Accreditation News

Hello

Welcome to the March edition of Accreditation News, providing regular updates on JAS-ANZ accreditation system and associated schemes.

JAS-ANZ provides accreditation services to certification and inspection organisations under the direction of the Australian and New Zealand Governments.

You may have noticed some changes...

JAS-ANZ has a new look!  It has been one year since we published our new website and in the meantime we have been busily updating all of our templates to match - including our brand new newsletter. Please let us know what you think.

JAS-ANZ Forms Alliance with Quality Trade

In the year ahead you can expect to hear more about how JAS-ANZ intends to increase value to our CABs and certified organisations. One such initiative is our recent alliance with QualityTrade, an online B2B portal that aims to connect quality conscious buyers with trusted, high quality, certified suppliers.

A Review of Applications in 2015

Applications for accreditation continued to grow during the 2015 calendar year. A total of 20 applications were submitted over the year, 11 were eventually accepted. 8 were declined for a variety of reasons and 1 was voluntarily withdrawn.

Most commonly, applications failed because insufficient information was provided to complete the application process. For applications that were accepted and subsequently declined, the reviews revealed efforts to conceal or falsify information relevant to determining the application. These were terminated on discovery.

Assessment of system documentation showed a poor understanding of the role of a CAB and the Accreditation requirements.

Applicants declined were from the following locations: Russia (1), India (6), China (1).

Applicants were accepted from the following locations: USA (2), Japan (1), India (5), Australia (1), Dubai (1), Taiwan (1).

If you are interested in applying please fill out an application enquiry form.

Human Services Scheme Update

In February 2016 the Human Services Part 2 – Human Services Quality Framework and Human Services Part 4 – Human Services in Victoria schemes both had revisions published.

These schemes aim to provide certification bodies with more flexibility whilst improving consistent application of key requirements, and each also has specific enhancements to better support service providers.

UAE Halal Certification Scheme

JAS-ANZ has become only the third accreditation body to be recognised by Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology (ESMA) as a recognised Accreditation Body for the UAE Halal certification scheme.

The UAE Halal Certification Scheme has been established by ESMA to underpin the importation of Halal certified products into the UAE, so that UAE consumers can have greater confidence in the status of the food they consume.

IAF MLA Scope Extensions

In 2014 IAF MLA extended the scope of 26 accreditation bodies to include Global.G.A.P Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) scheme. In 2015 IAF MLA have also agreed to extend the Pacific Accreditation Cooperation’s (PAC) scope to include Food Safety Management Systems (FSMS) and Information Security Management Systems (ISMS).

These extensions allow the accreditation bodies and their accredited CABs to use the IAF MLA Mark in accordance once their licence agreements have been extended to include Global.G.A.P. IFA, FSMS and ISMS.

ISO 9001 & 14001 and the JAS-ANZ Register

With the publishing of the new versions of ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, only these base standards will appear on the JAS-ANZ register, without the AS/NZS prefix.  

This is mainly due to the confusion that this might cause given the difference in dates between the two – the AS/NZS versions not being published until 2016.

We want your input!

JAS-ANZ would like to welcome industry professionals to contribute to the JAS-ANZ newsletter.

If you have a story of excellence you would like to share with us, or an article you would like to see published, please contact us and we will get back to you as soon as possible.