The 2023 IAF/ILAC Joint Mid-term Meetings were held in Belfast, Northern Ireland, from 01-08 May. The meetings were conducted in a hybrid format, with 259 in-person and 225 virtual participants.

These meetings held special significance to members as the first IAF/ILAC meetings to be conducted with an in-person component since November 2019. The hybrid format allowed in-person attendees to engage in face-to-face discussions and establish or re-establish personal connections, while remote attendees were still able to contribute to discussions, provide insights, and actively participate in decision-making processes.

The IAF schedule included meetings of the Executive Committee (EC), Technical Committee (TC), Conformity Assessment Body Advisory Committee (CABAC), and User Advisory Committee (UAC), as well as nine working groups (WGs) and five task forces (TFs). IAF also held two meetings in conjunction with ILAC, the IAF/ILAC Joint Management Committee (JMC) and Joint Working Group A-Series (JWG A-Series) meetings.

The IAF EC, along with covering its usual agenda topics such as the IAF management system, finances, Strategic Plan, committee reports and the One Organization Project, held a workshop to discuss topics of particular strategic importance. Members discussed and considered committee decisions versus resolutions, consistent independence and impartiality requirements for conformity assessment bodies, how to improve timeliness of the IAF Multilateral Recognition Arrangement (MLA) extension process, the scope of IAF Association Membership, the co-existence of MLAs with local legislation, and whether future meetings ought to be in person or remote.

At the TC meeting, members heard updates on WG and TF activities, including regarding the development and revision of IAF documents. Members discussed audit duration, transfer of certification and continuous professional development, with decisions taken to be included in the TC Decision Log following adoption of the meeting minutes. An issue of importance to IAF is input into the revisions of ISO/IEC 17024 Conformity assessment — General requirements for bodies operating certification of persons and ISO/IEC 17065 Conformity assessment — Requirements for bodies certifying products, processes and services, and it was agreed that IAF should participate in these revisions to the extent possible.

UAC members received updates on the progress of the Single Organization Project, IAF CertSearch, the IAF Strategic Plan, international collaboration and the work of other IAF committees. UAC members International Featured Standards (IFS), International Aerospace Quality Group (IAQG) and GLOBALG.A.P. provided presentations on the work of their organizations.

JMC members received updates on the status of evaluation activities, including that the initial evaluation of SADCA had been completed, with the result that SADCA was granted IAF MLA and ILAC MRA signatory status. Members discussed standard transitions in progress, and the ICAO CORSIA transition to ISO/IEC 17029 Conformity assessment — General principles and requirements for validation and verification bodies. A number of scheme endorsement applications for the IAF MLA are in progress, including three applications for private sector schemes and four proposals for public schemes. In total, ten new schemes have been approved in 2023, nearly doubling the size of the IAF MLA.

The JWG A-Series discussed the revision of IAF/ILAC A2 IAF/ILAC Multi-Lateral Mutual Recognition Arrangements (Arrangements): Requirements and Procedures for Evaluation of a Single Accreditation Body, which will incorporate lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as improvements regarding remote assessments and splitting of peer evaluations. In the longer term, IAF/ILAC A1 IAF/ILAC Multi-Lateral Mutual Recognition Arrangements (Arrangements): Requirements and Procedures for Evaluation of a Regional Group will also be revised.

Outside of the Belfast meetings, the Joint Development Support Committee (JDSC) held a medical testing assessor training session on ISO 15189:2022 Medical laboratories — Requirements for quality and competence in July, while the Joint Working Group Communications (JWGC) held a hybrid meeting and workshop in conjunction with the African Accreditation Cooperation (AFRAC) Midterm Meetings in June. Topics of discussion at the JWGC meeting included World Accreditation Day and communications materials, while the workshop highlighted how to create a marketing campaign, how to manage communication activities at the regional level, digital marketing trends and analytics, and AFRAC communication activities. Attendees expressed their appreciation for the information and insights presented.

A series of videos conducted with committee chairs and TF/WG conveners during the Belfast meetings are now available for viewing here.

The 2023 IAF/ILAC Joint Annual Meetings will be held in person in Montreal, Canada from 06-15 November. We look forward to another set of productive meetings!