News

During the past week, the Accreditation Body of Montenegro (ATCG) organized a ceremony to mark the achievement of the signatory status of the Multilateral Agreement Council (EA MLA) at the Hilton Hotel in Podgorica. Representatives of ATS had the honor to attend this exceptional event alongside numerous dignitaries from the world of accreditation and quality infrastructure.

The EA MLA Agreement is an official recognition that the accreditation system in Montenegro is equivalent to the accreditation systems established in European Union member countries.

"This agreement is not just a formality. It represents a strong link between our accreditation bodies and all accreditation bodies signatories to this agreement, confirming our commitment to a common goal - improving the quality and safety of products and services. The implementation of standards may seem insignificant in our daily lives at first. Still, it has an impact on the safety of the facilities we live and work in, the healthcare we receive, the quality of the air we breathe, and the production of food, textiles, and electronic devices, in short, practically all products, processes, and services we receive," stated Mr. Dragan Pusara, the director of the Accreditation Body of Serbia, addressing all attendees on behalf of the directors of accreditation bodies in the region.

You can view it in detail HERE

The 54th European co-operation for Accreditation (EA) General Assembly (GA) on 22nd and 23rd November 2023 took place in Dublin, Ireland.

The General Assembly gathered around 84 participants from 41 National Accreditation Bodies (NABs), 8 Recognized Stakeholders, and the EA Advisory Board, there were also representatives of ATS who attended the adoption of numerous resolutions, C level meetings as well as the presentation of the new communication plan.

Here are some of the highlights from this assembly:

EA Communication Network

EA Members approved the terms of Reference for the EA Communications Network. The Communication Network will be a place for communications professionals to share experiences and good practices, learn new tools, and submit to peers any questions related to communications and marketing.
All EA Members and recognized Stakeholders are welcome to participate in the new Communication Network.

You can view it in detail HERE

This week, the ILAC and IAF General Assembly was held in Montreal, Canada. The event marked the 30th anniversary of the founding of IAF. It involved discussions about the merger of these two organizations into a single international entity that would cover all fields of accreditation. In addition to adopting numerous resolutions, representatives from EA, including ATS, deliberated on the organization's structure, the roles and positions of stakeholders, and the advantages and potential drawbacks of such a unified organization.

Final adjustments are still pending, and in 2024, the world will witness the establishment of a new accreditation organization named GLOBAC. 

For more information on the IAF anniversary, you can read it HERE.

Yesterday, a contract was signed with domain and IT experts on the premises of ATS, marking the completion of all preparatory activities for the launch of the pilot project on the Standardization and Harmonization of the scope of accreditation at ATS, with the support of GIZ within the project "Support for Regional Economic Integration," with the assistance of the EU and the Government of Germany.

The work on the standardized terminology of the scope of accreditation is intended to provide a foundation for the digitalization of accreditation applications and the entire accreditation process. This represents one of the primary objectives of ATS in the upcoming period.

Considering the regional nature of the project, adopting a unified nomenclature at this broader level shall contribute to even better cooperation among accreditation bodies. In contrast, accredited bodies shall have better recognition at the regional level.

We thank GIZ for their support and wish all project participants happy and successful work.

During the previous week, in the Palace of Serbia with the support of TAIEX, training was held for the accreditation according to the standard ISO 20387:2018, Biotechnology – Biobanking – General requirements for biobanking.

A training was carried out by the experts from Italy, Ms. Elena Bravo (UNI) and Laura Lo Guzzo (ACCREDIA).

Following world trends in the field of accreditation, ATS recognized the importance of introducing this scheme in its work system and enabled experts, assessors, and employees of ATS to acquire the necessary knowledge in this innovative field.

Biobanking plays a key role in the improvement of medicine and disease research, as well as in the preservation of valuable biological material from the entire spectrum of the living world, ecosystems, and biocenosis. The increasing need for reliable samples and compliance with strict ethical and legal norms requires the timely implementation of activities in the development of this important field.

You can view it in detail HERE

Representatives of ATS in the period from 4th to 5th October participated in the meetings of the EA Multilateral Agreement Council (EA MAC) which were held in Brussels, Belgium

60 participants from 41 National Accreditation Bodies (NABs) and the representative of the EA Advisory Board attended the EA MAC meeting.

The EA MAC Committee is responsible for the effective and impartial implementation and monitoring of the peer evaluation process. The competence of the Committee is, among other things, to make decisions regarding the status of signatories of EA multilateral agreements (EA MLA) in relation to the peer evaluation, as well as to report to the EA General Assembly on all decisions made. The chairperson of this Committee is Maria Papatzikou from the Hellenic Accreditation Body (ESYD).

