A2LA Recognized by NIST to Accredit Notified Bodies for European Union’s EMC and Radio Equipment Directives
Frederick, MD (PRWEB) February 12, 2016 -- A2LA is pleased to announce its recognition by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as an Accreditation Body offering Notified Body (NB) accreditation under ISO/IEC 17020:2012, ISO/IEC 17025:2005, and ISO/IEC 17065:2012. Currently, A2LA is the only accreditation body recognized by NIST to offer accreditation to all three conformity assessment standards.
These standards form the basis for NB accreditation based on Section 4 of NIST’s Requirements & Application for U.S. Conformity Assessment Bodies Seeking EU Radio Equipment Directive (RED) 2014/53/EU Notified Body Status and Requirements & Application of U.S. Conformity Assessment Bodies Seeking Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) Directive 2014/30/EU Notified Body Status, which both state that “The [organization] shall obtain formal accreditation for its Notified Body activities.”
The newly published Directives become effective in a relatively short window of time, at which point the NB accreditation requirements come into place – April 20, 2016 for the EMC Directive, and June 13, 2016 for the RED. Regardless of the timeframe, A2LA stands ready with resources devoted to ensuring prompt attention to all interested parties’ needs. For existing accredited organizations, provisions are also in place which allow for the update of current A2LA scopes of accreditation in an efficient manner, likely through a “remote assessment” (as opposed to an on-site assessment) in most cases. Options are available for interested applicants to pursue accreditation to any of the three aforementioned conformity assessment standards.
For additional information or to request an estimate of costs associated with accreditation for the A2LA Notified Body Accreditation Program, please contact Ms. Megan McConnell at 240 575 7492 or mmcconnell(at)A2LA(dot)org.
ABOUT A2LA: A2LA is a nonprofit, non-governmental, public service, membership society. A2LA provides world-class accreditation and training services for testing and calibration laboratories, inspection bodies, proficiency testing providers, reference material producers and product certifiers. Services are available to any type of organization, be it in the private or government sector.
Kelsey Roberts, A2LA, http://www.A2LA.org, +1 (240) 575-7499, [email protected]
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