Representatives of the Lebanese Accreditation Body visited ATS

Representatives of the Lebanese Accreditation Body (COLIBAC) visited the Accreditation Body of Serbia in the period between 31^st August and 1^st September 2015 as part of the study visit that was organised as part of the activities of the EU funded project “Further strengthening of quality management capabilities and infrastructure in Lebanon (EuropeAid/132048/D/SER/LB)”. Experiences related to the ISO/IEC 17011 requirements were exchanged during this two-day visit. This was also an opportunity for the Lebanese colleagues to learn the best way to put in place their own management system in accordance to the requirements of the abovementioned international standard, and later to become members of the international organisations for accreditation.

The following topics were discussed during the meeting:

- ATS experiences in setting up an accrediting body (e.g. organisation, staffing, establishing Technical Committees and other ATS organs and bodies)

- accreditation procedure, interaction with CABs, operational guideline

- compliance with international standards and accreditation criteria

-ATS management system, and

- Impact of local legislation on the ATS internal structure.

Dragan Badnjar MSc, ATS Deputy Director, and the Head of the General Affairs Section, Jasna Stojanović, presented the accreditation system in the Republic of Serbia and ATS operation, and importance of signing the multilateral agreements. Moreover, the significance of the AB membership in international organisations and exchange of experiences therein were explained.

Ljubinka Gligić PhD gave a presentation on day one on the subject of the extension of the scope of the ATS activities - accreditation in the field of quality management systems for medical devices as per SRPS EN ISO 13485, and accreditation of forensic laboratories as per SRPS ISO/IEC 17025 and SRPS ISO/IEC 17020.

Representatives of the Lebanese Accreditation Body and ATS representatives