January 2004

Issue No.

36H o n g K o n g A c c r e d i t a t i o n S e r v i c e

news

36/F., Immigration Tower,7 Gloucester Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong.

Tel: 2829 4840 Fax: 2824 1302E-mail: hkas@itc.gov.hk

Website: http://www.info.gov.hk/itc/hkas/

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10101112

Laboratory Feedback onHOKLAS Accreditation

Revised Published Documents

Alignment of ISO/IEC 17025:1999 with ISO 9001:2000

Third HOKLAS/HKIAS LiaisonMeeting with Accredited

Laboratories/Inspection Bodies

Medical Testing ProgrammeUpdate

Training Courses for MedicalTesting Laboratories

Construction Material TestingSeminar

APLAC MRA for InspectionBodies

Meeting with CertificationBodies

PAC MLA

ISO 9001 Certification after15 December 2003

ISO 9001 and ISO 14001Workshop

APEC/PAC Training Course onEMS Certification

ILAC/IAF MRA Mark andILAC/IAF Joint General

Assembly

APLAC General Assembly

APLAC Lead EvaluatorWorkshop

New Staff

Accreditation Update

Proficiency Testing Update

Upcoming Training Courses

A feedback questionnaire was sent to all accredited laboratoriesin October 2003 to solicit their views on our service. A total of 115copies were sent out and 69 were returned representing a returnrate of 60 per cent. We would like to thank those laboratories thathave spared their time to provide us with their valuable views whichundoubtedly could help us improve our service.

In the questionnaire, views of accredited laboratories on thefollowing five major areas were sought.

1. Accreditation services, including application processing,assessments, follow-up actions, granting of accreditation andmaintenance of accreditation;

2. Training courses/workshops/seminars organised by the HKASExecutive;

3. Proficiency testing programme;4. HOKLAS Directory; and5. HKAS website.

The following table summarises the results of the survey on thelaboratory accreditation service provided by HKAS. The figures inthe table are percentages of respondents selecting that option.

Question

Laboratory Feedback on HOKLAS Accreditation

1. On the whole, the laboratory accreditation services provided by HKAS aresatisfactory.

2. The information and assistance provided by the HKAS Executive duringthe accreditation process are satisfactory.

3. The HOKLAS assessment team is generally competent.

4. The degree of rigor of the HOKLAS assessment team is appropriate.

5. The accreditation regulations and technical criteria set by HOKLAS are ofappropriate strictness.

6. The Test Categories and test areas for which accreditation is availablefrom HOKLAS are adequate to cover the needs of your laboratory.

7. Assessment reports accurately reflect the discussions and conclusions ofthe assessment.

8. The assessment has helped improve the quality system and technicaloperation of your laboratory.

9. Assessments focus on significant issues rather than trivial matters.

10. The benefit of accreditation outweighs its costs.

11. The efficiency in processing and granting accreditation is satisfactory.

12. The mutual recognition arrangements that HKAS has signed withaccreditation bodies outside of the Hong Kong Special AdministrativeRegion (HKSAR) are useful in improving the acceptance of your test orcalibration reports/certificates by authorities and other parties outside ofHKSAR.

25 75 - -

33 64 3 -

29 70 1 -

18 75 7 -

7 90 3 -

14 83 3 -

30 67 3 -

45 54 1 -

20 77 3 -

18 78 4 -

22 72 6 -

22 73 4 1

Strongly

agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly

disagree

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Whilst we are delighted to note that most ofthe comments are positive, we will studyeach of them carefully. We firmly believe thatthere is always room for improvement andthat our operation needs to evolve with time.

With regard to the tra in ing courses/workshops/seminars organised by HKASExecut ive , over 98 per cent o f therespondents strongly agreed or agreed thatthe logistics is satisfactory whilst over 90 percent of the respondents strongly agreed orag reed tha t the t ypes o f cou rses /workshops/seminars are adequate. Allrespondents strongly agreed or agreed thatthe depth and coverage of the trainingc o u r s e s / w o r k s h o p s / s e m i n a r s a r eappropriate and that they are useful to theirlaboratories. We have however noted that afew respondents had commented that thecourses presented by overseas trainers areexpensive. HKAS will, as far as possible, usethe lecture room at our office for conductingtraining courses with a view to reducing thecourse fees. The possibility of organisingexperience sharing sessions on proficiencytesting, measurement uncertainty, etc., isbeing explored with the Hong KongAssociation of Certification Laboratories.

