS), held on October 12th and 13th in Rome (Italy), which is also the first ''face to face'' meeting in the previous three years.
Many topics were discussed and activities were carried out, including new projects and digital materials, social media experiences, and other communication tools.
Through the implementation of interesting workshops and presentations, EA CPC members significantly contributed to the promotion of EA activities as well as the promotion of the value of accreditation at the national and international levels.
You can view it in detail: HERE►
Sincerely,
Your ATS
The Accreditation Body of Serbia (ATS) in the period from November 15th to 24th, 2021 was the subject of a new peer evaluation by the evaluation team of the European co-operation for accreditation in accordance with the procedure, EA-2/02 M: 2011 EA Policy and Procedures for the Multilateral Agreement (Annex 9).
The EA MAC Council has issued a decision confirming that ATS remains a signatory to the EA MLA in the field of calibration, and testing, including medical testing, inspection, certification of management systems, certification of products, processes, and services, and certification of persons.
Also, the EA MAC confirmed that ATS is compliant with all relevant requirements in the field of PT providers so that ATS can boast of extending its scope of activity, given that the decision was made to extend the EA MLA agreement to PT providers.
Detailed news you can read HERE►
Sincerely,
Your ATS
The EA Multilateral Agreement (EA MAC) Council has just held its 47th meeting on 4-5th October 2022. 62 participants attended the EA MAC meeting, including one EA Advisory Board representative and members from 34 National Accreditation Bodies (NABs). On behalf of the Accreditation Body of Serbia (ATS), MSc Dragan Pušara was present as the ATS Acting Director.
At the MAC meeting, decisions were made on the statuses of EA MLA agreements of individual EA members, participants were introduced to new EA documents, and changes in individual NABs were officially confirmed. One of the changes that was confirmed was the change of leadership in ATS through a positive evaluation of the competencies of the new director, MSc Dragan Pušara.
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Detailed news you can read: HERE►
Sincerely,
Your ATS
The Accreditation Body of Serbia congratulates all its associates, assessors and accredited conformity assessment bodies, friends and employees World Accreditation Day, which is celebrated every year on June 9th by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC).
World Accreditation Day is celebrated with the aim of raising awarness of the importance and significance of accreditation, as well as promotiong the value of accreditation. This year’s WAD theme is ‘’Accreditation: Sustainability in Economic Growth and the Environment’’ and aims to highlight how accreditation and conformity assessment provide global solutions to issues of general importance, such as sustainability in economic growth and environment protection.
You can read detailed text: HERE►
Sincerely,
Your ATS
The 51st session of the EA General Assembly was held from 18th to 19th May 2022, bringing together about 90 participants from 48 national accreditation bodies, as well as representatives of the European Committee, EFTA, 14 recognized stakeholders and the EA Council.
The session was held ‘’remotely’’, and we signle out the following decisions: HERE►
Sincerely,
Yours ATS
On this occasion, the Accreditation Body of Sebia congratulates World Accreditation Day on June 9, 2021 celebrated globally, to all assessors and technical experts, members of ATS bodies and authorities, esteemed representatives of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, representatives of ministries and professional associations, thhe ATS employees and accredited conformity assessment bodies, and representatives of all institutions that cooperate with us.
For more information, please vizit: HERE
Sincerely, Your ATS
World accreditation day #WAD2021
International Accreditation Organizations– International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC), as every year on June 9, 2021, mark World Accreditation Day globally to better inform the public about the importance and value of accreditation.
This year’s theme of the World Accreditation Day for 2021 is: Supporting the Implementation of the SDGs.
For more information on sustainable development goals, joint statement (IAF presiding and ILAC presiding) and short promotional videos, please vizit: HERE►
Sincerely, Your ATS
EA General Assembly held
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, General Assembly (GA) of the European co-operation for Accreditation (EA), which lasted from 25-26 November 2020, took place entirely online.The General Assembly brought together over 80 participants from 50 national accreditation bodies (NABs), the European Commission, EC, recognized stakeholders and EA Advisory Board, with the participation of their chairpersons.
At the meetings that were held in these two days, Aco Janjićević, PhD, the ATS Acting Director. In the continuation of the news, we single out some of the most important decisions that were made. HERE►
Sincerely, Your ATS
RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED AT THE 24TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF ILAC AND RESOLUTIONS AT THE 34TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE IAF
Given the current difficult situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic, online meetings of the 24th General Assembly of ILAC were held on October 22, 2020 and the 34th General Assembly of IAF, November 5, 2020.
