Minutes of the IAF Eighteenth Annual General Assembly Held in the Cape Town International Conference Centre,
Cape Town, South Africa on 9 and 11 October 2004
1. Welcome and Convening of Meeting.
1.1.1. On behalf of the hosts, SANAS, the IAF Chairman, Dr Thomas Facklam, welcomed the delegates to South Africa and declared the Eighteenth Annual
General Assembly Meeting open. The General Assembly would consist of one and a half days with normal business being conducted on the first morning, an Open Forum to discuss items and exchange views in the afternoon and then a half-day to receive information from other organisations and finalise the resolutions. The Joint IAF-ILAC General Assemblies would be held following the first day of the IAF General Assembly.
1.1.2. The Chairman called for a roll call and referred to the proxies which had been received prior to the meeting. The list of proxies as read by the Secretary was accepted.
1.1.3. The Chairman declared a quorum.
1.1.4. The Chairman reminded delegates of the availability of the official Member List and of the fact that only the nominated Member Representatives were
authorised to speak and vote on behalf of the Member they represented.
2. Apologies
2.1.1. Members adopted the following resolution
IAF Resolution 2004-01 – (Agenda Item 2) Acceptance of Apologies and
Proxies – The General Assembly received and accepted the list of apologies
for non-attendance and accepted the notifications of proxies by members.
3. Approval of Agenda
3.1.1. The draft agenda was adopted. It was noted that 6.3 Report of the
Development Support Committee and 8.1 Report from ISO would be given at the meeting of the Joint IAF-ILAC General Assemblies.
IAF Resolution 2004-02 – (Agenda Item 3) Approval of the Agenda – The
4. Minutes of the Seventeenth Meeting of IAF 4.1. Adoption of Minutes
4.1.1. The draft minutes were approved. Members adopted the following resolution –
IAF Resolution 2004-03 – (Agenda Item 4) Minutes of the Seventeenth
Meeting - The General Assembly approved the draft Minutes as a true
record of the Seventeenth Annual Meeting, held in Bratislava, Slovakia, on 19 and 21, September, 2003 (ref IAF–AM–03-010 revised) as circulated and amended.
4.2. Matters Arising from the Minutes
4.2.1. There were no matters arising from the minutes that were not already included in the agenda for this meeting.
5. Governance 5.1. Report by Chairman
5.1.1. The Chairman referred to his report which had been circulated prior to the meeting, and noted that IAF now had a total of 64 members, these being 43 Accreditation Body Members, 15 Association Members (6 certification/registration body associations and 9 industry/user associations), 4 Regional Groups with special recognition, 1 partner member and 1 observer member. A new MoU between IAF, ILAC and ISO had been signed in March and the first meeting of the Joint Working Group established to deal with joint matters had taken place in June. The second meeting would be held in conjunction with the CASCO Plenary meetings in
November. The Chairman informed the General Assembly that during the week the MLA Group had given approval for the Environmental Management Systems MLA and the Product MLA to become operational and as a result EA and PAC equivalent EMS and Product MLA members would be signing new IAF MLA certificates at a function that evening. Following the approval of the new IAF Logo and MLA Mark last year work had been underway to have these designs registered, initially in all IAF Accreditation Body member countries, and then as widely as possible. This had progressed very rapidly and as a result Licensing Agreements had now been made available to QMS MLA signatories to use the MLA Mark. The Chairman said that he understood nine licences had been issued in the first two weeks that they had been made available. The Code of Conduct for Accreditation Bodies had now been adopted by most AB members, with only six AB's not having signed the
declaration of adoption. The Chairman asked these members if they could do so as quickly as possible.
In July a survey was conducted in conjunction with ILAC to determine if there was a need for a transition period for the implementation of ISO/IEC 17011. The results of this survey and the subsequent analysis would be given during the Open Forum. As part of the strategic directions for both IAF and ILAC, the Joint Committee on Closer Cooperation (JCCC) had prepared a survey seeking information on how the meetings could be made more effective and relevant. The Chairman urged all members to complete this survey and provide feedback to the JCCC which would be crucial in determining the future format of Annual Meetings, whether they should be joint with ILAC or not. In closing the Chairman said that UNIDO had proposed closer cooperation with both IAF and ILAC and had prepared a framework MoU which would enable consideration of joint activities and how they should be
undertaken. A copy of the proposed MoU would be distributed to all members and it was intended that this would be signed at the Joint General Assemblies meeting. A partnership agreement with ILAC was also being prepared to publicly declare the undertaking of joint activities with IAF.
5.1.2. In comments on the Chairman's report the recent exchange of
correspondence between ISO and IAF was noted. It was felt that there were a number of items covered that were critical and it was essential that this dialogue was followed up. Members adopted the following resolution –
IAF Resolution 2004-04 – (Agenda Item 5.1) Chairman’s Report - The
General Assembly received with appreciation the report of the Chairman as presented.
5.1.3. Mr Anthony Craven, Convener of the Chairman’s Advisory Group (CAG) on Promotions, explained to the meeting that during the year the Executive Committee had developed an "assigned responsibilities and actions" list to address the
Chairman's Strategic Directions objectives. Two public relations consultants had been invited to prepare promotions strategy proposals. The first had proposed utilising an international network of journalists and publications while the second had been more nationally focused but included a costly advertising campaign. At the October 2004 Executive Committee meeting a CAG Task Force had been formed which would now select a PR consultant and develop the promotions strategy, prioritise strategy elements and monitor the implementation of the Promotions Strategy Project.
5.1.4. In response to Mr Craven’s presentation it was suggested that perhaps consideration should be given to collaboration with ILAC, which also faced similar problems, enabling more efficient use of resources. Mr Craven indicated that he had already initiated discussion with the Chair of the ILAC Promotions Committee and he was also talking to the Chair of the EA Promotions Committee. He himself was currently also the Chair of the PAC Promotions Group.
It was also suggested that collaboration with ISO publicizing what conformity assessment meant and the role of IAF would be very useful. In this respect it was noted that CASCO was currently undertaking a survey of the use of all international standards relevant to conformity assessment. It was agreed that this would be very helpful in terms of the adoption of accreditation standards and members were encouraged to complete this and submit their responses to the CASCO Secretariat. Members adopted the following resolution –
IAF Resolution 2004-05 – (Agenda Item 5.1.1) Report of Chairman’s
Advisory Group on Promotions – The General Assembly received with
appreciation the report of the Convener of the Chairman’s Advisory Group on Promotions as presented and resolved that the Group should proceed with the development and implementation of the Promotions Strategy as budgeted.
5.2. Report by the Treasurer
5.2.1. The Treasurer, Mr Robert King, introduced the audited financial statement for the IAF Year 2003 Accounts. He informed the meeting that the financial auditor had not identified any irregularities and that the separation of duties concern, which had previously been identified, had now been resolved. The meeting noted the
independent auditor’s management letter to the IAF Board of Directors and IAF Accounts for 2003. Members adopted the following resolution –
IAF Resolution 2004-06 – (Agenda Item 5.2.1) Treasurer’s Report on the
Financial Operations of IAF in 2003 - The General Assembly received with
appreciation the report by the Treasurer on the Financial Affairs of IAF and the Report of the Financial Auditor on the Financial Operations of IAF, December 31, 2003 and 2002 as circulated and presented.
5.2.2. Mr Vagn Andersen introduced the report of the Finance Oversight Committee (FOC), on behalf of its Chairman, Mr Pierre Salle. He reported that the Committee had communicated by e-mail during the year and had met earlier in the week. He confirmed the FOC acceptance of the accuracy of the financial statements and noted that while a deficit had been budgeted, the end of year financial statement instead showed a surplus. This again had been due to a number of projects which had been budgeted for but not been completed. He indicated that the FOC had recommended future distribution of financial statements include the budget for the year reported. The FOC regarded the IAF Treasury activity as being handled responsibly. The members of the Finance Oversight Committee, Mr Pierre Salle (IAAR), Mr Vagn Andersen (DANAK) and Mr Shinichi Iguchi (JAB), had all agreed to serve for another year. Members adopted the following resolutions -
IAF Resolution 2004-07 – (Agenda Item 5.2.2) Report of the Financial
Oversight Committee - The General Assembly received with appreciation
and adopted the report of the Financial Oversight Committee (ref IAF 18–Item 5.2.2), as circulated and presented.