Over 98 per cent of the respondents stronglyagreed or agreed that HKAS has providedsufficient information and clear instructionson proficiency testing (PT) programmes andover 94 per cent of the respondents stronglyagreed or agreed that the coverage of thePT programmes is appropriate and allagreed that participating in PT programmeshas helped them improve the quality oftesting. Seven respondents commented thatthe PT reports have not been issuedpromptly. We have looked into this andfound that one reason was time required toc i rcu late the ar te facts amongst theparticipants, particularly those programmesinvolving overseas laboratories.

All except one respondent strongly agreedor agreed that the information in theHOKLAS directory is sufficient and usefuland that the indexing and formatt ingfaci l i tate the searching of accreditedlaboratories’ information. All respondentsst rong ly agreed or agreed that theinformation presented in the website issufficient and useful.

Seven HKAS Supplementary Criteria andH O K L A S S u p p l e m e n t a r y C r i t e r i a /Information Notes have been revised sinceAugust. They are:

• HKAS Supplementary Criteria No. 1 Useof HKAS accreditation marks and claimsof accreditation status

• HOKLAS Supplementary Criteria No. 1Acceptabil ity of Chemical ReferenceMaterials and Commercial StandardSolutions Used for the Calibration ofEquipment

• HOKLAS Supplementary Criteria No. 6“Environmental Testing” Test Category –Chemical Testing

• HOKLAS Supplementary Criteria No. 9“Toys and Children’s Products” Test

Category – Toys Physical and MechanicalTesting

• HOKLAS Supplementary Criteria No. 10“Environmental Testing” Test Category –Accreditation of Site Testing/Sampling

• HOKLAS Supplementary Criteria No. 14“Electrical and Electronic Products” TestCategory – Product Safety Tests

• HOKLAS Information Notes No. 1 “Toysand Children’s Products” Test Category –Determination of Play Value of a Toy

An electronic copy of these documents hasbeen sent to relevant accredited laboratoriesand assessors. Interested persons can alsoview these documents at our website athttp://www.info.gov.hk/itc/hkas.

Revised Published Documents

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The ISO/CASCO Working Group 25 (WG25)has finalised the draft revision of ISO/IEC17025:1999. A draft amendment ISO/IEC17025:1999/FPDAM 1 was published on 14November 2003 for a five-month voting. If

The third liaison meeting was held on 9December 2003 at the office of HKAS. Asagreed at the last meeting, the liaison grouphas expanded to include inspection bodies.H K A S w e l c o m e s t h e t w o n e wrepresentatives from accredited inspectionbodies joining the meeting the first time.They are Mr. P.S. Leung of Intertek TestingServices Hong Kong Ltd and Dr. L.C. Leungof A.E.S. Destructive & Non-destructiveTesting Ltd.

A survey was conducted by the Hong KongAssociation of Certification Laboratories(HKACL) on the training needs of i tsmembers. Mr.K.L. Tsang, Chairman ofHKACL presented the survey results to themeeting. HKAS will study the results of thesurvey carefully and will take into accountthe training needs of accredited laboratorieswhen arranging training courses. HKACLwas also investigating the possibility oforganising proficiency testing programmes.Mr.S.S. Chan of HKAS informed the meetingthat funds were available from APEC forcertain APLAC members for organisingproficiency testing programmes that arerelated to trade.

W i th regard to the grad ing of non-conformities, HKAS reiterated that this newgrading system would facilitate the grantingof accreditation because laboratories were

only required to clear all non-conformitiesin the significant and critical categoriesbefore accreditation could be granted. Minornon-conformities which do not directly affectthe quality of test or calibration results willbe assessed in the next assessment visit.The new system would also give a betterreflection on the competence of laboratoriesbecause the significance of each non-conformity is evaluated and given in theassessment report.This information is veryuseful for the reviewers of the assessmentrepor ts who may be the laboratorymanagement or HKAS staff. HKACL willfurther consult their members on their viewson this issue.

Representa t i ves f rom labora to r i es /inspection bodies were briefed on theproposed amendments to ISO/IEC 17025and the ILAC/APLAC guidance documenton interpretation of ISO/IEC 17020.

R e p r e s e n t a t i v e s f r o m a c c re d i t e dlaborator ies/ inspect ion bodies weregenerally satisfied with the revised formatof scope of accreditation, assessmentprocedure, degree of r igor and theperformance of assessment teams. Beforethe closing of the meeting, representativesof HKAS briefed the meeting on the recentdevelopments of HKAS and the new areasin which accreditation is offered.

