• ILAC/IAF Cancun, Mexico • Confidence in Measurements • CASCO ...

ILAC NewsIssue 31, April/May 2007www.ilac.org• ILAC/IAFCancun,Mexico• Confidence inMeasurements• CASCO updateSydney hosts thenext ILAC/IAF JointGeneral Assembly19–31 October 2007ILAC News 1

Beatrice Mary Mutabazi.MRS BEATRICE MUTABAZI 1953–2006Beatrice Mary Mutabazi, a prominentfigure in the promotion of accreditationin southern Africa, died suddenly lastNovember.Beatrice was born on 29 August 1953 atMissenyi, Bukoba Rural District, Tanzania.She attended primary and secondary schoolin Uganda, graduating with a Bachelor ofScience, with Honors in Agriculture atthe Makerere University in Uganda, shealso obtained a diploma in Education andspecialised in Food Science.In January 1977 after her graduationBeatrice joined the National Bank ofCommerce as Assistant Operations Manager,responsible for advising and processing loansto food industries and farmers in Tanzania.In October of that year she joined TanzaniaBureau of Standards (TBS) as a StandardsOfficer responsible for drafting Tanzaniastandards for the agriculture and foodsectors.Beatrice worked herself up the ranksat TBS becoming head of the QualityManagement Department in 1986 and in1993 she was promoted to Deputy Directorof TBS, the position she held until herdeath. During her tenure at TBS she chaireda number of committees, apart from theseshe was also involved in a number of othercommittees in Tanzania.In the international arena Beatriceparticipated in several study tours, routinefactory visits and training courses to Sweden,Britain, Malaysia, Zimbabwe, Hungary,Tanzania, Kenya, Mauritius, Cyprus, Ireland,Singapore, Thailand, South Africa andthe USA, primarily to familiarise herselfwith standardisation and quality assuranceactivities.In 1997 at a meeting in Geneva, Beatricewas introduced to the Southern AfricanDevelopment Community in Accreditation(SADCA) by Mike Peet who at that stagewas the Regional Coordinator. Beatrice hadnot heard of accreditation although she wasvery familiar with quality and standardisation.From the onset Beatrice told Mike that shewas interested “in this accreditation story,”as she aptly called it. If it meant progress forher country and for Africa she supported it,she attended her first SADCA meeting in1998 in Angola.“The voice of our friendand colleague, the SADCAChairperson, Mrs BeatriceMutabazi, will be silentforever. Beatrice was takenaway from us suddenlyon 25 November 2006,”…..Marie Chilcott, SouthAfrica.In 1999 Beatrice was elected as the ViceChair of SADCA. At the 2004 annualSADCA meeting, Beatrice was elected asChairperson, a position she held until herdeath.In 2002 SADCA became a regionalbody member of both the InternationalLaboratory Accreditation Cooperation(ILAC) and the International AccreditationForum (IAF). In conjunction with all theregional positions held by Beatrice, asSADCA Chairperson she was elected tothe Executive Committees of both ILACand IAF. As a member of the ExecutiveCommittees, Beatrice worked tirelesslyto bring the problems and concerns ofher beloved Africa to the attention of theinternational accreditation community. Ateach and every meeting Beatrice wouldreport on the progress, if not, then whynot, of Africa, but in particular that of theSouth African Development Community(SADC) region and would always look foropportunities to place Africa on the globalmap.In 2005 Beatrice was elected IAFChairperson of the Development SupportCommittee, a Committee concerned withsupport for developing countries. Similarly,ILAC also had a Development SupportCommittee and together with the ILACChairperson of their Development SupportCommittee, Beatrice co-chaired this jointILAC/IAF Committee.Back home in the SADC region, Beatricewas a dedicated Chairperson for SADCAand worked, as always, with enthusiasm topromote accreditation in the region in orderfor SADCA to be able to compete in theglobal accreditation market and for its exportproducts to be accepted internationally. Asresources, both human and financial, havealways been a problem in the region, Beatricemade use of every available opportunity tomeet and discuss with donors the possiblefunding for capacity building in our region.Her sudden death has left the SADCaccreditation community, and theinternational accreditation community witha gap of a very capable person who alwaysworked with such passion and enthusiasmto promote accreditation in SADC and alsoAfrica. Beatrice has also left a huge gapin the services of the Tanzania Bureau ofStandards.ILAC News 5

ILAC News| Committee NewsILAC committee newsArrangement Committee meeting – Cancun 2006By Orna Dreazen*The Arrangement Committee (ARC) metfor two days in Cancun prior to the GeneralAssembly meeting, in early November. Theagenda attracted many observers. The chairthanked all members and observers forshowing interest and their contribution tothe discussions.According to the ARC work plan, thecommittee concentrates on issues related tothree main topics:• Guidance to ISO/IEC 17011.• ILAC Arrangement.• Cooperation with stakeholders.Guidance to ISO/IEC 17011The committee discussed the commentson draft 10 of the joint Guidance documentand recommended that draft 11 becirculated to ILAC and IAF members forcomments.ARC members reviewed the requirementfor use of the accreditation symbol inclause 8.3.1 of ISO/IEC 17011 concerning“a clear indication as to which activity theaccreditation is related to”.Helen Liddy summarised the September2006 APLAC MRA Council discussion onthis issue. A discussion paper by TerenceChan and an APLAC survey were providedin the ARC agenda papers. Issues raisedincluded overburdening the conformityassessment body (CAB), and educating theuser to look beyond a simple reference tothe conformity assessment activity, as well aslanguage issues.The ILAC members and regions have notreached uniformity in the interpretationof this requirement. To avoid the situationwhere accreditation bodies (ABs), withrecognition from multiple regions, haveto meet different requirements, a globalapproach was suggested to resolve this issueand harmonise the interpretation of thisrequirement.It was agreed to initiate the APLAC surveyto all ILAC members and alert the JointCommittee for Closer Cooperation (JCCC)to this issue suggesting that IAF may alsowish to circulate the survey.ILAC ArrangementCross-Frontier AccreditationThere was a long debate on whether allmembers can comply with ILAC G21,on Cross Frontier Accreditation, if it isincluded into the P Series documents. Itwas argued that accreditation is a noncommercialactivity that cannot be appliedto anti-trust laws, as well as the point thatILAC/IAF General Assembly conference dinner, Cancun, Mexico.accreditation’s role is to protect public healthand safety efforts.Accordingly the ARC proposed a changeto the Auckland resolution which wassubsequently accepted during the CancunGeneral Assembly meeting:“The GA agrees to amend ILACresolution GA 9.31 to read:All ILAC members shall have a crossfrontieraccreditation policy which takes intoaccount G21”.The ARC agreed that the revision of G21would be completed at their next meeting,taking account of the GA decision.Publication of the revised ILAC P1 andP3 had been placed on-hold waiting for theinvestigation into possible issues relating toanti-trust laws. Progress can now be madewith these documents.Many comments about the A-seriesdocuments were received prior to andduring the Cancun meetings. It was notedthat a thorough revision is needed but theJoint Working Group (JWG ) on A-SeriesMaintenance didn’t have sufficient time todiscuss all the new issues raised. RevisedA-Series documents, relating to commentsreceived before Cancun, will now be votedon. The JWG will then further revise thedocuments, taking into account the manyother comments received, at their nextmeeting.Expansion of the scope of theMRAARC members, Gro Rodland and TonyRussell, prepared a procedure regardingthe Expansion of the ILAC MRA. Theprocedure was circulated for comments,these were discussed during the meeting andamended accordingly. ILAC members arenow voting on this.Hans Mittmann reported on thetraining workshop with members of theArrangement Management Committee(AMC) and regional evaluators.There was an A1 presentation and then anexchange of experiences. The A-Series JWGconveners received many good suggestionsfor improving A1, including adding guidanceon evaluating the secretariat, decisionmaking, monitoring and witnessing.There are divergent views concerning thebenefits of witnessing and this will have tobe further discussed. A working group wasestablished to examine the pros and cons ofwitnessing at both the regional and the ABlevel.Revisions to ILAC P12 were suggestedby Dr. Helen Liddy to improve the level ofcooperation between the regions and ILAC.The revisions suggested that regions informILAC and other regions about their workitems, that the region shepherds the projectthrough the early stages, with input fromILAC and other regions, and if and whenthe project gets to a global level, ILAC invitethe regions to give the work to ILAC. It wasunderstood that in certain cases, the regionalwork is relevant only to that region.Presently, in accordance with P12, theregions report at the respective ILACcommittees and then a discussion aboutresponsibility for the project takes place,noting this process is not well implementedwithin all of the ILAC committees.A revision of P12 will be discussed in thenext ARC meeting. A revision of ILAC P4is also currently underway.Cooperation with stakeholdersILAC liaison activities with ISO, CASCO,OIML, REMCO and OECD were reviewed.It was noted that the ARC needs to lookfor new ways to enlarge the outreach tomore stakeholders. The committee willreview the results of the ILAC surveyregarding cooperation of ILAC memberswith regulators, to learn what is needed toencourage new regulators to benefit fromILAC work.*Orna Dreazen - Chair, Arrangement Committee,General Director.6 Issue 31 | April/May 2007

ILAC News| Committee NewsWhat is your target?ILAC Marketing and Communications Committee (MCC)By Ian Roy*The ILAC Marketing andCommunications Committee (MCC)held a Marketing Workshop at the ILACMeetings in Cancun in November 2006.The purpose of the workshop wasto provide general guidance on whatmarketing is, in relation to accreditationbodies and to highlight the resources thathave been developed by the MCC for useby accreditation bodies. The workshopwas attended by 64 people representingaccreditation bodies from around theworld.Jon Murthy of UKAS provided asuccinct overview of what marketing was,and what a marketing plan contained. Jonalso spoke about the distinctly differenttarget audiences that would be interestedin accreditation and emphasised that itwas important to prioritise which specificaudiences an accreditation body saw asimportant. Limited resources means anaccreditation body has to select the mostimportant audiences.Jon emphasised it was also importantto understand the differing needs oftarget audiences, with one message for allaudiences being inappropriate.The subjects of ‘communication’ and‘business tools’ were also identified byJon as crucial to successfully marketingan accreditation body’s business. Allaccreditation bodies, irrespective oftheir size and budget, can choose howthey will communicate their messageto their target audiences, from using asophisticated website, to letters, emails,brochures, DVDs and presentations. Nomatter what method of communication anaccreditation body chooses to use, keepingthe message consistent and building abrand, through the consistent applicationof an accreditation body logo to all themarketing materials, is crucial to gettingthe message across to different targetaudiences.There are many sources of informationthat can be used to develop anaccreditation body’s own marketingcampaign. Of primary importance is the‘brochure series’ of documents availableon the ILAC website (http://www.ilac.org/brochures.html). The titles includeWhy Use an Accredited Laboratory?Why Become an Accredited Laboratory?How Does Using an Accredited LaboratoryBenefi t Government and Regulators?The Advantages of Being an AccreditedLaboratory.Laboratory Accreditation or ISO 9001Certifi cation.These documents are also availablein Chinese, Japanese, Hindi, Spanish,Russian, French and German languages.Some brochures are available in HTMLformat so the text can be cut and pastedto an individual accreditation body’spromotional and marketing literature.Do you know your target?Some accreditation bodies have alreadyprinted the ILAC brochures with theaccreditation body’s contact details andlogo clearly visible. The accreditationbody does not need to research, write, oredit the brochures. Simply printing withthe accreditation body’s information onthe brochures is all that is required toprovide a valuable marketing resourcefor accreditation bodies. However, someaccreditation bodies have translated thebrochures to the language used in theirown economy.The ILAC website also contains aseries of PowerPoint presentations thathave been prepared for accreditationbodies to use in meetings or workshops.In addition, a CD-ROM, developed bythe MCC, was distributed in Cancun toenable accreditation bodies to createtheir own pop-up banner which can beused at events. Primer documents arealso downloadable from the site, whichprovides members with a step-by-stepguide to carry out their own marketinginitiatives.The EA and APLAC websites also haveweb based resources that accreditationbodies may freely use.At the workshop, the brochures werecolourfully displayed in large format forall to see. Members of the MCC providedfurther explanation of the brochuresto the workshop attendees during themorning break.Other speakers at the workshopwere Maria Oldegard from SWEDAC,Martine Blum from COFRAC, andGiselle Guevara from TTLABS, whoalong with Jon Murthy from UKAS,provided inspiring examples of marketingcampaigns from their respectiveaccreditation bodies.Giselle emphasised that the Trinidadand Tobago accreditation body, TTLABS,was a small accreditation body on amodest budget, but there were manymarketing initiatives TTLABS successfullyconducted without the budget of a largeraccreditation body.A common theme at the workshop thatwas shared by all speakers, irrespective ofthe size of their accreditation body andmarketing budget, was the use of creativityand imagination as valuable and free toolsto be used in an accreditation body’smarketing campaign.It was universally agreed by the speakersthat the documents the MCC haveprovided, the brochure series (available inseveral languages) are a key resource thatall accreditation bodies can use.The marketing workshop feedbacksurvey has indicated the event was a majorsuccess with 94 per cent of respondentsnoting the workshop was ‘good toexcellent’. Many respondents requestedthe marketing workshop be repeated againduring the ILAC meetings scheduled forSydney in 2007.*Ian Roy - Manager, International Affairs andGovernment Liaison, International AccreditationNew Zealand.ILAC News 7

ILAC News| Committee NewsILAC Marketing andCommunications CommitteeBy Graham Talbot*The Marketing and CommunicationsCommittee (MCC) held its first meeting of2007 in Bangkok on 22 and 23 February.Eleven participants and a number ofrepresentatives from Accreditation Bodies(ABs) attended the MCC for the first time.The meeting made good progress on anumber of topics.ILAC WebsiteFor the first time, since the new websitewas launched in October 2006 MCCexamined the statistics on the use of theILAC website. At present, the softwarethat monitors the website only provideslimited information on how the website isbeing used and which documents or pagesare the most popular. The consensusreached was that MCC looks at this infurther depth so the committee can focuswork more effectively in the future.The present trends indicate that thenumber of visits to the website is slowlyincreasing each month, with approximately18,000 visits in January. As might beexpected, the most popular pages includemembers’ contact details, About ILAC,the Guidance Series documents, andResources. ILAC News is the mostpopular download (in terms of numberof people downloading it). Many peopleare still attempting to access the sitethrough URLs that were part of the oldwebsite, but these numbers are now slowlydecreasing.The new website can be accessed bygoing to: www.ilac.orgILAC’s 30th AnniversaryPlans to recognise the 30th anniversaryof ILAC this year were also discussed. Anumber of actions were agreed, including30th anniversary branding on the ILACwebsite home page, a media releaseabout the 30 years of ILAC history, withdetails of key milestones and events fordistribution to Regions and ABs for theiruse in their promotions, and plans forarticles in the next edition of ILAC News.Marketing workshop forSydneyFollowing the success of the marketingworkshop in Cancun, attended by morethan 60 participants, the committee hasstarted future planning for a follow-onworkshop to take place immediatelyprior to the General Assembly in Sydneyin October 2007. This will build on thetopics covered in Cancun and will focusmore on lower cost solutions for effectivemarketing and give examples that havealready been successful for ABs. TheMCC is also looking ahead to the meetingsin Stockholm in 2008, where the themeof the workshop will possibly be morefocused on communications.The MCC’s Terms of Reference,Strategic Objectives and Work Plan werereviewed and revised, and these will beplaced on the website shortly.ILAC News member surveysThe MCC is currently planning twosurvey questionnaires designed to gainfeedback on whether ILAC News ismeeting the expectations of Members.Details on the first survey can be accessedby going to www.ilac.org/survey. A secondsurvey will be conducted in 2008 andwill focus on whether ILAC is providingthe right marketing and communicationsresources to its members.Of course there is still work to be done,and we welcome people to take part in theMCC to help with this. MCC are lookingto develop and enhance the ILAC ‘housestyle’,including providing a template fordownloadable copies of ILAC successstories, and creating a simple documentthat outlines the process and route for newILAC AB Members to reach ILAC MRAsignatory status. Further progress on thesemeasures will be made at the next meetingscheduled to take place in Berlin in July.*Graham Talbot, Chair ILAC Marketing andCommunications Committee.ILAC IntranetThe development by the Secretariatof the Intranet for use by members ofcommittees and their working groups isprogressing. This will mean that workingcommittee documents will be able tobe held centrally and made available forcommittee members’ use, prior to thestage when recognised drafts are put intothe general Members Resource area ofthe website. This will help ensure thatcommittees can more easily keep all theirmembers informed of the progress ofwork items.ILAC Marketing and Communications Committee meets in Bangkok.8 Issue 31 | April/May 2007

ILAC News| Committee NewsFour Laboratory Committee Chairs - (Left to Right) Mr Alan Bryden 1996-1998 (LNE, France) - Mr Tony Anderson (NCSLI, USA) 2002 – 2006, Dr MaireWalsh elected Chair 2006 (EURACHEM, Ireland) and Mr David Stanger 1998 - 2002 (UILI, Belgium).Former Laboratory Committeechairs are put in the pictureIn an attempt to source the bestphotograph David Stanger, a formerLaboratory Committee Chair, recently sentout a request to every member of ILAC,for copies of a photo taken at the SigningCeremony in Cancun Mexico, of the fourindividuals that have been Chairs of theILAC Laboratory Committee.By chance, the best result was from thecamera of ILAC’s guest Alan Bryden,Secretary General of the InternationalOrganisation for Standardisation (ISO),and the photo was taken by Jill Stanger.During the ILAC 2006 proceedingsMaire Walsh was elected as the fourthILAC Laboratory Committee Chair andAlan Bryden, Secretary General of ISO,noticed the unique opportunity duringthe Signing Ceremony to record themeeting of the four ILAC Stakeholderrepresentatives that have held the positionof Laboratory Committee Chair. AlanBryden (France), David Stanger (Belgium/UK), Tony Anderson (USA) and MaireWalsh (Ireland) were all attending ILAC2006.ILAC records show that the laboratorycommunity has been a continuous activeparticipant since the formation of ILAC,with Ken Albutt, Past President of UILIand currently President of The BritishMeasurement and Testing Association(BMTA) attending the inaugural meetingsof ILAC held in Copenhagen, Denmark in1977 and Washington DC in 1978.From 1979 to the present day, DavidStanger has attended all but two of ILAC’splenary meetings, from the days whenILAC was a conference through to thecurrent incorporated status.ILAC News 9

Confi dence in measurementsHow linking metrology and standardisation with accreditationhelps to provide confi dence in laboratory measurement resultsBy Alan Squirrell*IntroductionLinks between the InternationalLaboratory Accreditation Cooperation(ILAC) and metrology and standardisationbodies are essential for ensuring accreditedlaboratories can deliver the services theircustomers require and expect.ILAC is the association for laboratoryaccreditation bodies world-wide. There are113 members: 88 accreditation bodies, 54of which are full member signatories tothe ILAC mutual recognition arrangement,5 regional cooperation bodies and 20stakeholders.A primary objective of ILAC is toensure members are competent to deliverhigh-quality accreditation services. Thisleads to confidence in the measurementresults from the 30,000 or so laboratoriesaccredited by ILAC member accreditationbodies as being competent for a specificscope of measurement activity.In the global economy measurementsshould be fit for their intended use. Theyshould assist in reducing technical barriersto trade; and provide domestic andinternational socio-economic benefits. Toachieve these goals ILAC members haveto continue giving emphasis to technical aswell as management issues.ILAC has a long association withthe International Organisation forStandardisation (ISO) and is an ‘A’ liaisonmember. In March 2004 a memorandumof understanding was signed between ISO,ILAC and ILAC’s sister organisation, theInternational Accreditation Forum (IAF),which deals with the accreditation ofvarious types of certification bodies.This collaboration assists in ongoingcooperation and the exchange ofinformation on the preparation and useof ISO standards by both ILAC membersand their clients - laboratories and theircustomers. Feedback from these groupson the use and added value of suchstandards helps make future revisionsmore effective. Close cooperation betweenthe IAF, ILAC and the ISO is achievedby regular meetings of a Joint WorkingGroup (consisting of senior members ofISO, ILAC and IAF), and at a grass-rootslevel by ILAC members representationon ISO working groups and technicalcommittees.ISO CASCOCASCO is the ISO committee whichdeals with conformity assessment.CASCO produces paper standards(ISO/IEC 17000 series) dealing withinternational best practice and generalcompetence requirements for bodies suchas testing and calibration laboratories,proficiency testing providers, inspectionand certification bodies.From an ILAC perspective, one of themost important standards produced byCASCO is ISO/IEC 17025:2005, Generalrequirements for the competence of testingand calibration laboratories. The currentversion of this document reflects a longhistory of involvement and input byILAC members. Indeed, it was an ILACTask Group in 1977 that started theprocess with ISO Guide 25 - a standardwritten for laboratories, but used byaccreditation bodies as the primarycompetence standard for the assessmentof laboratories.Clause 4 of ISO/IEC 17025 covers themanagement requirements for laboratorieswhich must be in place to supportthe consistent and long-term deliveryof traceable (and thus accurate andcomparable) measurement results.Clause 5 of ISO/IEC 17025 covers theall-important technical requirements thatprovide the basis for reliable and accuratemeasurements, reflecting the need forsound measurement and metrologicalpractices in both the calibration andtesting areas.ISO/IEC 17025 now further emphasisesthe need to address metrological aspects,particularly traceability and measurementuncertainty associated with testing andcalibration. This includes the use ofappropriate reference materials for methodvalidation, calibration and control of theFigure 1: overlap between functionsassociated with measurementtraceability and analytical qualityValidationQC/QATraceablecalibrationMeasurementUncertainty/TraceabilityValid measurementmeasurement process. (See Fig 1. top right)Although ISO/IEC 17025 providesa sound framework for laboratorycompetence with its ‘generalrequirements’, accreditation is not justabout compliance with this standard.Annex B of ISO/IEC 17025 recognisesthat sector-specific ‘applicationdocuments’ are often required. Thesemeasurement and internal/externalquality control protocols elaborate onthe general requirements for particulartypes of measurements. These areessential, particularly in ‘difficult’ areasof calibration and testing (eg sports-drugtesting), and are included in the ‘laboratoryscope of accreditation’ issued by theaccreditation body, which lists informationabout the specific measurementcapabilities which have been assessed bytechnically trained experts (assessors), whoassist the accreditation body in decidingwhether the laboratory staff have thetechnical competence and skills necessaryto perform the tasks covered by the scope.Even though ISO/IEC 17025 alonemay often not be sufficient to coverthe plethora of different measurementscarried out every day, this is in no way a*Alan Squirrell, ILAC Secretariat.10 Issue 31 | April/May 2007