The Committee for Multilateral Agreements also deals with adopting policies and operational procedures within the EA regarding peer evaluation and the management, selection, and training of future peer evaluators.

You can view it in detail HERE

During the previous week, in the Palace of Serbia, with the help of TAIEX training was held for the accreditation of reference materials according to the standard ISO 17034:2016.

The training was held by colleagues from Greece: Dr. Ioannis Sitaras, director of the department for the accreditation laboratories in the Hellenic Accreditation System (ESYD), and Dr. Harris Alexopoulos, manager of the National Laboratory for Food Testing.

You can view it in detail HERE

In the previous period, representatives of ATS participated in the work of committees of the European co-operation for accreditation (EA).

Active participation in the meetings of these committees is extremely important for raising the quality of work in the field of accreditation both in our country and in the region. This also enables the exchange of knowledge and experience with colleagues from other accreditation bodies as well as further improvement of the accreditation process in accordance with the latest standards and best practices in Europe.

You can view it in detail HERE

The Accreditation Body of Serbia (ATS) is pleased to announce the successful completion of the training "TAIEX Expert Mission on ISO/IEC 17029 and ISO/IEC 14065" , which was held from September 4 to 8, 2023, at the premises of the Ministry of Economy, Resavska 24 in Belgrade.

The training was attended by representatives of ATS, as well as technical experts in the field of greenhouse gases (GHG). Experts in front of TAIEX gave the training: Casper van Erp and Harmke Immink, who are widely recognized experts in the field of accreditation in the context of ISO/IEC 17029 and ISO/IEC 14065 standards.

You can view it in detail HERE

The Accreditation Body of Serbia (ATS) conducted a successful study visit to the Turkish Accreditation Body (TURKAK), in Ankara, Turkey (07.08.2023), in order to achieve better cooperation between the two countries in the field of application of digital systems in the accreditation processes. This visit marked an essential step towards the improvement of accreditation and standardization in Serbia through the exchange of experiences and visions.

The Accreditation Body of Serbia (ATS) conducted a successful study visit to the Turkish Accreditation The meetings were attended by the Director of the Accreditation Body of Serbia, Dragan Pušara, M.Sc. and the Secretary General of TURKAK, Mrs. Banu Müderrisoğlu.

You can view it in detail: HERE

This year's session of the General Assembly of the European Committee for Standardization, CEN and CENELEC was held from June 19th to 22nd, 2023 in Belgrade. This meeting was hosted for the first time by the Institute for Standardization of Serbia (ISS). 

During this period of the General Assembly session, numerous meetings were held: meetings of the administrative boards of these organizations, then joint and individual assemblies of CEN (59th) and CENELEC (65th), as well as several bilateral talks. More than 200 representatives of national standardization bodies from 34 countries around the world participated in the meetings, where further directions for the development of European standardization were decided.

You can view it in detail: HERE

European co-operation for accreditation (EA) published on its website decisions that were made at the 48th EA MAC MEETING.

We remind you, that the Council’s meeting was held in Belgrade from 26-27 April 2023, where 61 participants from 43 National Accreditation Bodies and the representative of the EA Advisory Board participated.

You can view it in detail: HERE

Regarding the decision on the extension of the EA MLA agreement to PT providers (EN ISO/IEC 17043) which is valid from October 15^th, 2022  during the 52^nd session of the General Assembly of the European co-operation for accreditation (EA General Assembly) held in Brussels, on November 23^rd and 24^th, 2022, ATS was honored and recognized for the results of work in the field of accreditation of PT providers, by organizing a ceremonial signing of extension of the EA MLA agreement to the field of PT providers (EN ISO/IEC 17043).

You can view it in detail: HERE►

Sincerely

Your ATS

The introductory workshop for the introduction of the CAF model of quality management in ATS was held on November 16th and 17th, 2022. The lecturers at the training (CAF support team) are Goran Paštrović, an expert in front of the EU4PAR project and Danilo Rodić, in front of the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, while participants are members of the self-assessment working group from among ATS employees.

During the two days of training, in a working and pleasant atmosphere, through theoretical lectures, practical examples and the exchange of experiences and knowledge, the main goals of the workshop were achieved: to familiarize the participants with the systems and models of quality management according to the CAF model and to train them to perform self-evaluation of institution independently based for the development of an action plan/improvement plan. 

You can view it in detail: HERE►

Sincerely,

Your ATS

The EA Multilateral Agreement (EA MAC) Council has just held its 47th meeting on 4-5th October 2022. 62 participants attended the EA MAC meeting, including one EA Advisory Board representative and members from 34 National Accreditation Bodies (NABs). On behalf of the Accreditation Body of Serbia (ATS), MSc Dragan Pušara was present as the ATS Acting Director. 

