IAS Spring 2020 Newsletter - Flipbook - Page 6
WORLD METROLOGY DAY
WAD
WORLD ACCREDITATION DAY (JUNE 9)
World Accreditation Day, held June 9, is a global initiative
established by the International Laboratory Accreditation
Cooperation and International Accreditation Forum to celebrate
the value of accreditation. This year, the theme for the day is “How
accreditation Improves Food Safety.” As a signatory member of
both ILAC and IAF, IAS will be recognizing World Accreditation Day
by hosting an online event. The event will feature food safety and
accreditation experts presenting on the multiple food accreditation
programs offered by IAS. For more information, visit the News page
of the IAS website. Download the World Accreditation Day Poster
and Brochure.
ACCREDITED MEETINGS / APAC
Accreditation Meetings
IAS is a signatory to the three primary
international organizations (International
Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation,
International Accreditation Forum, Asia
Pacific Accreditation Cooperation) that
form a unified system for evaluating and
recognizing competent accreditation bodies
worldwide. The following are details on
upcoming meetings for these organizations.
•2020 Joint ILAC-IAF Annual
meetings will be held in Montreal,
Canada from October 27 to
November 5, 2020.
•APAC 2021—will be held in
Bengaluru, India from
June 25—July 3, 2021.
APAC, ILAC Evaluations and Committee Meetings
O
WORLD METROLOGY DAY IS MAY 20
the
Manniversary of the signing ofcommemorating
the Metre Convention
ay 20 is World Metrology Day,
in 1875. This treaty provides the basis for a worldwide
coherent measurement system that underpins scientific
discovery and innovation, industrial manufacturing and
international trade, as well as the improvement of the
quality of life and the protection of the global environment.
IAS is proud to recognize the many accredited calibration
laboratories that play an important role ensuring the
accuracy of measurements.
The theme for World Metrology Day 2020 is
Measurements for global trade. This theme was chosen
to create awareness of the important role measurement
plays in facilitating fair global trade, ensuring products
meet standards and regulations, and satisfying customer
quality expectations. Each year World Metrology Day
is organized and celebrated jointly by the International
Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) and the
International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML) with
the participation of the national organizations responsible
for metrology. Click for more information.
n January 1, 2019, two former
regional accreditation cooperations,
the Pacific Accreditation Cooperation
(PAC) and the Asia Pacific Laboratory
Accreditation Cooperation (APLAC)
merged to become the Asia Pacific
Accreditation Cooperation (APAC).
Each cooperation specialized in its only
accreditation programs. PAC’s members
accredited conformity assessment bodies
for management systems, product
certification and personnel certifications.
APLAC’s members accredited conformity
assessment bodies for testing, calibration
and inspection. This merger makes
APAC the largest regional specialist body
in the world with members comprising
of accreditation bodies, accreditation
focal sector representatives and other
organizations that have an interest
in accredited conformity assessment
results. APAC is also recognized by
the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC) as one of four APEC Specialist
Regional Bodies (SRBs) that support
the work of the APEC Sub-Committee on
Standards and Conformance.
As a full member and signatory to the
APAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement
(MRA), the International Accreditation
Service (IAS) appropriately covered the
inaugural meeting held in Singapore from
14 – 22 June 2019. IAS staff attending
the meeting was Raj Nathan, President
of IAS, Greg West, Director of Customer
Success Group, and Program Manager
David Musselwhite.
Being APAC’s first regional General
Assembly meeting after the merger,
it was especially important event for
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SPRING 2020 NEWSLETTER
APAC to establish a more cooperative
role in the Conformity Assessment
arena. IAS participation in the General
Assembly and its technical meetings
was of strategic importance and value.
IAS operates a range of accreditation
programs (testing, calibration, inspection,
management systems, product and
persons) under the merged regional
Mutual Recognition Arrangement
(MRAs). A successful consequence
of the meeting was to expand IAS’s
national and international reach while
broadening IAS’ stature as a full-service
accreditation body serving the interests
of its constituents and enhancing IAS’
opportunities for growth.
The APAC membership and interested
stakeholders help facilitate trade and
commerce amongst economies in the
Asia Pacific region. These regional
groups in turn serve the global markets
through the framework established under
the International Accreditation Forum
(IAF, www.iaf.nu) and International
Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation
(ILAC, www.ilac.org). The primary means
by which IAF/ILAC achieve international
acceptance of accreditations granted by
its accreditation body members is based
on the equivalence of their accreditation
programs through the establishment of
regional MRAs. These MRAs provide
world-wide recognition of test reports
and certificates issued by IAS accredited
conformity assessment bodies and their
certified clients.At this meeting, some
major updates and committee meetings
were held relating to:
•APAC member applications and
Signatory Evaluations
•Technical Committee and Work
Group (WG) meetings
•Revision of APAC/ILAC/IAF
documents
•Use of the IAF CERTSEARCH
Database and Mark
• Transition to ISO/IEC 17011: 2017
The overall participation at this APAC
meetings included our staff contributions
as (Acting) Co-Convener of the Product
WG, member of Communications and
Promotions Committee, member of
Technical Committee 1 and a member of
MRA Management Committee. Finally, in
March 2020 IAS was officially approved
by APAC for our compliance to the new
ISO/IEC 17011: 2017 standard.
www.iasonline.org
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