from previous pagetechnical and metrological issues (e.g.quality control and measurementuncertainty).• ISO/TC 34, Food products – Thetesting of food products is a largearea. This committee writes standardsrelating to measurement and relatedactivities.• ISO/TC 147, Water quality – This isanother large sector, with standardson measurement and related activities,including proficiency testing.• ISO/TC 212, Clinical laboratory– Testing and in vitro diagnostic testsystems –. This committee coversperhaps the biggest laboratory sectorof all, and produces standards relatingto laboratory requirements andmeasurements in the medical area.One of its standards, ISO15189:2003,Medical Laboratories – Particularrequirements for quality and competence(currently under revision), is also usedby accreditation bodies and is citedin the ILAC Arrangement for theaccreditation of medical laboratories.A number of other ISO/TC 212standards are of interest to ILAC and tothe Joint Committee on Traceability inLaboratory Medicine (JCTLM). This isone of many important initiatives lead bythe BIPM.BIPMBIPM oversees the maintenance anddissemination of metrological standardsvia their own members – the NationalMeasurement Institutes (NMIs). BIPMCommittees include the ConsultativeCommittee for Amount Substance(CCQM) – for metrology in chemistry;Joint Committee for Guides on Metrology(JCGM) – for revision of the InternationalVocabulary on Metrology (VIM) and theGuide to the Uncertainty of Measurement(GUM) and the Joint Committee onCoordination of Technical Assistanceto Developing Countries in Metrology,Accreditation and Standardisation(JCDCMAS) which attempts to deliverservices to developing countries in aholistic and cost-effective manner.Senior representatives of ILAC andBIPM meet regularly to address issueslinking accreditation to metrology,including the dissemination of traceabilityand measurement capabilities from NMIsto accredited ‘field’ laboratories. This closecooperation promotes both the ILAC andBIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangements,and the essential links between them.ConclusionAt a time when there is still confusion inthe marketplace between accreditation andcertification, it is important to understandthat the extra technical focus providedby laboratory accreditation is essentialfor achieving the required confidence inmeasurement results as well as pursuingthe “tested once - accepted everywhere”objective.There are no guarantees in this business- but the laboratory accreditation modelhas proved to be a cost-effective andefficient way of providing confidencethose laboratory measurements results arefit for their intended use.It is vital that the links betweenILAC and ISO, BIPM and other keyorganisations continue to be strengthenedso that laboratory accreditation continuesto provide the added value laboratoriesand laboratory customers are seeking.For more information on ILAC pleasevisit their website: www.ilac.org orcontact the ILAC Secretariat by email onilac@nata.asn.au.Alan Squirrell—ILAC Executive Liaison.A similar article fi rst appeared in the October2006 issue of ISO Focus - The Magazine of theInternational Organization for Standardization.Updates on theILAC websiteIf you are a regular user of the ILACwebsite you may have noticed a fewchanges over recent weeks. These areprimarily the result of feedback receivedfrom members, following the launch ofthe new website in October last year.There has been some general editorialand tidying up carried out, with the mainchanges in the Members’ area being:• The inclusion of training material forevaluators under Member Resources –this is an initiative of the Joint WorkingGroup Training.• Rearrangement of the Committeepages into two sections to betterrepresent the ILAC committee andjoint ILAC/IAF working groupstructure and to ensure easier access tothe information.• A new area under Member Resourcescalled ‘file sharing’. In the near future,this area will be available for committeemembers to post their workingdocuments for meetings. All committeemembers will be advised of theadditional passwords required to accessthis area of the website.• A new button for ‘comments’ to betterdistinguish this activity from the ballotprocess.The significant changes to the Publicarea include:• Inclusion of the GA resolutions underResources.• Inclusion of the brochures underPublications.• Inclusion of a Membership button onthe home page.• Inclusion of an ILAC Arrangementbutton on the home page to raisethe prominence of this importantinformation.You may have also noted the changein ‘look’ of the website. This is tohelp promote a more consistent andrecognisable presentation of ILAC’simage.As always, you are encouraged to providefeedback on any aspect of the website tothe secretariat via ilac@nata.asn.au12 Issue 31 | April/May 2007

International updateILAC News| International UpdateBy Sean MacCurtain*CASCOThe 22nd Plenary meeting of CASCOwas held in Buenos Aires from 2 to 3November 2006. It was hosted by theInstituto Argentino de Normalizacióny Certificación (IRAM). More than 100delegates from 35 countries attended themeeting including representatives from11 liaison organisations including ILACand IAF. The current membership ofCASCO is 102 members, 70 of whichare participating and 32 are observermembers.This was the last meeting for Mr MarioWittner as Chair of CASCO as Mr.Olivier Peyrat (AFNOR) took over asCASCO Chair from 1 January this year.It was also the last meeting for Mr PeterDennehy as Secretary of CASCO. From 1March Sean MacCurtain stepped into therole of CASCO Secretary and Head ofConformity Assessment.Mr Peyrat addressed the Plenary meetingand identified a number of focus areas forthe future work of CASCO. This includedreviewing both the Promotions andSupport Group (CAPs) and the MarketFeedback Panel (MFP) structures withinCASCO. It would also include a reviewof the current liaison policy of CASCOin line with ISO work being done on this.Mr. Peyrat also identified three additionalpriorities for 2007. These were firstly, toincrease the involvement of stakeholdersin the operations and functions ofCASCO, with particular attention tothe CASCO members, the conformityassessment bodies and the accreditationbodies together with correspondingmembers in liaison, regulators and thevarious industrial sectors and theircustomers.The second priority is to complete andmaintain what has become known as the“CASCO toolbox” with the launch of therevision of ISO/IEC Guide 43:1997 Parts1 &2 (Proficiency testing) and also ISO/IEC Guide 65:1996 (Product certification).Both of these work items have an impactfor ILAC. The revision of ISO/IECGuide 65 has an impact for laboratoriesin that laboratories can be involved eitheras testing facilities or as part of a productcertification body.The third CASCO priority was listedas, the development where necessary ofNew Chairs - Plenary meeting of CASCOMr Mario Wittner (right) retired as chair of CASCO as Mr Olivier Peyrat (left) (AFNOR) took overas CASCO Chair from 1 January 2007.the sector implementations of ISO/IEC17021 in collaboration with the relevantISO Technical Committees responsible forthe corresponding management standards.2006 Year in reviewIn reviewing the year for CASCO, theplenary acknowledged the publication ofISO/IEC 17021:2006 Conformity Assessment- Requirements for bodies providing audit andcertifi cation of management systems.ResolutionsThe plenary passed a total of 22resolutions. Those having a direct impacton the work of ILAC or their membersin addition to those mentioned above aresummarized below:- The plenary recognized the work beingdone by the IAF-ILAC-ISO JointWorking Group and encourages it tocontinue to cooperate.- Recognizes the completing of thecorrections to annex A of ISO/IEC17025 and thanks the working groupfor their contributions.- The plenary supported the ILACposition on the drafting of ISO andIEC standards related to measurementand instructed the CASCO Secretaryto submit the proposal to the ISOTechnical Management Board (TMB)for their consideration.In addition to the above, CASCO isdeveloping a Part 2 to ISO/IEC 17021(CASCO WG 21) which is entitled“Conformity Assessment – Requirements forthird party auditing of management systems.”This new work item was approved byCASCO members in September 2006.The plenary also agreed a transitionperiod of two years for managementsystems certification bodies to complywith the new ISO/IEC 17021:2006.This transition period was agreed inconsultation with IAF and other liaisonbodies and stakeholders.Also of interest to ILAC is theconfirmation by the Plenary of theCASCO 2010 Roadmap which containsthe sequencing of future reviews andrevisions to the CASCO documents overthe next 10 years.CASCO, at the request of the ISOCouncil, has harmonized a numberof common elements in conformityassessment to ensure consistency inCASCO documents. The elementswhich have been harmonized todate are; ‘impartiality, confidentiality,complaints and appeals’, and ‘disclosureof information’. It is planned to publishanother on the ‘use of managementsystems in conformity assessment’ in 2007.The next CASCO Plenary will be held inGeneva (Switzerland) on 8 to 9 Novemberthis year. The next IAF-ILAC-ISO JWGmeeting is scheduled for 25 April at theISO Central Secretariat in Geneva.Should you require any information onthe activities of CASCO or on any ofthe CASCO publications please contactcasco@iso.org*Sean MacCurtain - CASCO SecretaryHead of Conformity Assessment.ILAC News 13

ILAC News| Regional CooperationsRegional cooperationsAPLAC ChangesThe new APLAC Chair, Terence Chan (HKAS) (right) is photographed with the Immediate Past Chair of APLAC, Tony Russell (NATA) during a break in atwo-day workshop for Asia Pacifi c Economic Committee Specialist Regional Bodies (SRBs) (APLAC, APMP, APLMF, PAC, PASC) held in Sydney, Australiaon 22-23 January. This workshop was immediately prior to the fi rst meeting of the APEC Sub-Committee on Standards and Conformance (SCSC) inCanberra, Australia on 24-25 January. The fi ve SRBs attend the SCSC meetings and the APLAC Secretary represented APLAC at the Canberra meeting.Report from theAPLAC SecretariatBy Janet Clark and Helen Liddy*Wishing all Chinesecolleagues aprosperous year ofthe golden pig!Changes at the SecretariatWe are sad to advise that Jane Kinghas left the secretariat as she has beenappointed as the manager of NATA’saccreditation program for researchand development laboratories. We wishJane all the very best in her new work,and thank her for all her excellent workwithin the secretariat over the last 3years. It is not planned to replace Jane atthis stage but Janet and Helen will stillbe at the end of an email to answer yourinquiries.New APLAC MemberAPLAC is pleased to welcome AACAnalitica of the Russian Federation asthe newest Full Member – one moreAPEC economy joins our cooperation.New APLAC Quality Manualand APLAC Evaluation ReportTemplateThe new APLAC Quality Manualthat replaces several APLAC SEC andPR documents and also NC 001 wasissued in early February. Members areencouraged to download a copy fromthe APLAC web site and familiarisethemselves with it.The first edition of the APLACevaluation report template was alsoissued in early February as APLAC14 Issue 31 | April/May 2007

