IAF is committed to monitoring and reviewing the MLA to ensure that it continues to meet the needs of stakeholders. In addition to consulting widely with stakeholders, IAF carries out several programmes and activities to continuously improve the value and effectiveness of the MLA.
Complaints provide a valuable mechanism for receiving feedback relating to the effectiveness of the MLA. This often confirms that the MLA is working effectively and that the process in place is suitably robust. It can also provide information that can be used to improve areas of the MLA. The following numbers of complaints were raised with IAF during this period:
Following the declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic and the imposition of social distancing and travel restrictions, the IAF MLAC and IAF/ILAC JMC met remotely from 2020 to 2022. In November 2023, the first on-site meeting was held in Montréal, Canada after the travel restrictions were eliminated.
IAF consults widely with stakeholders in developing accreditation programs, and it works to deliver the best standard of conformity assessment to provide stakeholders with a value-added outcome.
In 2023, IAF continued to improve its collaboration with ILAC. Only IAF/ILAC JMC meetings are held and there are no separate meetings of IAF MLA MC and the ILAC AMC. This provides for a better understanding of the few different requirements and the many commonalities in the MLA area between the two organisations. The JMC manages all the peer evaluation activities and will contribute to the establishment of a single Arrangement for the Global Accreditation Cooperation (GLOBAC), the new single international organization for accreditation being formed by IAF and ILAC.
In addition, the JMC initiated a revision of IAF/ILAC A1 – IAF/ILAC Multi-Lateral Mutual Recognition Arrangements (Arrangements): Requirements and Procedures for Evaluation of a Regional Group, with the intention to improve the evaluation methodology for RAGs.
IAF/ILAC A2 – IAF/ILAC Multi-lateral mutual recognition arrangements (Arrangements): Requirements and procedures for evaluation of a single accreditation body was already in the revision process, and a workshop was held in May 2023 to consider changes and explore a risk-based approach to evaluation. The outcome from this discussion will be taken into account in the revision.
The JMC also accepted a proposal for a training package to be developed to support those evaluators asked to undertake evaluations of Regional Accreditation Groups. This training package will be developed and delivered in 2024.
In addition to the work of the JMC, the IAF MLA Committee initiated three Task Force Groups (TFGs) to undertake the following activities:
