30th EA GA meeting

25 resolutions were adopted at the 30th meeting of the EA General Assembly (GA) that was held in the period between 21st and 22nd November 2012 in Bratislava, Slovak Republic. However, the most important ones are as follows:

- the General Assembly noted the decision made by the EA MLA Council that BATA, the national accreditation body of Bosnia and Herzegovina, should sign a Bilateral Agreement with EA for calibration, testing and inspection;  
 

Žarko Petrović and Thomas Facklam

- the General Assembly endorsed the decision of the Executive Committee (EA EX) to offer Recognised Stakeholder status to the Independent International Organisation for Certification (IIOC), and to the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Scheme (PEFC Council) and to enter into an agreement therewith in accordance with EA-1/15: EA Policy for Relations with Stakeholders;

- the General Assembly mandated the Executive Committee to agree with EC DG CLIMA a Work Programme and budget for the implementation of the EU/ETS Accreditation & Verification Regulation and gave the EA Chairman the mandate to sign the corresponding agreement with DG CLIMA;

- the General Assembly noted the proposed 3-scenario-split peer evaluation programme to be implemented in order to allow EA NABs to sign the EA MLA for GHG verification under ISO 14065 and the EU/ETS Regulations;

- the General Assembly, acting upon recommendation from the Communications and Publications Committee (EA CPC), adopted ILAC P8: XX/2012: ILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement (Arrangement): Supplementary Requirements and Guidelines for the Use of Accreditation Symbols and for Claims of Accreditation Status by Accredited Laboratories and Inspection Bodies as a guidance document for all EA Members;

- the General Assembly endorsed a new work item to establish accreditation of Proficiency Testing Providers and Reference Material Producers as new activities under the EA MLA;

- The General Assembly, acting upon recommendation from the Laboratory Committee (EA LC), adopted ILAC G18:04/2010: Guideline for the Formulation of Scopes of Accreditation for Laboratories as a guidance document for all EA Members;

- the General Assembly, based on the ILAC resolution GA 16.22, agreed to withdraw ILAC G22:2004 Use of Proficiency Testing as a Tool for Accreditation in Testing as a guidance document for all EA Members;

- the General Assembly, based on the IAF resolution 2012 – 08 stating that the period for the transition of Information Security Management System Accreditation to ISO/IEC 27006:2011 from ISO/IEC 27006:2007 be 18 months from the date of publication (1 December 2011), agreed to rescind the previous EA Resolution.

The General Assembly elected the following officers to the EA Executive Committee for a one-year mandate starting from 1st January 2013:
- Thomas Facklam (DakkS) –EA Chair,
- Nicole VanLaethem (BELAC) – Multilateral Agreement Council Chair,
- Ignasio Pina (ENAC) – Horizontal Harmonization Committee Chair,
- Lucyna Olborska (PCA) –EA EX member,
- Peter Kronvall (SWEDAC) –EA EX member.                                                                                     
                                                                                  

 

EA GA meeting atmosphere

Daniel Pierre and Talbot Graham