Newsletter of the South African National Accreditation ...SANAS December 2018.pdf · Newsletter of the South African National Accreditation System 02 The year end is fast approaching

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Newsletter of the South African National Accreditation System

CONTENTS

December 2018

CEO Festive season message................................................................................................... Pg 02

Transition from ISO/IEC 17025:2005 to ISO/IEC 17025:2017 ................................................... Pg 03

Revised ISO/IEC 17011:2017................................................................................................... Pg 03

SANAS Team attended 2018 IAF-ILCAC Joint Annual Meeting in Singapore .......................... Pg 04

SANAS moved to the new building ........................................................................................ Pg 05

SANAS Partnerships .............................................................................................................. Pg 06

SANAS to host the 2019 OECD GLP Training Course ............................................................... Pg 07

SANAS marketing and communications interventions .......................................................... Pg 08

Regional updates: 9Th AFRAC General Assembly Meetings .................................................... Pg 09

Farewell to SANAS Board 2009 – 2018 ................................................................................... Pg 12

02Newsletter of the South African National Accreditation System

The year end is fast approaching where many of us spend time with family and friends over the holidays. This is also time to reflect on life and look ahead to the new coming year, making new resolutions.

On behalf of SANAS Management I would like to extend our special wishes for a Happy Holiday to our devoted employees, our assessors, committee members and SANAS clients and their loved ones. Summer holidays are considered to be one of the most joyous time of the year, filled with festivities and gift giving. We are grateful for your service and support, we always wish you well all year.

I would like to share my thoughts as we end the year, as I reflect over the years since joining SANAS, I can’t help but feel very blessed. I am blessed by being given the opportunity to join accreditation family and guide its’ growth. Furthermore, I am blessed by being surrounded by so many passionate employees Board member, and SANAS assessors who are dedicated in what they do. Our success this year and always, is due to our staff members, SANAS stakeholders and clients through their trust placed in accreditation.

To date, we have made significant strides towards our 2018 goals with some exciting initiatives well under way. Here are a few of those achievements and initiatives:

● African Region Accreditation Cooperation (AFRAC) achieved its international recognition status to the ILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) Multi-Lateral Arrangement (MLA) in May 2018.

● Transition from ISO/IEC 17025:2005 to ISO/IEC 17025:2017 is on track.● Moreover, SANAS has aligned couple of documents to the revised ISO/IEC 17011:2017● A notable accomplishment for SANAS is the partnership established with SEDA in support of SMME development. ● Furthermore, a partnership had been established with the Medicals Control Council, to support the accreditation of

bodies that will certify medical devices manufacturers.

We wish everyone a happy holiday filled with cheer, warm memories, and happiness. We are looking forward to a new year to improve the lives of our fellow South African citizens in 2019.

HAPPY FESTIVE SEASON!!TO THOSE WHO WILL BE TRAVELLING OVER THIS PERIOD, HAVE A SAFE JOURNEY

CEO Festive season message

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TRANSITION FROM ISO/IEC 17025:2005 TO ISO/IEC 17025:2017 The review of the ISO/IEC 17025 was started in February 2015 and culminated into the publication of the new version on the 30November 2017. The last revision was published in 2005, consequently, there was a pressing need for the standard to be revised. This transition will affect more than 600 accredited Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs)

Step One

Main reasons why the standard needed to be revised were:• Developments in Information Technology (IT)• Changes in market conditions• Alignment to ISO 9001

Step Two

Publishing of the standard:A three-year transition period commenced 01 December 2017 and ending 30 November 2020

Step Four

Transition: This will include on-site assessment of CABs, to verify implementation of the new requirements.

All accredited CABs must have been successfully assessed to the new standard by 30 November 2020.

Step Five2018/19 and 2019/2020 Assessments:

As from 01 December 2018, all assessments to be done against ISO/IEC 17025:2017. Non-conformances against the new standard will be addressed as per the SANAS normal procedure.