IAF Resolution 2004-08 – (Agenda Item 5.2.2) Membership of the Financial
Oversight Committee - The Annual Meeting resolved to appoint Mr Vagn
Anderson (DANAK), Mr Shinichi Iguchi (JAB) and Mr Pierre Salle (IAAR) to be members of the Financial Oversight Committee for the complete years of 2005 and 2006.
5.2.3. The Treasurer introduced the report on the financial accounts for the period 1 January to 31 July 2004. Following discussion it was agreed that the amount of US $30,000 allocated to be spent by the Promotions CAG in 2004 should now be held over until 2005. Members adopted the following resolution –
IAF Resolution 2004-09 – (Agenda Item 5.2.3) Treasurer’s Report on the
Financial Operations of IAF in 2004 - The General Assembly received with
appreciation the report by the Treasurer on the Financial Affairs of IAF for the period 1 January to 31 July 2004 as circulated and presented. The Convener of the Chairman’s Advisory Group on Promotions was directed not to spend the amount of US$30,000 that was previously approved for the 2004 budget. 5.2.4. The Chairman explained that in 2004 it had been decided to use some reserve funds for operating expenditure and this was being proposed again for 2005. It was planned that there would not be any significant increase in members’ fees for 2005. The declining value of the US Dollar was having a negative effect on the budget as there was a need to pay for the Secretariat contract in another
currency. However all members who were not in a US$ currency area had in fact experienced an actual reduction in their fees over the last two years. The Treasurer introduced the income statement of the proposed Budget for 2005 along with notes to the Budget. There had been a small surplus resulting from the Berlin Annual Meetings, while revenue from membership subscriptions was slightly up on the previous year, primarily due to new memberships. A deficit of approximately US $31500 was being budgeted and this was mostly due to the adverse exchange rate. This would have the effect of reducing the reserves but the Treasurer felt this would still leave them at a satisfactory level. The General Assembly extensively discussed concerns with reducing the reserves and continuing to have deficit budgets, the need to consider increasing membership subscriptions, costs incurred by IAF in registering the MLA Mark and how the amount allocated to conducting a Customer Satisfaction Survey in 2005 should be spent. Following agreement on the Budget for 2005 the Secretary was instructed to prepare the invoices for the 2005 fees and send them to members. Members adopted the following resolution -
IAF Resolution 2004-10 – (Agenda Item 5.2.4) IAF Budget for 2005 - The General Assembly, approved the IAF Budget for 2005 submitted by the Treasurer and directs the Board to send invoices for membership fees for 2005 based upon the revised budget amount, in accordance with the
Membership Fees Rules (ref IAF PL4:2004 Issue 3), to all members as quickly as possible. The budget amount allocated to the Customer Satisfaction
Survey will be expended in cooperation with the Regional Accreditation Groups under the direction of the Customer Satisfaction Task Group. Secretarial Note – Invoices for 2005 Membership fees were sent to all IAF Members on 18 November 2004, with a due date of 1 January 2005.
5.3. Secretary’s Report
5.3.1. The Secretary referred to the official Member List (ref IAF-AM-04-003 Rev2), listing the names of Members and the authorised Member Representative of each Member, which was available in the meeting room in accordance with the
requirements of the Bylaws. Members adopted the following resolution –
IAF Resolution 2004-11 – (Agenda Item 5.3.1) Current Membership - The
General Assembly received the report by the Secretary on the current IAF membership as at September 2004 (ref IAF-AM-04-003 Rev2).
5.3.2. The Secretary reported that all members had paid their membership fees for 2004 as of the end of April, with the exception of TUNAC (Tunisia) who had been subsequently suspended.
5.3.3. The Secretary reported on the admission of one new Association Member, the Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) and one new Observer Member, the Central Asian Cooperation on Metrology, Accreditation and Standardization (CAC-MASQ), since the IAF 17 General Assembly Meeting. Since his report had been circulated, the ballot concerning the application for membership by the Pakistan National Accreditation Council (PNAC) had closed and members had voted in support of their joining IAF. An application for membership as a Special Recognition Organisation - Regional Accreditation Group had been received from the Euro-Asian Council for Standardization, Metrology and
Certification (EASC) in August and the Board had recommended inviting them to
IAF Resolution 2004-12 – (Agenda Item 5.3.3) New Members - The General Assembly received the Secretary’s report (ref IAF GA18 Item 5.3) on the admission to membership since the 2003 Annual Meeting of one new Association Member (PEFC – Program for the Endorsement of Forest
Certification) and one new Observer Member (CAC-MASQ - the Central Asian Cooperation on Metrology, Accreditation and Standardization for a 12 month period).
IAF Resolution 2004-13 – (Agenda Item 5.3.4) Admission of PNAC - The
General Assembly, noting the information provided to it, votes to an extend invitation to PNAC, the Pakistan National Accreditation Council, to become an Accreditation Body Member.
Note: PNAC (Pakistan) signed the IAF MoU at a ceremony during the IAF-ILAC Gala Dinner on 9 October 2004.
5.3.4. The Secretary reported that an application for membership in IAF had been recently received from the Foundation Sammarinese for Accreditation of Inspection
Body(ESAOCI). The Executive was determining the action which should be taken
with regard to this application and would be arranging a meeting with its leadership. 5.3.5. The Secretary referred to the ballot for the revision of the current complaints handling procedure, which had closed immediately prior to the Annual Meetings. The Ballot had been approved and the document would be published as IAF PR 1:2004 Procedure for the Investigation and Resolution of Complaints. The Secretary informed the meeting that of 15 complaints received since the start of 2002 it had now been possible to successfully close 12 of these, with the remaining three being close to finalization. It was noted that it was not possible to deal with complaints which were anecdotal and did not provide any documented evidence, although it was felt that it may be useful to take these into account when considering trends.
6. Committee Reports
6.1. Report of the Technical Committee
6.1.1. Mr Randy Dougherty, Chairman of the Technical Committee (TC), referred to his report which had been circulated with the papers for the General Assembly. He paid tribute to his predecessor, Roger Brockway, under whose leadership a number of significant achievements had been made. In particular were the publications of the revised guidance for ISO/IEC Guides 61, 62 and 66 and the issue of new guidance on the application of ISO/IEC 17024 for certification of persons.
During the week the IAF TC had met and had agreed on a new structure which would result in the appointment of a number of TC Vice Chairs covering regional representation, an 18 month transition period for the implementation of the revision to ISO 14001, joint IAF-ILAC publication of the guidance on ISO 17020 for
inspection with an implementation date of 1 January 2005 and the formation of a new working group on the accreditation of personnel certification bodies. It was also agreed that the IAF working group on the application of ISO/IEC 17011 would be reconstituted to become joint with ILAC, a new working group would be formed to develop IAF guidance on the application of ISO 19011 for certification and accreditation, and revisions to the guidance on the application of ISO/IEC Guide 62 and Guide 66 would be initiated to include new guidance on temporary sites. Mr Dougherty informed the meeting that the TC had proposed that a draft White Paper entitled "The relationship between ISO 14001 management system conformity assessments and regulatory compliance" should be circulated to all IAF Members for comment and that the guidance on the application of ISO/IEC Guide 65 be circulated for ballot approval. The Members adopted the following resolutions –
IAF Resolution 2004-14 – (Agenda Item 6.1) Report from the Chairman of
the Technical Committee - The General Assembly received with appreciation
the report from the Chairman of the Technical Committee (ref IAF 18 – Item 6.1) and approved the Technical Committee Program.
IAF Resolution 2004-15 – (Agenda Item 6.1) Guidance on the Application
of ISO/IEC 17020 –The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of
the Technical Committee to approve the recommendation of the IAF-ILAC Joint Working Group on Inspection, resolved that the guidance to be published in October 2004 become effective from 1 January 2005.