MR 009. This template is designed tofacilitate the production of the report,with the Accreditation body beingevaluated completing sections threeand four (history and background ofthe accreditation body (AB); AB’s selfassessmentagainst the KPIs (IAC/IAFA3)). It is available as a PDF from thepublic area of the web site and as aWord document in the “members only”area of the web site.APLAC Board of Management(BOM) and Mutual RecognitionArrangement Council MeetingsThe BoM and MRA Council willmeet in Shanghai, People’s Republic ofChina on 16-17 April (BoM) and 18-20April (MRA Council). We thank CNASfor hosting the meetings. A workshopreviewing evaluation reports will be heldduring the Council meeting.During the Council meeting there willbe the inaugural signing of the APLACMRA for accreditation of medicallaboratories to ISO 15189: previouslyrecognition for this area of accreditationhad been included within the “testing”scope of the MRA.APLAC Evaluator TrainingCourseA training course for evaluators andprovisional evaluators will be held inShanghai on 23-25 April. The coursecoordinator is Ned Gravel of CAEAL,and Ned, Barry Ashcroft (IANZ) andPanadda Silva (DMSc) are the coursepresenters.APLAC Training Courses in2007A most successful workshop on theplanning and conduct of proficiencytesting (PT) courses in accordance withISO/IEC Guide 43 was held in KualaLumpur, Malaysia on 13-15 February.Our thanks to Standards Malaysiathat hosted the meeting. This was thefirst in a series of three workshopsrun by APLAC in conjunction withPTB, Germany. It was pleasing to havecolleagues from non-APLAC membereconomies, Bangladesh, Bhutan,Cambodia, Laos and Nepal join theworkshop, thanks to funding support forthem from PTB.An APLAC workshop on theaccreditation of medical laboratoriesto ISO 15189 will be held in Bangkok,Thailand on 15-17 May, hosted byDMSc. One of the presenters will beDr Robert Wielgosz of BIPM who willgive a presentation on the activities ofthe Joint Committee on Traceability inLaboratory Medicine (JCTLM). Thisinteractive workshop is aimed at thoseILAC News| Regional CooperationsAB staff and assessors with experiencein accrediting medical laboratoriesas the participants will be asked topresent details about their organisations’accreditation programs and to discussexperiences. Regina Robertson (NATA)and Panadda Silva (DMSc) (a very busylady!) will also be presenters.An APLAC training course on theaccreditation of reference materialproducers will be held in Tsukuba, Japanon 30 May-1 June, hosted by IAJapan.The presenters will be Dr A M vander Veen of NMi (Netherlands), W WWong (HKAS) and Roxanne Robinson(A2LA).These latter two courses are open to1 attendee from each APLAC memberand also from each ILAC region(including the group of unaffiliatedbodies). Registration (with the APLACsecretariat) and hotel reservations(directly with the hotel) should be madeas early as possible.APLAC 2007The APLAC General Assembly andassociated meetings will be held inKuala Lumpur, Malaysia in the weekof 2-7 December, hosted by StandardsMalaysia.*Janet Clark and Helen Liddy - APLAC Secretariat.Changes to ILAC MembershipThe following ILAC membership changes have occurred sincethe last issue of ILAC News.Full MembersEnte Costarricense de Acreditacion (ECA), Costa RicaVoluntary EMC Laboratory Accreditation Center INC(VLAC), JapanAssociatesMongolian Agency for Standardization and Metrology(MASM), MongoliaNational Centre of Accreditation (NCA), Kazakhstan.AffiliatesSaudi Arabian Standards Organisation (SASO), Kingdom ofSaudi ArabiaStakeholdersAssociation of Forensic Quality Assurance Managers(AFQAM), USAAssociation of Independent Test Laboratories and CertificationBodies (ALPI), ItalyRecognised Regional Cooperation BodyInter American Accreditation Cooperation (IAAC)ILAC MembershipILAC membership as at 5 February 2007 is as follows:• 58 Full Members (Signatories to the ILAC Arrangement)representing 46 economies;• 15 Associates representing 12 economies;• 20 Affiliates representing 20 economies;• 5 Regional Cooperation Bodies (3 recognised)• 1 National Coordination Body• 23 StakeholdersThe ILAC membership (total 122 bodies) now covers a totalof 80 different economies worldwide and approximately 30,000laboratories and inspection bodies are accredited by the 73 ILACFull Members and Associates.ILAC News 15

ILAC News| Regional CooperationsSouthern AfricaSouthern African DevelopmentCommunity AccreditationThe delegates who attended the corporate governance training in December 2006 in Pretoria, South Africa.SADCA NewsSADCA Chairperson, Mrs BeatriceMutabazi, died on 25 November 2006. Herfuneral was held in Dar Es Salaam on 29November 2006 (see separate article in thisissue). Mike Peet, Ron Josias and MarieChilcott from the SADCA Secretariatattended her funeral.As SADCA Vice Chair, Mrs MasegoMarobela has resumed the duties of theSADCA Chairperson.NEPADMeetings have been held with The NewPartnership for Africa’s Development(NEPAD) Secretariat with respect tothe creation of an African body foraccreditation. The NEPAD strategicframework document arises from amandate given to the five initiating Headsof State (Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal,South Africa) by the Organisation ofAfrican Unity (OAU) to develop anintegrated socio-economic developmentframework for Africa.The 37th Summit of the OAU in July2001 formally adopted the strategicframework document.Documentsregarding this were prepared by theSADCA Secretariat and discussedwith NEPAD. It is anticipated that abrainstorming workshop with globalplayers will take place in South Africa laterin 2007. A donor had been approached tofund this workshop.For more information about NEPAD goto http://www.nepad.org/2005/files/home.phpA Project Management Committee(PMC) meeting was held in December2006. The meeting was attended by arepresentative of the Norwegian Embassy.As one of the major role players inthe funding of SADCA initiatives, MrHotvedt from the Embassy wanted toappraise himself of the activities withinSADCA and the important role the PMCplays within SADCA. A number of keyissues were discussed at this PMC meetingsuch as the imminence of donor fundingfrom Norway becoming available, theissue of the appointment of SADCASpersonnel, the opening of a bank account,marketing issues and the modus operandifor SADCAS accreditation.The annual SQAM (Standardisation,Quality Assurance, Metrology andAccreditation) meetings will take place inApril 2007 in Madagascar. Each of thefour structures is allocated one day for themeetings of their specific structure. Theseries of meetings culminates with theexecutive meeting. The SADCA meetingwill be held on 24 April 2007.SADCASThe SADCAS Board members andPMC members received training incorporate governance, risk managementand audit committees in December2006. This training was very importantfor the SADCAS Board of Directorswho are required to understand theirresponsibilities and the principles of goodcorporate governance. Appreciation wasexpressed to the Norwegian governmentwho funded this training.Mrs Marobela has been co-opted ontothe SADCAS Board of Directors as a fulldirector.The Annual General Meeting ofSADCAS is scheduled to take place on24 April 2007 in Madagascar during theannual SQAM meetings.The challenge ahead for SADCAS is tomake it fully operational and all the donorsare eager to ensure its success.INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIESMr Ron Josias, the SADCA RegionalCoordinator, attended the ILAC Executivemeeting in Paris, France in March 2007.16 Issue 31 | April/May 2007

ILAC News| Accreditation UpdateAccreditation UpdateChinaChina National AccreditationService of ConformityAssessment (CNAS)Accreditation of MedicalLaboratoriesExperts in the fields of laboratoryaccreditation or laboratory medicine fromTaiwan, Hong Kong, the Mainland ofChina and Canada attended a workshopon Medical Laboratories in GuangzhouChina. The workshop was hosted byChina National Accreditation Service ofConformity Assessment (CNAS) from 27-29 January this year.The group jointly exchanged ideas anddiscussed their experiences and existingproblems in the accreditation of medicallaboratories and implementation of ISO15189.Two government departments related tomedical laboratory regulation, Certificationand Accreditation Administration(CNCA) and Ministry of Health (MOH),People’s Republic of China had showngreat interest in the discussions at theworkshop, and both sent representativesto participate and speak at the workshop.The workshop covered topics ofcommon interest for those economiesregarding accreditation and regulationof medical laboratories, including settingup and marketing for medical laboratoryaccreditation programs, the relationshipbetween the government regulation andaccreditation, the process of accreditationand the ways to enhance its credibility.Also included were the major difficultiesin implementation of ISO 15189, thepossibilities of strengthening cooperationwithin the region and the sharing ofexpertise and other technical resourcessuch as Proficiency Testing (PT) programs.The workshop also reviewed the progressof international mutual recognitionarrangements in the field of medicallaboratory accreditation.The two-day workshop was conductedin both English and Chinese languages,which led to a better communication andunderstanding amongst the colleaguesfrom this group of economies.The workshop is recognised by therelevant government authorities inChina as a very informative and in-depthforum in the field of medical laboratoryaccreditation and regulation. The resultsfrom this workshop will provide usefulinput into the relevant policy makingprocess in China.The event was also highly appreciatedby the participating parties as a successfulexperience sharing opportunity, whichopened the door to closer technicalcooperation in the field of medicallaboratory accreditation within theregion. All parties in attendanceagreed to continue with this form ofexperience sharing in the future, takinginto consideration the results from thisworkshop.Croatia13th EA- Laboratorycommittee meeting held inCroatiaThe Croatian Accreditation Agency(HAA) hosted the first 2007 EuropeanCo-operation for Accreditation (EA) -Laboratory Committee meeting from 8 to9 March in Cavtat, Croatia.Opening the meeting, Ms Biserka BajzekBrezak, Director General of the HAAwelcomed 39 participants mainly fromdifferent national accreditation bodieswho are members of EA, as well asrepresentatives from other organisationsand the European Commission (EC).During the meeting information aboutEA and ILAC activities and reports fromconveners of permanent and ad-hocworking groups were presented andrelated issues were discussed.The main discussion related to thetopics of calibration, flexible scopes,Quality Assurance (QA) under thewater framework directive, servicescovered by the scope of accreditation(but not provided under accreditation),Also included in this discussion wasthe assessment of laboratory staffcompetence, minimal content of anassessment report, sampling under thedrinking water directive and accreditationof RM producers.Additionally, information from Eurolab,Eurochem and Euromet was presented, aswell as updates on cooperation in specifictechnical fields (with European Federationof Immunogenetics, CEN/TC 264 WG19 “Emission Monitoring Strategy”,WADA, ENFSI, Measnet).EA Laboratory Committee meets: Ms Biserka Bajzek Brezak, Director General of the HAA welcomed39 representatives attending the 2007 European Co-operation for Accreditation (EA) – LaboratoryCommittee meeting in Cavtat, Croatia.ILAC News 17

