Good Laboratory Practice (GLP)-4 Brief knowledge about Nation and International Agencies for clinical laboratory accreditation
Brief knowledge about Nation and International Agencies for clinical laboratory accreditation
National and International Connections
IAS has achieved worldwide recognition and acceptance of its accreditation programs.
IAS-accredited testing laboratories, inspection agencies and fabricator inspection programs are recognized and used by thousands of building regulators in the U.S. and other countries in carrying out their regulatory duties. In the U.S. alone, all 50 states, and regulatory jurisdictions within those states, have adopted codes published by the International Code Council (ICC), related to energy conservation, residential and commercial buildings, plumbing, electrical systems, fire safety, fuel gases, and sewage disposal. Adoption of these codes means that products, services and systems must be tested and inspected for compliance with code or fabricated in conformance with code regulations. IAS has accredited testing laboratories whose scopes of accreditation cover hundreds of test methods related to building products and systems covered by these codes. We have also accredited laboratories and inspection agencies that test and inspect products that cross over into other industries such as aerospace, marine cargo, transportation, and sustainability-related industries.
IAS-accredited testing and calibration laboratories, inspection agencies and fabricator inspection programs are a valuable resource for industry providing proven services that will meet both their needs and the requirements of the regulators. The spreading adoption of the ICC codes, both nationally and internationally, means that demand for the services of IAS-accredited organizations is bound to increase to fulfill regulatory demands. Those responsible for public safety, through enforcement of regulatory requirements, must have confirmation that organizations that test, inspect or fabricate, are qualified, independent and capable. IAS accreditation provides such confirmation.
In the international arena, IAS-accredited laboratories and inspection agencies benefit from several strategic alliances that IAS has formed to make it possible for the reports from its accredited laboratories and agencies to be recognized and accepted worldwide. There are four international organizations that recognize IAS. These are the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC), the Asia Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (APLAC), the Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (PAC) and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF).
These organizations have developed into key facilitators of nation-to-nation trade agreements, and have significantly enhanced cross-frontier commerce by helping to eliminate trade barriers. IAS is a full member of these organizations, and has earned signatory status to the ILAC and APLAC MRAs for testing, calibration and inspection, and the IAF and PAC multilateral arrangements for product certification. IAS Cross Frontier Policy
IAS maintains credentials of the highest order for all of its accreditation programs and offers its programs to any technically competent calibration laboratory, testing laboratory, inspection agency, product certification agency or fabricator inspection program that seeks compliance with international accreditation requirements. IAS has worked hard to provide value to its more than 500 accredited organizations, by providing them with efficient service and with wide-ranging acceptance of their work. We encourage you to learn more about IAS and to watch our programs expand while adding value to our customers in the years to come. We also invite you to contact us to find out how your organization can become a part of our team.
About ILAC
ILAC is the international organisation for accreditation bodies operating in accordance with ISO/IEC 17011 and involved in the accreditation of conformity assessment bodies including calibration laboratories (using ISO/IEC 17025), testing laboratories (using ISO/IEC 17025), medical testing laboratories (using ISO 15189), inspection bodies (using ISO/IEC 17020), proficiency testing providers (using ISO/IEC 17043) and reference material producers (using ISO 17034).
Accreditation is the independent evaluation of conformity assessment bodies against recognised standards to carry out specific activities to ensure their impartiality and competence. Through the application of national and international standards, government, procurers and consumers can have confidence in the calibration and test results, inspection reports and certifications provided.
Accreditation bodies are established in many economies with the primary purpose of ensuring that conformity assessment bodies are subject to oversight by an authoritative body. Accreditation bodies, that have been peer evaluated as competent, sign regional and international arrangements to demonstrate their competence. These accreditation bodies then assess and accredit conformity assessment bodies to the relevant standards.
The arrangements support the provision of local or national services, such as providing safe food and clean drinking water, providing energy, delivering health and social care or maintaining an unpolluted environment. In addition, the arrangements enhance the acceptance of products and services across national borders, thereby creating a framework to support international trade through the removal of technical barriers.
The international arrangements are managed by ILAC in the fields of calibration, testing, medical testing, inspection, proficiency testing providers and reference material producers accreditation and IAF in the fields of management systems, products, services, personnel and other similar programmes of conformity assessment. Both organisations, ILAC and IAF, work together and coordinate their efforts to enhance the accreditation and the conformity assessment worldwide.
The regional arrangements are managed by the recognised regional co-operation bodies that work in harmony with ILAC and IAF. The recognised regional co-operations are also represented on the ILAC and IAF Executive Committees. ILAC works closely with the regional co-operation bodies involved in accreditation, notably EA in Europe, APAC in the Asia-Pacific, IAAC in the Americas, AFRAC in Africa, SADCA in Southern Africa, and ARAC in the Arab region.
History
ILAC first started as a conference, which was held on 24-28 October 1977 in Copenhagen, Denmark with the aim of developing international cooperation for facilitating trade by promotion of the acceptance of accredited test and calibration results.
In 1996, ILAC became a formal cooperation with a charter to establish a network of mutual recognition agreements among accreditation bodies.
In 2000, the 36 ILAC Full Members consisting of laboratory accreditation bodies from 28 economies worldwide, signed the ILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement (ILAC MRA) in Washington DC, to promote the acceptance of technical test and calibration data for exported goods. The ILAC MRA for calibration and testing laboratories came into effect on 31 January 2001.
The ILAC MRA was then extended in October 2012 to include the accreditation of inspection bodies. In May 2019 it was further extended to include the accreditation of proficiency testing providers and in May 2020 for the accreditation of reference material producers.
National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) is a Constituent Board of Quality Council of India. NABL has been established with the objective to provide Government, Industry Associations and Industry in general with a scheme for third-party assessment of the quality and technical competence of testing and calibration laboratories.
In order to achieve this objective, NABL provides laboratory accreditation services to laboratories that are performing tests / calibrations in accordance with ISO/IEC 17025:2005 and ISO 15189:2012 for medical laboratories. These services are offered in a non-discriminatory manner and are accessible to all testing and calibration laboratories in India and abroad, regardless of their ownership, legal status, size and degree of independence.
NABL accreditation system complies with ISO/IEC 17011:2004 and Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (APAC) MR001. Based on evaluation of NABL operations by APAC in 2000, NABL has been granted signatory member status by APAC and International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) under their Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MRAs). Under these MRAs, the reports issued by NABL accredited laboratories are considered to be equivalent to reports issued by laboratories accredited by (currently) 76 accreditation bodies in 64 economies. NABL has undergone re-evaluation by four member APAC evaluation team in July 2008. APAC/ILAC has recommended NABL’s Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) status for further four years with extension of scope for Medical Testing laboratory as per new international standard ISO 15189:2012.
Recently, NABL also added a new dimension in the area of accreditation as a new program on “Accreditation of PT Providers” based on international standard ISO/IEC 17043-Conformity Assessment- General Requirements of Proficiency Testing and strive to obtain ILAC / APAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) Signatory Status for international acceptability also.
The users have access to information regarding accredited laboratories through web-based directory of NABL accredited laboratories.
NABL website is updated continuously with respect to status of accredited laboratories and their scope of accreditation. The list of laboratories which are either suspended or their scope of accreditation is partially or fully withdrawn is also available for the benefit of the users. The laboratories will be able to acquire the necessary NABL documents through the website thereby eliminating postal delays. Suggestions are welcome from users of the website for further improvement.
https://www.iasonline.org/national-international-connections/
https://nabl-india.org/about-nabl/about-nabl-2/
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