United Kingdom Accreditation Service Background and introduction Delia Geary, CPA Transition Project Manager 2013 Roadshows

UKAS – who we are The national accreditation body Established in 1995 by Ministers as a private company limited by guarantee UKAS appointed as national accreditation body by The Accreditation Regulations 2009 The United Kingdom Accreditation Service is the sole national accreditation body recognised by government to assess, against internationally agreed standards, organisations that provide certification, testing, inspection and calibration services. Accreditation by UKAS demonstrates the competence, impartiality and performance capability of these evaluators. UKAS is a non-profit-distributing private company, limited by guarantee. UKAS is independent of Government but is appointed as the national accreditation body by Accreditation Regulations 2009 (SI No 3155/2009) and the EU Regulation (EC) 765/2008 and operates under a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government through the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills. UKAS is licensed by BIS to use and confer the national accreditation symbols (formerly national accreditation marks) which symbolise Government recognition of the accreditation process. UKAS accreditation provides an assurance of the competence, impartiality and integrity of conformity assessment bodies. UKAS accredited certification, testing and calibration and inspection reduces the need for suppliers to be assessed by each of their customers. UKAS' involvement in international groups provides for mutual recognition which further reduces the need for multiple assessments of suppliers and as a consequence helps to reduce barriers to trade. It is therefore BIS policy to recommend the use of UKAS accredited conformity assessment services whenever this is an option UKAS is a company limited by guarantee, having Members instead of shareholders. The Members represent those who have an interest in all aspects of accreditation - national and local government, business and industry, purchasers, users and quality managers. UKAS Members Although the company aims to be - and is - profitmaking, all profits are ploughed back into the business. Previous profits are the main sources of funding for new areas of accreditation. Academy of Medical Royal Colleges Association of British Certification Bodies British Measurement and Testing Association British Retail Consortium Chartered Quality Institute Confederation of British Industry Consumer Focus Defence Equipment and Support Department of Health Federation of Small Businesses Food Standards Agency Health and Safety Executive Health Protection Agency Local Government Regulation Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply The Safety Assessment Federation The Science Council Like all companies, UKAS has a board - a mixture of executive and non-executive directors: Sir Paul Judge Dame Suzi Leather Sir Duncan Nichol CBE Michael Mainelli Lord Lindsay (Chairman) Paul Stennett (Chief Executive) Georgia Alsop Lorraine Turner Jeff Ruddle The board is supported in the day-to- day running of these activities by an Executive drawn from senior UKAS staff. The company takes advice on policy matters from a Policy Advisory Forum and on technical matters from a series of Technical Committees. The PAF meets once a year, and the TCs meet as and when necessary. UKAS has signed a number of international agreements, which help to lower barriers to trade by ensuring international acceptance of certificates issued under the umbrella of UKAS accreditation. In particular, UKAS is a signatory to the EA (European co-operation for Accreditation), mutual recognition agreements. Maintenance of mutual recognition status is subject to regular peer evaluation, to accepted international standards.

UKAS - mandate EU Regulation 765/2008 provides legal framework for accreditation Operates under an MoU with BIS Accreditation recognised as a public authority activity Duty to act in the public interest: commercially aware, but not commercially driven The United Kingdom Accreditation Service is the sole national accreditation body recognised by government to assess, against internationally agreed standards, organisations that provide certification, testing, inspection and calibration services. Accreditation by UKAS demonstrates the competence, impartiality and performance capability of these evaluators. UKAS is a non-profit-distributing private company, limited by guarantee. UKAS is independent of Government but is appointed as the national accreditation body by Accreditation Regulations 2009 (SI No 3155/2009) and the EU Regulation (EC) 765/2008 and operates under a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government through the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills. UKAS is licensed by BIS to use and confer the national accreditation symbols (formerly national accreditation marks) which symbolise Government recognition of the accreditation process. UKAS accreditation provides an assurance of the competence, impartiality and integrity of conformity assessment bodies. UKAS accredited certification, testing and calibration and inspection reduces the need for suppliers to be assessed by each of their customers. UKAS' involvement in international groups provides for mutual recognition which further reduces the need for multiple assessments of suppliers and as a consequence helps to reduce barriers to trade. It is therefore BIS policy to recommend the use of UKAS accredited conformity assessment services whenever this is an option

UKAS – what we do Accreditation – the recognition of competence of organisations to perform specific tasks UKAS assesses for compliance against criteria of competence (international standards)

UKAS and CPA CPA UKAS Chief Executive Technical Director Business Development Director Finance Director UKAS CPA Accreditation Manager UKAS CPA Transition Project Manager CPA Regional Assessors/Assessment Managers

Requirements for MLA/MRA Compliance with: EC Regulation 765/2008 ISO/IEC 17011: 2004 European cooperation for Accreditation requirements EA 2/02: 2011 International Accreditation Forum and International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation requirements IAF/ILAC A2: 2010

EA, ILAC/IAF requirements Requirements and mandatory documents Applicable IAF and ILAC guidance documents Relevant supplementary requirements Applicable requirements of Regional Group

Supplementary requirements Experience of assessment Experience of operating an accreditation body Access to technical expertise Acceptable routes for traceability Relevant requirements for proficiency testing Abide by regional and international Arrangement(s) Promote the Arrangement(s) Contribute resources for peer evaluations Implement a cross frontier accreditation policy Only subcontract to other signatories

Impact on laboratories Pathology laboratories complying with ISO 15189 Point of care testing complying with ISO 22870 Withdrawal of CPA standard

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