IAF Resolution 2004-16 – (Agenda Item 6.1) IAF Communiqué - The
General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the Technical
Committee, resolved that IAF issue a Communiqué, jointly with ISO, to the effect that there be a phased transition period of 18 months for implementing the revision to ISO 14001, following its publication. The 18 month period is to facilitate the transition during the normal certification cycle.
IAF Resolution 2004-17 – (Agenda Item 6.1) IAFGuidance on the
transition to ISO 14001: 200X - The General Assembly, acting on the
recommendation of the Technical Committee, resolved that the draft IAF Guidance on the transition to ISO 14001:200X (ref TC/10/04rev1) be circulated to all IAF Members for approval by 30 day ballot.
IAF Resolution 2004-18 – (Agenda Item 6.1) Guidance on Temporary Sites
– The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the Technical Committee, resolved that draft revisions to IAF Guidance on the Application of ISO/IEC Guide 62 and IAF Guidance on the Application of ISO/IEC Guide 66, with new guidance on temporary sites, be circulated to all IAF Members for 60 day comment and subsequent approval by 30 day ballot.
IAF Resolution 2004-19 – (Agenda Item 6.1) Auditing Regulatory
Compliance – The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the
Technical Committee, resolved that the draft white paper entitled “The relationship between ISO 14001 management system conformity
assessments and regulatory compliance” (ref. TC/30/04), be circulated to all IAF Members for 60 day comment.
IAF Resolution 2004-20 – (Agenda Item 6.1) Guidance on ISO/IEC 17011 -
The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the Technical Committee, resolved that the IAF TC working group developing guidance on the application of ISO/IEC 17011 be reconstituted as a Task Group under the Joint IAF-ILAC Management Group for maintenance of the A series
documents, joint training activity for peer evaluators and the development of guidance on the application of ISO/IEC 17011, but with the IAF members to the Task Group for guidance on the application of ISO/IEC 17011 being appointed by, and reporting to, the IAF Technical Committee.
IAF Resolution 2004-21 – (Agenda Item 6.1) Guidance on the Application
of ISO/IEC Guide 65 – The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation
of the Technical Committee, resolved that the draft revision to IAF Guidance on the Application of ISO/IEC Guide 65 be circulated to all IAF Members for approval by 30 day ballot.
6.1.2. Dr Nigel Croft, the ISO 9001 Advisory Group (IAG) Co-chair representing ISO/TC 176, presented the IAG report to the meeting. He explained that the IAG was a multilateral group focusing on issues affecting the credibility of the ISO 9001 standard and had membership from IAF Accreditation Bodies (AB) and
Certification/Registration Body (CRB) association members, IAF industry members, ISO/TC 176 representatives, ISO/CASCO Members, IATCA Members and last meeting representatives from ISO/COPOLCO. Randy Dougherty was the IAG Co-chair representing IAF and Mr Graeme Drake of the ISO Central Secretariat was the IAG Secretary representing ISO/CASCO. The IAG had held three meetings since the last IAF GA, these being in Bucharest in November 2003 with ISO/TC 176, in Geneva in March with ISO/CASCO and during this week with IAF. The IAG had been working on a number of areas including the preparation of a new publication entitled "ISO 9001 -what does it mean for purchasers?", performance-based
auditing and auditor competence. Many of the IAG’s concerns with the credibility of certification were currently being addressed in the preparation of the draft standard ISO 17021, which was at DIS stage.
Outcomes from the Cape Town meeting included proposals to actively engage customers of accredited CRBs, recommendations for IAF and CASCO to revisit the rules for use of marks, and for the IAF TC to prepare guidance on ISO 19011. The IAG had also proposed that the Auditing Practices Group (APG) address
accreditation practices. The Members adopted the following resolution –
IAF Resolution 2004-22 – (Agenda Item 6.1) Report on ISO 9001 Advisory
Group- The General Assembly received with appreciation the report on the
ISO 9001 Advisory Group.
6.1.3. Mr Dougherty informed the meeting that the Auditing Practices Group (APG) had been formed as a result of the recommendation from the ISO 9001 Advisory Group (IAG) at the IAF General Assembly held in Berlin in September 2002. The APG was a joint group with ISO/TC 176 and since its formation had held five
meetings, including the Cape Town meeting during the week. To date the APG had produced some 20 publications which were available from the ISO website and could be downloaded free of charge. Access could also be gained from the IAF website. The IAF TC had appointed Dr Lorenzo Thione of SINCERT as the Co-convener representing IAF to replace Mr Dougherty, following his appointment as the TC Chairman. The ISO/TC 176 Co-chair was Alex Ezrakhovich of SAI Global. The APG would next meet in Kuala Lumpur in association with ISO/TC 176 and following that in Taiwan in February with the IAF TC. As a result of a request from the IAF TC the APG would undertake the development of guidance on good
auditing practices for accreditation, for auditing of CRB competence and for auditing of integrated management systems. The Members adopted the following resolution –
IAF Resolution 2004-23 – (Agenda Item 6.1) Report on Auditing Practices
Group- The General Assembly received with appreciation the report on the
Auditing Practices Group.
IAF Resolution 2004-24 – (Agenda Item 6.1) Accreditation Auditing
Practices – The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the
Technical Committee, resolved to recommend that the work program of the ISO 9001 Auditing Practices Group be expanded to include the development of papers on good auditing practices for accreditation.
6.2. Report of the MLA Committee
6.2.1. Mr Xiao Jianhua, Chairman of the MLA Committee, provided an update to his report which have been circulated with the papers for the meeting. The Committee had reviewed the IAF Strategic Directions and had updated the actions
taken/planned for the areas for which they were responsible. The IAF EMS MLA and Product MLA would both become operational at the MLA signing ceremony on 9 October.
As a result of the acceptance of the EA and PAC MLAs the number of signatories would be 34 ABs and 2 regional groups for the IAF QMS MLA, 27 ABs and 2
regional groups for the IAF EMS MLA and 22 ABs and 2 regional groups for the IAF Product MLA. Xiao congratulated all new MLA members and thanked the regional groups for their contributions to activating the new MLAs. The Members adopted the following resolutions –
IAF Resolution 2004-25 – (Agenda Item 6.2) Report from the Chairman of
the MLA Committee - The General Assembly received with appreciation the
report from the Chairman of the MLA Committee (ref IAF 18 – Item 6.2) and approved the IAF MLA Work Program.
IAF Resolution 2004-26 – (Agenda Item 6.2) New IAF EMS MLA
Signatories – The General Assembly noted that the IAF MLA Group, on the
recommendation of the MLA MC, has agreed that EA, PAC and SANAS (South Africa) should be admitted to the IAF EMS MLA.
Notes:
1. ANSI-RAB NAP (United States of America) was accepted to join the IAF EMS MLA at the IAF 17th Annual Meeting in 2003.
2. The members indicated above for acceptance into the IAF EMS MLA signed the IAF EMS MLA at a ceremony during the IAF-ILAC Gala Dinner on 9 October 2004.
IAF Resolution 2004-27 – (Agenda Item 6.2) New IAF EMS MLA
Signatories – The General Assembly noted that, as a consequence of EA or
PAC EMS MLA membership, the accreditation body members BELCERT
(Belgium, EA), BMWA (Austria, EA), CAI (Czech Republic, EA), CNAB (China,
PAC), COFRAC (France, EA), DANAK (Denmark, EA), ema (Mexico, PAC), DAR / TGA (Germany, EA), ENAC (Spain, EA), FINAS (Finland, EA), INAB (Ireland, EA), JAB (Japan, PAC), JAS-ANZ (Australia & New Zealand, PAC), KAB (Korea, PAC), KAN (Indonesia, PAC), NA (Norway, EA), NAC (Thailand, PAC), RvA (Netherlands, EA), SAS (Switzerland, EA), SCC (Canada, PAC), SINCERT (Italy, EA), SNAS (Slovakia, EA), SWEDAC (Sweden, EA), TAF (Chinese Taipei, PAC) and UKAS (United Kingdom, EA), have been accepted for membership in the IAF EMS MLA.
