The International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) Communications teams have worked with the Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand (JAS-ANZ) to deliver a trio of workshops in New Zealand and Australia.
The first two workshops were for New Zealand and Australian government officials and regulators, and held in Wellington and Canberra respectively. The aims of these workshops were to:
· explain the global system of accreditation agreements (MLAs and MRAs) · showcase where public policy objectives were being met by conformity assessment · impart the quantitative benefits of showing successful delivery
The workshops attracted participation from a range of government departments and regulators keen on exploring new ways to achieve public benefit.
The third workshop was organised with the Australian Industry Group in Sydney and focussed on the business benefits of conformity assessment. Examples of benefits were shared with participants through independent academic research and case studies from economies including Japan, Taiwan and the UK.
http://www.publicsectorassurance.org was seen as a significant tool for the public sector to understand the role accreditation and certification can play in delivering public policy objectives. The development of a new sister website exposing the benefits of conformity assessment to business gained strong support.
The workshops were presented by a team from IAF and ILAC, IAF/ILAC Communications Committee Chair Jon Murthy (United Kingdom Accreditation Service [UKAS]), IAF Communications Committee Deputy Chair Marcus Long (Independent International Organisation for Certification [IIOC]), Asia Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (APLAC) Public Information Committee Chair Tadako Yamamoto (International Accreditation Japan [IAJapan]) and APLAC Training Committee Chair Wanji Yang (Taiwan Accreditation Foundation [TAF]) along with JAS-ANZ’s James Galloway and Kylie Sheehan.
