The European Commission is aiming to make products on the EU market increasingly sustainable, by enabling far-reaching performance and information requirements – known as ‘ecodesign requirements’ – to be set on a wide range of them to improve their circularity, energy performance, and other environmental sustainability aspects.
Verifications and validations: the first Body accredited by Accredia in Italy according to ISO/IEC 17029 The theme of sustainability sells. The value of green spending by Italians in 2021 reached 12.5 billion euros – as found by a Nielsen GS1 Italy study – with advertising on ethical and […]
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is well underway. It is up to the conformity assessment sector to respond to evolving technologies and customer expectations if the acceptance and status of conformity assessment are to be maintained.
There is a growing recognition that standards are not neutral; they are experienced differently depending on someone’s gender. A lack of gender responsiveness, for example, has been shown to have health and safety implications and, given the importance of standards to the economy, undoubtedly, the lack of gender responsiveness would have implications there too.
Since their invention, the WWW and Internet have grown rapidly whilst security has lagged behind. Cybercrime has increased exponentially in the 21st century, costing the global economy more than USD 6 trillion in 2021.
In almost every country in the world, there are standardization bodies, metrological institutes, certification bodies, inspection bodies and accredited laboratories. These pillars are one of the links that build confidence in trade.
The adoption of technologies and digitalization of conformity assessment continues to evolve rapidly. To understand the latest trends, a team of researchers from BAM, TU Berlin and Fraunhofer Institute in Germany and from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand conducted surveys in fourteen countries and collected data from over 1,300 conformity assessment bodies.
In April 2021, ISO 37301:2021, ‘Compliance management systems — Requirements with guidance for use’ was published. A compliance management system comprises all the measures, structures and processes that a company or organization establishes to ensure compliance with the norms, standards and the law.
Each year on 09 June, IAF and ILAC celebrate World Accreditation Day. We’re excited to announce the theme for WAD 2023 as Accreditation: Supporting the Future of Global Trade.
Cofrac has opened a new accreditation scheme according to ISO/IEC 17065 for the certification of natural and organic cosmetics according to the COSMOS scheme.
The Global Quality Infrastructure Index (GQII) measures QI’s development status and dynamics worldwide. In close coordination with representatives and experts from QI bodies worldwide, key indicators were identified, the data collected, and a composite index was created.
The Arab Accreditation Cooperation held its 10th Annual Meetings in Cairo, Egypt, from 04 to 08 December 2022.
Preparation, planning and coordination were vital for O’ZAKK as a developing accreditation body to experience a fully remote peer evaluation procedure in line with the policies stipulated in the IAF/ILAC A-Series and relevant APAC documents.
The infrastructure sector is a key driver for economic growth. It is pivotal that quality and conformity are ensured in this critical sector.
The latest news from EA includes updates on the EA MLA and EA MLA signatories, EA documents, and a European Commission decision on a certification framework for carbon removals.
The concept of remote audits has been around for many years and has for a long time been possible within stated controls. The IAF TC has been looking closely at the current situation with regard to remote and blended audits, including reviewing coverage in standards and in existing IAF documents.
UNI, the Italian standardization body, has published the publicly available specification PdR 125, entitled “Guidelines on the management system for gender equality which provides the adoption of specific KPIs (Key Performance Indicator) relating to gender equality policies in organizations “. This certifiable standard, developed together with Accredia and the Department for Equal Opportunities of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and other interested parties, aims to initiate a systemic process of cultural change in organizations in order to increase gender equality.
In the pursuit of the goal to digitalize APAC activities, APAC and PTB are collaborating on a new project.
The IIOC ‘Certification for Business Improvement’ paper highlights the business improvement from certification.
The TIC sector can play a pivotal role in supporting market surveillance authorities in fighting counterfeit goods and products.
IAF and ILAC are excited to announce the launch of our new podcast, Accreditation Matters. This podcast series will feature discussions with international experts on important matters to the international quality infrastructure community and the way that accreditation supports regulators, global trade and consumers.
IAF Outlook 