ILAC News| Accreditation UpdateMexicoMexico’s nationalaccreditation compactBy Maria Jose MesenThe mexican accreditation entity (ema),in an effort to reinforce accreditation inMexico, has set in motion the NationalAccreditation Compact (PNA for itsSpanish abbreviation).What is the PNA? It is a voluntaryinitiative that consists of a publicengagement made by companies,organisations and all levels of government,where they commit to adopt and supporta set of actions, with the intentionof promoting and strengthening theMexican Metrology, Standardisationand Conformity Assessment System(SISMENEC, is the Spanish abbreviation).The purpose of this Compact is toensure that all the accredited structureof the country is used by industry,trade, conformity assessment bodies,government offices, universities, researchcenters and individuals.The PNA is a voluntary affiliationinstrument: it is not a legislativeinstrument; neither does it allowcertification or accreditation. TheCompact works as a network where thosewho sign it, according to their policies,needs or possibilities, commit to carry outone or all of the actions required.Some of those actions are: to knowaccreditation and its benefits; to use thecurrent accredited structure (accreditedlaboratories, certification bodies andinspection bodies); to spread accreditationactivities and advantages. Also included areto continuously improve the accreditationprocess, to participate in accreditationactivities and to report accreditedconformity assessment bodies that do notoperate according to principles of ethics,transparency and confidentiality.To be part of the National AccreditationCompact, the interested party must fill inan application form and direct it to ema’sExecutive Direction, declaring its interestin the Compact. After signing the PNA,each signatory is responsible for fulfillingthe acquired commitments: hence therewill be no evaluation, but every 12 monthsthey must hand in a report with progressand activities carried out according to theirselected actions.The activities to promote the PNAbegan last November when ema visiteddifferent Associations and Chambers,achieving the signatures, of Mexico City’sChamber of Trade, Services and Tourismand four of its Associations, becoming thefirst signatory adopting and supporting allsix of the actions.Mexico’s electrical sector recentlydecided to be a part of the PNA, holdingan event in late January at the FederalElectrical Commission where a crowd of201 witnessed 56 signatories being addedto the Compact. The Industrial Chambers’Confederation also joined in, addinganother 18 signatories on 13 February. Bythe end of February the PNA gatheredmore than 200 signatures, includingindustry participants, research centers,engineering associations, accreditedlaboratories and assessors.Even though many have already signedthe PNA, the formal launch of theNational Accreditation Compact will takeplace on 20 March. It is expected that atleast 1000 signatures will be gathered bythen, One of ema’s key goals is to have3000 signatories by December this year.ema believes the PNA is one of theirmost ambitious projects for this year, andits ability to strengthen accreditation at anational level is the reason why so mucheffort and promotion is being directedtowards this initiative.Signing the National Accreditation Compact-Salvador Padilla, Chairman of the ElectricalManufacturing National Chamber Julián Adame,Technical Sub - Director of the Federal ElectricalCommission.GuatemalaGuatemalan AccreditationOffice (OGA)OGA moves towards MLABy Alexander Pineda*Huge steps were made last year foraccreditation in Guatemala. Theassessments for laboratories have beendone according to the Annual Programin order to verify the status of theaccredited bodies. The first assessment onthe inspection field was performed at one18 Issue 31 | April/May 2007of the most important agro-industrialsectors in Guatemala.In order to be recognised withinthe MLA for testing laboratories, theGuatemalan Accreditation Office (OGA)is focusing its efforts to be well preparedfor the peer assessment programmed byIAAC for next June.OGA has been ‘adopted’ by NATAwithin the program of the ILAC/JointDevelopment Support Committee(JDSC) called Big Sister/Brotherprogram. Very good communicationhas been established since the last ILACmeeting in Cancun, where one of themain outcomes of the cooperation wasthe visit by NATA representative RobOke, during the first week of Marchthis year.The aim of the visit was toevaluate the system implemented byOGA according to the ISO/IEC 17011standard, the ILAC guidelines and theKPIs. This activity also included twovisits to accredited laboratories andthe witnessing of one surveillanceassessment. The result of the evaluationwas useful feedback for the GuatemalanAccreditation Office.Within the region, the CentralAmerican Forum (FOCA) continuestaking important steps to consolidate thecooperation amongst the accreditationbodies. OGA´s representative continuesas a Coordinator of the FOCA.Significant activity was also implementedby FOCA in order to get the recognitionof the Central American IntegrationSystem (SICA).The Guatemalan Accreditation Body(OGA) is a component of the NationalQuality System within the Ministry ofEconomy. The OGA was started byGovernmental Agreement Number 145-2002 on 3 May 2002 and it was updatedby Law 78-2005, National Quality SystemLaw.*Alexander Pineda, Head of the GuatemalanAccreditation Office.continued next page

ILAC News| Accreditation UpdateOGA’s main purpose is to apply andmanage the accreditation in the wholenational area, in order to formallyrecognize the technical competenceof the conformity assessmentbodies, according to the national andinternational standards.OGA launched its new web sitewww.oga.org.gt for the benefitof clients and other stakeholders. Theweb site is in both Spanish and English.Further information can be found atinfo-oga@mineco.gob.gtUkraineGeneral meeting of the Technical Accreditation Committee of theNational Accreditation Agency of Ukraine (NAAU)Comments on the visit to OGA byRob Oke, NATA’s Victorian BranchManager.“I was indeed fortunate to be selected byNATA to provide on-site training to OGAas part of Phase 2 of the JDSC CommitteeBig Sister/Brother program. This was myfi nal assignment for NATA as I retire inApril after a career of 35 years in laboratoryaccreditation.The training took the form of a reviewof OGA´s preparedness for the IAACpeer review planned for June. During theweek I observed an assessment, visited twoother laboratories and had meetings withthe National Metrology Laboratory, theAccreditation Council and the TechnicalCommittee.I was impressed with OGA´s staff, withthe enthusiasm of the members of theAccreditation Council and the TechnicalCommittee and with the assessors I met. I wasparticularly pleased to see the strong focus onthe technical competence of the laboratories.This was my fi rst visit to a Central Americancountry. I enjoyed the hospitality of theGuatemalan people and was lucky to see somewonderful places including San Jose, Antigua,Chichicastenango and Lake Atitlán.”(Centre) Rob Oke, Manager NATA Victoriavisiting Guatemalan Accreditation Offi ce as partof the ILAC/JDSC Big Sister/Brother program.Technical Accreditation Committee (TAC) Annual General Meeting in Kiev. Sergii Kazantsev, Chairmanof NAAU, Valerii Krasiuk, Head of informational–analytical department, NAAU, Olga Romanovych, Leadingspecialist, NAAU.The fifth Annual General Meeting of theTechnical Accreditation Committee (TAC)was held in Kiev on 23 February this year.Delegates from eight TAC sub-committeespresented nearly 100 enterprises of theUkraine to members of TAC.Representatives of the Ministryof Economy of Ukraine, the StateCommittee of Ukraine for technicalregulation and consumer policy, theexperts of the European CommissionJorge Canossa and Antonio Dias also tookpart in the meeting.The Chair of TAC, Viktor Kaminskii,reported on last year’s activities and themain tasks ahead, including continuing tobuild the normative system for providingaccreditation procedures along with thedevelopment of corresponding draftdocuments and the improvement oforganisational and planned activity. Themeeting discussed organisational structureand sub-committees, as well as the workrelative to participation of sub-committeesengaged in the work of allied internationaland regional technical committees.Added to this was the subsequentdevelopment of work regarding theapplication of qualifying requirements forassessors and experts; development of thesystem of inter laboratory comparativetests, the introduction of testing methodvalidation, as well as uncertainty andtraceability of measurements in thepractice of conformity assessment bodies.Participants at the meeting wereinformed about NAAU activity and it wasdecided the main issues for subsequentwork of TAC will include: accreditation ofcalibration laboratories, the introductionof the standard ISO 15189 “Medicallaboratories particular requirements for qualityand competence” and the standard ISO 15195Laboratory Medicine-Requirements for referencemeasurements laboratories.Also included in TAC’s workwere: requirements for referencemeasurement laboratories; introductionof recommendations of ILAC and EAin Ukraine; recommendations in relationto ways of introducing the standardISO/IEC 17021; activity on the creationof advising councils for proficiencytesting providers (ILAC G13); and thedevelopment of general policy concerningproficiency testing in defined industries.The development of recommendationsfor defined industries, relative maintenanceof works of internal control, in particular,evaluation of method validation;participation during examination ofaccreditation personnel applications forstrengthening confidence in the processof accreditation, and participation inevaluation of accreditation files were otheritems included.The following questions wereconsidered:The introduction of the standard ДСТУISO/IEC 17025: 2005, preparationof specialists, involved by NAAU inaccreditation, creation of a new subcommittee“Natural Resources,” andchanges in TAC management.The representatives of the EuropeanCommission presented the project“Ukrainian quality infrastructure. Normsand standards.”NAAU continues work regardingextending and deepening cooperation withILAC, IAF and EA to become a signatoryto EA MLA as soon as possible.ILAC News 19