Alignment of ISO/IEC 17025:1999 with ISO 9001:2000

there is no major negative feedback, thedocument will be issued as a new edition ofISO/IEC 17025 in July 2004. Readers mayrefer to the last issue of HKAS Newsletterfor details of the draft amendments.

Third HOKLAS/HKIAS Liaison Meeting with AccreditedLaboratories/Inspection Bodies

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Medical Testing Programme Update

After the consultation exercise ended inAugust, comments received from variouss takeho lde rs had been tho rough l yd i scussed amongs t Work ing Par t ymembers. Dr. K.F. Wong, Chairman of theWorking Party on Medical Testing, and Dr.L.H. Ng and Ms. Bella Ho of HKAS havealso met with a number of interest groupsto consult their views and opinions on theprogramme. After considering all commentsreceived and taking into account the currents i tua t ion loca l l y, the acc red i ta t i onprogramme on Medical Testing was furtherrevised.

The revised accreditation programmeclassify medical testing laboratories into twocategories. Laboratories with a full-timepathologist as the laboratory director will beclassified as Category P whilst laboratoriesdirected by a scientist will be classified asCategory S. Laboratory directors of the twocategories of laborator ies are cal led“Pathologist Directors” and “BiomedicalSc ient is t D i rectors” respect ive ly. Alaboratory may also be accredited forproviding clinical interpretation when aqualified pathologist is available. Bothcategories of laboratories will be accreditedto ISO 15189 Medical laborator ies –Particular requirements for quality andcompetence. Most of the stakeholders haveshown support for this revised programme.

Training Courses for Medical Testing Laboratories

During the APLAC re-evaluation of HKAS inAugust for maintaining the multi lateralmutual recognition arrangement (MRA), anexpert in medical test ing laboratoryaccreditation evaluated the accreditationcriteria and other aspects of the HKASprogramme on medical testing laboratories.She was general ly sat isf ied that theprogramme meets the requirements for theMRA and recommended to the APLAC MRACouncil that the MRA be extended to coverthe medical programme when it is launched.The APLAC MRA Council accepted theevaluation team’s recommendation at theCouncil meeting in Seoul in November 2003.The APLAC MRA covers 20 accreditationbodies in the Asia Pacific region. Signatoriesto APLAC MRA are also recognised by theILAC (International Laboratory AccreditationCooperation) MRA. As at December 2003,there are 45 signatories to the ILAC MRAcovering all five continents of the world.

Local medical laboratories have showntremendous interest in the accreditationprogramme. In the past two months, Ms.Bella Ho has been invited to give talks onthe programme to laboratory personnel fromboth the public and the private sectors on anumber of occasions. Many laboratorieshave already started their preparatory workon accreditation. They are eager to bea m o n g t h e f i r s t t o s e e k H O K L A Saccreditation when the programme islaunched.

In order to help medical testing laboratoriesunderstand the requirements in ISO 15189:2003 – Medical laboratories – Particularr e q u i r e m e n t s f o r t h e q u a l i t y a n dcompetence better, HKAS will organisethree medical testing courses in April 2004.

The three courses are:(a)Medical Laboratory Quality Management

Based on ISO 15189: 19-21 April 2004;

(b)Internal Auditing of Medical Laboratoriesto ISO 15189: 22-23 April 2004 and,

(c)Preparing for Accreditation in MedicalLaboratories: 26-27 April 2004

All the three courses will be presented by Mr.Phil Barnes, Programme Manager (MedicalTesting and Radiology) of InternationalAccreditation New Zealand. Details of thesecourses are available at our website at http://www.info.gov.hk/itc/hkas.

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APLAC MRA for Inspection Bodies

At the Asia Pacific Laboratory AccreditationCooperation (APLAC) Mutual RecognitionArrangement (MRA) Council meeting held inSeoul, Korea on 12 November 2003, theAPLAC MRA was extended to coveraccreditation of inspection bodies. HKASw a s a m o n g s t t h e f o u r i n a u g u r a laccreditation bodies to participate in theMRA. The other three accreditation bodieswere NATA of Austral ia, IANZ of NewZealand and SAC of Singapore. Theextended MRA will be signed at the nextMRA Council meeting scheduled for April2004.

Increasingly, inspection is being used as aneffective tool for facilitating internationaltrade. More and more overseas buyers areengaging local inspect ion bodies forconfirming conformity of products withspecifications and regulations before theproducts are allowed to be shipped. Assignatories to the MRA recognise theaccreditation of one another, and acceptand promote the acceptance of inspectionreports and certificates issued by their

accredited inspection bodies, extending theMRA to cover inspection is a significant andtimely step taken by APLAC to accomplishits objective of facilitating cross-bordertrade.

