Meetings of the EA Inspection Committee and Certification Committee

15th September 2008 - 17th meeting of the Inspection Committee (EA IC) and 16th meeting of the Certification Committee (EA CC) of the European Cooperation for Accreditation were held in Brussels in the period between 8th and 10th September 2008.

The key topic that was discussed at the Inspection Committee was the forthcoming amendment and adoption of the new version of ISO/IEC 17020. On the basis of the experiences of accreditation bodies performing assessment activities in line with the current standard ISO/IEC 17020 and discussion during the meeting, the Committee formulated proposals for amendments of the current version of the standard that an EA representative would present to the IAF with the aim of contributing to the development of the new version of the standard.

At the meeting of the Inspection Committee examples of the implementation of the criteria laid down in the IAF/ILAC-A4:2004 Guide were also discussed for type A inspection body and ambiguities and difficulties related thereto; implementation of  ISO/IEC 17011 when accrediting inspection bodies and other issues falling within the scope of specific working groups and bodies.

Certification Committee included in its Agenda the following key topics: revision of the New Approach in light of adopting  new regulations and a decision made by the EU pertaining to placing of products and services on the single market; issues relating to the accreditation of certification bodies from other countries, i.e. out-with the borders of a country where a national accreditation body has been established; assessment and ISO/IEC 17021 implementation examples; reports by working groups and bodies pertaining to certification in the field of food, EMS, integrated systems, greenhouse gases and the like.

Presence and participation in these meetings was very fruitful and useful. Exchange of experience of different accreditation bodies and other stakeholders will contribute to the improvements in work of the Accreditation Board of Serbia. Vida Živković, MSc, and Ljubica Živanić participated in these meetings as representatives of the Accreditation Board of Serbia.