At the MAC meeting, decisions were made on the statuses of EA MLA agreements of individual EA members, participants were introduced to new EA documents, and changes in individual NABs were officially confirmed. One of the changes that was confirmed was the change of leadership in ATS through a positive evaluation of the competencies of the new director, MSc Dragan Pušara.

Detailed news you can read: HERE►

Sincerely,

Your ATS

Following modern business trends, the Accreditation Body of Serbia (ATS) in cooperation witht the Ministry of public administration and local self-government within the framework of the European Union (EU) project for public administration reform – EU4PAR, has started activites to introduce quality management through the Common Assessment Framework  CAF). 

CAF is a quality management tool, established by the EU member states, which is used jointly by managers and employees in the form of self-assessment and thus analyze and recognize their strengths and potential for improvement.

Detailed news you can read: HERE►

Sincerely,

Your ATS

On the premises of the Accreditation Body of Serbia (ATS), a meeting was held on September 12th, 2022 of representatives of ATS, the Ministry of Agriculture and GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) with the aim of establishing renewed cooperation in the field of organic within the framework of implementation PSD (Private Sector Development in Serbia) project.

During the meeting, a project was presented, i.e. a component related to the segment of quality infrastructure in organic agriculture, i.e. accreditation of certification bodies for the certification of organic products (inspection bodies) in accordance with the requirements of Regulation 848/2018 (EU Regulation on organic production and labeling of organic products), which entered into force on January 1st, 2022.

Detailed news you can read: HERE►

Sincerely,

Your ATS

On July 20th, 2022 the Accreditation Body of Serbia (ATS) made a decision to extend the scope of accreditation of the accredited conformity assessment body University Clinical Center, Center for Medical Bicohemistry (accreditation number: 03-001) for the point-of-care testing (POCT) according to the standard SRPS EN ISO 15189 and SRPS EN ISO 22870.

On this occasion, this CAB was issed a new scope of accreditation on August 1st, 2022, in the premises of ATS by MSc Dragan Pušara, ATS Acting Director, he ceremoniously handed over the certificate to prim. Sanja Stanković, PhD, director of the Center for Medical Biochemistry of the Clinical Center of Serbia.

You can read detailed news: HERE►

Sincerely,

Your ATS

A bilateral meeting between ATS and the Accreditation Body of the Hellenic Republic (ESYD) was held in Belgrade on May 20th, 2022 on the premises of the Accreditation Body of Serbia (ATS).

On behalf of ATS, Mr. Konstantinos Kourtalis, Chairman of ESYD, was hosted by Prof. Aco Janjićijević, PhD, Acting Director of ATS, with his associates.

During the bilateral meeting of Prof. Aco Janjićijević, PhD introduced Mr. Konstantinos Kourtalis with the work, activities and future plans of ATS. Representative of accreditation bodies were reminded of their successful cooperation that they have nurtured in previous years, participating in the work of international accreditation organizations EA, IAF and ILAC, as well as participation in international projects. 

                            Prof.  Aco Janjićijević, Acting Director of ATS with Mr. Konstantinos Kourtalis, Chairman of ESYD

The full text can be read: HERE►

Sincerely,
Your ATS

The NAH and ATS bilateral meetings

In the period from November 23 to 27, 2020, ATS is a host to a dear guest from the region, Mr. Miklós Devecz,  the NAH (National Accreditation Body of Hungary) Director and on that occasion bilateral meetings of the two accreditation bodies, NAH and ATS were held. The most important activity of the first two days of the meetings is the harmonization and signing of the Action Plan for 2021 for the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding between NAH and ATS, signed in December 2017.


prof. Aco Janićijević, PhD, the ATS Acting Director and Mr. Miklós Devecz, the NAH Director after signing the Action Plan

For more information please visit: HERE►

Sincerely, your ATS

The Joint Commission (JC) for Economic Cooperation between the Republic of Serbia and Hungary 10th meeting of was held in Budapest from 12 to 13 November 2019. On that occasion, the 2020 Action Plan between the Accreditation Body of Serbia (ATS) and the National Accreditation Body of Hungary (NAH) was signed, among other things. Co-presidents Goran Knezevic, Minister of Economy of the Republic of Serbia, and Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary were the chairmenof the delegations.

Representatives of the Accreditation body of Serbia (ATS) visited the Institute for Accreditation of the Republic of Macedonia (IARM) in the period between 28th and 30th January 2015 as part of the cooperation arrangements arising from the Memorandum o...

The Memorandum of Cooperation between the Accreditation Body of Serbia (ATS) and the Institute for Standardization of Serbia (ISS) was signed at the ATS premises on 7th June 2013. The purpose of the cooperation between ISS and ATS is to contribute ...