From the Secretariat APLAC NEWS NOTES - December 2012 · • Anil Relia of NABL (India), Board of Management Yoshinobu Uematsu of JAB (Japan) was elected to the Board of Management

1December 2011, Edition 109 APLAC NEWS NOTES

APLAC News Notes

APLAC is an organisation of accreditation bod-ies in the Asia Pacific area that have expresseda desire to cooperate in fostering the develop-ment of competent laboratories, inspection bod-ies and reference material producers inmember economies. Cooperation is to include:

• Exchange of information• Joint training programs• Proficiency testing• Harmonisation of requirements• Mutual recognition of systems meeting

harmonised requirements

APLAC NEWS NOTES is published four times ayear to facilitate the exchange of informationamong members and interested parties. It is notcopyrighted and may be reproduced in full. Ex-cerpts should reference APLAC News Notesspecifically. Wide copying and distribution areencouraged.

APLAC also maintains a web site at:www.aplac.org

Secretariat for APLACNational Association of Testing Authorities(NATA)Level 1675 Victoria StreetAbbotsford VIC 3067AustraliaTelephone: +61 3 9274 8200Fax: +61 3 9421 0887Email: [email protected]

The next issue will be published:March 2012

This issue is published by AIHA-LAP, LLC.

CONTACT INFORMATIONAIHA Laboratory Accreditation Programs, LLC2700 Prosperity Ave., Suite 250Fairfax, VA 22031Direct +1 703-846-0780Office +1 703-846-0716Fax +1 703-207-8558 |www.aihaaccreditedlabs.orgTwitter: @AIHA_LAP_LLC

From the Secretariat● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

APLAC 2011 GA Week A very successful General Assemblyand associated meetings for APLAC2011 were held in Manila, Philip-pines from 10 to 16 September.APLAC expresses its thanks to thehost, PAO and in particular to JimOlmos, Perla Baje and EstrelleAbejero for their organisation of theweek of meetings and the socialevents which were enjoyed by alldelegates.

We were particularly pleased to wel-come the AFRAC Chair, HassanShaarawi Mohamed, the EA Chair,Graham Talbot, and the PAC Secre-tary, Belinda Mort, to our week ofmeetings. We were also pleased towelcome the PAC Chair, ShinichiIguchi to the Board of Managementmeeting.

Congratulations go the followingmembers:

• IANZ (New Zealand) on the contin-uation of its signatory status in theAPLAC MRA for testing, calibration,inspection and ISO 15189;

• NATA (Australia) on the continua-tion of its signatory status in theAPLAC MRA for testing, calibration,inspection and RMP;

• VLAC on the continuation of its sig-natory status in the APLAC MRA fortesting;

• HKAS (Hong Kong, China) on thecontinuation of its signatory statusin the APLAC MRA for testing, cali-bration, ISO 15189 and inspection;

There remain 33 signatories to theAPLAC MRA, including 32 for testing,24 for calibration, 14 for inspection,12 for ISO 15189 and 5 for RMP.Full details of the scopes of recogni-tion of each APLAC MRA signatorycan be found on the APLAC website:www.aplac.org.

The APLAC PT Provider MRA WorkingGroup is currently developing docu-mentation to facilitate the extensionof the APLAC MRA to cover PTProvider accreditation. It is envis-aged that APLAC will be ready to ac-cept applications for PT Provideraccreditation in 2012 once the infra-structure for this evaluation is ready.

Page 1: From the APLAC SecretariatPage 3: About AIHA-LAP, LLCPage 3: PAO NewsPage 4: CNAS NewsPage 5: KOLAS NewsPage 6: BAB News

Page 7: NATA NewsPage 9: A2LA NewsPage 11: TAF NewsPage 12: ema NewsPage 20: PAC NewsPage 21: EA News

Table of Contents● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

APLAC Management and speakers at theopening ceremony

Jim Olmos and PAO staff at Ayala museum

(continued on page 2.)

December 2012 Issue 113

The next issue will be published in March 2013This Issue is published by Bureau of Accreditation (BoA)

CONTACT INFORMATIONBureau of Accreditation (BoA )8 Hoang Quoc Viet, Hanoi VIETNAMPhone: +84.43791 1951Fax: +84.43791 1551Email: [email protected]: www.boa.gov.vn

APLAC NEWS NOTES - December 2012

From the Secretariat

APLAC 2012 GA Week A very successful General Assembly and associated meetings for

APLAC 2012 were held in Sydney, Australia from 1 to 7 December. APLAC expresses its thanks to the host, NATA and in particular to Regina Robertson, Edita Grujic, Jean Nicoll and Nikitta Woods and her staff at Arinex for their organisation of the week of meetings and the social events which were enjoyed by all delegates.

A morning tea was held on Monday 3 December to celebrate APLAC’s 20th birthday. We were very pleased to welcome our past Chairs, John Gilmour, Llew Richards, Peter Unger, Tony Russell and Terence Chan to help the current Chair, Chang Kwei Fern celebrate this special occasion.