Note: The members indicated above for acceptance into the IAF EMS MLA signed the IAF EMS MLA at a ceremony during the IAF-ILAC Gala Dinner on 9 October 2004.
IAF Resolution 2004-28 – (Agenda Item 6.2) New IAF Product MLA
Signatories – The General Assembly noted that the IAF MLA Group, on the
recommendation of the MLA MC, has agreed that EA, PAC, SCC (Canada, PAC), SANAS (South Africa) and ema (Mexico, PAC) should be admitted to the IAF Product MLA.
Notes:
1 JAS-ANZ (Australia & New Zealand) was accepted to join the IAF Product MLA at the IAF 16th Annual Meeting in 2002.
2 The members indicated above for acceptance into the IAF Product MLA signed the IAF Product MLA at a ceremony during the IAF-ILAC Gala Dinner on 9 October 2004.
IAF Resolution 2004-29 – (Agenda Item 6.2) New IAF Product MLA
Signatories – The General Assembly noted that, as a consequence of EA
Product MLA membership, the accreditation body members BELCERT
(Belgium, EA), BMWA (Austria, EA), CAI (Czech Republic, EA), COFRAC
(France, EA), DANAK (Denmark, EA), DAR / DAP, DATech (Germany, EA), ENAC (Spain, EA), FINAS (Finland, EA), INAB (Ireland, EA), NA (Norway, EA), RENAR (Romania, EA), RvA (Netherlands, EA), SAS (Switzerland, EA), SINCERT (Italy, EA), SNAS (Slovakia, EA), SWEDAC (Sweden, EA), and UKAS (United Kingdom, EA), have been accepted for membership in the IAF Product MLA.
Note: The members indicated above for acceptance into the IAF Product MLA signed the IAF Product MLA at a ceremony during the IAF-ILAC Gala Dinner on 9 October 2004.
IAF Resolution 2004-30 - (Agenda item 6.2) New IAF QMS MLA Signatories
– The General Assembly noted that, as a consequence of EA or PAC QMS MLA membership, the accreditation body members RENAR (Romania, EA) and HKAS (Hong Kong, China, PAC), have been accepted for membership in the IAF QMS MLA.
Note: The members indicated above for acceptance into the IAF QMS MLA signed the IAF QMS MLA at a ceremony during the IAF-ILAC Gala Dinner on 9 October 2004.
6.2.2. Xiao informed the meeting that in June, with the impending publication of ISO/IEC 17011, the IAF Executive Committee had formed a Task Group to
coordinate an impact analysis for the new standard. The Task Group had prepared a survey questionnaire which had been circulated to IAF members during July and August this year. 28 AB members and one Association member had responded to the survey with 15 ABs not replying. The questionnaire had asked members to identify any clauses in the standard which would have an impact for ABs. Of the responses received 11 members indicated there were no major impacts. In this respect the Task Group recommended that there was no need for guidance to ISO/IEC 17011 and that transition should be completed by the beginning of January 2006.
It was noted that the commitment to ISO/IEC 17011 was an obligation only to MLA signatories. Mr Drake, the ISO/CASCO Secretary, indicated that CASCO had formed a group which would provide feedback and interpretations on the meaning of requirements in ISO/IEC 17011. The Members adopted the following resolution –
IAF Resolution 2004-31 – (Agenda Item 6.2) Transition to ISO/IEC 17011
-The General Assembly resolved that
- IAF endorses the adoption of ISO/IEC 17011 for IAF use;
- The IAF Accreditation Body Members shall fulfil the requirements of ISO/IEC 17011 by 1 January 2006;
- The peer evaluations conducted in 2005 by IAF and regional MLA groups shall be based on ISO/IEC 17011. However, nonconformities shall only be raised against the corresponding requirements of ISO/IEC Guide 61 as guided by IAF Guidance and other findings against ISO/IEC 17011 will be raised as concerns;
- The MLA signatories shall be able to demonstrate their compliance with ISO/IEC 17011 to the regional MLA committees or IAF MLA MC by 1 January 2006;
6.2.3. Xiao referred to IAF Resolution 2003-14 which required that the Guidance on Cross Frontier Accreditation be implemented by all IAF QMS MLA signatories by 1 May 2004. The IAF Executive Committee had requested that the MLA
Management Committee (MLA MC) conduct a survey to determine, as foreign ABs, the degree of implementation of the guidance. This was carried out in May and June 2004 with positive responses from all QMS MLA signatories. A second survey was conducted in July and August 2004 to obtain additional information from MLA signatories, as local ABs. The results were analysed by the MLA MC and reported to the IAF Executive. Following the first survey the Executive had formed the Cross Frontier Practices Task Group (CFPTG), led by Mr Robert King, to prepare
recommendations on the best practices to be used by ABs to facilitate the implementation of the guidance. The CFPTG had discussed the results of the survey and would be recommending a number of actions which would be posted on the IAF website when finalized. The IAF Co-chair of the Joint Development Support Committee (JDSC), Ms Verónica Garcia de Solórzano, informed the meeting that concerns had been raised in the JDSC that the implementation of the Cross Frontier Policy could create a new barrier to developing ABs. The DSC had requested that the MLA Committee monitor this to ensure that this possibility did not occur. The Members adopted the following resolution –
IAF Resolution 2004-32- (Agenda Item 6.2) Cross Frontier Accreditation - The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the MLA Committee, resolved that the MLA MC, in cooperation with regional MLA groups, shall evaluate the implementation of the IAF Policy on Cross Frontier Accreditation by each MLA signatory. The regional MLA groups shall report the progress of the evaluation/monitoring to the MLA MC for review in June 2005.
6.2.4. Xiao informed the meeting that the current procedure for the investigation and resolution of complaints had been found to have a number of limitations. The Procedures Subcommittee had revised the procedure and this had been approved by ballot which closed in September. It had been agreed that this should now be published and implemented immediately. The Members adopted the following resolution –
IAF Resolution 2004-33 - (Agenda Item 6.2) Procedure for the
Investigation and Resolution of Complaints – The General Assembly
resolved that the IAF Procedure for the Investigation and Resolution of Complaints be immediately published and implemented for use.
6.2.5. The IAF-ILAC Joint Working Group on Harmonisation of Peer Evaluation Processes had finalised the A-Series as follows:
- A1 Requirements for Evaluation of a Regional Group
- A2 Requirements for Evaluation of a Single Accreditation Body - A3 Key Performance Indicators – A Tool for the Evaluation Process. These had been circulated for ballot to both IAF and ILAC Members, closing at the beginning of October. The documents had been approved by members of both IAF and ILAC. Xiao explained that the Procedures Subcommittee would now carry out a gap analysis of the current IAF MLA Policies and Procedures document to determine what specific IAF MLA information needed to be retained. The MLA Committee had recommended that the JWG be disbanded as it had now completed its work. Xiao thanked the Co-chairs and members for their excellent work. The Members adopted the following resolutions –
IAF Resolution 2004-34 – (Agenda Item 6.2) Joint Working Group on
Harmonization of Evaluation Processes – The General Assembly, acting on
the recommendation of the MLA Committee, resolved that the JWG on Harmonization of Peer Evaluation Processes has successfully completed the assigned task for the development of harmonized evaluation requirements and procedures (A-series documents) and should be disbanded. The meeting expressed its gratitude to the JWG Co-Chairs and members for their excellent work.
IAF Resolution 2004-35 – (Agenda Item 6.2) Harmonised Multi-lateral
Mutual Recognition Arrangement Documents - The General Assembly,
acting on the recommendation of the MLA Committee, resolved that the A-series documents (A1, A2 and A3) become the main part of the IAF MLA P&P document and be implemented no later than 1 January 2006, noting that ISO/IEC 17011 should be considered in the implementation of A3.
