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The European co-operation for Accreditation Serving the European Economy and Society

The European co-operation for Accreditation Serving the European Economy and Society. Contents. What is EA?. EA organizational structure. MLA Signatories. Sta ndar ds for Accreditation. The Development of European Accreditation. EA in the global network. Origins of EA.

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The European co-operation for Accreditation Serving the European Economy and Society

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  1. The European co-operation for Accreditation Serving the European Economy and Society

  2. Contents What is EA? EA organizational structure MLA Signatories Standards for Accreditation The Development of European Accreditation EA in the global network

  3. Origins of EA • EA was created in 1997 but its origins extend back further WEMC 1973-1982 WECC 1976-1994 WELAC 1987-1994 EAL 1994-1997 EAC 1991-1997 EA created as a legal entity on 26/06/2000

  4. The European co-operation for Accreditation (1) 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.

  5. The European co-operation for Accreditation(2) 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.

  6. 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

  7. 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

  8. 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

  9. Contents What is EA? EA organizational structure MLA Signatories Standards for Accreditation The Development of European Accreditation EA in the global network

  10. EA Organizational structure • 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 EA Advisory Board General Assembly Executive Committee Secretariat Communications & Publications Committee Multilateral Agreement Committee (MAC) Laboratory Committee Inspection Committee Certification Committee

  11. Contents What is EA? EA organizational structure MLA Signatories Standards for Accreditation The Development of European Accreditation EA in the global network

  12. 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).

  13. EA MLA Signatories: rights & obligations(2) • 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)

  14. France Greece Poland Austria Spain Sweden Germany Belgium Ireland Slovakia Switzerland Bulgaria Norway Italy Czech Rep. Latvia United Kingdom Estonia Romania Finland Lithuania Denmark Netherlands EA MLA Signatories (3) Malta Slovenia Portugal Turkey

  15. EA & MLA Members June 2008 Calibration ; testing ; products, quality management systems and persons certification ; inspection Calibration ; testing ; products, quality management systems and persons certification Calibration ; testing ; products and quality management systems certification; inspection Calibration ; testing ; quality management systems certification; inspection Testing Persons and quality management system certification Environnemental management systems certification Calibration ; testing Full members non signatories Contracts of Cooperation (European countries)

  16. Contents What is EA? EA organizational structure MLA Signatories Standards for Accreditation The Development of European Accreditation EA in the global network

  17. Standards for accreditation ISO/IEC 17011AccreditationBodies for: Laboratories Certification bodies Inspection bodies EMAS Verifiers Council regulation 761/2001 for environmental management systems ISO Guide 66 for Products ISO Guide 65 for quality management systems ISO Guide 62 for Persons ISO / IEC 17024 Testing and Calibration Laboratories ISO / IEC 17025 ISO 15189 ISO/IEC 17020 Inspection Eco-Management and Audit Scheme Environmental Management Systems Products Quality Management Systems Persons Testing and Calibration Supplier, manufacturer Manufacturer

  18. Contents What is EA? EA organizational structure MLA Signatories Standards for Accreditation The Development of European Accreditation EA in the global network

  19. 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

  20. 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

  21. Contents What is EA? EA organizational structure MLA Signatories Standards for Accreditation The Development of European Accreditation EA in the global network

  22. 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 EA, A major member of ILAC and IAF

  23. EA Executive Committee Lorenzo Thione, Chairman Graham Talbot, Vice-Chairman Gro Rdland, Chair of the MAC Vagn Andersen, Chair of the CPC Merih Malmqvist, Chair of the IC Norbert Müller, Chair of the CC Christina Waddington, Chair of the LC Rosza Ring, Ignacio Pina, members of the EX

  24. To contact the EA secretariat Martine Blum, Bénédicte ZiemannEA37, rue de LyonFR - 75012 Paristel: + 33 1 44 68 82 25/87 48fax: + 33 1 44 68 96 06email: secretariat.EA@european-accreditation.orgwebsite: www.european-accreditation.org

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