Two months prior to the on-site assessment, CABs will have to submit a fully completed transition template to SANAS

Step Six

Transition cut –off date: (30 November 2020)

CABs that were unable to transitionsuccessfully will be automatically suspended after the 30 November 2020.

Re-instatement will require on-site visit to confirm full compliance to the new standard and the cost for the visit will be for the CABs account.

Step ThreeSANAS Transition Plan

The transitions plan has taken into account the time remaining for both SANAS and CABs to ensure that the new requirements have been fully implemented. Based on this plan CABs will have two full years to transition from 2005 to 2017 version.

Details of the transition can be found in the SANAS TG 52 document which is available on SANAS website www.sanas.za

Source: Shadrack PhophiCompiled by: Nombongo Ngobe

ISO and AFRACtraining for the AFRAC Secretariat

REVISED ISO/IEC 17011: 2017

In November 2017, the revised ISO/IEC 17011:2017 was published

NOTE BELOW SANAS DOCUMENTS THAT ARE ALIGNED TO ISO/IEC 17011 : 2017 TO DATEDocument number

Document name

A 01-10 References, Acronyms and Definitions

F 03-09 Non-conformance, Corrective Action and Clearance Report

F 04-11 Recommendation Report

F 117-05 ISO/IEC 17011 Internal Audit Checklist

P 06-09 Preparation of Reports

P 10-08 Accreditation Certificates

R 51-08 Suspension, Reduction, Withdrawal and Re-instatement of Accredited / Compliant Organisations

SANAS Managers were trained on main changes of ISO/IEC 17011 : 2017

Relevant stakeholders were consulted on proposed changes

Documents circulated to employees for comments prior to approval

SANAS changed documents so far


This was the 25th Joint Annual Meetings. Accreditation Bodies (ABs) worldwide came together to discuss general issues regarding accreditation. They also had discussions on new developments of standards that are a� ecting the Conformity Assessment Bodies.

Source: Mr John Ndalamo

Mr Josias accepting AFRAC international recognition certificate

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SANAS MOVED TO THE NEW BUILDINGPrepared by Nombongo Ngobe

SANAS offices were located at the Department of Trade and Industry campus (the dti) Sunnyside for over ten years. Due to the organisational growth, the allocated space at the dti campus became too small to accommodate all SANAS staff members. As a result, the SANAS rented office space in Brooklyn for the training department and accreditation specialists.

SANAS moved to its new offices after years of planning and preparation. The building was officially inaugurated by Honourable Minister of the dti Dr Rob Davies at World Accreditation Day event on the 08th June 2018. The new office is situated in Pretoria East, Equestria and has sufficient space to accommodate all SANAS staff members under one roof and it is ideal for future growth.


SANAS PARTNERSHIPS1. SANAS AND South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI) PARTNERSHIPBy Tumelo Ledimo

SANAS and SANEDI, are in partnership on a project for the Measurement and Verification body incubation programme. SANEDI was established in terms of National Energy Act, 34 of 2008 section 7.

The incubation programme is aimed at increasing number of the accredited energy efficiency measurement and verification bodies that conduct measurement and verification work in relation to 12L Tax Incentive for energy efficiency saving. Since the inception of the 12L Tax Incentive for energy efficiency savings and measurement and verification bodies’ accreditation by SANAS as provided for in the 12L Tax Incentive for energy efficiency saving, there have been six accredited measurement and verification bodies. This incubation programme will provide the small medium enterprises with the opportunity to be accredited and increase the number of accredited measurement and verification bodies.

2. SANAS has partnered with Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA)Compiled by Nombongo Ngobe

SANAS is committed to the country’s transformational agenda and the policy objectives of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE). SANAS believes that B-BBEE is more than a regulatory requirement; it is a pre-requisite for South African businesses to move forward towards the transformation and inclusivity of the country and the Economy.

SANAS has partnered with Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA), with the goal of funding the developing incubators. This partnership is established with SEDA in support of SMME Development. SANAS is limited by the ISO 17011 under the impartiality clause to be directly involved in activities that might pose a threat to impartiality, SANAS partnered with SEDA as funders of the SMME’s in order to manage the risk and to also administer the funding process in a non-discriminatory way.

The aim of this funding is to support the developing Small Medium Enterprises (SMME’s) within the Conformity Assessment space, and the previously disadvantaged individuals as per the obligations of the B-BBEE Act. The chosen SMMEs will be assessed by SEDA and accredited on their fulfilment of accreditation criteria and must be in line with governing legislation and initiatives.

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SANAS TO HOST THE 2019 OECD GLP TRAINING COURSEBy Shadrack Phophi

The OECD GLP Working Group of which South Africa through SANAS is part of, has officially nominated South Africa as the host of the GLP training course which will be held in Cape Town during the month of October 2019. The GLP training course has been running since 1990, thus the 2019 training is going to be the 14th edition. Since its inception, 11 countries had the privilege of hosting the GLP training course. Of the eleven (11) countries, only four (4) were from outside Europe.

The OECD Principles of Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) are a managerial quality control system covering the organisational process and the conditions under which non-clinical health and environmental studies are planned, performed, monitored, recorded and reported. The OECD Principles of GLP are followed by test facilities carrying out studies to be submitted to national authorities for the purposes of assessing the health and environmental safety of chemicals and chemical products which may also be of natural or biological origin and, in some circumstances, maybe living organisms.

South Africa made history in 2002 to be the first non-OECD member country to be accepted as full-adherent to the GLP Mutual Acceptance of Data (MAD). The MAD was opened up to non-OECD members in 1997 and since the acceptance of South Africa as a full-adherent, 5 more non-OECD members joined the MAD namely: Argentina, Brazil, India, Malaysia and Singapore. Once again, SANAS will make history by being the first African Accreditation Body to host the OECD GLP training course in 2019.


SANAS MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS INTERVENTIONSBy Nombongo Ngobe

1. Communications meetingsThe Annual Communications meetings were held during September 2018. These meetings took place at four regionsnamely: Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Gauteng and Durban. The purpose of the meeting is to communicate changes, notification, resolutions and important matters concerning accreditation (to existing SANAS external stakeholders).

The agenda items covered, amongst others, the following technical and non-technical matters: ● SANAS overview and updates;● Customer survey feedback;● ISO/IEC 17011:2017 Updates● ISO/IEC 17025:2017 Transition● ILAC/IAF and AFRAC updatesFacilities that have been SANAS accredited for a period of twenty (20) years were recognised. Congratulations to these facilities on this milestone, SANAS acknowledges the key role they play in safeguarding South African citizens amongst other the health and safety in the country.

2. SANAS Building better relations with industry related bodies and organisations.We exhibited at three conferences during the month of September and October.● Tertiary Institutions – Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) Arcadia Campus hosted Research Day and University

of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) hosted Post Graduate Day, SANAS participated at both events.● SANAS also partook at the Test and Measurement conference that was held in Cape Town.

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REGIONAL UPDATES9TH AFRAC GENERAL ASSEMBLY MEETINGS 24 –28 SEPTEMBER 2018The African Accreditation Cooperation (AFRAC) held its 9th General Assembly meetings from 24 – 28 September 2018 at the InterContinental Mauritius Resort Balaclava Fort in Mauritius. The meetings were hosted by the Mauritius Accreditation Service (MAURITAS) a recently admitted Arrangement Member and Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) Signatory. 31 members states were represented at the General Assembly meetings.

The official Opening Ceremony for the 9th AFRAC General Assembly meetings was held on 24 September 2018 and were officially opened the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Consumer Protection, Honourable Ashit Kumar Gungah. He welcomed all guests on behalf of the government of Mauritius and extended his warm welcome to all delegates. He congratulated AFRAC and its AB members for their roles played towards the international recognition of AFRAC. He added that the international recognition of AFRAC came at an opportune time with the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area in March 2018 which was set to become the world’s largest free trade area with a market of 1,2 billion people. He added that it was estimated that the agreement would boost intra African trade by 52% by 2022. He advised that the Mauritius government placed international accreditation recognition high on their priority list to reach their aspirations to have sustained growth and become a high-income economy.

The opening ceremony was followed by numerous meetings of the committees and working groups where 2018/19 workplans were presented to the General Assembly for approval. The MRA Council agreed that the AFRAC MRA Signatory status of SANAS – South Africa and EGAC – Egypt be continued and that the two ABs signatory status be granted for the FSMS Certification to ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015 and ISO/TS 22003:2013, which is a new Certification scope offered by AFRAC, and for which AFRAC has recently obtained its recognition through IAF. MAURITAS was granted AFRAC signatory status following their Peer Evaluation that took place in May 2018. They are the sixth edition to the AFRAC MRA Signatories. Three trainee Evaluators were qualified which included Mr Shadrack Phophi for the scope of Testing . Three evaluators were qualified as AFRAC team leaders, which included Mrs Maureen Mutasa from SADCAS.

AFRAC Opening Ceremony Delegates Delegates during the Risk Management workshop


An interactive Risk Management workshop, facilitated by Mr Ismail Abdoola – SANAS CFO, was held on 26 September 2018 in Mauritius, as part of the AFRAC General Assembly meetings... The workshop was open to all attendees, and was based around ABs understanding and application of risk management principles.. The workshop was well received by all, with congratulations to Mr Abdoola for the excellent facilitation in imparting of his knowledge.

2018/19 Committee Work plans were approved during the General Assembly meeting, held on 28 September 2018 and are available on the AFRAC website www.intra-afrac.com. These include workplans of the AFRAC Technical Committee, Marketing and Communication Committee, MRA Committee and EXCO. The Treasurer presented the AFRAC expenditure report for the period under review and the 2018/19 budget was approved by the General Assembly. Elections were held during the General Assembly meeting for the following seven (7) Office Bearers, who were elected for a period of 2 years:

● Mr Ron Josias – SANAS CEO was elected as the AFRAC Chair

● Ms Maureen Mutasa from the Southern African Development Community Accreditation Service (SADCAS) was elected as the AFRAC MRA Council Chair

● Mr Hany Eldesouki from the Egyptian Accreditation Council (EGAC) was elected as the AFRAC MRA Council Vice Chair;

● Eng. Mahmoud Eltayeb from the Egyptian Accreditation Council (EGAC) was elected as the AFRAC MRA Committee Vice Chair;

● Mr Mahesh Koolwont from MAURITAS was elected as the AFRAC Technical Committee Vice Chair;

● Dr Lawrena Okoro from the Nigeria National Accreditation Service (NiNAS) was elected as the AFRAC Marketing and Communications Committee Chair; and

● Ms Elizabeth Muema from the Kenya Accreditatioon Service (KENAS) was elected as the AFRAC Marketing and Communications Committee Vice Chair.

Newly elected Office bearers

Continued on page 11

Continued from page 9Continued from page 9

Congratulations were extended to all of the newly elected o� ce bearers!

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The general assembly expressed their appreciation to the outgoing office bearers for their hard work and commitment in their terms of office.

A gala dinner was held in celebration of the international recognition of AFRAC to the ILAC and IAF MRAs. The dinner kicked off with a signing ceremony where new AFRAC member received their membership certificates, along with signing of the MAURITAS MRA Signatory certificate as well as the SANAS and EGAC updated MRA Signatory

certificates. Certificates of appreciation were handed to delegates for their invaluable contributions towards the advancement of AFRAC. Once the formalities were out of the way the dinner celebrations started with a buffet and live entertainment by a local dance group.

The 2019 AFRAC Mid-year meetings will be held in Kenya and the next General Assembly meetings will be held in September 2019 in Cote D’Ivoire.

The 9th AFRAC General Assembly Meeting Delegates

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