55th Executive Committee
IAAC held its virtual meetings held in March 2021 and reviewed the work of the technical subcommittees and the MLA Committee during the challenging year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Executive Committee carried out its annual management review based on the new IAAC Strategic Plan. Additionally, during this week, IAAC performed an internal audit of its quality management system and MLA processes.
IAAC Membership
IAAC currently has a total of 58 members, 25 of which are full members, 5 are associates and 28 are stakeholders. Since last year’s General Assembly IAAC accepted 2 new members, one associate member and one Stakeholder. 5 Stakeholders withdrew their membership due to the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
IAAC MLA Signatories
IAAC currently has a total of 21 MLA signatory members from 18 countries. The IAAC MLA membership continues to grow organically. ODAC the accreditation body of the Dominican Republic is the latest MLA signatory which was accepted in August 2020 for the scopes of Testing and Calibration Laboratories and Inspection Bodies. On August 2020, 5 IAAC MLA signatories extended their scopes to include Occupational Health & Safety Management Systems (OH&SMS) Certification Bodies. 3 MLA signatories extended to the subscope of Anti-Bribery Management Systems (ABMS) and 1 MLA signatory extended its MLA to include Energy Management Systems (EnMS) Certification Bodies. During the beginning of 2020, JANAAC of Jamaica extended its MLA scope to include Inspection Bodies.
IAAC MLA recognition by IAF and ILAC
IAAC is recognized by IAF and ILAC as Regional Cooperation for the main scopes of Testing (including Medical) and Calibration Laboratories; Inspection Bodies; Proficiency Testing Providers (PTP); Management Systems Certification Bodies (with subscopes QMS, EMS, FSMS, ISMS, MDMS and EnMS), and Product Certification Bodies (with sub scope Global G.A.P).
IAAC applied to extend its MLA recognition and in 2019 received an ILAC peer evaluation for the scope of Reference Materials Producers (RMP). IAAC is in the process of an IAF peer evaluation to extend its MLA recognition for the scopes of Persons Certification Bodies and Green House Gases (GHG) Validation/Verification.
The IAAC officers
The current key IAAC officers are:
Liliane Somma of OUA, Uruguay, IAAC Chair
Andrea Melo of Cgcre, Brazil, IAAC Vice-Chair
Elias Rafoul of SCC, Canada, IAAC Treasurer
Ferney Chaparro of ONAC, Colombia, as MLA Group & MLA Committee Chair
Robert Knake of A2LA, USA, as MLA Group & MLA Committee Vice-Chair.
Alba Cabrera of ONA, Paraguay, as Management Committee Chair
Maria Miranda of ONARC, Cuba, as Management Committee Vice-Chair
Carlos Archila of OGA, Guatemala, as Technical Committee Chair
Sharonmae Shirley of JANAAC, Jamaica, as Technical Committee Vice-Chair
Training
QICA virtual workshop on “Determination of calibration intervals ILAC G24 - OIML D10" held on October 27 and 29, 2020, in Spanish. There were 103 participants from metrology (SIM), accreditation (IAAC), and standards (COPANT) organizations and institutions. The instructor was Claudia Santo of Uruguay.
QICA virtual workshop on “Determination of calibration intervals ILAC G24 - OIML D10" held on November 2 and 4, 2020, in English. There were 48 participants from metrology (SIM), accreditation (IAAC), and standards (COPANT) organizations and institutions. The instructor was Claudia Santo of Uruguay.
QICA virtual workshop on “Managing risks and opportunities in Testing and Calibration laboratories” held on November 10 and 12, 2020, in English and Spanish. There were 111 participants from metrology (SIM), accreditation (IAAC), and standards (COPANT) organizations and institutions. The instructor was Pedro Sismondi of Argentina.
IAAC Peer Evaluators virtual forum
IAAC launched its 1st IAAC Peer Evaluators Virtual Forum on July 16, 2020. 118 IAAC Peer Evaluators participated in the Zoom meeting. The Forum was organized by the MLAC and PEMS with support of the IAAC Secretariat. The meeting topics included an explanation of the roles and responsibilities of the IAAC Peer Evaluator Management Subcommittee (PEMS), a presentation on the proposed changes to the MD 002 MLA procedure which included remote peer evaluations and accreditation of flexible scopes. There was a presentation on a new Guide for Remote Peer Evaluations. The Virtual Forum is a new way for IAAC to hold regular meetings with peer evaluators with the aim of harmonizing practices and keeping them updated on changes and MLA developments.
IAAC held its 2nd Peer Evaluators Virtual Forum on October 5, 2020. 116 IAAC peer evaluators joined the Zoom meeting for a training on the Frequently Asked Questions on the implementation of ISO/IEC 17011, a review of the approved MLA procedure to carry out remote peer evaluations, and a discussion on the Guidance document to conduct remote peer evaluations. These virtual sessions allow peer evaluators to provide feedback and ask questions on the new procedures that are being implemented by IAAC.
IAAC carried out a training workshop for new peer evaluators on ISO/IEC 17011:2017, in October 2019, in Washington DC, USA. The host body was ANAB. 14 English speaking peer evaluator applicants participated in the workshop and were qualified as trainee peer evaluators.
Technical Cooperation Project
IAAC is participating in a technical cooperation project titled "Quality Infrastructure for Circular Economy in Latin America and the Caribbean" by the 3 regional organizations for accreditation, standards and metrology: IAAC, the Panamerican Standards Commission (COPANT) and the Inter-American Metrology System (SIM). Sponsor organizations included the Physikalisch-Techniche Bundesanstalt (PTB) of Germany and the Organization of American States (OAS).
New IAAC logo and redesigned website
IAAC redesigned the IAAC logo which will be used in all documentation, promotional materials and the website. The IAAC website was redesigned and is easier to navigate. You may visit it at www.iaac.org.mx.
IAAC Meetings
IAAC will hold its General Assembly virtual meetings via Zoom in August 2021.