We were pleased to again welcome the PAC Secretary, Belinda Mort, to our week of meetings. We were also pleased to welcome the PAC Chair, Shinichi Iguchi to the Board of Management meeting. Jon Murthy, the Chair of the ILAC MCC Committee was also in attendance.

The APLAC MRA Council met on 5 and 6 December 2012 and we are pleased to advise that QMP-LS (Canada) was accepted in to the APLAC MRA for ISO 15189.

We are pleased to advise that at the same meeting the following members had their scopes of recognition amended:

• ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board doing business as ACLASS & FQS (USA) extended to include inspection

December 2012 - APLAC NEWS NOTES 1

• BoA (Vietnam) extended to include ISO 15189Congratulations also go to the following members on the continuation of their signatory status

in the APLAC MRA:• NABL (India) for testing, calibration and ISO 15189;• KOLAS (Korea) for testing and calibration;• NVLAP (USA) for testing and calibration; and• IAS (USA) for testing, calibration and inspection

There are now 35 signatories to the APLAC MRA, including 33 for testing, 26 for calibration, 14 for inspection, 15 for ISO 15189 and seven for RMP. Full details of the scopes of recognition of each of the APLAC MRA signatories can be fond on the APLAC website: www.aplac.org

Elections were held for all APLAC office bearer positions and we congratulate the following of their election, commencing 1 January 2013 for a two year term:

• Nigel Jou of TAF (Chinese Taipei), APLAC Chair• Roxanne Robinson of A2LA (USA), APLAC MRA Council Chair • W W Wong of HKAS (Hong Kong, China), Board of Management• Barry Ashcroft of IANZ (New Zealand), Board of Management• Anil Relia of NABL (India), Board of ManagementYoshinobu Uematsu of JAB (Japan) was elected to the Board of Management to fill a casual

vacancy for a period of 1 year, commencing 1 January 2013.We would like to thank Chang Kwei Fern (SAC) now APLAC Immediate Past Chair for her

fine work during her term as APLAC Chair; Barry Ashcroft (IANZ) for contributing above and beyond in his six years as MRA Council Chair and Terence Chan for his contributions as APLAC Immediate Past Chair.

All Committee Chairs were returned for a further two year term commencing 1 January 2013:• Zhang Mingxia (CNAS, People’s Republic of China) - Training Committee• Trace McInturff (A2LA, USA) - Technical Committee• Koichi Nara (IAJapan, Japan) - Proficiency Testing Committee• Roger Muse (ACLASS, USA) - Public Information CommitteeThe other issues arising from the General Assembly and other meetings were:• the ten year APLAC strategic plan was accepted;• the proposed APLAC Tagline “Gateway to global acceptance” was endorsed;• the 2013 draft budget was accepted;• the Memorandum of Understanding between AFRAC and APLAC was endorsed;• that APLAC hold joint/concurrent (combined) annual meetings with PAC in 2014 and

2015.

ChAnGe of timinG for 2013 meetinGsAn important change will occur with our mid-year and end of year meetings next year: the

mid-year meeting will be held from 14 to 15 March in Singapore, hosted by SAC and the end of year meeting will be held from 7 to 13 September in Da Nang, Vietnam, hosted by BoA.

trAininG Courses The third and final training joint workshop “Enhanced Training for PT Experts” will be held

from 4 to 7 February 2013 at the Grand Sahid Jaya Hotel Jakarta, Indonesia.Regards

Michael and JanetAPLAC NEWS NOTES - December 20122

At 24/08/2012, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) held a ceremony to introduce the New Accreditation Council at the headquarters of the MOST.

MOST’s Deputy Minister, Mr. Tran Viet Thanh; Deputy Director General of the Directorate for Standards, Quality and Metrology (STAMEQ) and some

MOST’s Department Directors had attended the ceremonyThe new Accreditation Council has been established by the Minister of Science

and Technology to ensure that accreditation activities enhance the competence of conformity assessment bodies; to serve better to management organizations and ensure that accreditation body operates in an independent, objective, transparent and non-discriminative manner.

The new Accreditation Council includes 20 representatives of the organizations such as: the Office of Government; the Ministries including Ministry of Health, Ministry of Construction, Ministry of Industry and Trade, and Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and Associations- Vietnam Testing Laboratory Association (VINALAB) and Vietnam Metrology Association; and representatives of CABs. The Accreditation Council Chair is Dr. Doan Nang, Director of the Legal Department, MOST.

Speaking at the ceremony, MOST’s Deputy Minister, Dr Tran Viet Thanh stressed that accreditation is a special activity- one of the most important components along with metrology and standards of a country and it forms a basis for a national technical infrastructure.

The Deputy Minister also stated that accreditation activities include CABs evaluation, confirmation and attestation of competent CABs on the basis of an unified method in

Ceremony to announce the decision establishment of the Accreditation Council for BoA

The Accreditation Council during working session


accordance with the international standards, which have a special role in supporting the state management. Accreditation also creates favorable conditions for Vietnamese goods to access to international markets; effectively serve the goal of “one standard, one certificate, accepted globally”.