APLAC is also working hard to assist itsmembers in joining the inspection MRA.Organised by the APLAC training committeeand hos ted by CNAL o f Ch ina , an“Inspection Workshop” was held in Beijingon 18-20 November 2003. IANZ, NATA andHKAS were invited to deliver presentationson ISO/IEC 17020, ISO/IEC TR 17010 andthe se t t ing up o f a p rogramme onaccreditation of inspection body and joiningthe APLAC MRA. Delegates from 15economies actively shared their views, ideasand experiences on various issues onaccreditation of inspection bodies. Therelationship amongst accreditation bodiesand the promotion of accreditation wereamongst the topics discussed.

HKAS has offered accreditation of inspectionbodies under the Hong Kong Inspection

Construction Material Testing Seminar

A seminar entitled “Construction MaterialTesting Seminar” was jointly organised by

the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers,I n d e p e n d e n t C o m m i s s i o n A g a i n s tCorruption and Association of ConstructionMaterials Laboratories at the lecture theatreof the City University on 13 December 2003.More than 300 audiences attended the

sem ina r . Mr . C .K . Cheung , Sen io rAccreditation Officer of HKAS, was amongstthe speakers of the seminar. The topic ofhis presentation was the role of HOKLAS inthe accreditation of construction materialstesting laboratories in Hong Kong. Thethree-hour seminar was followed by anotherhalf hour of lively and in-depth discussion.

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Body Accreditation Scheme (HKIAS) sinceDecember 1999. Accreditation is availableto Hong Kong inspect ion bodies forinspection of consumer products andconstruction products. Seven inspectionbodies are accredited for various types ofinspection. The accreditation criteria includethe requirements of ISO/IEC 17020.Emphasis was given to probity. Applicantand accredited inspection bodies arerequired to implement effective inspectortraining and supervision measures forassuring that inspections are performed ina proper and equitable manner and inaccordance with the instructions of clients.

HKAS was rigorously evaluated in August2003 by a team of experts for extending the

Af te r a t t end i ng t he I n t e r na t i ona lAccreditation Forum (IAF) Plenary andTechnical Committee meetings held inSeptember 2003, Mr. Tommy Fung held ameeting with representatives from the 7HKCAS accredited/applicant certificationbodies (CBs) on 29 September. CBs werei n f o r m e d o f t h e d e v e l o p m e n t s a tinternational level and in HKAS. Some of themore important points discussed aresummarized below.

Product Certification

The programme on product certification ofconstruction materials was launched inAugust 2003. The accreditation criteria areISO/IEC Guide 65 and IAF Guidanced o c u m e n t o n G u i d e 6 5 . H K C A SSupplementary Criteria No. 2 is available onthe HKAS website.

Cross Frontier Accreditation

A document on cross frontier accreditationwas approved by the IAF. The document hasbeen issued as an annex to the IAFGuidance on the Application of ISO/IECGuide 61 as well as a stand-alone IAF

Guidance on 11 November 2003. Bothdocuments are avai lable from the IAFwebsite at http://www.iaf.nu.

Revision to IAF Guidance on ISO/IEC Guides62 and 66

The revised IAF guidance documents on theapplication of ISO/IEC Guides 62 and 66were approved and issued on 1 November2003.

Transition to ISO 9001:2000

After 15 December 2003, the only validaccredited ISO 9000 certification will be toISO 9001:2000. All accredited certificationsto ISO 9001/2/3:1994 will have expired onthat date. A number of certified/registeredorganisations will lose their accreditedcertifications on that date. Some of themmight be in the process of having their QMSaudited against ISO 9001:2000, and will notbe able to have an accredited certificate onthat day. It is understood that the majority,if not all CBs have decided not to issue non-accredited certificates, which is very pleasingand strongly supported by IAF accreditationbody members.

PAC MLAWe are pleased to announce that HKAS hasjoined the PAC MLA (Pacific AccreditationCooperat ion Mult i latera l Recognit ion

Arrangement) for accreditation of QualityManagement System on 27 November2003.

MRA to cover inspection body accreditation.Its success manifests the maturity of HKIASand the quality and reliability of its accreditedinspection bodies.