Below, we highlight some of the Resolutions adopted HERE►
Sincerely, Your ATS
The NAH and ATS bilateral meetings
In the period from November 23 to 27, 2020, ATS is a host to a dear guest from the region, Mr. Miklós Devecz, the NAH (National Accreditation Body of Hungary) Director and on that occasion bilateral meetings of the two accreditation bodies, NAH and ATS were held. The most important activity of the first two days of the meetings is the harmonization and signing of the Action Plan for 2021 for the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding between NAH and ATS, signed in December 2017.
prof. Aco Janićijević, PhD, the ATS Acting Director and Mr. Miklós Devecz, the NAH Director after signing the Action Plan
For more information please visit: HERE►
Sincerely, your ATS
The preliminary transition period notice for ISO/IEC 27006: 2015 AMD 1: 2020
The preliminary transition period notice for ISO/IEC 27006: 2015 AMD 1: 2020 - Information technology -- Security techniques -- Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of information security management systems - Amendment 1
Members of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) adopted a resolution on the transition period for ISO/IEC 27006: 2015 AMD 1: 2020 in the previous period
Please find the full text of the resolution below:
Transitional Arrangement for ISO/IEC 27006:2015 AMD 1:2020 - The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the Technical Committee, resolved that the Transitional Arrangement associated with ISO/IEC 27006:2015 AMD 1:2020 - Information technology - Security techniques - Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of information security management systems – Amendment 1, will be two years from the last day of the month of publication of the amended standard.
Within this transition timeline:
ABs shall be ready to carry out transition assessments for ISO/IEC 27006:2015 AMD 1:2020, within eight months from the last day of the month of publication of the amended standard.
CBs shall have completed the transition to ISO/IEC 27006:2015 AMD1:2020, through office assessment, within 24 months from the last day of the month of publication of the amended standard.
The Accreditation Body of Serbia (ATS) will implement the transition to ISO/IEC 27006: 2015 AMD 1: 2020 through the assessments of certification bodies, after the adoption of this IAF decision by the European Accreditation Organization (EA). Further information regarding this matter will be published on the ATS website after the EA adopts this decision.
Note 1: ISO/IEC 27006:2015 AMD 1:2020, was published on the 27 March 2020.
Note 2: The transition is not a routine transition from one version of a standard to another. The transition only relates to the specific changes detailed in Amendment 1:2020.
The text of the resolution can be found on the following link: https://www.iaf.nu/articles/ISO_IEC_27006_2015_AMD_1_2020_Transitional_Arrangement_/661
TRANSITION PERIOD FOR ISO/IEC 17025 EXTENDED
As a result of the recent ILAC ballot the transition period for ISO/IEC 17025:2017 adopted as part of the ILAC Resolution GA 20.15 (November 2016) has been extended from 30 November 2020 to 1 June 2021. This extension has been granted to ensure all accreditation bodies and the accredited laboratories are able to achieve the remaining transitions in a robust manner under the restrictions imposed as a result of the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak.
At the end of the transition period, the accreditation of a laboratory to ISO/IEC 17025:2005 will not be recognised under the ILAC Arrangement. The ISO/ILAC ISO/IEC 17025:2017 Transition Communique available from https://ilac.org/about-ilac/partnerships/international-partners/iso/ has been updated to reflect this extension to the transition period.
The Accreditation Body of Serbia will continue the implementation of the remaining transitions through the assessments that are to come (as planned). It will be enabled, however, that assessments shall be implemented in such a way to include the necessary timeline difference with respect to the original plans, taking into account the circumstances resulting from the global pandemic, as well as the detailed risk analysis.
According to the current dynamics and information provided by accredited testing and calibration laboratories, it is planned that, all assessments will be completed by the end of November 2020 that will include the transition to the new edition of the standard.
The Accreditation Body of Serbia has made a successful transition to the new edition of the ISO/IEC 17011:2017
On May 26, 2020, the EA Multilateral Agreement Council (EA MAC) made a decision confirming the ATS successful transition from ISO/IEC 17011:2004 to the new edition of ISO/IEC 17011:2017. It was made by online voting based on the ATS Self-Assessment Report documentary assessment by the team leader.
