Table of Contents
2023
09.06.2023 World Accreditation Day
June 9th 2023 marks World Accreditation Day: a global initiative established by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) to promote the value of accreditation.
This year’s theme is Accreditation: Supporting the Future of Global Trade.
Discover the World Accreditation Day 2023
- video,
- the ILAC and IAF joint statement and
- the brochure.
2022
2022.06.09 World Accreditation Day
2022.06.07 Transition of ISO 14065:2013 towards ISO/IEC 17029:2019 + ISO 14065:2020
At the beginning of December 2020, the new version of ISO 14065 was published. As a result, certification bodies accredited for ISO 14065:2013 must switch to an accreditation ISO/IEC 17029:2019 + ISO 14065:2020 before December 31, 2023. After this date, an accreditation according to ISO 14065:2013 is no longer possible.
In order to ensure a smooth transition to the new standards, BELAC has decided the following:
- BELAC no longer accepts new accreditation requests for the EU ETS domain according to ISO 14065:2013. New accreditation applications can however be submitted according to ISO/IEC 17029:2019 + ISO 14065:2020.
- For the already accredited bodies, it is possible to request a transition to ISO/IEC 17029:2019 + ISO 14065:2020 from July 1, 2022. With a view to finalizing the transition process in time for December 31, 2023, all transitions must be requested by December 1, 2022.
The assessment of the transition of already accredited bodies will take place during the regular BELAC assessments. If the transition assessment cannot take place together with the regular assessments, an additional assessment will be scheduled.
The transition request must be accompanied by a gap analysis and an implementation plan (action plan established on the basis of the gap analysis and a progress report of the implementation). If this analysis and implementation plan are sufficiently detailed, the transition can be carried out within the normal schedule of a regular assessment. Otherwise, additional assessment time is added. At least 1 month before the assessment, the organization must send to the BELAC secretariat an updated version of the implementation plan.
For each non-conformity noted during the assessment, the assessor will clearly mention whether it is related to ISO 14065:2013, ISO/IEC 17029:2019 or ISO 14065:2020. For non-conformities only relating to new or modified requirements of the new standards, the usual deadlines are not applicable (maximum 4 weeks) for the proposal or completion of the corrective actions.
The certification body defines the deadline itself. But it takes into account that:
- accreditation can only be granted according to the new versions of the standards after acceptance of the plan and/or of the corrective actions by the assessment team;
- and that the transition must be completed by the end of the transitional period, therefore before December 31, 2023.
Since the decision for a transition must be submitted to the Accreditation Board, the corrective actions must have been positively evaluated no later than September 30, 2023 by the assessment team, so that there is still sufficient time for further final processing of the decision making.
2021
Positive result EA Peer Evaluation of BELAC – extension RMP
On December 2, 2021, BELAC became a signatory to the EA-MLA (European Co-operation for Accreditation multilateral agreement) for the accreditation of Reference Material Producers (RMP) according to EN ISO 17034.
To this end, BELAC was subject of an EA peer evaluation in May 2021. A team of colleagues from other accreditation bodies assessed whether BELAC meets the relevant requirements.
The next full EA peer review will take place in September 2022.
09.06.2021 World Accreditation Day
This year’s theme focuses on the use of accreditation in supporting the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
On the occasion of the World Accreditation Day, discover the brochure and the videos that illustrate the role and benefits of accreditation.
Positive result Peer Evaluation BELAC
In May 2018, EA (European Cooperation for Accreditation) conducted a peer evaluation at BELAC. A team of 9 colleagues from other European accreditation bodies assessed whether BELAC meets the requirements of the international standard ISO / IEC 17011 and the European Regulation 765/2008.
On 9 May 2019 the EA MAC confirmed that BELAC remains an EA MLA signatory in the fields of Calibration (ISO/IEC 17025), Testing (ISO/IEC 17025), including Medical Examinations (ISO 15189), Inspection (ISO/IEC 17020), Proficiency Testing Providers (ISO/IEC 17043), Certification of persons (ISO/IEC 17024), Certification of products (ISO/IEC 17065), Certification of management systems (ISO/IEC 17021-1) and Validation and Verification (ISO 14065).
The EA MAC confirms that BELAC successfully made the transition from ISO/IEC 17011:2004 to ISO/IEC 17011:2017.
The organizations accredited by BELAC can therefore continue to confirm the reliability of their conformity assessment activities to their Belgian and international customers.