The four inaugural accreditation bodies of the APLAC MRA forInspection Bodies. From the left are Mr. Tony Russell, Chair ofAPLAC MRA Council, Dr. Helen Liddy, Secretary of APLAC, Mr.S.S. Chan of HKAS, Ms K.F. Chang of SAC, Dr. Llew Richards ofIANZ, Mr. Peter Unger, Chair of APLAC.

Meeting with Certification Bodies

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ISO 9001 Certification after 15 December 2003

Fo l low ing i s a commun iqué o fInternational Accreditation Forum (IAF)reiterating that certification to the 1994version of ISO 9001, ISO 9002 or ISO9003 expires on 15 December 2003. Allaccreditation bodies that are signatoriesto the IAF Multilateral RecognitionArrangement are obliged to follow thispolicy.

At its Annual Meeting in Bratislava, Slovakia,in September 2003, the Internat ionalAccreditation Forum (IAF) reaffirmed to themarket that all accredited certification/registration of Quality Management Systemsto ISO 9001:1994, ISO 9002:1994 and ISO9003:1994 ceases to have validity on 15December 2003. The decision that this wouldhappen was taken in 1999 by IAF along witht h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l O r g a n i z a t i o n f o rStandardization (ISO) committees on QualityManagement (ISO/TC 176) and ConformityAssessment (ISO CASCO) in preparation for

the withdrawal of those Standards by ISO infavour of ISO 9001:2000 (which came intoeffect on 15 December 2000).

Organizations that base their purchasingdecisions on the fact that their supplier is thirdparty “ISO 9000 certified/registered” arereminded that after 15 December 2003 theonly recognized form of conformity of an ISO9001 Quality Management System will be anaccredited certification/registration to ISO9001:2000.

After 15 December 2003, all accreditedcertifications/registrations to ISO 9001:1994,ISO 9002:1994 and ISO 9003:1994 will haveexpired. Any use of accreditation marks onsuch certificates will therefore be in error, andin contravention of the intellectual propertyrights of the owners of the marks.

Further information about IAF may beobtained from the IAF website at <http://www.iaf.nu>, or by contacting the Secretariatat email <secretary@accreditationforum.com>.

ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 Workshop

A one-day workshop was organised by theEnvironmental, Transport and Works Bureauat the Civil Engineering Department seminarroom on 8 December 2003. Mr C.K. Cheung,Senior Accreditation Officer of HKAS, wasthe presenter of th is workshop. Thisworkshop aims at equipping engineers with

the knowledge of the application of qualityand environmental management systems,i . e . I SO 9001 and ISO 14001 , toconstruction work. The morning sessionfocused on ISO 9001 whilst the afternoonsession on ISO 14001. More than 100engineers attended the workshop.

With funding support from APEC, a PACtraining course on EMS Certification wasorganised by HKAS in Hong Kong on 24-26November 2003. The trainers were Mr.Tetsuo Terabe, Director (Technical) and Mr.Kunihiro Tanabe, Assistant Manager ofManagement Systems Accreditation Divisionof JAB. 14 delegates from 11 organisationsattended the course.

APEC/PAC Training Course on EMS Certification

Mr. Terabe, Director (Technical), JAB,presented the APEC/PAC Training Course

on EMS Certification.

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ILAC/IAF MRA Mark and ILAC/IAF Joint General Assembly

At the 2003 ILAC/IAF (International LaboratoryAccreditation Cooperation / InternationalAccreditation Forum) joint general assemblymeetings held in Bratislava, Slovakia from 14to 22 September 2003, ILAC resolved to allowits mutual recognition arrangement (MRA)members and laboratories accredited by themto use an ILAC MRA mark to indicate theirstatus. This is a significant stride taken by ILACin reaching its target of “one test, acceptedeverywhere”. In the near future, ILAC MRAmembers will be licensed to use the combinedmark (ILAC MRA mark in conjunction with themark of the accreditation body). MRAmembers may sub-license their accreditedlaboratories to display the combined mark inreports and certificates issued for activitiesaccredited by them. At IAF meetings, it wasdecided that a separate IAF MLA (MultilateralArrangement) mark for use by their membersand certification bodies accredited by them.

These two marks symbolise competence,quality, reliability and credibility and gives usersof accredited services the confidence inaccepting the results of accredited conformityassessment activities.

HKAS has taken a pivotal role in advocatingsuch marks and in their development and ispleased to witness their final adoption. ILACand IAF are in the process of registering thismark worldwide. HKAS Executive will informaccred i ted organ isat ions o f fu r therdevelopment in the use of the two marks.

