ILAC admits new members, seeks closer ties with IAF

2000-11-03

The International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) has taken on new members and announced its intention to work more closely with the International Accreditation Forum (IAF).

At its recent general meeting, the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) took on new members and announced its intention to work more closely with the International Accreditation Forum (IAF).

ILAC is an international federation of laboratory accreditation bodies, including the Standards Council of Canada. It has developed a mutual recognition agreement which ILAC refers to as an "arrangement" under which 37 laboratory accreditation bodies from 38 countries have agreed to recognize one another's accreditations as equivalent to their own. That's intended to reduce the need for exporters to re-test their products in order to meet the requirements of overseas markets.

ILAC's general assembly took place in Washington DC on November 2 and 3, 2000. Highlights of the meeting included ILAC's acceptance of accreditation bodies from Egypt and Tunisia as full members, and from Albania, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Mauritius and El Salvador as associate members. Like all ILAC members, the new participants will have to undergo a rigorous peer evaluation if they want to be accepted as signatories to the agreement.

ILAC also announced its intention to work more closely with IAF, which has developed its own multilateral agreement on ISO 9000 quality management systems and intends to move into ISO 14000 environmental management systems and product certification. The two organizations plan to establish joint planning committees and working groups, support initiatives in developing countries, and work with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to better explain the relationship between ISO 9000 and ISO/IEC 17025, the international standard for laboratory accreditation. IAF accepted a similar resolution at its own recent plenary meeting.

ILAC's next general meeting will take place in November 2001, in Kyoto, Japan.

For more information:

• Resolutions from ILAC's 4th General Assembly, November 2 and 3, 2000, Washington DC
• ILAC web site
• Standards Council staff contact: JoAnne Dupont, tel. (613) 238-3222, ext. 442; e-mail [email protected]