Hence, ATS has confirmed the previously signed EA MLA on mutual recognition of the equivalence of accreditation systems signed by the EA members' accreditation bodies recognizing the equivalence and reliability of reports and certificates issued by conformity assessment bodies across Europe (the EA region). According to the EA MLA Council (EA MAC) schedule, there will be a regular peer evaluation of ATS on site by EA at the end of 2021.
The decision to make a transition to the new edition of ISO/IEC 17011:2017 is available here.
Sincerely, your ATS
EA MLA Report 2019
EA MLA Report 2019 published
The European co-operation for Accreditation (EA) published the EA MLA Report 2019 on its website on April 14, 2020.
The EA MLA Report 2019 provides information on the activities of the EA Multilateral Agreement Committee (EA MAC) responsible for the efficient and impartial management and monitoring of peer evaluation. It also makes decisions related to the status of a signatory to a multilateral (EA MLA) or bilateral agreement (EA BLA) on the equivalence of the accreditation system at the level of EA or the European Union (EU). Additionally, the report provides an overview of the key activities implemented in 2019, as well as the decisions made regarding the signatories.
The EA MLA is an agreement signed between national accreditation bodies - successfully peer evaluated EA Full and Associate Members - to recognize the equivalence, reliability and acceptance by the European market of certification, verification, inspection and calibration certificates and test reports issued by accredited conformity assessment bodies.
The EA MLA provides the European market with a network of conformity assessment bodies that are competent within their scope of accreditation to issue reliable and credible statements of conformity for products and services, thereby reducing costs and adding value to business and consumers. This contributes to the freedom of trade by eliminating technical barriers.
The main goal of peer evaluation activities is to assess the ongoing compliance of NABs with the internationally agreed requirements. Next, one of their objectives is to ensure that the regulator, stakeholders, and businesses can have confidence in certificates and reports issued by accredited conformity assessment bodies under the EA MLA.
Within the EA MLA/BLA has been signed by 34 EA members so far, the following decisions were made by the EA MLA Council (EA MAC) during 2019 related to extending the signed scope of the agreement or signing a new field of the agreement:
Activities in May:
- National Accreditation Authority (NAH) became a signatory to the EA MLA in the field of proficiency testing providers;
- Slovenian Accreditation, became a signatory of the EA MLA in the field of medical examinations;
- SNAS, Slovak National Accreditation Service, became a signatory to the EA MLA in the field of proficiency testing providers;
-Turkish Accreditation Agency (TURKAK), become a signatory of the EA MLA in the field of Greenhouse Gas Validation and Verification.
Activities in October:
- the German national accreditation body DAkkS, became a signatory of the EA MLA agreement in the field of manufacturers of reference materials according to the ISO 17034 standard;
- Georgian National Accreditation Body became a signatory of the EA BLA in the field of medical examinations according to the ISO 15189.
Since 2017, EA has extended the scope of the EA MLA for reference materials producers (RMP) according to EN ISO 17034. After the first peer evaluations and the first successfully evaluated members in 2018, the scope of the EA MLA was extended in 2019 for seven signatories to this agreement for reference materials producers (RMP).
Also, the scope of the EA MLA was extended in November 2019, by the decision of the General Assembly, to the field of "Validation and Verification", and the EA MLA standard level 3 was adopted standard EN ISO/IEC 17029: Conformity Assessment-General principles and requirements for validation and verification bodies was adopted as a new EA MLA standard level 3.
Peer evaluations according to the new version of EN ISO/IEC 17011 progressed very well in 2019, when about one-third of the signatories of the EA MLA successfully made the transition from the previous version of the standard. Decisions regarding the transition of other signatories to the EA MLA must be made by November 2020.
EA has become the first regional group to sign the ILAC MRA for Proficiency Testing Provider (PT providers) Accreditation under ISO/IEC 17043.
MAC Chair, Paulo Tavares (IPAC, Portugal), points out that we will face significant challenges in the future. The COVID-19 pandemic, which will contribute to the current unfavorable situation worldwide as well as the financial crisis will have an impact on the infrastructure for conformity assessment. He adds that strong, but also flexible systems of accreditation and peer evaluation are vital for maintaining trust in the public service provided by accreditation bodies.
You can download the EA MLA Report 2019 here.
