With the same regular attendance of 60 delegates representing 41 NAB members and stakeholders, the EA LC had a busy meeting in Paris.

A number of documents were reviewed with the following recommendations by the LC to be submitted to the General Assembly for decision in May 2017:

– Revision to start for EA-4/17 EA position paper on the description of scopes of accreditation of medical laboratories, EA-4/20 Guidance for the assessment of laboratories against ISO 15189 in combination with EN ISO 22879 Point of Care Testing further to the revision of the latter, and EA-3/04 Use of proficiency testing as a tool for accreditation in testing as a joint effort with the EEE-PT WG. Revision of EA-4/14 Selection and use of reference materials will be led by EURACHEM with a representative of the EA LC in the drafting group.

– Drafting to start for new guidance documents on accreditation in the field of pesticides with the EALC TN Food, and on measurement audit requirements with the EEE-PT WG.

– Withdrawal of EA-2/14 Procedure for regional calibration ILCS in support of the EA MLA and EA-INF/12 Benefits and importance of participation in EA highlighted PT schemes, as a result of the change in the EA policy. It has been agreed that participation in highlighted ILCs would not be used anymore to support the EA MLA, even if the EA community unanimously recognized the benefits of such exercises at the CAB level.

The LC endorsed new EA-INF/15 Joint EA – EDQM Communication regarding Cooperation when carrying out (joint) audits/assessments in Official Medicines Control Laboratories. The document is now available from the EA website as a tool to make EA/EDQM more efficient for the benefit of all involved, including and above all laboratories. Revision of ISO/IEC 17025 was again a major topic on the agenda. A presentation was made on latest developments in the drafting of the new standard. The Committee agreed to plan:

– A break-out session for LC members in September 2017. LC delegates will be divided into groups and will work on a specific chapter of the revised standard before reporting back to the delegates.

– A train-the-trainer workshop for NAB staff in January 2018.

An impact analysis of the new standard is to be carried out by a LC TFG just appointed under the convenership of the LC Chair and Vice-Chair. EUROLAB will contribute to the work.

The mandate of the current LC Management Group will end in 2017; the Committee will have to elect a new Vice-Chair and new conveners of the LC technical networks and WGs at its September 2017 meeting. Then, how to work for the next term and in the longer run with the two WGs ILC in Calibration and Testing will be discussed with the aim to come up with a recommendation for the General Assembly in November 2017.

Concerned about its stakeholders’ interests and needs, the LC confirmed liaison with the EEE-PT WG by appointing Hans D. Jensen (DANAK) as the new LC representative and Sergio Guzzi (ACCREDIA)
as the reporter to LC on the activities and discussions of the ILAC Accreditation Committee (AIC).

EA/EURAMET cooperation continues to be active. A new meeting will take place on 21 September 2017 on the margins of the 2017 International Congress of Metrology (CIM 2017) held on 19-21 September in Paris and devoted to measurement in industry. Laurent Vinson (COFRAC) and
Trevor Thompson (UKAS), respectively EALC Chair and Vice-Chair, and Erik Oehlenschlaeger, Chair of the ILAC AIC, will attend on the European side. On 19 September, Laurent Vinson will be one key speaker in the CIM round table facilitated by EA on accreditation, which will focus on “ISO/IEC 17025:2017, measurements and conformity declaration”.