Key NATA personnel recently attended the 2024 Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (APAC) Annual Meeting in Dubai.
NATA is a member of APAC, the regional accreditation cooperation, whose primary role is to manage and expand a mutual recognition arrangement (MRA) among accreditation bodies in the Asia Pacific region.
APAC is recognised by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) with 61 full Members across 33 economies including Australia, the USA, Canada, China and India.
Building on the successes of previous APAC meetings, the 2024 meeting was an invaluable opportunity for the largest regional accreditation community in the world to convene and engage in key discussions surrounding accreditation-related topics.
The event fostered renewed connections for NATA including the sharing of accreditation experiences, and collectively helping to navigate the evolving accreditation landscape and technological advancements in accreditation assessment.
NATA’s CEO Jennifer Evans is the current Chair of APAC.
“With a membership of more than 50 accreditation bodies from economies in the Asia Pacific region including the USA, Canada, China, India and Australia, APAC has a significant role to play at the global level that is reflective of its geographic size and dollar value to global trade,” said Jennifer.
“The 2024 APAC Annual Meeting, once again ensured all key attendees will continue to advocate and promote the role and value of accreditation services to their very diverse range of stakeholders, industry bodies and consumers across one of the biggest regions in the world.”
Key meetings included sessions on inspection, sustainability, food safety, artificial intelligence and medical testing.
Evaluator Training
A number of NATA staff joined their international colleagues in participating in Evaluator Training conducted by APAC.
This specialised training is to the requirements of ISO/IEC 17011 – the standard that specifies requirements for the competence, consistent operation and impartiality of accreditation bodies assessing and accrediting conformity assessment bodies.
The training required a sound knowledge of 17011 with prework to develop and test that knowledge. The key difference to a NATA member assessment is that the training considers what accreditation body personnel are doing as opposed to laboratory staff. The training covered the selection of teams for an evaluation, what was required to prepare for the evaluation, how to conduct an evaluation and what was required to close out your involvement.
NATA had three representatives:
- Gillian Treloar – Deputy Sector Manger, Legal and Clinical undertaking evaluator training for ISO 15189 and Biobanking 20387
- Andy Griffin – Sector Manager, Legal and Clinical – undertaking evaluator training for ISO 15189
- Tharien Klaumanns-Moller – Accreditation Training manager – undertaking evaluator training for ISO 15189
We are delighted to note each complete and passed their training.
Evaluator Training ensures NATA staff can participate in the process of accrediting other global accreditation bodies in specific areas – thus benefitting our own members by ensuring all the work we do meets the highest global standards.
