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View Paper |
Session Topic: 7D, Panel: MRA for Lab Accreditation |
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Paper Title: The National Cooperation for Laboratory Accreditation (NACLA) Mutual Recognition Arrangement
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Date & Time: WEDNESDAY, August 7, 2002 |
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10:45am - 12:15pm - PARALLEL SESSIONS - SESSION 7 |
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Speaker: Roxanne Robinson
A2LA |
Email: rrobinson@a2la.org |
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Unlike most other economies around the world, the United States has within its border an estimated 40 private sector laboratory accreditation bodies, 30 local or state accrediting bodies and 31 federal accreditation bodies. By the mid 1990’s it became clear that there was little acceptance of laboratory accreditation by parties in domestic and foreign markets and there was a failure to agree on common procedures and criteria upon which to base the acceptance. Laboratories were required to carry multiple accreditations to meet the needs of various clients. Users of testing services and product specifiers did not have a means to measure the competence of the laboratories. This often resulted in them establishing their own accreditation programs with their own sets of criteria, thus adding to the confusion. NACLA was established in the “image” of other regional mutual recognition arrangements (MRAs) such as the European cooperation for Accreditation (EA) and the Asia Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (APLAC) to make some sense out of this complexity. However, unlike other cooperations, the users, government and laboratories play a very active role in the operation and success of NACLA. This paper will discuss the NACLA operations and specifically, how these interactions work to ensure appropriate input from the affected parties, and build confidence in the NACLA recognition process.
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