SADCAS is proud to announce that over the past year, there has been an increase in the number of accreditations granted in the Inspection Bodies Accreditation Scheme (IBAS). New areas that have been accredited are in the food, agricultural and petroleum sectors. These sectors have been identified in the SADC Industrial Policy as some of the priority sectors for development in selected value chains. Within these sectors accreditation plays a key role from research to production, marketing, trading, quantity & quality verification, border controls and in strengthening the regulatory capacity of the Value Chains.
Accreditation which is an independent evaluation of an inspection body by an authoritative body, in this case SADCAS, confirms the competence, consistency and impartiality of the inspection body. Throughout the world many countries now rely on accreditation as a means of independently evaluating competence of inspection bodies
Through this accreditation, each accredited scope has been assigned a unique accreditation number, with accreditation certificates issued for each scope.
The SADCAS Inspection Bodies Accreditation Scheme (IBAS) was established in June 2010 and is operated in accordance with ISO/IEC 17011 the standard that specifies requirements for accreditation bodies accrediting conformity assessment bodies. Accreditation certificates issued by SADCAS for inspection bodies are internationally recognised following the achievement of signatory status in the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation Mutual Recognition Arrangement (ILAC MRA) for inspection in accordance with ISO/IEC 17020 in October 2017. ISO/IEC 17020 specifies criteria for the operation of various types of inspection bodies irrespective of the sector involved. It is the international standard against which inspection bodies are accredited.
SADCAS congratulates the inspection bodies for these noble achievements and welcomes them to the club of internationally recognized inspection bodies. SADCAS will undertake periodic assessments to ensure continued compliance with the requirements during the validity of the accreditation certificates.
For information on how to apply for accreditation to ISO/IEC 17020, please contact the Scheme Coordinator
Mr Victor Mundembe: vmundembe@sadcas.org