He also said that the new Accreditation Council will help the activities of the Bureau of Accreditation (BoA) in the right direction. BoA will work more closely and serve better with relevant departments of the ministries, especially on conformity assessments. The activities of the new Council will also help BoA’s activities be independent, objective, non-discriminatory to domestic and international customers; customers of different economic sectors; customers of large enterprises as well as small and medium ones.

Deputy Minister, Dr. Tran Viet Thanh giving speech at the ceremony


BoA TRAINING WORKSHOP FOR TECHNICAL ASESSORS 2012

From 23 to 24 N o v e m b e r 2012, Bureau of A c c r e d i t a t i o n

(BoA) organized the annualy training Workshop for the technical assessors at Do Son, Hai Phong City.

There were about 100 technical assessors for the labs and inspection bodies attending the Workshop

Mr Vu Xuan Thuy – Director of BoA had an opening remark to the Workshop. He stressed the important role of technical assessors in assessment activities. During the Workshop, the technical assessors have been updated the latest information on accreditation, BoA policy & requirements, and disscussed and shared opinions on issues they facing in their assessments. In the workshop, the

technical assessors have common sessions and group sessions to exchange the information regarding to the specific field and suggested improvements for the assessment. Besides technical issues, it was an excellence opportunities for technical assessors knowing each other and had better relationships with BoA staff.


As approval of Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) and with the agreement of APLAC BoM, The Annual Technical Meetings and General Assembly APLAC 2013 will be hosted by Bureau of Accreditation (BoA) from 7 to 13 September 2013 at Furama resort, Da Nang, Vietnam.

The Annual APLAC Meeting 2013


On May 18, 2012 the State of Maryland published new regulations for the licensure and oversight of forensic laboratories working in or offering to perform work in the State of Maryland. Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR) Title 10, Subtitle 51 Forensic Laboratories was developed by the

Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) with the help of the Maryland Forensic Laboratory Advisory Committee (FLAC - http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/26excom/html/15forensiclab.html), of which A2LA is a member.

To ensure compliance with COMAR 10.51, A2LA staff developed document R221a – Annex A: Specific Requirements for Forensic Facilities Licensed in Maryland, a supplement to A2LA document R221 - Specific Requirements: Forensic Examination Accreditation Program-Testing which includes the general requirements of the A2LA forensic testing laboratory accreditation program. Both documents, as well as an official application, mock assessment and crosswalk of COMAR 10.51 to A2LA requirements, was provided to the State of Maryland, DHMH, for review.

On November 6, 2012, A2LA received recognition as a deemed accreditation organization under the State of Maryland in accordance with COMAR 10.51. As a deemed accreditation organization, forensic laboratories that offer to perform or perform forensic analyses in the State of Maryland can seek out accreditation services from A2LA to meet state licensing requirements. Additionally, proficiency testing providers accredited by A2LA are approved for use by licensed forensic laboratories in meeting proficiency testing requirements found in COMAR 10.51.

Currently A2LA is one of three United States accreditation body signatories to the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) that offer accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025 for forensic testing laboratories and the only United States signatory to the Inter-American Accreditation Cooperation (IAAC) MRA that offers accreditation of crime scene units to ISO/IEC 17020.

In addition to accreditation services, A2LA offers assessment to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Quality Assurance Standards (QAS) for Forensic DNA Testing and Databasing Laboratories in accordance with section 15.2 of the QAS which requires: “at least once every two years, an external audit [conducted] by an audit team comprised of qualified auditor(s) from a second agency.”

For additional information regarding the A2LA forensic program or to apply within this program, please contact Karin Athanas at 301 644 3236 or [email protected].

A2LA Receives “Deemed Status” from State of Maryland in the U.S. for Accreditation of Forensic Laboratories

By Karin Athanas, A2LA Senior Accreditation Officer


The Bureau of Laboratory Quality Standards, BLQS, is the accreditation body which operates an accreditation system for testing laboratory according to ISO 15189, ISO 22870 and ISO/IEC 17025. The operation shall comply with the ISO/IEC 17011 and APLAC MR-001 international standards. The assessor is become

the critical human resource who shall be competent. Therefore, BLQS set up the training course for assessor to be able to accredit the testing laboratory in 2012 are 6 courses as follows:

• Effective Writing of Non-conformity Statements and/or Observations were held on 9 June 2012 at Ballom room, Narai hotel, Bangkok, Thailand. The training course started with a warm welcoming speech from Dr. Pratom Swanpanyalert, Deputy Director of Department of Medical Sciences, DMSc, and Mrs. Suwanna Charunut Director of BLQS.