Other important issues agreed at the jointgeneral assembly are summarised as follows:

1. ILAC/IAF has adopted the Guidancedocument on ISO 17020 proposed by jointworking group on inspect ion as arequi rement document for mutualrecognition arrangement subject to a 60-day ballot. ILAC and IAF have also resolvedto develop a joint inspection arrangementcouncil and a single mark for the inspectionmutual recognition arrangement.

2. The following accreditation body wereaccepted as signatories of the ILAC MRA:

DSM of Malaysia for testing, BLQA-DMScof Thailand for testing, SIT of Italy forcalibration, JAB of Japan for extension ofMRA to cover calibration. SNAS (Slovakia)and BMWA (Austria) were accepted assignatories to the IAF MLA for qualitymanagement system.

3. ILAC will establish a forum for proficiencytesting providers to consider topics relatingto conformity assessment, includingaccreditation of proficiency testing providersand future relevance of such accreditationto the ILAC MRA.

4. ILAC will develop harmonised policy andprocedures for accreditation or third partyassessment of re ference mater ia lproducers.

5. ILAC Technical Accreditat ion IssueCommittee endorsed the following newwork items:

a. Acc red i t a t i on o f op in ions andinterpretations

b. Accreditation of samplingc. Accreditation of medical laboratories in

cooperation with TC212d. Appl icat ion of G18 on scope of

accreditation for testing and calibrationlaboratories

6. IAF approved the publication of thefollowing documents:

a. IAF Guidance on Cross Front ierAccreditation

b. Procedures for Exchange of Documentsamong MLA Accreditation Bodies for thePurpose of Assessment

c. I A F G u i d a n c e o n Q M S C R BCompetence

d. Revised IAF Guidance on the Applicationof ISO/IEC Guide 62

e. Revised IAF Guidance on the Applicationof ISO/IEC Guide 66

7. IAF reaffirmed that all accredited certificationto ISO 9001/2/3:1994 would cease to bevalid on 15 December 2003.

APLAC General Assembly

T h e 2 0 0 3 A s i a P a c i f i c L a b o r a t o r yAccreditation Cooperation (APLAC) generalassembly and committee meetings were heldin Seoul, Korea, from 9 to 14 November 2003.Delegates of 28 accreditation bodies from 17economies enjoyed the harmony of thefraternity and benefited from the usefulexchange of ideas. In addition to inaugurationof the mutual recognition arrangement (MRA)for inspection bodies, other important issueson the accreditation of laboratories andinspection bodies and the operation of APLACwere discussed. Following is a summary ofthe more important issues.

1. VLAC of Japan, an accreditation body forelectromagnetic compatibi l i ty testinglaboratories was admitted to APLAC MRAfor testing. The number of APLAC MRAsignatories has now increased to 20. TheMRA of DSM of Malaysia andK A N o f I n d o n e s i a w a sextended to cover calibration.

2. APLAC will adopt the ILAC draftGuidance Document on ISO/IEC 17020 when it is publishedby ILAC.

3. The 8-po in t p roposa l fo raccredi tat ion of referencematerial producers put forwardby a working group convenedby Mr. W. W. Wong of HKAS

was accepted. The accreditation criteria willinclude the requirements of ISO/IEC Guide34:2000 and ISO/IEC 17025:1999.

4. A draf t cross- f ront ier accredi tat iondocument was sent out for 60 dayscomment on 1 December 2003.

5. APLAC will accept accreditation bodieswhich accredit only inspection bodies asfull members. Full members may apply tojoin the APLAC MRA.

6. The Technical Committee has started workon studying the possibility of accreditationof research laboratories.

7. The Training Committee will organise aworkshop for accreditation of medicallaboratories to ISO15189. The workshopwill be hosted by CNLA in May 2004.

8. Implication of incorporating APLAC inAustralia.

The competence of the evaluation teamunderpins the credibil ity of the APLACMutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA).The APLAC MRA Council fully recognisesthe importance of evaluators’ competenceand a workshop was organised for traininglead evaluators. The 2-day workshop washeld in Sydney on 4-5 September 2003. Mr.W. W. Wong and Mr. C. K. Cheung of HKASattended the workshop. Both Mr. Wong andMr. Cheung are APLAC lead evaluators. Theworkshop facilitators were Mr. Peter Unger,Chair of APLAC, Mr. Tony Russell, Chair ofthe APLAC MRA Council and Dr. HelenLiddy, APLAC Secretary. The workshop wasattended by experienced APLAC evaluatorsfrom members of APLAC.

