The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), through the Philippine Accreditation Bureau (PAB), held an awareness webinar last July 22, 2022, to discuss the recently issued ISO/IEC 17060:2022 – Code of good practice, and International Accreditation Forum Mandatory Document on Criteria for Evaluation of Conformity Assessment Schemes (IAF MD 25). The webinar was aimed at improving the understanding of certification bodies on these international standard and mandatory requirement.
International speakers who are both experienced and respected in the field of conformity assessment and standards development were invited to discuss these important documents which are essential in developing, implementing, and evaluating programs/activities related to conformity assessment.
Awareness on ISO/IEC 17060:2022
Mr. Reinaldo Figueiredo, ISO/CASCO Chair, provided a brief background and timeline of activities done by CASCO during the systematic review of standards — from submitting a proposal for the revision of the standard until its publication. He highlighted that ISO/IEC 17060:2022 intends to address broader sets of audiences consisting of certification bodies, accreditation bodies, scheme owners, regulators, and trade experts, among others.
ISO/IEC 17060 recommends good practices for all elements of conformity assessment, including objects of conformity assessment, specified requirements, activities, bodies, systems, schemes and results. It is intended for use by individuals and bodies that wish to provide, promote or use impartial and reliable conformity assessment services. This document was developed by the working group of CASCO and was finalized in April 2022.
Chair Figueiredo emphasized the importance of this standard in every conformity assessemt activities being performed. He mentioned that, “The ISO/IEC 17060 is the entry point for any activity that you do on conformity assessment.”
Awareness on IAF MD 25:2022
IAF publishes mandatory documents that are required to be used by accreditation bodies when accrediting certification or validation/verification bodies, to ensure that users operate their programs in a consistent and equivalent manner. One of these documents is the IAF MD 25:2022 or the Criteria for Evaluation of Conformity Assessment Schemes (CAS).
Mr. Anil Jauhri, former Chief Executive Officer of the Indian accreditation body NABCB (National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies) tackled the importance of this mandatory document. He shared that the document applies to all CAS for which Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs) seek accreditation from Accreditation Bodies (ABs). He also added that there is a need for uniformity in understanding the requirement so that ABs can evaluate the schemes.
This IAF document was created and published to standardize the evaluation of conformity assessment schemes by accreditation bodies worldwide. A copy of the mandatory document is available through the IAF website: https://iaf.nu/en/home/.
The virtual event was graced by PAB Director James E. Empeño and Assistant Director Ernani M. Dionisio with more than a hundred participants from different certification bodies, private organizations, and governments agencies.
This webinar is part of the PAB-Management System Accreditation Division’s Capacity Building Program for assessors, experts, certification bodies, and other stakeholders.
To know more about PAB accreditation services and upcoming events, please visit our website: www.dti.gov.ph/pab or email at pab@dti.gov.ph.
Release Date: 26 July 2022.