Note: The A-series requirements for evaluation will be supplemented by the remaining already approved and currently agreed specific IAF considerations. The resulting document will be the IAF P&P Issue 4 version 1 which will be available by the end of 2004.
6.2.6. Two successful training initiatives had been held during the year, the first being a two-day workshop in Vancouver in February and the second in conjunction with the Cape Town meetings. The Training Subcommittee had also met during this week and had prioritised topics for training. It had been proposed that an annual training workshop should be held adjacent to the IAF Annual Meetings. These will be held in conjunction with ILAC if appropriate and will seek involvement from the regional bodies. The Members adopted the following resolution –
IAF Resolution 2004-36 (Agenda Item 6.2) Training of Peer Evaluators -
The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the MLA Committee, resolved that IAF propose the establishment of a joint IAF-ILAC Training Group responsible for an annual joint training activity, based primarily on shared contributions from all regional bodies with the objective of harmonizing peer evaluations and to facilitate repeated training within the regions.
6.2.7. Xiao explained that the MLA Committee had also considered ways of
conducting joint MLA activities with ILAC. The MLA Committee had agreed that the existing structure of subcommittees seemed to work well and should not be
changed. It had been proposed that the respective IAF subcommittees should take responsibility for relevant joint activities with ILAC when required to do so. The matter of the development of a future Inspection MLA had also been discussed and it had been recommended that this work should be delegated to the IAF MLA MC. It had been proposed that joint processes should be developed between IAF and ILAC for evaluations of inspection bodies and for decisions on signatories for the MLA on Inspection. During discussion it was suggested that the draft resolution as proposed by the MLA Committee did not go as far as the original mandate
established two years ago for a joint decision-making process by the two co-owners of this joint MLA. In this respect an additional recommendation was added as a final bullet point to the draft resolution. The Members adopted the following resolution –
IAF Resolution 2004-37- (Agenda item 6.2) Inspection MLA- The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the MLA Committee, resolved that
- the work on the Inspection MLA be delegated to the IAF MLA MC;
- the obligations under the Inspection MLA should be managed by using the
existing MLA structures of IAF and ILAC;
- IAF recommends to ILAC to have joint processes for the IAF MLA MC and
ILAC AMC to consider evaluations with regard to accreditation bodies accrediting inspection bodies, and to develop a single recommendation for the IAF MLA Group and the ILAC Arrangement Council;
- IAF recommends to ILAC to have joint processes for the IAF MLA Group
and ILAC Arrangement Council for decisions on signatories for the MLA on inspection body accreditation;
- Additionally, IAF recommends to ILAC, that in reviewing the performance
of these new joint processes , IAF and ILAC give consideration to establishing a single joint decision making process to complete the management structure of the jointly owned Inspection MLA/MRA Arrangement.
6.2.8. Following the above debate on the management structure for the joint inspection MLA/MRA, a resolution was received from the meeting floor requesting that the IAF and ILAC Executive Committees consider the establishment of a common structure for managing all MLAs and MRAs. The draft resolution requested that a proposal to this effect be submitted to the 2005 IAF General Assembly. The Members adopted the following resolution –
IAF Resolution 2004-38- (Agenda item 6.2) Joint IAF-ILAC Management of
the MLA-MRA - The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of an
EA Member, resolved that the IAF Executive Committee would seek to work with the ILAC Executive Committee to deliberate on the establishment of a common IAF-ILAC structure for the management of the whole scope of their MLAs and MRAs. A proposal shall be prepared and submitted to the 2005 IAF General Assembly.
6.2.9. A further resolution was received from the meeting floor concerning an estimate of the costs involved in maintaining the MLAs by IAF and its MLA Members and the development of a means for measuring the success of these programs. It was proposed that this should be undertaken by the MLA Committee together with the IAF Executive and a report provided to the 2005 General
IAF Resolution 2004-39- (Agenda item 6.2) Cost of MLAs - The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the ITIC and BDI representatives, resolved that the IAF MLA Committee, working with the IAF Executive
Committee, shall seek to establish an estimate of the annual operating costs incurred by the IAF and the MLA Members to operate the various MLAs, including the QMS MLA, EMS MLA, Inspection MLA, and Product MLA. The General Assembly resolved that the MLA Committee report back to the General Assembly no later then the IAF 2005 Annual Meeting.
6.3. Report of the Development Support Committee
6.3.1. Ms Verónica Garcia de Solórzano, the IAF Co-Chair of the Joint
Development Support Committee (JDSC), reported that the meeting of the JDSC had reviewed the results of the Intelligence System for the Accreditation Bodies Development (ISABD) survey. In May a pre-assessment of DSM (Malaysia) for EMS had been carried out by evaluators from SCC (Canada) and JAB(Japan). A format had been developed for obtaining information about the needs on proficiency testing programs. The JDSC had finalized a travel policy for assessors and/or technical experts who participated in supporting activities for developing countries, in order to avoid unexpected expenses. The meeting had also reviewed and
revised the current criteria for IAF funding. It was noted that funding of Registration Fees for the IAF 18 Annual Meetings had been provided to Indonesia, Mexico and Thailand. The Chairman informed members that Ms de Solórzano would be standing down from the Co-Chairmanship of the JDSC following this meeting and thanked her for her contribution to the significant progress the JDSC had made over the last three years. The Members adopted the following resolution –
IAF Resolution 2004-40 – (Agenda Item 6.3) Development Support
Committee - The General Assembly received with appreciation the report
from the Co-Chair of the Joint Development Support Committee (JDSC), recognizing the work done by the JDSC in the JCDCMAS, encourages the continuation of this involvement.
IAF Resolution 2004-41 – (Agenda Item 6.3) Inspection Bodies Survey –
The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the JDSC, resolved that the JWG on Inspection Bodies would conduct a survey on the role of Proficiency Testing Programs in Inspection Bodies.
IAF Resolution 2004-42 – (Agenda Item 6.3) Implementation of Cross
Frontier Accreditation Policy – The General Assembly, acting on the
recommendation of the JDSC, resolved that the MLA Committee would monitor the implementation of the IAF Cross Frontier Accreditation Policy to avoid the possibility of creating a new barrier for developing countries in achieving the goals of recognition and capacity building, assuring that the purpose of the Cross Frontier Accreditation Policy will continue to be the enhancement of the credibility of the accreditation system.
7. IAF Open Forum Presentations/Discussions 7.1. IAF Strategic Directions
7.1.1. It was agreed that each of the main committee Chairs had covered how they intended to meet the objectives of the Strategic Directions in their respective
committee reports.
7.2. Customer Satisfaction Task Group Update
7.2.1. The Convener of the Task Group, Robert King, provided a presentation covering the first customer satisfaction survey carried out in 2003, the formation of the Task Group itself and the circulation to the regions earlier in the year of
proposed best practices for comment. Five topics had been identified by the Task Group viz. that the AB completed the accreditation procedure in a timely manner, the AB responded quickly to requests for extension to scope, it had open and clear communications with the CRB, treated the CRB as a valued customer and provided services that were good value for money. "Best practices" were then developed for each of these topics. Indications were that these were starting to be implemented regionally. Additionally some individual ABs were conducting their own customer satisfaction surveys. The next steps involved continuing to share best practices with the regions, initiate a dialogue with regional CRB associations and conduct a further customer satisfaction survey in 2005. Mr King said that this would be undertaken by using a web portal and the survey questionnaire which IAF had already paid for. In this respect it was anticipated there would only be a minimal cost to cover data processing and the results would be free to AB members. A number of Members commented that the main linkage with CRBs and the market was at a regional level and the results of the survey would be of much greater value if the regions were involved in its coordination. This was agreed to and as a
consequence Resolution 2004-10 was amended to indicate the involvement of the Regional Accreditation Groups.