Participants of the workshop hasgained an in-depth understanding ofthe cr i ter ia for the APLAC MRAincluding APLAC MR-001 Proceduresfor establ ishing and maintainingMutual Recognition Arrangementamongst accreditation bodies, ISO/IEC Guide 58 Calibration and testinglaboratory accreditation systems –General requirements for operationa n d r e c o g n i t i o n , a s w e l l a sclassification of evaluation findings.This workshop will greatly assist theharmonising of the APLAC MRAevaluation.

APLAC Lead Evaluator Workshop

Delegates to the APLAC General Assembly 2003

9

Ms Doris Yung joined HKAS on 1 December 2003 asMedical Testing Officer.

HKAS welcomes a new member of staff.Ms . Dor i s Yung jo ined Hong KongAccreditation Service on 1 December 2003as Medical Testing Officer. She will assist inthe implementation of the medical testingprogramme which will be launched shortly.Ms. Yung has been working in the field ofmedical laboratory science since hergraduation from the Hong Kong Polytechnic(now The Hong Kong Polytechnic University)in 1987. She has worked in the laboratoryof Hong Kong Red Cross Blood TransfusionService and laboratories of various hospitalsincluding the Prenatal Diagnostic Laboratoryof Tsan Yuk Hospita l , the PathologyDepartment of Yan Chai Hospital and QueenElizabeth Hospital. Ms. Yung also holdsBachelor of General Studies from the OpenUniversity of Hong Kong and B.Sc. in Life

Sciences (Applied Medical Science) fromNapier University/University of Hong Kong.She has been an Associate member of theInstitute of Biomedical Science (UK) since1991.

Accreditation Update

New Accreditation Granted

HOKLAS

There are six new laboratories accreditedsince the last issue of HKAS Newsletter. Wewish to offer our congratulations on theirsuccess in gaining accreditation.

Building Diagnostic Consultants Limited(Registration No. HOKLAS 140) is accreditedfor the non-destructive testing of concrete.This laboratory provides testing services to thepublic.

Registration No. HOKLAS 141 was grantedto PROVA Inspection & Testing Co. (HK)Limited. The laboratory is accredited for non-

A one-day workshop for evaluators ofinspection body accreditation was also heldbefore the APLAC lead evaluator workshopon 3 September 2003. Mr. C. K. Cheung ofHKAS at tended th is workshop. Thenecessity of this workshop arises from theextension of the existing APLAC MRA tocover inspection body accreditation.

The APLAC Lead Evaluator Workshop held in Sydneyon 4-5 September 2003

New Staff

destructive testing of welds and its testingservice is available to the public. There arenow eight HOKLAS accredited laboratoriesoffering non-destructive weld testing service.

Food and Environmental Hygiene Department- Man Kam To Food Laboratory (RegistrationNumber HOKLAS 142) is accredited forpesticide and veterinary drug residues testingunder the test category of “Food”. Thelaboratory provides testing service to othergovernment departments and its testingservice is not normally available to the public.

Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital -Medical Physics Department – RadiationPhysics Laboratory (Registration No. HOKLAS143) is the first HOKLAS accredited laboratory

11

Test AreaScheduled

DatesStatus

Foundation Piles –Sonic logging

NDT - Covermeter

NDT welding

Aggregate – physicaltest

Bituminous Materials –Air void content

Soil – particle density

Diagnostic test -schmidt hammer

Soil – in-situ densitytest by NuclearDensometer

January2003

June2003

December2003

March 2004

February2004

January2004

February2004

April 2004

Final reportissued

Final reportissuedTestconductedandpreparation ofreportunderway

accredited for the calibration of ionizationchamber for absolute radiation dosimetry inradiotherapy. The laboratory prov idescalibration service to the public.

CLP Power Hong Kong Limited – PowerSystems Business Group, Technical ServicesDepartment, Electrical Standard Laboratory(Registration No. HOKLAS 144) is accreditedfor the calibration of electrical measurementinstruments under the test category of“Calibration Services” and its service isconditionally available to the public.

Institute for the Advancement of ChineseMedicine ( IACM) Ltd. (Registration No.HOKLAS 145 ) i s acc red i t ed fo r t hedetermination of toxic elements and pesticideresidues of proprietary Chinese medicines andChinese herbal medicines under the testcategory o f “Ch inese Medic ine” . Thelaboratory provides testing service to thepublic.