After that Ms. Roxanne M. Robinson, the Vice president and COO of A2LA lectured the overview writing Non-conformity Statements ISO/IEC 17025: 2005 and ISO 15189: 2007. After the presentations, the assessors were then divided into 15 workshop groups including 8 groups for public health laboratory and 7 groups for medical laboratory. To practice, to exercises, to discuss and to share the experiences on the completed non-conformity report issue for strengthening assessor competency. Eighty assessors were trained in this course.

• Measurement Uncertainty for Microbiology Laboratory Testing was held on 15-16 August 2012 at Richmond Hotel, Nondhaburi, Thailand. The lecturer are Mr. Preecha Juengsamanukool, Medical Scientist, Expert level and Mrs. Ladawan Juengsamanukool, Medical Scientist, Senior Professional level, from Bureau of Quality and Safety of Food, Department of Medical Sciences. This course is designed to practice to exercises, to discuss and to share the experiences on estimated uncertainty for qualitative and quantitative measurement in microbiology laboratory. Thirty five assessors were trained in this course.

Bureau of Laboratory Quality Standards (BLQS) Assessor Training 2012


• Method Validation for Chemical Laboratory Testing was held on 20-21 August 2012 at Richmond Hotel, Nondhaburi, Thailand. The lecturer is Assistant professor Dr. Natchanun Leepipatpaiboon from Chulalongkorn University. Forty assessors were trained. To practice, to exercises and to share the experiences on validation method for chemical laboratory testing. • Method Validation

for Microbiology Laboratory Testing was held on 27-28 August 2012 at Richmond Hotel, Nondhaburi, Thailand. The lecturer is Mrs. Pensri Rodma, Medical Scientist, Expert level, from Department of Medical Sciences. Thirty five assessors were trained in this course and this course is designed to practice, to exercises, to discuss and to share the experiences on method validation for Microbiology Laboratory.

• Measurement Uncertainty for Chemical Laboratory Testing was held on 4-5 September 2012 at Richmond Hotel, Nondhaburi, Thailand. The lecturer are Mrs. Tippawan Ningnoi, Medical Scientist, Senior Professional level and Ms. Nipaporn Laksanasomya, Medical Scientist, Senior Professional level, from Bureau of Quality and Safety of Food, Department of Medical Sciences. This course is designed to practice, to exercises, to discuss

and to share the experiences for estimated uncertainty in chemical laboratory testing.

• Assessor Knowledge Refreshment according to ISO 15189, ISO 22870 and ISO/IEC 17025 was held on 20-21 September 2012 at Garden Cliff Resort & Spa Hotel, Pataya, Chonburi, Thailand. This course is designed to refresh the assessor’s knowledge of the policy, requirement and conditions for laboratory accreditation of BLQS and technical knowledge, such as how to identify and control the non conforming work, calibration of the temperature equipment, safety requirements for medical laboratories according ISO 15190, etc. The assessor shared their fruitful experiences and participated actively during group discussions. One hundred and fifty assessors were participated in this course.

Mr. Aran Tanunkat, Bureau of Laboratory Quality Standards, BLQS.

Department of Medical Sciences, DMSc.Thailand


The 3rd China RM & PT Forum (RMPT2012) had been ceremoniously held during November 1st-3rd, 2012 at China National Convention Center, Beijing. The forum was organized by China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment (CNAS), China Association for Standardization (CAS) and undertaken by CNAS PT Committee, CNAS RM Committee, China RM Technical Committee (SAC/TC118). 45

overseas experts from 12 countries, including Sweden, France, Italy, UK, Belgium, USA, Australia, Slovakia, Japan, Korea, Thailand and Mongolia, and more than 700 representatives from the relevant field had attended the forum.

Regina Robertson, Chair of the ILAC Accreditation Committee & General Manager of NATA, Dr. Hendrik Emons Chair of ISO/REMCO, Haizhou Wang, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering & Director of CNAS PT Committee, Jianzhong Gao Secretary General of CAS and Dr. Guilan Song, Deputy Executive of CNAS, had chaired the Joint Plenary. Dr. Guilan Song, Dr. Hendrik Emons, Regina Robertson, Brian Brookman (Chair of EA-EUROLAB-EURACHEM Laboratory PT workgroup & British Proficiency Testing workgroup) and Paul De Bièvre (Member of the IUPAC Analytical Chemistry Division Committee and the ISO-Technical Advisory Group TAG-4) had been invited to give a lecture. Jianhua Xiao, Vice Chair of IAF & Chief Executive of CNAS gave a short welcome speech in the welcoming banquet. In the following days, many world famous and leading scholars gave RM or PT related presentations.

The 3rd RM & PT Forum is the most influential summit meeting in the field of Proficiency Testing

CNAS Co-hosted 3rd China RM & PT Forum in Beijing


(PT) and Reference Materials (RM) in China. The forum provides as a valuable communication platform for advancing the management & operation of proficiency testing and research & application of reference materials, discussing techniques and policies of PT and RM, and exploring manifold cooperation between PT, RM and industries of interest.