7.3. Impact Analysis and Transition for ISO/IEC 17011
7.3.1. It was agreed that this had been covered in Agenda Item 6.2 and by Resolution 2004-31.
7.4. Cross Frontier Accreditation Policy Implementation
7.4.1. It was agreed that this had been covered in Agenda Item 6.2 and by Resolution 2004-32.
7.5. Status of MLA Mark Registration and Application
7.5.1. Mr Tom Arnold, the Chairman of the Procedures Subcommittee, explained that over the last eight months IAF had undertaken a worldwide registration program for the IAF Logo/MLA Mark. Registration applications had been made in some 56 countries, primarily using the Madrid and CTM systems (European Community trademark system). The basic registration covered the oval shape and the IAF letters, with the option to be able to change the colour and surrounding words at any time. During this time the general principles for use of the MLA Mark had been approved and published as IAF ML 2:2004 and a Licensing Agreement had been developed for the use of the QMS MLA Mark. This covered licences between IAF and the MLA Signatories and a sublicense agreement for the then licensed QMS MLA Member and its accredited CRBs. It was understood that since the release of the Licensing Agreements 9 ABs had been granted licences with one issuing 16 sublicenses. Mr Arnold said that he would like to be able to contact various members and seek their assistance if translation of documents was required.
7.6. Need for MLA for Certification of Persons
7.6.1. The Chairman informed the meeting that the Executive had formed a Task Group to consider the need for such a MLA. The Executive had received input from a number of external organisations proposing that IAF develop a Certification of Persons MLA and the Task Group would now be seeking further views on the value and benefits this would provide to IAF members and the community. He
understood that the IAF TC had also looked at this matter in parallel and had formed a Task Group to look at the technical aspects. A number of members were common to both groups. The Chairman indicated that any other members who might be interested in participating in either of these groups would be welcome. He asked for any comments to be forwarded to the Secretary for onward distribution to the Task Groups. Any recommendations that were prepared would be submitted to the General Assembly for consideration.
7.7. Future Annual Meetings
7.7.1. The Chairman explained that the IAF-ILAC Joint Committee for Closer Cooperation (JCCC) had been considering the annual meeting schedule and whether this could be improved to provide greater participation and better
opportunities for involvement by more members. At the present time the schedules which had been developed for Bratislava and Cape Town were very similar and the timing of meetings depended very much on fitting in with the parallel meetings being held by ILAC.
As such the JCCC had asked the IAF and ILAC Vice Chairs to conduct a survey of all IAF and ILAC members to obtain their feedback on the current arrangements and to provide an opportunity to submit their preferred options. In particular the survey focused on finding out what members regarded as the advantages and disadvantages of having joint meetings. The Chairman said that this uncertainty was the reason why it had not been possible to accept invitations for future Annual Meetings and why locations had not been able to be confirmed. Some Members commented that it was not particularly easy to understand the questions in the survey and as a result the JDSC had invited the IAF Vice Chair, Elva Nilsen, to assist with an explanation. It was suggested that if any non-English speaking members had any difficulties they should contact the IAF Co-Chair of the JDSC, Verónica Garcia de Solórzano, for assistance. The Chairman urged members to complete the questionnaire and return it to the Secretary, emphasizing that the JCCC was seeking the views of all IAF and ILAC members.
7.8. Issues for discussion at the Joint General Assemblies
7.8.1. The Chairman said that the JCCC had proposed the formation of a new joint management group to be responsible for the preparation of guidance to ISO/IEC 17011, for joint training activities and for undertaking the maintenance of
harmonised procedures. He indicated that this may mean more than one group was required to do this. Xiao Jianhua said that the MLA Committee had discussed this and had proposed a different subcommittee or task group to cover each activity e.g. the Training Subcommittee, the TC Task Group preparing guidance on ISO/IEC 17011. He said that while this may be slightly different from the JCCC proposal it was possible to work with this structure.
The Members adopted the following resolution –
IAF Resolution 2004-43 – (Agenda Item 7) IAF Open Forum – The General
Assembly received with appreciation the presentations and status reports provided by Committee Chairmen and Conveners on the IAF Strategic Directions, Customer Satisfaction Task Group, impact analysis and transition for ISO/IEC 17011, implementation of the Cross Frontier Accreditation Policy, status of the IAF MLA Mark registration and applications, the need for a MLA for Certification of Persons and Future Annual meetings.
8. International Liaisons
8.1. ISO
8.1.1. As the ISO report was relevant to both IAF and ILAC it had been agreed that it would be presented by the ISO/CASCO Secretary, Mr Drake, to the Joint IAF-ILAC General Assemblies meeting on 10 October.
8.1.2. The Chairman referred to the correspondence which had taken place
between ISO and IAF in August concerning unacceptable certification practices. Mr Drake in noting that the letters had been circulated to the IAF membership, said that the IAF response had been both helpful and informative and the ISO Council had received it with appreciation. He indicated that the use of management system marks on products and continuing references to the obsolete ISO 9001:1994
standard were of concern to ISO and it was timely to take collective action to correct these unsatisfactory market practices. ISO did receive information on the activities of some CRBs whose practices under foreign ABs were less than acceptable, but he felt that the implementation of the Cross Frontier Accreditation Policy should help to improve this situation. ISO, in its letter to IAF, had avoided providing written examples as it did not feel its role was to be an international policeman in this matter. However ISO would do all it could to support IAF in this regard. In addition it would endeavour to make the standards sufficiently rigorous wherever necessary. In discussion it was agreed that it was important to work together as both
organisations had responsibilities to the community, IAF could play a role in policing accredited certification but would not carry any weight in the unaccredited area, it was difficult to deal in generalities, and while specific examples were difficult to obtain, if this was possible they should be submitted to the IAF-ILAC-ISO JWG. The resolution of such instances might provide a useful lead to others. In conclusion it was agreed that ISO and IAF should attempt to work more
cooperatively on these matters in the interests of improving the image and integrity of conformity assessment and of establishing good long-term harmonious relations. 8.1.3. Dr Nigel Croft, the ISO/TC 176 liaison representative to IAF, presented the ISO/TC 176 report on behalf of the ISO/TC 176 Committee. One of the key items in the ISO/TC 176 long-term strategic plan for 2000 to 2010 was to "support the
integrity of TC 176 products when used in conformity assessment". Dr Croft drew attention to the ISO/TC 176 Working Group on Interpretations (WGI) which had processed over 40 requests for interpretations on ISO 9001. Interpretations which had been balloted and approved by ISO/TC 176 were now available on their
website. To enhance cooperation with both ISO/CASCO and IAF, ISO/TC 176 had formed a Conformity Assessment Liaison Group (CALG). A number of initiatives had been taken to promote collaboration on conformity assessment and these included ISO/TC 176’s active participation in the ISO 9001 Advisory Group (IAG), distribution of a Communiqué to encourage similar initiatives at local and regional levels, as well as the intention to hold an open Forum to provide feedback at the next ISO/TC 176 Plenary in Kuala Lumpur in November.
8.1.4. The report on CASCO activities was presented by the CASCO Secretary, Mr Drake, to the Joint IAF-ILAC General Assemblies meeting.
8.2. IATCA
8.2.1. Mr Iain Muir, the Vice Chairman of IATCA, presented a report on recent developments and future directions. These included a proposed change in name to International Personnel Certification Association (IPC), the registration and transfer of its Secretariat to Greece and changes in its structure and governance. Full membership of IPC would be available only to personnel certification bodies accredited by IAF and to an IPC approved scheme. Associate members would consist of associations of organisations concerned with personnel certification and training, while observer membership would be available on a non-voting basis to organisations or associations which had an interest in personnel certification. Mr Muir said that IPC would support an IAF MLA for ISO 17024. IPC intended to be represented at relevant international forums including ISO/CASCO and IAF and in this respect proposed applying to IAF for association membership once its
restructuring was completed. It was intended that all IPC members would have to be accredited to ISO/IEC 17024 by an IAF member by September 2006. Mr Muir indicated that there were quite a number of challenges being faced by IPC and support from IAF would be appreciated. The Chairman said that IAF would
welcome the membership application from IPC and would also welcome its input on the need for a MLA.
8.3. Telecommunications Industry, QuEST Forum
8.3.1. The report on the QuEST Forum activities, which was circulated prior to the meeting as GA18_83, was received with appreciation by the General Assembly.