Accreditation Suspended

Drainage Services Department - LaboratoryServices Sub-Division - Tai Po Laboratory(Registration No. HOKLAS 096) has voluntarilysuspended all accredited tests under the testcategory of “Environmental Testing” effective27 August 2003.

CLP Power Hong Kong Limited - GenerationTechnical Services Department MaterialsLaboratory (Registration No. HOKLAS 041)has voluntar i ly suspended al l HOKLASaccredited tests under the test category of“Construction Materials” with effect from 20October 2003.

Stanger Asia Limited (Registrat ion No.HOKLAS 021) has voluntarily suspended allaccredited tests under the test category of“Construction Materials” for its Nam CheongSite Laboratory with effect from 28 October2003.

Accreditation Terminated

T h e H o n g K o n g P o l i c e F o r c e -Communicat ions Branch , Cal ibrat ionLaboratory (HOKLAS Registration No. 100)has voluntarily terminated its accreditationwith effect from 24 October 2003 for all testsunder the test category of “Cal ibrationServices”

The Hongkong Electric Co. Ltd. - LammaPower Station Laboratory (Registration No.HOKLAS 047) has voluntarily terminated theaccreditation of all coal and gypsum testsunder the test category of “Chemical Testing”effective 26 November 2003.

HKCAS

The number of HKCAS accredited certificationbodies providing the certification of qualitysystem service has increased to eight with theRegistration No. HKCAS 8 granted to HongKong Certification Services Limited.

HKIAS

Fugro Technical Services Limited (RegistrationNo. HKIAS 8) is accredited for the weldinginspection service. Four HKIAS accreditedinspection bodies are now providing weldinginspection service to the industry.

Proficiency Testing Update

Construction Materials

A non-destructive testing proficiency testingprogramme on the determination of the coversto reinforcing bars using covermeters wasconducted in July 2003. Two operators fromeach of the ten laboratories were asked toperform the test on the reference blocks atHKAS o f f i ce . HKAS is sa t i s f i ed w i thinvestigations and actions taken by thelaboratories with outlying results.

An update on the prof ic iency test ingprogrammes under the Construction Materialstest category organised by HKAS in 2003 and2004 is given below:

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If you wish to contribute to the next newsletteror require further information on any of the

items in this newsletter,please contact the HKAS Executive,

36/F., Immigration Tower,7 Gloucester Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong.

Tel: 2829 4840 Fax: 2824 1302Website address: http://www.info.gov.hk/itc/hkas/

E-mail address: hkas@itc.gov.hk

Upcoming TrainingCourses

• Lead Assessor Training Course inaccordance with APLAC Guidelines9-13 February 2004

• Laboratory Quality Management Basedon ISO/IEC 1702515-17 March 2004

• Internal Auditing of Laboratories to ISO/IEC 1702518-19 March 2004

• M e d i c a l L a b o r a t o r y Q u a l i t yManagement Based on ISO 1518919-21 April 2004

• I n t e r n a l A u d i t i n g o f M e d i c a lLaboratories to ISO 1518922-23 April 2004

• Preparing for Accreditation in MedicalLaboratories26-27 April 2004

Interested readers should note that latestinformation on training courses is posted onour website at www.info.gov.hk/itc/hkas.Please contact HKAS for enrolment of thecourses.

Chemical Testing

Test results from the participants of APLACT038 - Pharmaceutical product testingproficiency testing programme have beenreceived. Preparation of the interim reportby the Government Laboratory is underway.

Toys and Children’s Products

Samples for the APLAC T039 proficiencytesting programme on toy safety jointlyorganised by the Government Laboratoryand HKAS have been d i s t r i bu ted .Part ic ipants were provided with twoaluminium plates coated with blended alkydresin paint and one bottle of metal solution.The participant is required to determine themigration of the elements barium, cadmium,chromium and lead according to EN 71 -3 :1994 and submit the test results via theiraccreditation bodies to HKAS before 31March 2004.

Physical Testing

A jadeite proficiency testing programme hasbeen organised. Participating laboratorieswere asked to determine the specific gravity,infra-red spectrum and the refractive indexof nine different samples of jade. Testsamples were circulated to the participantsin December 2003.

Others

The artifact for the APLAC APM014 - HighR e s i s t a n c e w a s c i rc u l a t e d t o t h eparticipants in Hong Kong for calibration inDecember 2003.

A proficiency testing programme (JNPT 15-05) on e lectron ic products is be ingorganised by IAJapan and HKAS has invitedinterested laboratories in Hong Kong toparticipate.