The European co-operation for Accreditation Serving the European Economy and Society
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Transcript of The European co-operation for Accreditation Serving the European Economy and Society
The European co-operationfor Accreditation
Serving the European Economy Serving the European Economy and Societyand Society
Contents
What is EA?
EA organizational structure
MLA Signatories
Standards for Accreditation
The Development of European Accreditation
EA in the global network
Origins of EA
EA created as a legal entity on 26/06/2000
WEMC 1973-1982WECC 1976-1994
WELAC 1987-1994
EAL 1994-1997 EAC 1991-1997
EA was created in 1997 but its origins extend back further
•A not-for-profit association registered in the Netherlands in June 2000.
• 35 Full Members representing 33 European economies
•16 Contracts of Cooperation signed with non EU / EFTA AB’s (3 AB’s covered by the ENP, 5 AB’s located in Europe, Russia, Ukraine and 8 AB’s located outside Europe)
•Out of these contracts, 9 have turned into a bilateral agreement with EA.
The European co-operation for Accreditation (1)
•A permanent secretariat of 3 persons:
Martine Blum & Bénédicte Ziemann, EA Secretariat
Marga Zaffe, secretary of the MLA Committee
•EA is an active Member of ILAC (International laboratory Accreditation Cooperation) and IAF (International Accreditation Forum) as a recognised regional cooperation.
The European co-operation for Accreditation (2)
Purpose of EA (1)
• The European co-operation for Accreditation (EA) is the Association of the national accreditation bodies that provide accreditation for the following conformity assessment activities:
– Calibration– Testing– Inspection– Certification of quality, environmental management systems– Certification of products– Certification of persons– EMAS verifiers
Purpose of EA (2)
• Provide Europe with an effective, reliable accreditation infrastructure
• Develop accreditation criteria and guidelines supporting harmonisation of practices
• Operate a sound, robust, reliable peer evaluation process
• Ensure equivalence of accreditation and equal reliability of accredited results
• Cooperate with the European Commission and other European, international stakeholders
The European Accreditation model
• A service of general interest• Public authority• Last level of control of CA services• Voluntary, mandatory fields• Mandate of the Government• Full compliance with applicable rules• Accountability to stakeholders• No predominance of any single interest group• Non-profit distributing• No competition
Contents
What is EA?
EA organizational structure
MLA Signatories
Standards for Accreditation
The Development of European Accreditation
EA in the global network
EA Organizational structure
EA Advisory Board
General Assembly
Executive Committee
Secretariat
Communications & Publications
Committee
InspectionCommittee
LaboratoryCommittee
MultilateralAgreement Committee
(MAC)
Certification Committee
The EA is advised by an Advisory Board which is representative of the stakeholders of accreditation at the European level. Technical committees provide expert input into the organization
Contents
What is EA?
EA organizational structure
MLA Signatories
Standards for Accreditation
The Development of European Accreditation
EA in the global network
EA MLA Signatories (1)
• Multilateral Agreements (MLAs) create confidence in, and acceptance of, accredited certifications, inspections and test reports, eliminating the need for suppliers to be certified in each country where they sell their products or services. EA’s role in supporting the effective operation of the Single Market is recognized by the European Commission through an MoU with EA.
• EA MLA Signatories and the accreditations they grant are internationally recognized through the ILAC and IAF Multilateral agreements.
• Each signatory is subject to routine rigorous evaluations by peer evaluation teams in order to verify continuing compliance with the international standard for accreditation bodies (ISO/IEC 17011).
Operate according to the criteria specified in the relevant European Standards, published in the EN 45000 series of standards, or other internationally recognised normative documents, supplemented by EA application documents, if necessary
Accept the other schemes operated by the other signatories as equivalent to their own
Recognise on an equal basis with their own the certificates and/or reports from the organisations accredited by the signatories under their scheme(s)
Recommend & promote the acceptance of certificates and/or reports from the organisations accredited by the signatories under their scheme(s) by all users in countries of the signatories
Investigate all complaints initiated by a signatory resulting from certificates and/or reports issued by an accredited organisation of their own scheme(s)
Notify all other signatories as soon as possible of any significant change that has occured or will occur in their status or in the operational practices of their scheme(s)
EA MLA Signatories: rights & obligations (2)
EA MLA Signatories (3)
United Kingdom
Poland
GermanyGreece
Austria
BelgiumFrance
Estonia
Czech Rep.
Finland
Denmark
Norway
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Netherlands
Slovakia
Slovenia
Sweden
Switzerland
Bulgaria
Romania
Portugal Turkey
SpainMalta
Environnemental management systems certification
Calibration ; testing ; products, quality management systems and persons certification
Calibration ; testing ; products and quality management systems certification; inspection
Calibration ; testing
Calibration ; testing ; products, quality management systems and persons certification ; inspection
Full members non signatories
Testing
Persons and quality management system certification
EA & MLA Members June 2008
Contracts of Cooperation (European countries)
Calibration ; testing ; quality management systems certification; inspection
Contents
What is EA?
EA organizational structure
MLA Signatories
Standards for Accreditation
The Development of European Accreditation
EA in the global network
ISO/IEC 17011 Accreditation Bodies for:
Standards for accreditation
Manufacturer
Certification bodies Laboratories Inspection bodies
for ProductsISO Guide 65
for quality management
systemsISO Guide 62
for PersonsISO / IEC 17024
Products Quality Management
Systems
Persons
Testing and Calibration
Laboratories
ISO / IEC 17025
ISO 15189
Testing
and Calibration
ISO/IEC 17020
Inspection
Supplier, manufacturer
for environmental management
systemsISO Guide 66
Environmental Management
Systems
EMAS VerifiersCouncil
regulation 761/2001
Eco-Management
and Audit Scheme
Contents
What is EA?
EA organizational structure
MLA Signatories
Standards for Accreditation
The Development of European Accreditation
EA in the global network
The Development of European Accreditation (1)
The European legislation on accreditation and market surveillance
• Legal basis for accreditation and EA• Strengthening use of accreditation and the EA
MLA as a basis for notification• Recognising EA as the European Accreditation
Infrastructure
The Development of European Accreditation (2)
The EA Development Strategy• Prepare for the new role• Reconsider, improve organisation and structure• Increase resources• Reinforce relations with all stakeholders• Reinforce cooperation with AB’s of the European
Neighbouring Policy (ENP)• Reinforce influence in ILAC and IAF
Contents
What is EA?
EA organizational structure
MLA Signatories
Standards for Accreditation
The Development of European Accreditation
EA in the global network
EA, A major member of ILAC and IAF
• ILAC• 52 AB Full Members• 16 AB Associate
Members• 19 AB Affiliate Members• 1 National AB
Coordinating Body• 5 Regional Cooperations
(including EA)• 18 Stakeholder Members
• IAF• 47 AB Members• 14 Associate Members• 4 Regions (including EA) • 2 Partner Organisations
Lorenzo Thione, Chairman Graham Talbot, Vice-Chairman
Gro Rdland, Chair of the MACVagn Andersen, Chair of the CPCMerih Malmqvist, Chair of the ICNorbert Müller, Chair of the CCChristina Waddington, Chair of the LCRosza Ring, Ignacio Pina, members of the EX
EA Executive Committee
Martine Blum, Bénédicte ZiemannEA37, rue de LyonFR - 75012 Paris
tel: + 33 1 44 68 82 25/87 48fax: + 33 1 44 68 96 06
email: [email protected]: www.european-accreditation.org
To contact the EA secretariat