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: secretariat.EA@european-accreditation.orgwebsite: www.european-accreditation.org

To contact the EA secretariat