ILAC News| Accreditation UpdateNew ZealandIANZ appointed for BuildingConsent accreditationBy Ian Roy*The New Zealand regulator responsiblefor overseeing the improvement andquality of construction, the New ZealandDepartment of Building and Housing(DBH), has announced that it hasappointed International AccreditationNew Zealand (IANZ) as the New Zealandbuilding consent authority accreditationbody. Building consent authorities aregenerally city councils’ building approvaland inspection departments. Theappointment is part of the Department’scommitment to improve control of, andencourage better practices in, buildingdesign, construction and building control.The New Zealand ‘Building Act 2004’sets standards and procedures for peopleinvolved in building work to ensurebuildings are built properly. To strengthenthe decision-making process at the criticalbuilding consent and inspection stagesof the building process, building consentauthorities will be accredited to a standardbased on ISO/IEC 17020. DBH staff hasworked closely with IANZ, city councilsand territorial authorities, as well asprivate sector organisations, to establishthe criteria for accreditation. IANZ hasemployed two new assessment staff tohelp with this work. The accreditation ofIANZ - New Zealands new building consent authority accreditation body.city councils and territorial authorities isscheduled to be completed by November2007.IANZ’s Mutual RecognitionArrangements (MRA/MLA) arereferred to in the text of the Agreementbetween IANZ and the Departmentof Building and Housing, with thecontinued participation of IANZ inMRAs a prerequisite for the Agreement tocontinue. While the ILAC Arrangement,APLAC MRA, and the EA-IANZ bilateralMRA -signed in 1994 for testing, 1996for calibration and 2006 for inspectionprovideIANZ with the ability to accepttesting and inspection reports from itsMRA partners, the DBH see participationin MRAs as providing evidence ofcompetence of the IANZ assessmentprocess. However, as the accreditationis based on a modified ISO/IEC 17020,the actual inspection bodies accredited inthis regulatory programme will be outsidethe coverage of the MRAs, at least in theshort term.Nevertheless, the endorsement ofaccreditation by another New Zealandregulator will, in the long term, helpenhance opportunities for IANZ’s MRApartners’ accredited laboratories andinspection bodies’ clients to have their testor inspection reports accepted in NewZealand by the many regulators (such asthe DBH), who use accreditation and theMRA as a means of complying with theirrequirements.The appointment of IANZ as theindependent accreditation body will bringgreater consistency in regulatory buildingcontrol across New Zealand.*Ian Roy, Manager International Affairs andGovernment Liaison.NVLAP Interactive Web Site LaunchedThe National Voluntary LaboratoryAccreditation Program (NVLAP) haslaunched the NVLAP Interactive WebSite (NIWS), a web-based system thatallows laboratories to submit applicationsfor accreditation over the Internet.Participation is currently open to testinglaboratories enrolled in the AcousticalTesting and Electromagnetic Compatibilityand Telecommunications laboratoryaccreditation programs. The system will begradually expanded to include all NVLAPaccreditation programs.The NIWS was developed in response toboth customer requests received throughNVLAP’s ongoing customer satisfactionsurvey process and the federal governmentmandate to provide customers witha way of electronically submittinginformation. In response to the surveyquestion, “How can NVLAP improve itsaccreditation service to you?” customerssaid they wanted a simplified applicationprocess using on-line interactive formsthat are pre-filled with data from theprevious year’s accreditation. In additionto providing better customer service,the NIWS enables NVLAP to complywith the provisions of the PaperworkReduction Act (PRA) and the GovernmentPaperwork Elimination Act (GPEA).The NIWS is expected to bring NVLAPcloser to its customer laboratories andstakeholders by bringing e-governmentdirectly to them. By taking advantage ofonline automation, NVLAP is respondingto the ever increasing expectations of anInternet-savvy public. Feedback is beingcollected from NIWS users to ascertainwhether the system is user friendlyand meets users’ needs for e-businesstransactions.20 Issue 31 | April/May 2007

ArgentinaOrganismo Argentino deAcreditacion (OAA)Regulators increasingly recognise anddemand the accreditation of laboratoriesand certification bodies by the OAA.The reduction of uncertainties inthe fields of human health, safetyand environment is essential for thefulfillment of Regulators’ responsibility indefence of the public interest.The OAA, due to its independence,transparency and technical competition, iswidely recognised by institutions from thegovernment sector.Application authorities of regulationsrelated to health, safety and environmentincreasingly perceive that accreditationis an instrument for making decisions,based on confidence in the resultsproduced by accredited laboratories, andin the certificates issued by accreditedcertification bodies.This acceptance is demonstrated bythe growing inclusion of the concept ofaccreditation and of the OAA in theirwork.Resolution 92/98 passed some yearsago and subsequent resolutions sincehave required OAA accreditationof product certification bodies andtesting laboratories for products suchas concrete, toys, steel products forconstruction, low tension electricalproducts, personal protective equipment,electrical devices for gas applications,lighters and young children’s bicycles.Resolution 91/2001 issued by theSecretariat of Industry, Commerce andthe Small and Medium-sized Enterprises(SMEs) requires automotive products,safety auto-parts and bicycles mustbe certified by the OAA accreditedcertification bodies.Resolution 1088/2004 issued by theMinistry of Health and Environmentestablishes the limits for lead contentof latex paints and defines that thesepaints must be certified and tested bycertification bodies and laboratoriesaccredited by the OAA.Additionally, the Register ofLaboratories of EnvironmentalDeterminations – RELADA - was createdfor sampling, analyses and measurementsapplicable to fixed sources, both publicand private, that are capable of producingenvironmental pollution within BuenosAiries. The decree establishes that thelaboratories included in the register mustbe accredited by the OAA according toIRAM 301 standard.Another disposition (5267.B.O.19/09/06) issued by the NationalDrugs, Foods and Medical TechnologyAdministration, ANMAT, requiresmedical technology products of classesI, II, III and IV be tested by official orprivate laboratories accredited by theOAA.A further Resolution (736/2006)issued by the Secretariat of Agriculture,Farming, Fishing and Foods createsthe National Network of Testing andDiagnosis Laboratories dependent onthe National Service of Sanitation andQuality of Food Products, SENASA, andestablishes that in order to belong to thisNetwork, the OAA must accredit theirtests.The Ministry of Health has adoptedanother resolution (Nr 1924/2006)establishing the National Commission ofExternal Evaluation in Health Servicesthat is going to act in the field of theFederal Council of Health. The OAA isone of the institutions that compose thisNational Commission.PakistanPakistan NationalAccreditation Council (PNAC)Medical LaboratoryAccreditation ProgramPNAC launched the Medical LaboratoryAccreditation Program on 9 February,with the goal of enhancing the qualityof tests, and contributing towards theimportance of health care delivery systemsin Pakistan.Before launching the program, 11seminars and workshops were held tocreate awareness amongst stakeholders. Asa result, 15 technical assessors have beentrained on ISO 15189.ILAC News| Accreditation UpdatePNAC and Pathologists sign MoUSecretary Ministry of Science and Technology,Dr Pervaiz Butt, witnessing the MoU signingceremony between Pakistan NationalAccreditation Council and College ofPathologists Pakistan.PNAC has also signed a MoU with theCollege of Pathologists Pakistan (CPP) toestablish working relationships betweenCPP and PNAC to coordinate and jointlyorganise training seminars, courses andworkshops on the Medical LaboratoryAccreditation Program and ISO 15189.Technical policies were prepared bya sectoral committee, consisting ofpathologists, microbiologists and otherrelevant technical personnel. To meet therequirements of Proficiency Testing (PT)for ISO 15189, PNAC in collaborationwith CPP, will also launch a project toencourage and facilitate participationof medical testing laboratories in theprogram.The road to PT in PakistanGiven the fact that there are hardlyany Proficiency Testing (PT) providersavailable in Pakistan and that PT/ILC(Inter-Laboratory Comparison) is amandatory requirement for an accreditedlaboratory, PNAC launched PTschemes in collaboration with selectedlaboratories. These were chosen aftera selection process was applied basedon the credibility, technical competenceand willingness for collaboration of thelaboratories. Initially the laboratoriesselected for preparation of bulk samples,that were PNAC accredited laboratoriesand participating in PT organised byreputable PT scheme providers aroundthe world and achieving acceptablez-scores. Training on ISO Guide 43was also provided by PNAC to thelaboratories interested in collaboratingwith PNAC organising PT schemes.PNAC prepared guides and protocol forPT/ILC organisers before launching PT inchemical testing for the following tests inwater samples of high and low range: Pb,Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Zn, Hg, As, pH, Ca,Mg, Na, K, Conductivity, Total Hardness,Chlorides, Nitrate. For food/microbiologycontinued next pageILAC News 21

ILAC News| Accreditation UpdateItalyDirector Pakistan National Accreditation Council (PNAC) Ismat Gul Khattak poses for a group photowith the participants of a seminar on Profi ciency Testing organised by PNAC at a local hotel.Norwegians evaluate PNACA team of three from NorwegianAccreditation (NA) headed by Ms CecilieLaake, visited Pakistan to conduct the prepeerevaluation of PNAC early in Augustlast year. The evaluation is part of a threeyear collaboration project between NAand PNAC.The aim of the evaluation was to identifygaps in the system and to assist PNACto prepare for their peer evaluation byAsia Pacific Laboratory AccreditationCooperation (APLAC) in March 2007.Additionally, three assessor courses offive days duration were organised in thecountry with the assistance of NorwegianAccreditation. More than 70 participantsfrom various laboratories attended thesecourses.Similarly, two back-to-back technicalcourses were held on method validation,proficiency testing, traceability, anduncertainty of measurement in Islamabadand Karachi. The main aim of thesecourses is to build the capacity oflaboratory managers in general, andestablish a pool of technical assessors inparticular.from previous pagethe following tests were included in drymilk powder samples: Total Coliform,Fecal Coliform, E.Coli, and TPC at36±1°C. To ensure credibility andimpartiality results were directly receivedby PNAC and coding of the laboratorieswas done locally. A total number of 36Labs have participated in the PT scheme.Statistical evaluation was done at PNACunder the supervision of experts fromNorwegian Accreditation (NA). Presently,the reports will be issued in March 2007.The next PT round is planned for textile,pharmaceuticals, metallurgy and minerals.This will be a continuous activity and willsoon be expanded to laboratories outsidePakistan for participation.Presently many of the accreditedlaboratories participate in ProficiencyTesting (PT) schemes organised byexternal PT providers, which is timeconsuming and expensive. To overcomethis problem PNAC initiated efforts toorganise the Inter Labs Comparison (ILC)locally through some of its accreditedlaboratories. In this regard a sectoralcommittee was constituted to identifyareas for ILC that was followed by asurvey of the labs interested in organisingthe PT program.Based on the data collected fromlaboratories a training program forselected accredited laboratories wasorganised at Islamabad. All 35 participantswere provided training by Ms IsmatGul Khattak, Director Laboratories onthe requirements of ISO Guide-43. Asa result three laboratories participatinginternationally in PT schemes and havinga Z-score less than one, have been initiallyselected to organise ILC according toISO Guide 43 in various sub-disciplinesincluding food-microbiology, water andwastewater analysis and in metallurgy.Measurement Audit forCalibration LaboratoriesTo meet the National and Internationalrequirement of Proficiency Tests (PT)for accredited and applicant laboratoriesfor ISO/IEC-17025, Pakistan NationalAccreditation Council in Collaborationwith National Physical and StandardsLaboratory (NPSL) launched a PT/measurement Audit Scheme forCalibration laboratories. Six calibrationlaboratories from various parts of Pakistanparticipated in the programme. The resultsfrom the participating laboratories havebeen received and PNAC is in the processof analysing data and writing reports.National System for theAccreditation of Certificationand Inspection BodiesVisit to Italy: Indian delegation visits SINCERT.SINCERT offices in Milan hosted adelegation from India on 19 Februarythis year. The group was representedby the Evaluation committee for Indianbiological certification bodies involved inaccreditation in organic agriculture. Thenine members attending the meeting camefrom different Regional centres of organicfarming, the Indian Ministry of agricultureand from APEDA – Agricultural andProcessed Food Products ExpertDevelopment Authority (India).The study tour for Indian governmentofficers was planned in the frame ofthe European Project “India Trade andInvestment Development Programme”(TIDP), developed by an internationalconsortium and led by the DanishTechnological Institute, (working toassist in promoting India’s export tradeto Europe), especially as far as agro-foodproducts are concerned.The aim of this project is to strengthenthe internal quality management systemsaccording to ISO/IEC 17011:2004“Conformity assessment - General requirementsfor accreditation bodies accrediting conformityassessment bodies”, that in the countriesof the European Community sets anuniform range of requirements for allbodies performing the accreditation of theconformity evaluation organisations.continued next page22 Issue 31 | April/May 2007