8.4. Aerospace Industry
8.4.1. The report from Randy Dougherty, the IAF liaison representative, on the International Aerospace Quality Group (IAQG) activities, which was circulated prior to the meeting as GA18_84, was received with appreciation by the General
Assembly.
8.5. Food Industry
8.5.1. The Chairman said that the food industry had approached IAF some years previously and had requested a tool which could be used for food accreditation. They had asked IAF to provide a product MLA for GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative). The food safety sector scheme accreditation had in fact been a pilot for the Product MLA which had now become operational.
8.6. UNFCCC
8.6.1. Mr Kai-Uwe Schmidt of UNFCCC provided an update report on recent developments. Eight new applications had been received since the last IAF General Assembly, bringing to a total of 26 applications under scrutiny. In March-April 4 companies had been accredited as meeting the requirements of the
UNFCCC’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Mr Schmidt said that the Board welcomed applications from assessors with auditor experience from any region. If developing countries were interested in becoming involved they would be welcomed but unfortunately there was no funding support available. Mr Drake, the
ISO/CASCO Secretary, informed members that last year ISO/TC 207 and ISO/CASCO had started the preparation of a new international standard for the verification of greenhouse gases. He understood that the UNFCCC was aware of this work and hoped that it might be used as a basis for validation of ABs. The Members adopted the following resolution –
IAF Resolution 2004-44 – (Agenda Item 8) Liaison Reports to IAF – The
General Assembly received with appreciation the following liaison reports: - ISO/IEC report presented on behalf of the Secretary General of ISO; - ISO/TC 176 report presented on behalf of the Chairman of ISO/TC 176 (ref GA18_811);
- ISO/IEC CASCO report presented on behalf of the Chairman of ISO/IEC CASCO;
- IATCA report presented on behalf of the Chairman of IATCA (ref GA18_82A & B);
- QuEST Forum report presented on behalf of the Chairman of the QuEST Forum (ref GA18_83);
- IAQG report presented on behalf of the Chairman of IAQG (ref GA18_84); and
- UNFCCC report presented on behalf of the Chairman of UNFCCC.
8.7. UNIDO
8.7.1. The Chairman referred to the joint MoU with UNIDO and ILAC, which
proposed closer cooperation with both organisations. No comments were received on the MoU.
Secretarial Note - The Joint IAF-ILAC-UNIDO MoU was signed at a ceremony at the commencement of the Joint IAF-ILAC General Assemblies meeting on 10 October 2004.
8.8. Accreditation in other Industry Sectors
8.8.1. No further reports on accreditation in other industry sectors were presented to the General Assembly.
8.9. Other Liaisons
8.9.1. No further liaison reports were presented to the General Assembly.
9. Election of Directors
9.1.1. The Chairman informed the meeting that the term of office of the Vice Chair, Ms Elva Nilsen, had concluded at this General Assembly. In accordance with the IAF Bylaws nominations had been sought for the position of Vice Chair. Ms Nilsen had indicated she would be prepared to serve for a further three-year term as Vice Chair. No other nominations had been received and it gave him great pleasure to announce that Ms Nilsen (SCC) had been elected unopposed as Vice Chair for a three-year period. The Chairman explained that the term of office of the IAF
Director, Ms Verónica Garcia de Solórzano (ema), representing Accreditation Body Members located in low and medium income economies, as designated by the World Bank, had also concluded at this General Assembly. The Secretary informed the meeting that nominations for this position had been requested with only one nomination being received, from Mr Girdhar Gyani (NABCB). In accordance with the IAF Bylaws an election was therefore not required. The Members adopted the following resolution –
IAF Resolution 2004-45 – (Agenda Item 9) Election of Directors - The
General Assembly congratulated the following Directors on their election: Ms Elva Nilsen (SCC) elected unopposed as Vice Chair for a three year term ending at the 2007 Annual Meeting.
Mr Girdhar Gyani (NABCB) elected unopposed as Director representing Accreditation Body Members located in a low and medium income economy, as designated by the World Bank, for a three year term ending at the 2007 Annual Meeting.
Notes:
1. Dr Thomas Facklam (DAR) will complete his term as Chairman, ending at the 2006 Annual Meeting.
2. Mr Anthony Craven (JAS-ANZ) elected as Director representing Accreditation Body Members located in a high income economy, as designated by the World Bank, for a three year term ending at the 2006 Annual Meeting.
3. Mr Dale Misczynski (ITIC) will complete his term as Director representing the Industry and User Association Members, ending at the 2005 Annual Meeting.
4. Mr Sandy Sutherland (IIOC) will complete his term as Director
representing Certification/Registration Body Association Members, ending at the 2005 Annual Meeting.
10. Other Business
10.1.1. The Secretary reported that there had been no submissions received from Members and no other matters for discussion had been raised.
11. Review of Resolutions
11.1.1. The draft Resolutions were reviewed by the meeting. Comments were expressed with regard to draft Resolutions 2004-05, 2004-09, 2004-10, 2004-20, 2004-31, 2004-35, 2004-36, 2004-37, 2004-38, 2004-39, 2004-41 and 2004-47. As a result of discussions these were amended to the satisfaction of the members present and approved.
Secretarial Note: The resolutions recorded in these minutes are the final approved Resolutions.
11.1.2. The Chairman confirmed with the Secretary that a draft Communiqué would be prepared and circulated to members for information as soon as possible after the meeting.
12. Future Annual Meetings
12.1. 2005 Annual Meeting, Auckland, New Zealand
12.1.1. The Chairman said that as previously advised an invitation had been received from International Accreditation New Zealand (IANZ) for the 2005 Annual Meetings of both IAF and ILAC to be held in Auckland, New Zealand. This invitation had been accepted some years ago. In order to enable IANZ to go ahead and make appropriate arrangements the JCCC had proposed that the meeting schedule as used in Bratislava and Cape Town be continued in Auckland, except for minor modifications where required. The Members adopted the following resolution –
IAF Resolution 2004-46 – (Agenda Item 12.2) Invitation for the 2005
Annual Meeting - The General Assembly accepted with appreciation the
invitation by IANZ to hold the 2005 Annual Meeting in Auckland, New Zealand, from September 11 to 21, 2005, in association with the ILAC General
12.2. Future Annual Meetings
12.2.1. The Chairman reminded Members, as indicated earlier, that the JCCC was undertaking a full review of members’ views as to what they wanted from future Annual Meetings. As such it had not been possible to confirm the acceptance of a number of invitations which had already been received. Ms de Solórzano informed the meeting that her organisation, ema, was one of these invitations and they understood the difficulty being faced by the JCCC. Ms de Solórzano said that ema would be happy to host a joint IAF-ILAC Annual Meeting in 2006, if it was decided to continue holding Joint Annual Meetings. However, if this was not the case, ema would still be happy to host an IAF only Annual Meeting. The Chairman asked the meeting if there were any objections to accepting the invitation from ema on this basis, and none were forthcoming. It was agreed that the 2006 Annual Meeting for IAF, whether joint or not with ILAC, would be held at a venue and time to be advised by ema. The Chairman thanked Ms de Solórzano for her understanding in this regard. The Secretary said that when the decision was made as to the format of future Annual Meetings he would be able to respond to the written invitations which had already been received, but would do so in the order of receipt. Dr Riahy of IAS said that his organisation would be pleased to host an IAF Annual Meeting at any time in the future. The Chairman thanked IAS for its kind invitation and emphasized that this and other invitations would be considered in the order in which they were received. The Members adopted the following resolution –
IAF Resolution 2004-47 – (Agenda Item 12.2) Invitations for Future IAF
Annual Meetings - The Annual Meeting, noting that it had accepted the
following invitation:
IANZ invitation to hold the 2005 Annual Meeting in Auckland, New Zealand in September 2005, in association with the ILAC General Assembly;
invites other members to offer to host the Annual Meetings of IAF and ILAC in years after 2005.
