40th meeting of the EA General Assembly
International activities40th meeting of the General Assembly of the European co-operation for Accreditation (EA GA) was held in the period between 22nd and 23rd November 2017 in Berlin, Germany. The meeting was hosted by the German Accreditation body (DAkkS).
During the General Assembly, among other, the following resolutions were adopted:
EA Resolution 2017 (40) 06
The General Assembly endorses the decision of the Executive Committee to offer EA Recognised Stakeholder status to FSSC 22000 and to enter into an agreement (Document EAGA(17)72rev) with FSSC 2200 in accordance with EA-1/15 A: 2014 - EA Policy for Relations with Stakeholders.
Resolution EA 2017 (40) 07
The General Assembly endorses the decision of the Executive Committee to offer EA Recognised Stakeholder status to UILI (Union internationale des laboratoires indépendants), and to enter into an agreement (Document EA GA(17)73) with UILI in accordance with EA-1/15 A: 2014 - EA Policy for Relations with Stakeholders.
EA Resolution 2017 (40) 12
The General Assembly agrees that the Executive Committee starts a new work item to revise EA-1/17 S5: Supplement 5 to EA-1/17 EA Rules of Procedure – Levying of Membership Fees, according to the rationale for revision set out in EAGA(17)93.
EA Resolution 2017 (40) 13
The General Assembly, acting upon the recommendation of the Horizontal Harmonisation Committee, agrees with the HHC position paper on CERTIF 2015-02 Rev03 (document EAGA(17)67 HHC Position paper on CERTIF 2015-02 rev 03) and endorses the following position on consultancy activities provided by Notified Bodies:
"Given that Article R17(4) of Decision 768/2008 refers to the activity for which a body is notified, this means that the notified body may not provide consultancy services (such as technical assistance or provide advice on how to pass conformity assessment procedures) to any manufacturers of the kind of products it assesses, as described in the accreditation scope.
Otherwise, the independence provisions in relevant harmonized standards used to accredit NBs would be undermined or even contradicted.”
Resolution EA 2017 (40) 14
The General Assembly, acting upon the recommendation of the Horizontal Harmonisation Committee, agrees that the EA HHC starts a new work item to revise EA-2/13: EA Cross Border Accreditation Policy and Procedure for Cross Border Cooperation between EA Members and its Supplement 1 EA2/13 S1: Interpretation of terminology used in clause 5.1 and guidelines to assessment focus, according to the rationale for revision set out in EAGA(17)83.
Resolution EA 2017 (40) 15
The General Assembly, acting upon the recommendation of the Executive Committee based on the advice from the Horizontal Harmonisation Committee, agrees that:
- issues related to the non-technical implementation and interpretation of EA-1/22: EA Procedure and Criteria for the Evaluation of Conformity Assessment Schemes by EA Accreditation Body Members are for the HHC to discuss;
- technical issues concerning the schemes are for the relevant technical committees to address;
- scheme owners shall have only one contact point for their questions to EA. It is the role of the “home AB” to be that unique contact point.
Resolution EA 2017 (40) 16
The General Assembly, acting upon the recommendation of the Horizontal Harmonisation Committee, endorses the mandatory application of the ERA Technical Document (MNB – Assessment scheme 000MRA1044 ver.1.1) Requirements for CABs seeking Notification as Level 4 document for all EA members.
The transition period for transferring accreditation of existing CABs already accredited for IOD/2008, to the scheme will end on 1st July 2020. By 1st July 2020, all accreditations will have to be granted according to the scheme
Applications received from 1st January 2018 on shall be processed according to the ERA Technical Document.
Resolution EA 2017 (40) 17
The General Assembly, acting upon recommendation of the Certification Committee, agrees that the EA CC starts a new work item to revise EA-3/12: EA Policy for the Accreditation of Organic Production Certification, according to the rationale for revision set out in EAGA(17)79.
EA Resolution 2017 (40) 18
The General Assembly, acting upon recommendation of the Certification Committee, agrees that the EA CC starts a new work item to elaborate a new EA policy for the Accreditation of Certification Activities under (EU Regulation 1151/2012) PDO/PGI/TSG; (EU Regulations 606/2009, 607/2009 and 1308/2013) Wine Products; (EU regulation 110/2008) Spirits and (EU Regulation 251/2014) Aromatised Wine Products, according to the rationale for preparation of the document set out in EAGA(17)80
EA Resolution 2017 (40) 19
The General Assembly, acting upon recommendation of the Certification Committee, endorses the withdrawal of EA-3/11: Food Safety Management Systems – Scope of Accreditation, taken over by IAF MD16:2015: Application of ISO/IEC 17011 for the Accreditation of Food Safety Management Systems (FSMS) Certification Bodies.