The 3rd RM & PT Forum was held in conjunction with 2 concurrent sessions: The Progress Forum for Instruments and Testing Technology (by Chinese Academy of Engineering) and the ICASI’2012 & CCATM’2012 International Conference and Exhibition on Analysis & Testing of Materials (by Chinese Society for Metals and International Committee of Analysis in Steel and Iron Industry). The invited reports of the 3 sessions were held together as Joint Plenary.

The theme of the 3rd RM & PT Forum is Assessment & Assurance for the Validity of the Test Results. And the theme of the Progress Forum for Instruments and Testing Technology is the development trends and strategies of scientific equipment and test technology. Besides, the theme of the ICASI’2012 & CCATM’2012 International Conference and Exhibition on Analysis & Testing of Materials is new processes, new materials characterization and quality control. Three meetings jointly organized organic convergence of scientific instruments - test techniques and results assessment. The Joint Plenary is the summit meeting of development strategy and technical research & discussion, which promoted the development of scientific instruments & test techniques and meet the needs of science & technology innovation, economic development and social progress.


The development of the

proficiency testing (PT)

in Forensic Science

has been rapidly

promoted in China

along with the promulgation of national

regulations and rules in 2009. Not

only the accreditation body and the

government regulators, but also the

forensic institutes and their customers

have attached more importance to the

PT in Forensic Science. By the end of

2012, CNAS has accredited 195 forensic

institutes; however there are over 1,000

forensic institutes participating in

CNAS forensic PT programs annually.

These participants include the crime

laboratories, forensic laboratories,

police departments, medical examiner/

coroner offices, hospitals, government

agencies, and private laboratories.

The perceptions of the role of PT in

strengthening the quality assurance

have advanced fast. CNAS cooperating

with the administrative departments for

forensic science has made great efforts

to promote PT in this field.

At a technical level, CNAS has

evolved in a unique way of the forensic

PT service in China and attained some

primary achievements. Since most of

the forensic PT schemes are qualitative

scheme or data transformation and

interpretation schemes, there are only

rudimentary concepts and models

available to conduct these types of PT

schemes. Through years of practice and

CNAS has Greatly Promoted the Proficiency Testing in Forensic Science in China


innovation, CNAS has preliminarily

established relevant methods for the

preparation of the proficiency test items,

determination of the assigned values

and evaluation of the performance of the

participants. In Dec 2012, CNAS issued

the Guidance on the Implementation of

Qualitative Proficiency Testing Schemes

in Forensic Science. So far in 2009,

CNAS has carried out 98 PT schemes

by cooperating with relevant authority.

These schemes cover a wide range of

forensic disciplines, including forensic

pathology (identification of death causes

and death manners), clinical forensic

medicine (forensic assessment of human

body injury degree), forensic genetics

analysis of DNA from blood/semen/

bone, forensic toxicology (alcohol, drugs

and poisons analysis in blood/urine),

document examination (examination

of tampered documents/handwriting/

stamp impression), trace identification

(fingerprint/ footwear impression), trace

evidence(examination of paint/ink/

cloth fabrics), audio/video examination

and electronic forensics etc. Nowadays

CNAS organizes and carries out about

20 to 30 forensic PT schemes every year

and thus ensures the validity of the

accreditation in this field.

Up to now, CNAS has established

a basic infrastructure of policy and

implementation on how the forensic

proficiency testing can be developed,

managed, and exploited. Currently,

an APLAC PT program proposal in

this field is sent out for comments. We

are very happy and open to discuss

and communicate on the appropriate

operation model and comprehensive

knowledge related to forensic PT

programs.


ILAC Chair Visiting Hong Kong

On invitation by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government,

Mr. Peter Unger, Chairman of the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and President/CEO of the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) visited Hong Kong during 16-22 September 2012. The visit was organized through the HKSAR Government’s Information Service Department Sponsored Visitors’ Programme, comprising a programme with a series of visits and briefs for Mr. Unger to understand various government departments, local testing and certification industry and related non-governmental organizations in Hong Kong with a view to promoting Hong Kong as well as its testing and certification industry and associated services.

During his stay in Hong Kong, Mr. Unger visited a number of government departments and bureaux, including the Information Service Department; Innovation and Technology Commission; Environmental Protection Department; Housing Department; Department of Justice; Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau; Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau; Food and Environmental Hygiene Department; Independent Commission Against Corruption; the Efficiency Unit; and the Central Policy Unit, and was introduced to their structure and operation. The series of visits aimed at giving Mr. Unger a multifaceted view of Hong Kong Civil Service.

Mr. Unger was also given the chance to visit a number of testing, certification and trade organizations in Hong Kong, including

the SGS Hong Kong Limited; the Science and Technology Park; the Open University of Hong Kong (the first tertiary institution in Hong Kong offering bachelor degree course in testing and certification); the Fugro Technical Services Limited; The Chinese Manufacturers’ Association of Hong Kong; and clinical laboratories in the Queen Mary Hospital, Hospital Authority, and was introduced to the general situation of local testing and certification industry.

