Accreditation  2nd and last level of control in the conformity assessment chain  Operates in the voluntary and in the mandatory fields for: calibration testing inspection certification (products, personnels, systems)  Independant and impartial  Transparent and open  International recognition through MLA’s.

 Legal entity under the Dutch Law (non for profit)  Members:  45 Full Members (signatories to the Arrangement) representing 36 economies  15 Associates representing 14 economies  22 Affiliates representing 18 economies  4 Regional Cooperation Bodies  19 Stakeholders

ILAC Arrangement CountryNameScope Austria Belgium Czech Republic Denmark Finland France Germany Greece Ireland Italy The Netherlands Norway Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom BMWA BELTEST BKO/OBE CAI DANAK FINAS COFRAC DAP, DACH, DATech, DASMIN DKD ESYD NAB SINAL SIT RvA NA RENAR SNAS SA ENAC SWEDAC SAS UKAS Testing and Calibration Testing Calibration Testing and Calibration Testing Calibration Testing and Calibration Testing Calibration Testing and Calibration Testing Testing and Calibration From EA

ILAC Arrangement From APLAC CountryNameScope Australia Canada People’s Republic of China China India Indonesia Japan Republic of Korea Malaysia New Zealand Singapore Chinese Tapei Thailand USA Vietnam NATA SCC CNAL HKAS NABL KAN JAB IA Japan KOLAS DSM IANZ SAC CNLA TLAS BLQS-DMSc A2LA NVLAP IAS VILAS/STAMEQ Testing and Calibration Testing Testing and Calibration Testing Testing and Calibration

ILAC Arrangement CountryNameScope BrazilINMETRO Testing and Calbiration From IAAC From SADCA CountryNameScope Afrique du SudSANASTesting and Calibration Unaffiliated CountryNameScope IsraëlISRAC Testing and Calibration

Organisation Structure Accreditation Policy Committee Technical Accreditation Issues Committee Public Affairs Committee Laboratory Committee Joint Development Support Committee Finance & Audit Committee Secretariat Arrangements Management Committee General Assembly Arrangement Council Executive Committee

 Legal entity incorporated in Delaware (USA) (Non for profit)  Members:  41 Accreditation Body Members (of which 32 are MLA signatories)  15 Associates (stakeholders)  4 Regional Groups  2 Special Recognition Interest Liaison Group (ISO, QUEST)

IAF MLA SIGNATORIES From EA CountryNameScope Austria Belgium Czech Republic Denmark Finland France Germany Ireland Italy Netherlands Norway Romania Slovakia Spain Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom BMWA BELCERT CAI DANAK FINAS COFRAC DAR/TGA DAR/DAP, DAR/DATECH NAB SINCERT RvA NA RENAR SNAS ENAC SWEDAC SAS UKAS QMS, EMS, Product QMS, EMS, Product QMS, EMS, Product QMS, Product QMS, EMS, Product

IAF MLA SIGNATORIES From PAC CountryNameScope Australia & New Zealand Canada China Hong Kong, China India Indonesia Japan Korea Malaysia Mexico Philippines Singapore Taïwan Thailand JAS-ANZ SCC CNAB HKAS NABCB KAN JAB KAB DSM EMA BAS SAC TAF NAC QMS, EMS, Product QMS, EMS QMS QMS, EMS QMS QMS, EMS, Product QMS QMS, EMS

IAF MLA SIGNATORIES From SADCA CountryNameScope South AfricaSANASQMS, EMS, Product Unaffiliated CountryNameScope ANSI RABUnited States of America QMS, EMS From IAAC CountryNameScope BrazilINMETROQMS

 Legal entity under the Dutch Law (Non for profit)  Members:  39 Full Members (among which 31 signatories to the MLA)  3 Associate members  12 Contracts of cooperation  Stakeholders are not members of EA but are constituting the EA Advisory Board

EA ADVISORY BOARD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF ACCREDITORS Secretariat EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Publications, Promotion&legal Affairs Committee Certification Committee Inspection Committee Laboratory Committee WG MLA Committee Organisation Structure

Main Tasks of ILAC, IAF and EA  Harmonization of accreditation practices between members (establishing guidances)  Establishing a multilateral recognition agreement/arrangement (peer evaluations)  Promoting accreditation as a tool for facilitating trade  Helping developping countries to set up their own accreditation scheme

Facilitating trade (nationally and internationally)  Reducing the need for multiple assessments « one stop testing, one stop certification »  Traceability of measurements to SI Units  Recognition by Industry  Recognition by Regulators: MOUs between EA/European Commission, EA/EFTA  Cooperation with standardization: MOU between ILAC/IAF/ISO signed in march 2004  cooperation in technical work  complaint exchange procedure

 Joint ILAC/IAF Committee  identify needs (trainings, translations,…)  Organize seminars  Money allocated in 2004:  ILAC budget = $  IAF budget = $  Countries already helped: Argentina, Nicaragua, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, Chili, Guatemala, Panama, Columbia, Costa Rica Helping developping countries

 In project: Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and some African countries not yet selected  Cooperation with UNIDO: separate MOU’s signed between ILAC/UNIDO and IAF/UNIDO  At the European level, EA coordinates projects financed by the European Union (e.g PHARE, MEDA)

CONCLUSION Accreditation carried out by IAF and ILAC MLA’s signatories offers the best means to reduce and even eliminate conformity assessment-related trade barriers and facilitate trade. Its pilars are: independancy, impartiality, transparency and openness