EA Resolution 2017 (40) 20
The General Assembly, acting upon recommendation of the Certification Committee, endorses the mandatory application of ISO/IEC 20000-6: 2017 Information technology -- Service management -- Part 6: Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of service management systems as Level 4 standard for all EA members.
Resolution EA 2017 (40) 22
The General Assembly, acting upon recommendation of the Laboratory Committee, endorses the withdrawal of EA-3/04: Use of proficiency testing as a tool for accreditation in testing, which has been becoming no longer necessary since ISO/IEC 17043 has been published.
Resolution EA 2017 (40) 23
The General Assembly approves the following IAF resolutions adopted at the 31st IAF Annual General Assembly in Vancouver, Canada in October 2017, as applicable to EA and its members:
• Resolution (IAF Resolution 2017-13) – Transitional Arrangements for the ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 - The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the Technical Committee, resolved that at the end of the transition period, 15 September 2018, all ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 14001:2004 certifications shall expire or be withdrawn.
As of 15 March 2018, CABs shall conduct all ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 initial, surveillance, and recertification audits to the new versions (ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015).
The outcomes of such audits shall be considered by the CAB for further decision on accredited certifications to ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 14001:2004 as deemed appropriate.
• Resolution (IAF Resolution 2017-14) – Transitional Arrangements for the revision of ISO 50001:2011 - The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the Technical Committee, resolved that the Transitional Arrangement for the Revision of ISO 50001:2011 Energy Management Systems – Requirements with guidance for use, be three years from the date of publication of the revised standard. All ISO 50001:2011 certifications shall expire or be withdrawn at the end of the transition period.
Within this transition timeline:
• ABs shall be ready to carry out transition assessments for ISO 50001:2018 within 6 months from the date of publication of the revised standard..
• CABs shall complete the transition with ABs for ISO 50001:2018 within 18 months from the date of publication of the revised standard.
• CABs shall cease conducting audits, including initial, surveillance and recertification to the ISO 50001:2011 18 months from the date of publication of the revised standard. The outcomes of such audits to the revision of ISO 50001:2011 shall be considered by the CAB for further decision on accredited certifications to ISO 50001:2011 as deemed appropriate.
• Resolution (IAF Resolution 2017-15) – Transitional Arrangements for the revision of ISO 14064-1:2006 and 14064-2:2006 - The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the Technical Committee, resolved that the Transitional Arrangement for the Revision of ISO 14064-1:2006 Greenhouse gases -- Part 1: Specification with guidance at the organization level for quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and removals, and ISO 14064- 2:2006 Greenhouse gases -- Part 2: Specification with guidance at the project level for quantification, monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emission reductions or removal enhancements be three years from the date of publication of the revised standard.
Within this transition timeline:
• ABs shall be ready to carry out transition assessment for ISO 14064-1:2018 and ISO 14064-2:2018 within 6 months from the date of publication of the revised standard.
Note: If there is an exception to the above, the AB shall justify the exception based on valid reasons.
• CABs shall complete the transition with ABs for ISO 14064-1:2018 and ISO 14064-2:2018 within 3 years from the date of publication of the revised standard.
• Resolution (IAF Resolution 2017-16) – Transitional Arrangement for the revision of ISO 22000:2005 - The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the Technical Committee, resolved that the period for transitioning of accredited certifications to the next revision of ISO 22000:2005 Food safety management systems -- Requirements for any organization in the food chain be three years from the date of publication.
• Resolution (IAF Resolution 2017-17) Transitional Arrangement for the Revision of ISO/IEC TS 17021-3:2013 to ISO/IEC 17021-3:2017 - The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the Technical Committee, resolved that the transition period for ISO/IEC 17021-3:2017 Conformity assessment — Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management systems — Part 3: Competence requirements for auditing and certification of quality management systems, be two years from the date of publication of the revised standard (i.e. 31 March 2019).
• Resolution (IAF Resolution 2017-18) Endorsement of ISO/IEC 20000-6: 2017 and ISO/IEC 20000-1: 2011 as Normative Documents and Transitional Arrangement - The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the Technical Committee, resolved to endorse ISO/IEC 20000-6:2017 Information technology – Service management – Part 6: Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of service management systems and ISO/IEC 20000-1:2011 Information technology – Service management -- Part 1: Service management system requirements as normative documents.