Mr. Unger also found time out of his busy schedule to attend a lunch on 18 September 2012 jointly hosted by the Accreditation Advisory Board (AAB) of Hong Kong Accreditation Service (HKAS) and the Hong Kong Council for Testing and Certification (HKCTC) and met with the HKCTC Chairman Prof. CHING Pak-chung, the HKAS AAB Chairman Prof. KWAN Hoi-shan as well as members of the two Government’s advisory bodies.

Representing the host of the visit programme, HKAS staff accompanied Mr. Unger throughout the entire programme.


At the end, Mr. Unger concluded that this journey to Hong Kong was very fruitful and he would convey the situation here to ILAC with a view to assisting promotion of Hong Kong and its testing and certification services to other economies in the world. Subsequently, when Mr. Unger chaired the ILAC General Assembly in October 2012, he pointed out at the meeting that he was impressed by the efforts made by the HKSAR Government in promoting testing and certification to the public particularly the younger generation. He also mentioned the availability of university degrees in testing and certification offered by Hong Kong universities. ILAC General Assembly delegates responded enthusiastically and Executive Administrator, HKAS provided further information on the initiatives of the HKSAR Government in promoting the testing and certification industry at the General Assembly. Further enquiries were received from some delegates on the university courses offered in Hong Kong on testing and certification. This indicated that Mr. Unger’s visit to Hong Kong has successfully raised the profile of Hong Kong’s testing and certification industry internationally.

Mr. Peter Unger visiting the Innovation &

Technology Commission of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government

From left to right: Mr. Peter UNGER (Chairman, ILAC); Mr. CHAN Sing-sing, Terrence (Assistant Commissioner, Innovation & Technology Commission); Mr. WONG Wang-wah (Executive Administrator, Hong Kong Accreditation Service)

Mr. Peter Unger attending a lunch jointly hosted by the Accreditation Advisory Board of Hong Kong Accreditation Service and the Hong Kong Council for Testing and Certification

From left to right: Mr. LEE Shing-see (Convener of Panel on Promoting Testing and Certification Services in Construction Materials Trade, Hong Kong Council for Testing and Certification); Prof. CHING Pak-chung (Chairman, Hong Kong Council for Testing and Certification); Mr. Peter UNGER (Chairman, ILAC); Prof. KWAN Hoi-shan (Ex-Chairman, Accreditation Advisory Board of Hong Kong Accreditation Service); Prof. LAM Kwan-sing, Paul (Convener of Panel on Promoting Testing and Certification Services in Environmental Protection Trade, Hong Kong Council for Testing and Certification)


Safety in Australia’s coal mines will benefit from a new NATA accreditation program aimed at reducing the risk of exploding machinery.

This specialised accreditation program is designed to assure users and regulators of the technical competence of workshops overhauling the diesel equipment used in underground coal-mining.

Workshops seeking accreditation for AS/NZS 3584.3 are assessed against the international standard ISO/IEC 17020. It is an Inspection category of accreditation.

The assessment process includes a review of nominated staff including records of experience, qualifications, training and certification, with observation of their ability to apply the relevant skills and standards to equipment.

A review is also made of the workshop’s equipment (including calibration), workshop facilities, inspection procedures, formats of the worksheets and inspection reports.

The accreditation also includes periodic reassessment and surveillance of operations, following the initial assessment.

The first diesel maintenance workshop to receive this accreditation is Diversified

Mining Services (DMS) in Beresfield New South Wales (NSW).

NSW currently has around 100 workshops providing these services, and the NSW Department of Primary Industries has mandated that they become either certified or accredited to the Diesel Maintenance Workshop Accreditation by the end of 2013.

All states and the Northern Territory are also involved in the mining of brown coal, and will be gauging the roll-out of the accreditation, as will the Federal Department of Energy, Resources and Tourism.

New NATA Accreditation Program supports Mining Safety

The Accreditation Team conducting the initial assessment


NATA’s Training Services Group recently conducted a series of training courses for the Department of Health in Victoria. The title of the course was ‘Withstanding Legal Scrutiny of your Analytical Testing’.

The new training course was developed to assist Analysts and Environmental Health Officers in discharging their statutory responsibilities under the Food Act 1984.

It aimed to enhance their understanding of the analytical process, the forensic process, legal systems, the court process and the application of the analytical process in the legal environment.

Prosecution is a time consuming and expensive exercise and largely occurs because the authorities have complete confidence in the analytical results behind their decisions to prosecute.

That confidence is based on extensive knowledge of the laboratory process and confidence that all of the procedures, from sample receipt to sample preparation to sample analysis, have been carried out in the correct manner.

The science is rarely disputed in court. Disputes are more likely to be over operational aspects as the courts focus on testing.

The Analyst may be called to give evidence on the analytical result and therefore the course presented a unique opportunity for Analysts to understand the pressures they may face in the courtroom environment.

