Updates on Development of Key Conformity Assessment Standards

There are several key international standards such as ISO/IEC 17025, ISO 9001, ISO TS 22003 and ISO/IEC TS 17021-3 that are being considered for revision or has been published for implementation. These include:

(a) ISO/IEC 17025 General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories

At the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) General Assembly meeting held in Seoul in Oct 2013, the laboratory stakeholder group requested ILAC to write to ISO/CASCO to establish a new work item to comprehensively revise ISO/IEC 17025:2005 as soon as practicable, before the review due date in 2015. The last systematic review (SR) ballot for ISO/IEC 17025: 2005 was carried out in 2010 which resulted in the standard being retained. Concurrently, ILAC has also formed a working group to collate inputs for the next revision of ISO/IEC 17025.

SAC is also collating inputs for revision of ISO/IEC 17025 from our stakeholders. Accredited laboratories are welcomed to send their comments to the SAC Secretariat on changes needed for this standard.

(b) ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems – Requirements

The new edition of ISO 9001 standard is expected to be published in 2015. At the International Accreditation Forum (IAF), it was agreed that the transition period for implementation of the new edition of ISO 9001 by its members is three years from the date of publication.

SAC expects all certification bodies to take note of the timeline and manage a successful migration of the ISO 9001 certification for their clients.

(c) ISO/IEC TS 17021-3:2013 Conformity Assessment - Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management systems - Part 3: Competence requirements for auditing and certification of quality management systems

ISO/IEC TS 17021-3:2013 has been endorsed as a normative document by IAF to be applied in conjunction with ISO/IEC 17021 for Quality Management System (QMS). The deadline for conformance to ISO/IEC 17021-3 is two years from publication (ie 2 May 2015). SAC is organising a training course for this standard in May 2014 to assist certification bodies with the understanding and migration of the standard.

(d) ISO/TS 22003:2013 Food safety management systems - Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of food safety management systems

This standard was published in Dec 2013 and the IAF has endorsed it as a normative document. The transition period for the new edition of ISO/TS 22003 is three years from the date of publication and all accredited certification bodies will need to migrate to the new standard by Dec 2016.

(e) ILAC Document for ISO/IEC 17020:2012 Application of ISO/IEC 17020:2012 for the Accreditation of Inspection Bodies

The mandatory document for application of ISO/IEC 17020 is currently being developed by ILAC. This document has been out for comment and is expected to be finalized before the end of the year for implementation.

(f) SS 590:2013, Singapore Standard for HACCP-Based Food Safety Management Systems – Requirements for any Organisation in the Food Chain

This new Singapore Standard published in Jan 2013 will replace the Singapore Accreditation Council (SAC) HACCP Document No. 2, which is the existing document for companies to attain HACCP certification in Singapore. A two-year transition period has been set for the migration of this standard.

SAC accredited certification bodies are required to migrate their current certifications using SAC HACCP Document No. 2 to SS 590 by 10 Jan 2016.