The General Assembly further resolved that the transition period for the implementation of ISO/IEC 20000-6:2017 be two years from the date of publication, i.e. 06 June 2017. After the transition period, IAF MD18:2015 Application of ISO/IEC 17021:2011 in the Service Management Sector (ISO/IEC 20000-1) will be withdrawn.
• Resolution (IAF Resolution 2017-19) – Non-Accredited Personnel Certification where the CAB is accredited for the same scope and Transitional Arrangement - The General Assembly acting on the recommendation of the Technical Committee resolved that IAF Accreditation Body members shall have legally enforceable arrangements with their accredited CABs for personnel certification that prevents the CAB from issuing non-accredited persons certificates in scopes for which they are accredited.
The enforceable arrangements shall require full implementation within three years from 30 October 2017.
Additionally, CABs for personnel certification shall transition certification documentation to include the accreditation symbol and/or shall make reference to the accreditation status of the CAB including the identification of the AB, at the time of recertification decision; no later than 30 October 2020.
When granted initial accreditation (for ISO/IEC 17024), after 30 October 2017, a CAB shall transition (re-issue) previous unaccredited certification documents and/or make reference to the accreditation status including identification of the AB, within one year of the accreditation decision.
Note: If there is an exception to the above, the CAB must justify the exception to the AB, and if accepted by the AB, the certification is still considered accredited.
• Resolution (IAF Resolution 2017-20) – Certification to ISO 31000:2009, Risk management – Principles and guidelines - The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the Technical Committee, resolved that there will not be any accredited certification to ISO 31000:2009, Risk management – Principles and guidelines (publication date 13 November 2009).
ISO 31000 explicitly states that it is not intended or appropriate for certification, and any certification would be a misuse of the standard. Therefore CABs are strongly urged not to promote or provide certification to ISO 31000 and ABs and CABs are requested to report any misuse or need for certification to the ISO Secretariat.
Resolution EA 2017 (40) 24
The General Assembly approves the following resolution adopted at the 17th IAF-ILAC Joint General Assembly in Vancouver, Canada in October 2017, as applicable to EA and its members:
• Resolution (JGA Vancouver Resolution 2) - Implementation of transition to ISO/IEC 17011:2017 The Joint General Assembly endorses the recommendation of the Joint Executive Committee, to ensure JGA Delhi Resolution 1 – Transition to ISO/IEC 17011:2017 is fully implemented, that all peer evaluation activities carried out from 1 July 2018 will use ISO/IEC 17011:2017 as the requirements document. Details of this transition plan are described in the document entitled “ISO/IEC 17011:2017 Transition Plan” dated 29 October 2017.
Resolution EA 2017 (40) 25
The General Assembly adopts the following documents:
- IAF MD 2:2017 IAF Mandatory Document for the Transfer of Accredited Certification of Management Systems, Issue 2, as mandatory document for all EA members;
- IAF MD 8:2017 Application of ISO/IEC 17011:2004 in the Field of Medical Device Quality Management Systems (ISO 13485), Issue 3, as mandatory document for all EA members;
- IAF MD 9:2017 Application of ISO/IEC 17021-1 in the Field of Medical Device Quality Management Systems (ISO 13485), Issue 3, as mandatory document for all EA members;
- IAF/ILAC A1:03/2017 IAF/ILAC MRAs: Requirements and Procedures for Evaluation of a Regional Group, as applicable to EA;
- IAF/ILAC A2:03/2017 IAF/ILAC MRAs: Requirements and Procedures for Evaluation of a Single Accreditation Body, as applicable to EA;
- ILAC-P4:06/2017 ILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement: Policy and Management, as applicable to EA and its members being ILAC MRA signatories;
- ILAC-P5:06/2017 ILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement: Scope and Obligations, as applicable to EA and its members being ILAC MRA signatories.
Dr Tilman Denkler from BAM (The Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und prüfung) presented results of a study based on the analysis of the performance of accreditation bodies (ABs). The objectives of the project were to develop the tool for management that would enable research of different methods of work of AB, establishing criteria, enabling comparison of different ABs with different operational processes and organization models and identifying and promoting „best practice“. EA Executive Committee will consider further activities to be undertaken and actions to be devolped within the project, which was supported by the members.
On behalf of the Accreditation body of Serbia, Prof. Aco Janićijević, PhD, ATS Acting Director and Jasna Stojanović, Deputy Director attended the EA General Assembly.
For more information please visit:
http://www.european-accreditation.org/information/highlights-of-the-40th-ea-general-assembly