SANAS puts Accreditation onthe CurriculumAs accreditation is increasingly beingused internationally to recognise thetechnical competence of laboratories,the South African National AccreditationSystem (SANAS) has identified a need tomake future technicians and technologistsaware of what this involves.SANAS has embarked on a projectto make tertiary students and lecturersaware of laboratory accreditation andthe principles underlying it. It is hopedthat the initiative will contribute a greatdeal towards ensuring the technologycurriculum in institutions of higherlearning reflects worldwide trends inScience and Technology. This knowledgefrom previous pageThe European study tour, conductedfrom 15 -22 February scheduled threedays in Italy, one spent in the workshopat SINCERT and two in audit visits toorganic certification bodies accreditedby SINCERT. The purpose was to getto know the European context of themarket of biological agro-food productsand the requirements for the certificationbodies for the biological sector. The groupwere familiarised with the functioning ofEuropean accreditation bodies, as wellas an explanation by SINCERT of theaccreditation procedures.The meeting was appreciated, especiallybecause of the high level of interactionreached in discussions designed to get toknow each others accreditation systemsand procedures.This cooperation signifies increasingeconomic relationships between businessstructures of Italy and India. Indeed, from12-14 February 2007, an Italian delegationto India led by Italian Prime MinisterRomano Prodi included representativesof both governmental and business wasengaged in meetings between Italian andIndian companies. It was a political as wellas an economic mission, and the sectorsmost represented were agro-food, textile,tourism, infrastructures and finance.South AfricanNationalAccreditationSystem (SANAS)will hopefully benefit students when theystart work.To date, SANAS has delivered lecturesto students and staff at the Vaal Universityof Technology in Vanderbijlpark, theTshwane University of Technology inPretoria, the University of Fort Hare inAlice, Eastern Cape, the Nelson MandelaMetropolitan University in Port Elizabeth,the Durban University of Technology, andthe Central University of Technology inBloemfontein.The spin-off of this project at Fort Hareis that the department of Science andTechnology has asked SANAS to assist inthe inclusion of Accreditation and GoodLaboratory Practice (GLP) as part of theircurriculum.TanzaniaMilestone for Tanzanianservice (TBS)Late last year a ‘first’ was achievedin Tanzania when the TBS MetrologyLaboratory was granted the AccreditationCertificate by the South African NationalAccreditation System (SANAS) on 15December.The Accreditation covers four metrologyfields: mass, small volumes, temperatureand timers.ILAC News| Accreditation UpdateSANAS believes the project should helpsensitize students,(both as current users oflaboratory services and as future providersof such services), to the level of servicethey should both expect and demand,and what will be expected and demandedof them. The objective for medicalstudents is to make them more aware ofthe possibility of getting and acting oninaccurate results from the laboratories,and the possible risk this would pose forthe patient, the doctor and the laboratory.SANAS’ vision is to ensure thatAccreditation becomes part of thecurriculum at all South African Scienceand Technology institutions of higherlearning.Students learn about accreditation in SouthAfrica.UNIDO supported the process byassisting the TBS metrology laboratoryin upgrading and addressing nonconformitiesas identified by theaccreditation body which led to actualaccreditation. This is the first laboratory toobtain such accreditation in Tanzania.Through the ongoing UNIDO/SECO/TBS Project, the laboratory will be inposition to extend the accreditation tocover more metrology fields.First TBS Metrology Laboratory granted Accreditation by SANAS.(L to R) Tanzanian representative Mr. Daimon Mwakyembe , recently retired Director of the TanzaniaBureau of Standards, being presented with the Accreditation Certifi cate by Mike Peet, ChiefExecutive Offi cer, SANAS.ILAC News 23

ILAC News| StakeholdersStakeholder newsEuropean Network of ForensicScience Institute (ENFSI)By Judy van Overveld*ENFSI is the European Network ofForensic Science Institutes whose aim isto ensure the quality of development anddelivery of forensic science throughoutEurope.The organisation aims to strengthenand consolidate, expand the membershipthroughout Europe, while maintainingits development and credibility. ENFSIalso wants to establish and maintainworking relationships with similarorganisations, and encourage all ENFSIlaboratories to comply with best practiceand international standards for quality andcompetence assurance.The history of ENFSIIn 1992 the directors of WesternEuropean governmental forensiclaboratories agreed to hold regularmeetings to discuss topics of mutualinterest. At the first meeting in 1993in Rijswijk, Holland, 11 laboratorieswere represented. The laboratoryrepresentatives met again in 1994in Linköping when a provisionalMemorandum of Understanding wasendorsed. At that early stage it was agreedthat membership of ENFSI would beopen to countries across Europe.On October 20, 1995 a formal FoundingMeeting was arranged and is considered tobe the official birthday of ENFSI. At thismeeting the founders of ENFSI signedthe Memorandum of Understandinggoverning the operation of the Network,the first regular Board was elected and thelogo (the European eye) was introduced.At the 1999 Annual Meeting held inMoscow, the first constitution for ENFSIwas accepted by the membership. Inthat same year the ENFSI website wasestablished, and has gradually becomethe main source of information aboutENFSI as well as a major means ofcommunication within the ENFSIcommunity.The organisation is governed by afive-member Board, elected for a threeyearterm by the membership from thedirectors of its member-institutes. TheSecretariat supports the Board membersin their duties. The 16 Expert WorkingGroups are the backbone of ENFSI interms of the scientific knowledge andinterests.Besides the Working Groups twoStanding Committees are part of ENFSI.The Quality and Competence Committee(QCC) develop policies on QualityAssurance and Compentence Assurance,provides advice to the Expert WorkingGroups and ENFSI members and helpsthe ENFSI laboratories to comply withbest practice and international standards.The second standing committee is theEuropean Academy of Forensic Science(EAFS). This is used as a window to thescientific world, a publisher of a glossaryin various languages with typical forensicwords and terms, and the organiser ofscientific conferences.ENFSI Working Groupsinclude:Digital Imaging.DNA.Documents.Drugs.Explosives.Fibres.Fingerprints.Firearms.Fire and ExplosionInvestigation.Forensic InformationTechnology.Forensic Speech andAudio Analysis.Handwriting.Marks.Paint and glass.Road accidentanalysis.Scene of Crime.MembershipENFSI membership has developedrapidly with the numbers increasingsteadily over the years from 11 forensiclaboratories in 1993, to more than 50forensic laboratories last year.The member-laboratories aregeographically spread across Europe andinclude all the countries of the EuropeanUnion as well as all candidate-countries.Forensic laboratories can become amember of ENFSI if they fulfill theeligibility criteria including the forensiclaboratory covering a broad area offorensic expertise investigations, that is,more than five per cent of the expertiseareas covered by the ENFSI ExpertWorking Groups, having credible statusin its own country (such as regularsupplier of reports used by police forces,prosecutors or judges), and employing atleast 25 people including management,scientific staff and supporting staff. Aswell, the forensic laboratory needs to haveachieved accreditation or documentedprogress in quality assurance, with a clearplan to obtain accreditation in the nearfuture, and needs to be a member-state ofthe Council of Europe.However, forensic laboratories that arenot ENFSI members can, with somerestrictions, participate in the activities ofthe Working Groups.The activities of ENFSI include arange of meetings such as The AnnualMeeting (for members only), EAFSTriennial Meeting (open meetings),one-day, one- issue seminars, andMeetings of the Expert Working Groups(restricted access). Other activities includecollaborative studies and proficiencytests, advice to the European Unionon forensic issues, publication of Best-Practice Manuals and glossaries (in variouslanguages) with typical forensic words andterms.Regular updates of the website,publication of the ENFSI Newsletter andprojects like Research and Development,Terrorism and European Mentorship forForensic Accreditation (EMFA) are otheractivities ENFSI engages in.External RelationsENFSI has official contacts with anumber of organisations and theseinclude;The American Society of CrimeLaboratory Directors (ASCLD),theAmerican Academy of Forensic Sciences(AAFS) and Senior Managers Australianand New Zealand Forensic Laboratories(SMANZFL).Official contacts are also conductedwith Academia Iberoamericana deCriminalistica y Estudios Forenses(AICEF), EU-Police Cooperation WorkingParty (PCWG), Interpol, the Europeanco-operation for Accreditation (EA) andILAC.Further information can be obtrainedby emailing the Secretariat at secretariat@enfsi.eu or from the websitewww.enfsi.eu*Judy van Overveld, ENFSI co-secretary.National LaboratoryAssociation (NLA)NLA AGMWhen going to press the South AfricanNLA Board had not yet set a date forthe Annual General Meeting (AGM), ittraditionally occurs in the March or earlyApril time frame. The AGM is an idealopportunity to express concerns andrequests in terms of what the NLA cando to improve and provide a value-addedservice.24 Issue 31 | April/May 2007

