The German National Accreditation Body DAkkS and Assurance Services International (ASI) are pleased to announce a new form of partnership - bringing together national accreditation and ASI expertise in worldwide sustainability certification oversight.
The European Commission has extended the harmonisation status of the laboratory standard EN ISO/IEC 17025:2005. Accreditations that are based on this older version of the international standard and are not converted to the new version of the standard on schedule will now not lose their validity until 1 July 2021, as opposed to the earlier date of 1 January 2021.
Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle (DAkkS) is responding to the continuing restrictions on contact and travel and is extending the use of remote assessments. Whereas remote assessments were previously intended only as a replacement for necessary surveillance assessments and reassessments during the period of restrictions caused by the corona pandemic, they can now also be used under certain circumstances for the processing of applications for extension.
Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle (DAkkS) today publishes comprehensive guidelines for its clients on how to carry out remote assessments. As far as possible, these replace necessary surveillance assessments and reassessments for the period of the restrictions caused by the corona pandemic.
Given the spread of the coronavirus and taking into account the recommendations of the German Federal Government, the Robert Koch Institute and other competent authorities, the DAkkS has taken measures to protect employees, assessors and clients. DAkkS will continue to fulfil its authoritative task and is asking its clients for understanding for the changes the adopted measures will bring in relation to our procedures
On 20 December 2019 starts the Twinning project to strengthen the accreditation system with the focus on EU technical regulations in Georgia. Within the German-Italian consortium the DAkkS is responsible for the project leadership and project management of the two-year project.
Looking toward the end of the Twinning project “Strengthening the National Accreditation System of the Republic of Azerbaijan”, the project partners extended invitations to a closing event in Baku, Azerbaijan, on 1 October 2019. Among those attending were the German National Accreditation Body DAkkS in its role as lead partner and project manager, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) in its role as project leader, the accreditation bodies of Italy and Latvia, ACCREDIA and LATAK, as well as the Ambassador of the European Delegation and representatives of the Azerbaijani Accreditation Centre (AzAK).
On 14 February, Cecilie Laake, Director General of Norsk Akkreditering (NA) and Tove Kristin Dokka, Accreditation Manager at the Norwegian accreditation body, visited DAkkS. Topics covered in the bilateral exchange included the new risk-based approach for the assessment programme, the organisational structures of DAkkS and the new fee regulation.
At the beginning of February, Dr. Stephan Finke, Chief Executive Officer of the German National Accreditation Body (Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle, DAkkS), welcomed the General Director of the Azerbaijani Accreditation Centre (AZAC),
Since 2015, the German National Accreditation Body (Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle, DAkkS) has been part of what is now a ten-year success story of international cooperation. In cooperation with the German Institute for Standardization (DIN) and on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), DAkkS is responsible for the core element of the “National TBT Enquiry Point Germany”.