In all over 140 persons participated in the course.

Legal Training Course developed for Health Inspectors

A courtroom became the training room for the course


NATA CEO Jennifer Evans recently announced the winners of NATA’s ‘Young Scientists of the Year Award’ for 2012. This year’s theme of ‘Energy and the Environment’ attracted many interesting scientific investigations by nearly 500 primary school children across Australia.

First place in the 7 & 8 years of age category went to Tulle Scoffern, Lachlan Strybosch and Mitchell Whalan from Laburnum Primary School in Blackburn, Victoria. The boys built a ‘Solar House’ and charted their results over three weeks to demonstrate how the sun can be used to light a home.

First place in the 9 & 10 years of age category went to Nathan Monty and Jake Daffy from Manchester Primary School in Mooroolbark, Victoria. Using their school’s compost bin, Nathan and Jake investigated the possibility of generating heat that could be used for warming greenhouses.

First place in the 11 & 12 years of age category was awarded to Sahuri Mundree from Kelvin Grove State College in Kelvin Grove, Queensland for her project on ‘Biodiesel Fuel from Algae’. The judges described Sahuri’s entry and research as “very mature, well designed and presented”.

The winner’s school in each age category receives a $3,000 donation, with an additional cash prize of $500 for each winning group.

This annual award is now in its sixth year and has been supported by the Federal Minister for Science who said: “This competition is a great opportunity for young minds to explore and share the excitement of science and research.”

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In conjunction with the World Standards Day which falls on 14 October every year, STANDARDS MALAYSIA organised our National Standards and Accreditation

Awards Ceremony on November 22, 2012 at Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC), Putrajaya.

With an objective to encourage both public and private sector to conform to standards and accreditation, which will ultimately enhance the local and global competitiveness of industries; a total of 41 new laboratories under Skim Akreditasi Makmal Malaysia (SAMM), 7 new certification bodies under Accreditation Certification Bodies Scheme (ACB) and 4 new inspection bodies under Malaysia Inspection Bodies Accreditation Scheme (MIBAS) were presented with Certificate of Appreciation by YB Datuk Haji Fadillah Yusof, Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI). 14 individuals comprising of technical experts, academia and STANDARDS MALAYSIA senior assessors received the Standard and Accreditation Award at the event for their efforts and contributions in standardisation and accreditation activities in Malaysia.

More than 500 conformity assessment bodies have been accredited as of December 2012. The increasing number of accredited conformity assessment bodies in Malaysia shows good awareness among government and private sector organisations of the many positive benefits of accreditation.

“It may be a less known fact that Malaysian Standards (MS) and Accreditations Services offered by us ensure that domestic and global

consumers have access to quality products and services. Through these awards, we would like to encourage local expertise and enhance Malayisa’s competitive edge by facilitating trade through international recognition”, said Mrs Fadilah Baharin, Director General of STANDARDS MALAYSIA.

Two innovative companies, Chemical Company of Malaysia Berhad (CCM) and Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) also won the Appreciation Award for Users of Malaysian Standards.

News from STANDARDS MALAYSIA

Group photo of representatives from newly accredited laboratories.

Some of the recipients of Standard and Accreditation Award 2012.


“We strongly recommend the regulatory bodies to make Malaysian Standards (MS) as mandatory for all regulated products, and in the same tone would like to encourage independent entrepreneurs, SMEs and other industry bodies to adopt MS to make Malaysian companies as well as their offerings more marketable locally and internationally”, said the YB Datuk Haji Fadillah Yusof, Deputy Minister of MOSTI.

An exhibition was also set-up as part of the award ceremony, with active participation from Young Citizens / Students who contributed to various standardisation initiatives. This year, several programmes for the youth were organised by STANDARDS MALAYSIA together with its smart partners e.g. Universal Design Product Competition (UDPC) by International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM); SPEAK UP programme and Video Competition by STANDARDS USERS. The winners of these programmes were also awarded at this ceremony.

Earlier in June this year, in conjunction with the World Accreditation Day 2012 celebration, STANDARDS MALAYSIA organised our annual forum with laboratories accredited under the SAMM Scheme (Laboratory Accreditation Scheme of Malaysia) on June 21, 2012. The forum with the SAMM-accredited laboratories included briefing on the latest update of the SAMM processes and procedures, Accreditation Body-Laboratory dialogue session and an interaction clinic to discuss various accreditation related matters. The forum also highlighted the theme “safe food and clean drinking water” as one of the initiatives to enhance awareness on the importance of accreditation in ensuring the quality and safety of food and water.

Annual forum with certification bodies (CBs) under the Accreditation of Certifcation Bodies (ACB) scheme was also held on June 19, 2012. The forum with the CBs focused on the role of accreditation in supporting safe preparation of food and clean water in line with the theme of World Accreditation Day 2012 celebration. Also held during the forum was a briefing on “Pre-Requisites (PRP) and Critical Control Point document, which is one of the essential elements in food certification.

