Summary of the EA Certification Committee (EA CC) and the EA Inspection Committee (EA IC) meetings
NoticesInternational activitiesThe EA Certification Committee (EA CC) meeting was held from 3 to 4 September 2019 in Berlin. It featured 56 participants from 38 national accreditation bodies and 4 stakeholder organizations.
The EA Certification Committee (EA CC) had previously prepared guidance on the selection of standards for conformity assessment, which should help CAB to determine which of the two standards to choose and which one is most suitable for a given conformity assessment activity: product certification or management system certification. The Workshop will be organized by the EA Horizontal Harmonization Committee (EA HHC) at the beginning of 2020, and the EA Certification Committee (EA CC) will be particularly interested in how this guidance shall be applied.
A draft document pertaining to the policy of protection of geographical indications (GI) described in Regulation (EC) No 1151/2012 (Article 5) was also discussed during the meeting, These two norms provide information about the origin and characteristics of the product thus giving a certain level of assurance to the consumers regarding the quality of the products they purchase.
The EA Certification Committee (EA CC) has also begun revision of EA-6/04 EA Guidelines on the Accreditation of Certification of Primary Sector Products by Means of Sampling of Sites and EA-3/12 EA Policy for the Accreditation of Organic Production Certification. Both documents should be ready for publication by the end of 2020.
A decision was made to create a new working group (WG) consisting of representatives of the national accreditation bodies of the Czech Republic, Spain and the European Welding Federation aiming to tackle the certification scheme for persons when certification is carried out in accordance with:
- 9606-x Qualification testing of welders - Fusion welding,
- ISO 9712 Non-destructive testing - Qualification and certification of NDT personnel.
It was confirmed to the participants that ISO/IEC 17029 - Conformity assessment - General principles and conditions for bodies for verification and validation is expected to be published in October 2019.
The EA Secretariat is going to organize a workshop in the form of ISO/IEC 17029 training in Paris (France) on November 28, 2019. The second session will be held during 2020.
The next meeting of the EA Certification Committee (EA CC) will be held in March 2020 in Sofia, Bulgaria.
The EA Inspection Committee (EA IC) held its 38th meeting from 5 to 6 September 2019 in Berlin.
Brian Reed from NA, the Norwegian accreditation body, was appointed the next EA Inspection Committee Vice-Chair for the period 2020/2021.
During the meeting the following topics were discussed:
- Harmonization of the scope of accreditation
In accordance with the results of the survey conducted for the scope of periodic monitoring of pressure equipment and lifts, the differences as well as the apparent similarities in the approach of the accreditation bodies when presenting the scope of accreditation were highlighted.
For the purpose of harmonization, the accreditation bodies were invited to take advantage of these similarities when presenting their inspection bodies’ scopes of accreditation and to understand that others may present the scope differently, but using similar information.
- Application of the ISO / IEC 17020 in the field of crime scene investigation
The presentation/presenting the scope of accreditation was briefly discussed in the field of crime scene research based on the outcome of the previously conducted survey.
The Committee agreed that establishing harmonization in this specific field would be beneficial. Setting up Working Group on Crime Scene Investigation is an option that could be realized in 2020.
- Car inspection and car type approval
It was agreed that the document entitled EA Guidance on the Application of ISO/IEC 17020 in Periodic Inspection of the Roadworthiness of Motor Vehicles and their Trailers shall be revised. The proposal for a new working item will be submitted to the EA General Assembly for adoption in November 2019. The draft of the revised document will be presented in the EA Inspection Committee (EA IC) meeting in March 2020.
After a comprehensive presentation on legal requirements and general type approval activities in the field of motor vehicles, the Committee members agreed to form a Working Group to deal with this matter. Establishing it for the car type approval activities is an option for 2020.
- The questions the EA Inspection Committee is frequently asked (EA IC) database
The questions EA Inspection Committee (EA IC) is frequently asked database designated by TURKAK, Turkey's national accreditation body, offering advanced search and follow-up options, was presented to the Committee members as a work project. The Committee members welcomed it and passed on their assessment of the database development. Further consideration of whether a draft of this database will be made publicly available by the Committee is planned to take place during 2020.
- A workshop on the scopes of inspection bodies carrying out inspection in accordance with legal requirements and control procedures
The workshop defining the area of accreditation, details of control procedures in the regulated area (food, pressure vessels and lifts), was held on the second day of the meeting after which representatives of the groups presented answers to the questions raised during the meeting.
The EA Certification Committee (EA CC) is going to organize the workshop in Paris (France) focusing on the issues of "calibration" and "verification" in inspection, as well as on the certain details identified in the new version of the document entitled ILAC P15.
- Revision of the document entitled ILAC P15
The members of the Committee were requested to review the draft of the revised document entitled ILAC P15 and to submit their comments to the ILAC (International Laboratory Accreditation Organization) by October 11, 2019.
Most members of the Committee agreed that the Chairman of the Committee should suggest that the following needs be considered at the meeting of the Committee on October 25, 2019, in Frankfurt:
- deleting the item 4.1.3 c) on the identification of impartiality risks;
- deleting an annex under section 6.1.10 on records relating to authorization;
- removing any changes proposed under Options A and B on page 15 because they do not provide additional value for the person reading the document.
This was the last meeting chaired by Rolf Straub (SAS) who spent eight years in the Committee. The next President, Orbay Evrensevdi (TURKAK), expressed his profound gratitude on behalf of the members of the Committee for the great work of his predecessor and the benefits the Committee and its members had due to Rolf Straub’s chairmanship.
The next meeting of the EA Inspection Committee will be held on March 10, 2020 in Sofia (Bulgaria) and it will be hosted by the Bulgaria's Accreditation Service (BAS).
