IAAC MLA scope extension

IAAC currently has a total of 41 members from 23 countries in the Americas. 23 are full members, 7 are associate members and 11 are stakeholders.

IAAC is a Regional Cooperation Body signatory of the ILAC MRA with a scope in Testing and Calibration Laboratories and a signatory of the IAF MLA with a scope in QMS.

IAAC has started operating MLAs for the scopes of EMS Certification Bodies, Product Certification Bodies and Inspection Bodies.

IAAC submitted an application to extend its IAF MLA for the scopes of accreditation of EMS Certification Bodies, Product Certification Bodies and Inspection Bodies.

The ILAC-IAF evaluation team leader performed an evaluation of the IAAC MLA Group, and the MLA Committee, on August 29-30, 2009 and evaluated the IAAC Secretariat on April 21 and 22, 2009 and September 1-2, 2009, in Costa Rica.  The IAF-ILAC evaluation team has also witnessed several IAAC evaluations in 2009 covering testing, calibration, QMS, EMS and product certification.

The IAF-ILAC team witnessed the IAAC evaluation of ECA, Costa Rica, for the scope of Inspection Bodies performed by IAAC, in January 24-28, 2011.

IAAC has implemented corrective actions to close the resulting findings and has submitted its responses to the IAF-ILAC evaluation team for review.

IAAC has recognized two accreditation bodies for inspection. Several evaluations are underway for that scope. The IAAC MLA for inspection will be signed as soon as IAAC has approved three signatories. Witnessing of IAAC evaluations for inspection by IAF/ILAC is expected to be done in 2011.

The IAAC General Assembly agreed in August 2010 to extend the scope of the MLA to include certification of persons according to ISO/IEC 17024. The MLA Committee and the Certification Subcommittee have started to implement the plans for that extension.

New Signatories to the IAAC MLA

• ECA of Costa Rica was accepted as a signatory to the IAAC MLA for the scope of Quality Management Systems (QMS) certification bodies (ISO/IEC 17021), in January, 2011.
• OUA of Uruguay was accepted as a signatory to the IAAC MLA for the scopes of Environmental Management Systems (EMS) and Quality Management Systems (QMS) certification bodies (ISO/IEC 17021), in January, 2011.
• INN of Chile was accepted as a signatory to the IAAC MLA for calibration and testing laboratories (ISO/IEC 17025), including medical/clinical laboratories (ISO 15189), as of March 22, 2010; and to the IAAC MLA for Environmental Management Systems (EMS) and Quality Management Systems (QMS) certification bodies (ISO/IEC 17021), as of September 27, 2010.

Training

IAAC has carried out and scheduled the following training activities:

• Peer evaluator training workshop for experienced evaluators was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on August 20, 2010.  The workshop was sponsored by the Organization of American States, (OAS).  30 peer evaluators attended.

• Peer evaluator training workshop for experienced evaluators was held in Washington, D.C., USA on February 22, 2011.  24 peer evaluators attended.

• Workshop on the implementation of ISO/IEC 17021 to be held in Asuncion, Paraguay in April 2011.  The workshop will be sponsored by the OAS.

• Peer evaluator training workshop for new evaluators to be held in Lima, Peru, on April 13-15, 2011.  Representatives from the Regions and IAF-ILAC Unaffiliated bodies will be invited to attend.

• Workshop on Accreditation Best Practices to be held in Quito, Ecuador in August, 2011.  The workshop will be sponsored by PTB of Germany.

IAAC meetings

•    The 35^th IAAC Executive Committee, MLA Committee and MLA Group meetings were held in Washington, D.C., USA, from February 23-25, 2011.

•    The 16^th IAAC General Assembly meetings will be held in Quito, Ecuador, from August 20-26, 2011.

IAAC Information and Publications