Tour of exhibition booth by the Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), MSDAM Council Chairman and Director General of STANDARDS MALAYSIA.

Participants at the Forum with the SAMM-accredited laboratories held in June 2012.


The Bangladesh Accreditation Board (BAB) is an organization that has been established by the Government of Bangladesh under the Bangladesh Accreditation Act

2006, aimed to provide accreditation services to laboratories, certification bodies and inspection bodies.

In order to enhance their system and capability as a reputable accreditation body, BAB has collaborated with STANDARDS MALAYSIA for a 2-week technical training from 19-30 November 2012. This training was organized as a part of the Better Work and Standard Programme (BEST) and funded by United Nations Industrial Development Organinzation (UNIDO). The main objective of this technical training is to assist BAB in acquiring global recognition through Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) with Asia Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (APLAC).

This technical training was the second training hosted by STANDARDS MALAYSIA for BAB Officers after the first one in July 2011. As a full member and signatory to APLAC MRA, this is one of the mechanisms for STANDARDS MALAYSIA to promote mutual recognition arrangement with other accreditation bodies. Three (3) BAB officers who attended the training are as follows:

i) Mr. Md Abu Abdullah, Director General;

ii) Mr. Md Mahbubur Rahman, Deputy Director; and

iii) Mr. Md Towhidur Rahman, Assistant Director.

The purpose of the training is to provide exposure in managing an accreditation body according to international practices. During the training, officers were given briefings on conduct of assessment, selection of assessors and development of documentation system (policy, technical requirements, procedures and etc). BAB Officers also joined a visit and on-site assessments at selected laboratories as observers. They were also given the opportunity to engage in discussions with laboratory management and STANDARDS MALAYSIA assessors on the benefits of accreditation and the assessment proper.

In conclusion, both accreditation bodies have gained benefits through the training and it was an honour for STANDARDS MALAYSIA to establish such collaboration with developing accreditation body. Both accreditation bodies look forward to more collaborations and cooperation in the future with regards to accreditation.

LABORATORY ACCREDITATION SYSTEM TECHNICAL TRAINING FOR BANGLADESH ACCREDITATION BOARD OFFICERS

AT DEPARTMENT OF STANDARDS MALAYSIA (STANDARDS MALAYSIA)ON 19 – 30 NOVEMBER 2012


BY WANJI YANG

Through out many years, TAF has been trying to build closer cooperation relationships with regulators and local government agencies. In particular, we have made some achievements in the civil engineering testing field in 2012 as follows:

1. items desiGnAted to be tested by tAf ACCredited testinG LAborAtories:

The Public Construction Commission (PCC) announced that, for work acceptance of public construction projects, there are 17 testing items required to be tested by TAF accredited civil engineering testing laboratories. This is a success story that shows the accountability of accreditation. To accommodate such needs, TAF has established an accreditation program with specific criteria to link the accreditation results with regulations. Currently there are 181 civil engineering testing laboratories accredited by TAF for this specific program.

New from TAF – December 2012 IssueProgress on Cooperation with Government Agencies

Photo 1: Training course co-hosted by TAF and local government agency.


2. CooPerAtion With LoCAL Government AGenCiesLocal government agencies, such as the New Taipei City Government, the Department of

Rapid Transit System of the Taipei City Government, the Chia-Yi Government and the Kaohsiung City Government, approached TAF for provision of professional trainings. From September to November 2012, TAF had worked closely with these local government agencies to hold 4 training courses on ISO/IEC 17025 and regulations related to construction work. TAF had successfully assisted local government agencies to reach the readiness of personnel performing monitoring of public construction work. Not only receiving positive feedbacks from participants, TAF has also gained reputation, by its accreditation expertise, for partnership with local government agencies.

3. sPot-CheCkinG on PubLiC ConstruCtion WorkThe Public Construction Commission invited TAF accreditation personnel to participate

in the spot-checking of public construction work, such as local roads, bridges, etc., finished by local government agencies. TAF accreditation personnel provided professional opinions to help government officers to identify the test results of spot-checked samples. This is a successful linkage between the regulator’s needs and the value that accreditation can provide.

In addition, TAF has signed a MoU with the Cheng Shiu University (CSU) on 9 November 2012. The CSU plans to be the main provider for civil engineering proficiency testing programs. Moreover, the CSU is developing an educational program that blends in accreditation concept, which will enable the general reach-out of accreditation knowledge to students and prepare the personnel for accreditation assessment activities.

From cooperation with regulators to planting the seeds of accreditation in education system, TAF has made good progresses in promoting accreditation. TAF will keep trying to promote the accreditation concept and to realize the accreditation value.

Photo 2 (left to right): Dr Jay-San Chen, President of TAF, Dr Kung, Jui-Chang, President of CSU.


Documents

From the Secretariat APLAC NEWS NOTES - December 2012 · • Anil Relia of NABL (India), Board of Management Yoshinobu Uematsu of JAB (Japan) was elected to the Board of Management