Evaluation of EA as a regional cooperation by ILAC/IAF successfully completed

In Vancouver, the MLA Committees of ILAC and IAF resolved that the EA MLA continues to be recognised by ILAC for accreditation of calibration and testing laboratories, and by IAF for accreditation of management system certification and certification of products. Congratulations to EA!

Signing and publication of the Guidelines for Co-operation

April 1st 2009: EA formally confirmed as the official European accreditation infrastructure.
May 21 2009: the Guidelines have been published on the OJ C 116.

EA is standing on its own two feet

To play efficiently its new role as defined in Regulation (EC) 765/2008 as from 2010, EA is gaining full independence. EA has formally declared the Paris offices of its Secretariat so as to be enabled to become an employer in France. All EA accounts are being transferred to an independent accounting company in Paris.

Ongoing revision of EA Articles of Association

In theory the draft Articles were ready for voting at the last GA in Bruges, but legal advice was sought and changes in the Dutch law have led to introduce a substantial number of modifications into the Articles of Association.
Due to the pressing need to have the Articles approved in time for the implementation of Regulation (EC) 765/2008, the Executive Committee decided to move into a two-stage revision process. The outcome of the first stage consisting in a revision of Articles 1 through 4 inclusive has been formally confirmed at the last GA meeting in November 2009. The second stage of the revision has been starting immediately after the GA meeting by the appointed TFG of the Executive Committee with a view to come up with a final version to be approved at the GA meeting in May 2010.

Stakeholders formally recognized by EA

In accordance with the new legislative European framework, EA has been endeavouring to refine the rules of stakeholders' consultation and contribution to EA's work, in order to grant a distinct status with associated rights and obligations to those stakeholders who wish to become more directly involved in EA's associative life and have a particular institutional interest in contributing to EA's technical activities without, however, meeting the criteria for becoming EA full members.
The adoption of the final draft of the EA Policy for Relations with Stakeholders (as defined in EA-1/15) together with the annexed template for recognized stakeholder agreement has just been endorsed at the last EA General Assembly held in November 2009 in Bruges.

Towards a single European accreditation symbol and the recognition of some non-European ABs

The EA Advisory Board, whose membership has been renewed for the new 3-year term, has elected its new Chairman, Guy Jacques, coming from the CAB College. The latest EAAB meeting held on 29 October 2009 enabled the Board to consolidate the progressive evolution towards the fulfilment of the requirements of Regulation (EC) 765/2008 entering into force as of 1 January 2010, notably with regard to the improvement of the coordination, consistency and visibility of European accreditation.
The Board unanimously supports the proposed project of introducing a single European accreditation symbol, whose twofold objective would help to erase obstacles for cross-border accreditation: to increase the acceptance of accredited reports and certificates by introducing a single “mark” to demonstrate their reliability and credibility; and to improve the visibility and transparency in the marketplace of services delivered by CABs accredited by EA MLA signatories. The last EA General Assembly held in November 2009 has endorsed a new work item for the EA Executive Committee to investigate further the potential introduction of a European accreditation symbol by considering all related issues.
 
The EAAB also supports that the project to establish some form of recognition by EA that some ABs from third countries outside the EU/EFTA and the EU's Neighbourhood Policy meet the additional requirements demanded by Regulation 765/08 in addition to their existing ILAC/IAF MRA/MLA signatory status, would be useful to demonstrate to European Regulators that these bodies are complying with the same requirements as EA members. An EA General Assembly resolution adopted in November 2009 provides that the political and operational approaches will be further considered by an Executive Committee working group and reported back at the next GA meeting in May 2010.

Kick-off meeting of the Directives Networks Convenors

The meeting brought together the convenors of the 13 directive networks on September 4 2009 in Brussels.
The main objective of the meeting was to review the terms of reference and reach a common understanding of the networks' role as the nets have been raising high expectations. Basically, the nets are responsible for collecting, sharing and disseminating technical information related to the directives and any other European regulation within their scope. They are also expected to discuss technical issues related to assessment of CABs for the purposes of notification, with a view to harmonise practices.
Networks should mainly work electronically. Convenors can already use a specific Emailing system put in place by the Secretariat that allows internal communication (exchange of emails) within a net and amongst the convenors. Additional facilities for storing and making information available will be developed by the Secretariat in close cooperation with the convenors and the CPC. A set of two tests is being prepared to evaluate the conditions for use of a forum facility as well as to develop specific web pages for information on directives.

From BMC to CMC

Following EA's announcement supporting the ILAC BMC/CMC communiqué, the EA Laboratory Committee agreed that the transition from BMC to CMC should be completed by accredited laboratories at the end of 2010.

Recognition of Verifiers under the EU ETS Directive

After a commenting round closed on 16 November 2009 and the consolidation of the comments received by the relevant working group, the EA Guidance on Recognition of Verifiers under the EU ETS Directive (Document EA-6/03) has just been sent out for voting by 31 December 2009. It is expected that EA will publish this final version in early January to ensure that the guidance is available in due course for the new aviation and nitrous oxide emission accreditation activities starting as from 1 January 2010.

US scrutinizes toys

Two significant announcements from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in the US regarding the legislation for testing of children's products entering the US market have just been made available from the news story on the ILAC website's homepage at: http://www.ilac.org/

Interactive evaluative pathway for sector schemes

The Horizontal Harmonisation Committee will play a key role in the evaluation of sector schemes since it will be responsible for evaluating general principles for cooperation. Subsequently it will rely on the relevant EA technical committee for examining technical aspects. The appropriate procedure and processes are being finalised together with the MAC.

Improved quality of DNA profiles and fingerprints in the EU

The Justice and Home Affairs Council reached an agreement on the accreditation of forensic science laboratories. Please click here to get more information.

Are you linked to the relooked CEN website?

The CEN website is now still more user-friendly for newcomers: the top-level navigation bar has been reshaped and several new features have been added in last November. Please check the links you have made to the CEN website and re-route if necessary. The main url has not changed: www.cen.eu

LABNETWORK: the Laboratory Network Web Portal

LABNETWORK is an online platform set up under the auspices of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the World Association of Industrial and Technological Research Organizations (WAITRO) to disseminate valuable information to testing and calibration laboratories from all fields of science. It is developed in partnership with EPTIS, COMAR, BIPM, ISO and ILAC.
Users of LABNETWORK will be able to contact each other either directly or through LABNETWORK's message board, where they can post their problems to be answered by experts in their field, chosen by UNIDO, or by other members of LABNETWORK.
To get more information and use services, please click on LABNETWORK website: www.labnetwork.org