13. Close
13.1.1. The Chairman, on behalf of all IAF Members, thanked SANAS, the hosts for the 2004 Annual Meetings. Not only had the meeting arrangements been excellent and the staff extremely helpful, but the social functions which had been provided had been very enjoyable. He thanked the SANAS Organizing Committee for all the hard work which had gone to making the meeting such a success, in particular expressing special appreciation to Sean MacCurtain.
13.1.2. The Chairman thanked all delegates for their continuing efforts and input in making this a most productive meeting.
13.1.3. The Chairman wished all delegates a safe journey home and closed the meeting.
IAF 18 GENERAL ASSEMBLY MEETING – CAPE TOWN OCTOBER 2004 List of Participants
Name Organisation
Anthony Craven JAS-ANZ (Australia) Gunter Friers BMWA (Austria)
Norbert Mueller BMWA (Austria)
Bruno Buts BELAC (Belgium)
Orlando Bandeira INMETRO (Brazil) Elizabeth Cavalcanti INMETRO (Brazil) Marcia de Barros INMETRO (Brazil) Heliane Fonseca INMETRO (Brazil)
Gilles Beland CEA (Canada)
Joan Brough-Kerrebyn SCC (Canada)
Elva Nilsen SCC (Canada) and IAF Vice Chairman
Ana Maria Coro INN (Chile)
Yue Chen CNAB (China)
Xiao Jianhua CNAB (China) and PAC Chairman
Xiaohong Liu CNAB (China)
Hongjan Mu CNAB (China)
Jing Wu CNAB (China)
Sheng Chun Zhang CNAB (China) Badal Milan CAI (Czech Republic) Jiri Ruzicka CAI (Czech Republic) Vagn Andersen DANAK (Denmark)
Jasper Hoy DANAK (Denmark)
Leena Tikkanen FINAS (Finland)
Daniel Pierre COFRAC (France) and EA Chairman
Patrick Reposeur COFRAC (France)
Gunther Beer BDI (Germany)
Kuut Ziegler DAP (Germany)
Monika Wloka DAR (Germany)
Thomas Facklam DAR/TGA (Germany) and IAF Chairman
Name Organisation
Hans-Ulrich Mittmann DAR (Germany)
Josef Peters TUV Rheinland (Germany) Tommy Fung HKAS (Hong Kong, China) Wang Wah Wong HKAS (Hong Kong, China)
Rozsa Ring NAT (Hungary)
Sunarya KAN (Indonesia)
Suprapto KAN (Indonesia)
Venkataram Balakrishnan NABCB (India) Girdhar Gyani NABCB (India)
Mehdi Hadavi IAS (Iran)
Behrooz Riahy IAS (Iran)
Tom Dempsey NAB (Ireland)
Lorenzo Thione SINCERT (Italy) Shinichi Iguchi JAB (Japan)
Yuichiro Isu JAB (Japan)
Tetsuro Kawaberi JAB (Japan)
Takeo Iwamoto JACB (Japan)
Haru Uchida JACB (Japan)
Takao Ogawa JACB (Japan)
Noboru Inaba JASC (Japan)
Fuchigami Yoshihiro JASC (Japan) Shereen Al-Abbadi JISM (Jordan)
Halaseh Lina JISM (Jordan)
Ola Zawati JISM (Jordan)
Woo-Ki Baek KAB (Korea)
Yang Whan Jeong KAS (Korea) Gyung Ihm Rhyu KAS (Korea) Mah Lok Abdullah DSM (Malaysia) Shaharul Sadri Alwi DSM (Malaysia) Veronica Garcia de Solorzano ema (Mexico) Retha Du Randt MED (New Zealand) 1Jos Leferink RVA (Netherlands)
Name Organisation
Abdul Rashid Khan PNAC (Pakistan) Ismat Gul Khattak PNAC (Pakistan) Karol Hauptmann PCA (Poland) Daniela-Elana Clejanu RENAR (Romania)
Ion Hohan RENAR (Romania)
Kwei Fern Chang SAC (Singapore) Kim Chua Phua SAC (Singapore) Marian Weidlich SNAS (Slovakia) Bostjan Godec SA (Slovenia)
Gideon Amakali SADCA (Southern Africa) Davlin Chokazinga SADCA (Southern Africa) Henson Dlamini SADCA (Southern Africa) Robin Gopee SADCA (Southern Africa) Dennis Juta SADCA (Southern Africa) Riundja Ali Kaakunga SADCA (Southern Africa) Viki Mbuya Kanama SADCA (Southern Africa) Francis Karani SADCA (Southern Africa) Motjoka Makara SADCA (Southern Africa) Charles Malata-Chirwa SADCA (Southern Africa) Cyprian Mokhoro SADCA (Southern Africa) Keeper Morgan SADCA (Southern Africa) Gracious Mudenda SADCA (Southern Africa) Maureen Mutasa SADCA (Southern Africa) Beatriz Mutabazi SADCA Chair (Southern Africa) Nteema Muzandu SADCA (Southern Africa) Dominic Mwakangale SADCA (Southern Africa) Carmo Adriano Dos Santos SADCA (Southern Africa) Gabriella Rebello Da Silva SADCA (Southern Africa) Teodora Lourenco Silva SADCA (Southern Africa) Marie Chilcott SANAS (South Africa) Wendy De Cruz SANAS (South Africa) Ron Josias SANAS (South Africa) Josef Kalas SANAS (South Africa)
Name Organisation
Sean MacCurtain SANAS (South Africa) Elsie Meintjies SANAS (South Africa) John Peart SANAS (South Africa) Monica Peart SANAS (South Africa) Paulo Pereira SANAS (South Africa) Dieter Tillwick SANAS (South Africa)
Anna-Marie Lotter Department of Trade and Industry (South Africa)
Elsabe Steyn Department of Trade and Industry (South Africa)
Ignacio Pina ENAC (Spain)
Beatriz Rivera ENAC (Spain)
Lars Ettarp SWEDAC (Sweden)
Hans-Eric Holmqvist SWEDAC (Sweden) Peter Kronvall SWEDAC (Sweden) Katarina Wenell SWEDAC (Sweden) Hanspeter Ischi SAS (Switzerland) Jean-Pierre Jaunin SAS (Switzerland) Meng Tsung Chen TAF (Chinese Taipei) Vivi Hsiek TAF (Chinese Taipei) Yuh-Guang Jin TAF (Chinese Taipei) Nigel Jou TAF (Chinese Taipei) 1Wanji Yang TAF (Chinese Taipei) Kittiphong Jalitthikul NAC (Thailand) Prasong Prayongpetch NAC (Thailand) Atakan Basturk TUKAK (Turkey)
Emre Sezer TUKAK (Turkey)
Hoang Duong VICAS (Vietnam)
Tat Thang Ho VICAS (Vietnam) Sandy Sutherland IIOC (United Kingdom) Philip Shaw UKAS (United Kingdom) Paul Stennett UKAS (United Kingdom) Graham Talbot UKAS (United Kingdom) Randy Dougherty ANSI-RAB NAP (USA)
Name Organisation
Lane Hallenbeck ANSI-RAB NAP (USA)
Robert King ANSI-RAB NAP (USA)
Scott Richter ANSI-RAB NAP (USA)
Thomas Arnold IAAR (USA)
Iain Muir IATCA
Roger Brockway IFIA (World)
Graeme Drake ISO (World)
Nigel Croft ISO/TC 176
Alfred Malina ITIC (USA)
Dale Misczynski ITIC (USA)
Hans Buser IQNet(World)
Alex Ezrakhovich IQNet (World)
Belinda Mort PAC Secretary
Abdou Seyni UEMOA
Kai-Uwe Barani Schmidt UNFCCC
Beer Budoo UNIDO
Otto Loesener UNIDO
John Owen IAF Secretary
Apologies –
Jules De Windt BELCERT (Belgium)
Ri Kwang Ho NAA (North Korea)
Cirila Botor BPS (Philippines) Lubomir Sutek SNAS (Slovakia) Henri Pierre Salle IAAR (USA)