The EA release: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak
The European co-operation for Accreditation (EA) published a statement on its website on the impact of the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, as follows:
Due to the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the subsequent travel restrictions established by national governments in the vast majority of countries both conformity assessment and accreditation activities have been seriously affected in different ways. In particular, conformity assessment bodies (CABs) and national accreditation bodies (NABs) are being forced to cancel or postpone most of their “in situ” activities such as on-site assessments, audits, witnessing visits and inspections and they will have to face the situation of only being able to provide their services with a workforce that that is now mostly working remotely. This will affect the service provided and also lead to a possible temporary lack of access to certain supplies or services normally subcontracted by the CABs.
Under these circumstances although not all the applicable standards foresee the use of remote assessment techniques, including document reviews, and recognizing that these assessment techniques may not always enable exactly the same objective to be achieved as on-site assessments, EA suggests the use of these techniques whenever needed to substitute or complement on-site assessments.
Nevertheless EA recognises that, in certain circumstances, accredited CABs and NABs will have to take difficult decisions that could include stopping the provision of certain services or temporarily deviating, in order to be able to provide the services, from certain requirements included in the standards or in the accreditation rules.
When facing these situations, both EA members and accredited CABs are required to act responsibly, to analyse the risk of providing services with deviations from the requirements and not to provide them if such deviations jeopardize the technical validity of that specific activity. EA also expects EA NABs and accredited CABs to act with full transparency, informing affected clients of any change in the procedures and keeping records justifying the decisions taken.
Accreditation is an international activity so we recommend both NABs and accredited CABs to visit the ILAC and IAF websites where they can find useful information regarding aspects of global impact. This information also contains valuable information regarding required transition periods like the transition of laboratories to ISO/IEC 17025:2017.
For activities performed in the regulatory field or under a specific scheme CABs must seek information from scheme owners or relevant competent authorities on how they expect related conformity assessment activities should be handled under these circumstances.
As the situation is constantly changing and different countries are establishing different measures to adapt to it, accredited CABs should contact their NAB for further details or questions.
EA will closely follow the development of the coronavirus crisis in order to take any further action when needed and will publish more specific advice and relevant information.
Further information from IAF: https://iaffaq.com
Further information from ILAC: https://ilac.org/latest_ilac_news/potential-impact-of-coronavirus-outbreak-on-accreditation-activities
Sincerely, your ATS
IAF Frequently Asked Questions list: COVID-19
Call to action for all certification bodies to follow IAF guidelines
All certification bodies are invited to follow the IAF guidelines given at https://iaffaq.com/ through the FAQ Forum regarding the new situation related to COVID-19, and accredited certification.
In order to address some of your doubts, IAF has published the answers to the most frequently asked questions (https://iaffaq.com/) regarding the situation on its website. The answers are being updated on a daily basis, so it is necessary for accredited certification bodies to regularly monitor the forum.
Should you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact Natalija Jovicic Zaric MSc, Assistant Director of Development and Quality via e-mail: office@ats.rs
IAF CertSearch is a global database where users can search and validate the status of accredited certification issued by a Certification Body which has been accredited by an IAF signatory member Accreditation Body under main scope ISO/IEC 17021-1. The base started operating on February 1, 2020. So far, over 1,000,000 certificates have been issued throughout the accreditation community, and in the IAF CertSearch system, 68 accreditation bodies have activated their accounts and stored details of 909 certification bodies, 7 of which are Serbian, and 402,082 certificates. The database has been officially named as IAF CERTSEARCH and will be available through the IAFCERTSEARCH.org domain upon publication.
The European Accreditation Organization (EA) published the document EA-INF/17:2020 Register of EA resolutions for use by the EA, National Accreditation Bodies and EA evaluators on its website on January 6, 2020. This document contains a register of all relevant EA resolutions that have not been transferred in EA documents but that are still valid for conformity assessment bodies, national accreditation bodies, and evaluators.
The 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.
The Joint Commission (JC) for Economic Cooperation between the Republic of Serbia and Hungary 10th meeting of was held in Budapest from 12 to 13 November 2019. On that occasion, the 2020 Action Plan between the Accreditation Body of Serbia (ATS) and the National Accreditation Body of Hungary (NAH) was signed, among other things. Co-presidents Goran Knezevic, Minister of Economy of the Republic of Serbia, and Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary were the chairmenof the delegations.
