ISO meeting attracts more than 90 international experts on conformity assessment - a vital component of world trade
More than 90 international experts participated in an ISO meeting on 5 October 2011 in Montreux, Switzerland, to exchange information, views and experience on conformity assessment, the name given to the processes that are used to demonstrate that a product, service, management system, person or organization meets specified requirements, such as those of standards. Conformity assessment is an important component of world trade and global supply chains, and provides support for government regulation.
Participants at the ISO/CASCO Open day on conformity assessment, 5 Octobre 2011 in Montreux, Switzerland [Photo: ISO/Tranchard]
Olivier Peyrat, ISO/CASCO Chair, in his opening address underlined the importance of making the meeting sessions as interactive as possible. To make sure the event was accessible to the maximum of people, the proceedings could be followed on the Internet.
One of the main sessions, led by Geoff Visser, consultant, focused on the best practices for establishing and operating "national mirror committees" which follow the work ISO's international standards development committees. This session sought to discuss and share ideas on how to identify and engage stakeholders effectively in the formation of effective mirror committees which are key in the ISO process for developing consensus.
The second session, led by Randy A Dougherty and Alister Dalrymple, co-convenors of CASCO working group WG 21 concentrated on the changes to ISO/IEC 17021:2011, Conformity assessment – Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management system, published in February 2011. They presented a tutorial on the standard developed to help people better understand the revisions made. An introductory session run by Olivier Peyrat and Sean MacCurtain, Head of Conformity Assessment, ISO Central Secretariat, helped the participants to familiarize themselves with the CASCO plenary issues and documents.
Parallel sessions were also held on five of the ISO/CASCO working groups (WG). Marcus Schmid, Convenor of WG 31 spoke on the revision of the existing ISO/IEC 17020:1998, General criteria for the operation of various types of bodies performing inspection.
Laurent Camberou, Convenor WG 33, presented the development of ISO/IEC TS 17022, Conformity assessment – Requirements and recommendations for the content of a third-party audit report on management systems.
Christian Priller, Convenor of WG 29, on the certification of products spoke on the revision of ISO/IEC Guide 65:1996, General requirements for bodies operating product certification systems and the future ISO/IEC 17065, Conformity assessment – Requirements for bodies certifying products, processes and services.
Christian Priller on behalf of Ian Cleare, Convenor of WG 32, presented the revision of ISO/IEC Guide 67, Conformity assessment – Fundamentals of product certification.
Cynthia Woodley, Convenor of WG 30, spoke on the revision of ISO/IEC 17024, Conformity assessment – General requirements for bodies operating certification of persons.
Olivier Peyrat is coming to the end of his service as the ISO/CASCO Chair. His successor will be Lane Hallenbeck, as of January 2011.
Kevin Mckinley, ISO Deputy Secretary-General, at the end of the first day of the ISO/CASCO plenary meeting, paid tribute to Olivier Peyrat for "getting the job done for ISO/CASCO" in giving it added impetus in customer orientation and process innovation. Mr. Peyrat's contributions make the policy work carried out by ISO/CASCO more efficient and focused and highlighted his skills as a communicator, as well as his qualities as "a real gentleman".
