Following the publication of the new ISO/IEC 17020:2026 Conformity assessment – Requirements for bodies performing inspection on 31 March 2026, the EA Inspection Committee (IC) organized a training session on 1-2 July 2026 to review the new edition.
The training session was conducted by Jasmin Gundlach (DAkkS, Germany) and Peter Stans (RvA, The Netherlands), with the support of the IC Chair Marek Wilgos (PCA, Poland), and was attended by over 80 participants.
The aim of the training was to:
- Prepare the National Accreditation Bodies for using ISO/IEC 17020/2026;
- Harmonize the understanding of changes;
- Collect aspects to be further discussed in the EA IC;
- Focus on questions arising from the revision of the standard.
The follow-up actions will be:
On EA’s side:
- monitoring the implementation of the new edition of the standard by EA members, including ensuring the effective application of the three-year transition period;
- collecting and analysing practical cases requiring interpretation, to develop a harmonised approach;
- organising workshops during the next EA IC meeting in September 2026.
On NABs’ side:
- implementing the new edition of the standard in practice by updating the management system documentation;
- delivering internal training for assessors;
- launching assessment processes for Conformity Assessment Bodies to support their transition to the new edition of the standard.
EA has published today the revised EA-2/17 EA Document on Accreditation for Notification Purposes and its 3 Supplements.
The EA MAC considered the outcome of the re-evaluation of DPA (Albania) and evaluation and re-evaluation of TUNAC (Tunisia), and took several decisions.