National Certificate: MetrologyNLA confirms that the South AfricanQualifications Authority, SAQA, hasapproved the National certificate inMetrology. The process of investigatinghow it can be registered and accreditedas a service provider (in order to beginoffering this qualification), has justcommenced.For those in the calibration communitythis represents a significant advancementwhich, (it is hoped will ultimately result inthe formal registration of metrologists),thus creating recognition for thisemployment category.Training coursesPlease see details below for this yearsschedule. Unfortunately the DCLF coursehad to be postponed and a new date isindicated below.New CoursesNLA is pleased to advise the analyticallaboratory community that during 2007 wehave scheduled three courses which shouldbe of interest.These include QA for Microbiology,Basic Capillary Gas Chromatography andBasic Quantitation in Chromatographyand Spectroscopy.NLA is confident that these will be theforerunner to other technical coursesthat will be offered for analytical testlaboratories. Coupled with the coursein Estimating Uncertainties in ChemicalMeasurements it demonstrates the NLA’scommitment in this area.People may register via the NLAwebsite or a form can be downloadedand faxed once it is completed. Pleasenote that it is essential that NLA receivesyour Registration and payment at leasttwo weeks prior to the commencementof a course. Otherwise we may have topostpone/cancel courses unnecessarily.Proficiency Testing andInterlaboratory ComparisonsNLA is pleased to advise that it iscurrently running an ILC for AC/DC Power and Energy and for thoseCalibration Labs who still wish toparticipate please contact the NLA Officefor details.NLA also advises AgriculturalLaboratories the announcement of thedetails of a Proficiency Testing Scheme forPesticide Formulations will be happeningshortly. Finally, after much talk regardingthe NLA conducting Proficiency Testingfor the testing laboratory community,NLA are extremely excited aboutdevelopments in this direction. Pleasecontact Hanlie Badenhorst for furtherdetails.Conference proceedings databaseFor those who did not attend last year’sT&M Conference, as well as those whodid, NLA would like to inform you thatthere is now a searchable database onthe NLA website where the past fiveyears papers (that have been presentedat the annual T&M Conference), canbe downloaded. There is no charge forthis and it is hoped that readers will availthemselves of the opportunity of makinguse of this feature when they either wishto find a specific paper or if they wantto do some research on what is locallyavailable. Go and have a look, you will beamazed at the speed and accuracy of thesearch!CIPAC Symposium - 12th JUNE 2007- UMHLANGA ROCKS -The NLA will be supporting this one dayevent and those who are interested shouldgo and take a look at the CIPAC websitefor further details.http://www.cipac.orgILAC News| StakeholdersTEST and Measurement Conference2007 - 19–21 November 2007Venue - Emperors Palace ConventionCentre (adjacent to JohannesburgInternational Airport).Whilst there is still quite some timebefore this event takes place the NLAwould like to encourage you to considersubmitting an abstract for considerationby the Technical Review Panel, andcoming along to share with the Laboratorycommunity your experiences. This highlysuccessful event affords attendees theopportunity to network with a wide varietyof people in the laboratory communityand enables you to not only find solutionsto vexing problems, but also affords youthe opportunity to share your knowledgewith others.The preliminary details as well as thecall for papers can be found on the NLAwebsite and we look forward to seeingyou at Emperor’s Palace in November thisyear.National Laboratory Associationhttp://www.nla.org.zaNLA course calendarMicrobiology QA16–18 April 2007 R 3690,00Time & Frequency Metrology7–11 May 2007 R 4900,00Electrical (DC LF) Metrology7–11 May 2007 R 4900,00 - New DateTemperature Metrology14–18 May 2007 R 4900,00Flow Metrology21–25 May 2007 R 4900,00Pressure Course28 May–1 June 2007 R 4900, 00Basic Capillary Gas Chromatography29th May 2007 R 960, 00Dimensional Metrology4–8 June 2007 R 4900, 00Introduction to Estimation ofUncertainty of Measurement (GUM)11–14 June 2007 R 4260, 00Radio Frequency Metrology18–22 June 2007 R 4900, 00Estimation of Uncertainty inChemical Measurements17–20 July 2007 R 4260, 00Force, Torque & Hardness Metrology23–27 July 2007 R 4900, 00Oscilloscope Course13–15 August 2007 R 3690, 00Humidity Metrology(Part 1 -Relative Humidity)17–18 September 2007 R 2960, 00Humidity Metrology(Part 2 - Dew Point, HumiditySystems)19–20 September 2007 R 2960, 00Sterilizer & Autoclave Course8–10 October 2007 R 3690, 00Introduction to Measurement11–12 October 2007 R 2960, 00Electrical (DC LF) Metrology15–19 October 2007 R 4900.00Basic Quantitation in Chromatographyand Spectroscopy23 October 2007 R 1480, 00Mass Metrology22–25 October 2007 R 4900, 00Introduction to Estimation ofUncertainty of Measurement (GUM)29 Oct–1 Nov 2007 R 4260, 00ILAC News 25

ILAC PublicationsThe following is a listing of titles of all ILAC public documents at February 2007. These can be downloaded from thePublications section under Resources on the ILAC website.BrochuresThe ILAC ArrangementWhy Use an Accredited Laboratory?Why Become an Accredited Laboratory?How Does Using an Accredited Laboratory Benefit Government & Regulators?The Advantages of Being an Accredited LaboratoryLaboratory Accreditation or ISO 9001 CertificationInformation Documents (I Series)ILAC-I1:1994ILAC-I2:1994ILAC-I3:1996ILAC-I4:1996Legal Liability in TestingThis document is currently under reviewWithdrawnWithdrawnGuidance Documents (G Series)ILAC-G3:1994ILAC-G7:1996ILAC-G8:1996ILAC-G9:2005ILAC-G10:1996ILAC-G11:07/2006ILAC-G12:2000ILAC-G13:2000ILAC-G17:2002ILAC-G18:2002ILAC-G19:2002ILAC-G20:2002ILAC-G21:2002ILAC-G22:2004ILAC-G23:2004Guidelines for Training Courses for AssessorsAccreditation Requirements and OperatingCriteria for Horseracing LaboratoriesGuidelines on Assessment and Reporting ofCompliance with SpecificationGuidelines for the Selection and Use ofReference MaterialsHarmonised Procedures for Surveillance &Reassessment of Accredited LaboratoriesGuidelines on Assessor Qualifications &Competence of Assessors and Technical ExpertsGuidelines for the Requirements for theCompetence of Reference Material ProducersGuidelines for the Requirements for theCompetence of Providers of Proficiency TestingSchemesIntroducing the Concept of Uncertainty ofMeasurement in Testing in Association with theApplication of the Standard ISO/IEC 17025The Scope of Accreditation and Considerationof Methods and Criteria for the Assessment ofthe Scope in TestingGuidelines for Forensic Science LaboratoriesGuidelines on Grading of Non-ConformitiesCross Frontier Accreditation — Principles forAvoiding DuplicationUse of Proficiency Testing as a Tool forAccreditation in TestingILAC Evaluator Training CoursesSecretariat Documents (S Series)ILAC-S1:2003ILAC-S2:2003ILAC S3:2004ILAC S5:2005Guidelines for the Proposal, Drafting, Approvaland Publication of ILAC DocumentsRulesILAC Strategic and Business PlanILAC Procedure for Disputes, Complaints andAppealsProcedural Documents (P Series)ILAC-P1:2003ILAC-P2:2003ILAC-P3:2003ILAC-P4:2003ILAC-P5:2004ILAC-P6:2003ILAC-P7:2003ILAC-P8:07/2006ILAC-P9:2005ILAC-P10:2002ILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement(Arrangement): Requirements for Evaluation ofAccreditation Bodies by ILAC-recognised RegionalCooperationsILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement(Arrangement): Procedures for the Evaluation ofRegional Cooperation Bodies for the Purpose ofRecognitionILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement(Arrangement): Procedures for the Evaluation ofUnaffiliated Bodies for the Purpose of RecognitionILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement(Arrangement): Policy StatementILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement(Arrangement)Application for Full Member StatusILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement(Arrangement): Key performance Indicators(KPIs) (Link to IAF/ILAC A3:2005)ILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement(Arrangement): Supplementary Requirementsand Guidelines for the Use of AccreditationSymbols and for Claims of Accreditation Status byAccredited LaboratoriesILAC Policy for Participation in National andInternational Proficiency Testing ActivitiesILAC Policy on Traceability of MeasurementResultsMonitoring Performance of ILAC EvaluatorsILAC-P11:2004ILAC P12:2005 Harmonisation of ILAC Work with the RegionsILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement (Arrangement): Terms ofReference and Composition of the ArrangementManagement CommitteeJoint ILAC/IAF Documents (A series)IAF/ILAC A1:2006 IAF/ILAC MRAs: Evaluation of a RegionalGroupIAF/ILAC A2:2006 IAF/ILAC MRAs: Evaluation of a SingleAccreditation BodyIAF/ILAC A3:2006 IAF/ILAC MRAs: Key Performance IndicatorsIAF/ILAC A4:2004 Guidance on the Application of ISO/IEC 1702026 Issue 31 | April/May 2007

Have your say - on ILAC NewsWhat are your thoughts on ILAC News?That’s the question the ILAC Marketingand Communications Committee wouldvery much like you to answer with theironline survey.ILAC News is published twice a year inmagazine format, and is distributed globallyto ILAC members and stakeholders. That’san expensive exercise, which is why theMCC is keen to collect your views on whatshould -and should not - be in ILAC News.The ILAC MCC has published an onlinesurvey form which it encourages ILACmembers to complete. The survey takesonly a few moments to finish, but willallow the committee to decide what isthe best content - and best publishingmechanism - for ILAC News.It has been suggested that ILAC Newsbe published on the web as news storiessimilar to this one. That would removea lot of expenses and increase potentialaudience, but would mean there would nolonger be a hard copy version. That’s justone of the questions the committee hopesthe online survey will answer.If you are an ILAC News reader, pleasetake a few moments to complete thesurvey. Your assistance will ultimatelyresult in better ILAC news and a betterILAC.To fill out the reader survey go to:www.ilac.org/survey.Increased Regulator Acceptance of Accreditation and the ILAC MRA(2006 survey results)By Ian Roy*Regulators need confidence thatbusinesses comply with regulations,and a cost effective means ofensuring this confidence is providedthrough accreditation. In someinstances, regulators will acceptmanufacturers’ self declaration.In others, regulators may requireaccredited test and inspection results.Sometimes the regulators may dotheir own assessment of laboratoryor inspection body compliance. In someinstances the regulator may even requireproduct certification -product compliancewith a particular standard - or may requireevidence of certification to ISO 9001.Where accurate test and inspectionreports are required, the most costeffective, transparent and nondiscriminatoryassurance of complianceis by accepting test and inspectionreports from accredited laboratories andinspection bodies where the accreditingbody is a signatory to the ILAC MutualRecognition Arrangement (ILAC MRA).Full details of the individualregulators and their level ofacceptance of each accreditationbody’s accreditations and theMRA are available in the memberssection of the ILAC website(www.ilac.org).*Ian Roy is the Manager, International Affairs andGovernment Liaison, International AccreditationNew Zealand.ILAC News 27

ILAC/IAFSYDNEY 19–31 October 2007Take in the Sydney Harbour at nightYour invitation toSydney, AustraliaVenue for 2007 ILAC/IAF Joint Annual MeetingsSharing ideas, confirming actions,planning for future work.Organisers are already promising the2007 ILAC/IAF Joint Annual Meetings,scheduled for 19–31 October, 2007will give participants an opportunity toexchange new ideas, confirm activitiesand to have a say in planning for theorganisations’ future work activities andaction.Hosted by the National Association ofTesting Authorities, Australia (NATA)and the Joint Accreditation System ofAustralia and New Zealand (JAS-ANZ),the venue is the Amora Hotel Jamison,Sydney.Amora Hotel Jamison is convenientlylocated in the city’s central businessdistrict and close to the historic ‘Rocks’area, Circular Quay, Opera House andSydney Harbour Bridge. The hotelis in easy walking distance to cafes,nightclubs and shopping precincts.Major corporate headquarters andbusiness support providers (includingbanks and legal firms) are also at closehand.Register your interest now for the 2007ILAC/IAF Joint Annual Meetings inSydney by visiting www.ilaciaf2007.comand completing the registration form.About the eventThe 2007 ILAC/IAF theme: ‘A traditionof accreditation’ reflects the maturing ofaccreditation internationally.Hosted by NATA and JAS-ANZ,the event will provide an informativeagenda including eminent presenters andan exciting social program of uniquelyAustralian experiences.A tradition of accreditation