. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/TBT/W/68/Add.2
13 August 1998
(98-3177)
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:  English
REQUEST FOR OBSERVER STATUS BY THE INTERNATIONAL LABORATORY
ACCREDITATION COOPERATION (ILAC)
Addendum
The following communication has been received from the Chairman of the International
Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC).
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1. ILAC consists of individual body members and also regional cooperation members.  Some
organizations participate in both ways while others may be represented only by an appropriate
regional cooperation.  Laboratory accreditation bodies not participating as members in either capacity
may still benefit from the ILAC work through relations with individual body members.
The current Regional Body members are:
- Asia Pacific Laboratory A ccreditation Cooperation (APLAC)
- European cooperation for Accreditation (EA)
- Interamerican Accreditation Cooperation (IAAC)
- Southern African Regional Accreditation Cooperation (SARAC)
2. Each of these bodies seeks to work with all accreditation bodies, either existing or in
formation, within its immediate regional and adjoining countries or economies.  So, for instance, EA
has extensive assistance programmes with all eastern European countries;  APLAC, which covers the
APEC economies plus India and Viet Nam directly, also offers assistance, on request, to the Indian
Ocean rim countries;  and IAAC also interacts with the Caribbean area.  These networks, therefore,provide access by accreditation bodies anywhere to ILAC work and information.
3. From direct experience in the Asia Pacific area, APLAC undertakes a number of programmes,
all aimed at assisting accreditation bodies in the region to achieve performance levels which will
enable them to be full participants in any rele vant mutual recognition activity.  These assistance
programmes include training both within host bodies  in the mature systems and also in the developing
country itself and technical assistance, particularly through proficiency testing exercises which focus
on the testing needs of the participants.G/TBT/W/68/Add.2
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4. ILAC itself provides direct inputs into specific programmes within international agencies,
such as UNIDO and FAO.  For instance during 1998 ILAC has been active in the development of the
IAEC/FAO programme for the accreditation of animal health laboratories with special attention to the
needs of developing countries, and we have also worked with UNIDO on the development of a
progamme of Pre-Peer Evaluation of accr editation bodies in developing countries.
5. Similarly, individual body members of ILAC provide experts to projects funded through the
aid agencies and bodies such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.  In all of these
endeavours, the work undertaken in ILAC provides the technical and administrative basis for training
and assistance activities related to accreditation of laboratories.  For instance, Australia has, in the
past, provided experts to projects in Turkey, Nepa l, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and will
shortly also provide some expertise to Uganda.  Other ILAC member bodies do likewise.
6. ILAC's activities are not restricted to its members and its outputs are for the benefit of
accreditation bodies and users of laboratory test data anywhere.  Membership of ILAC is not
restricted in any way and its fees, to support a secretariat, are designed to ensure that those best able to
pay make the most substantial contributions do so  but that no single member, or group of members
from a single economy, has undue financial influence.  All members have equal rights.  In addition,
the membership of the Executive Committee (the governing board) has special provision forparticipation by countries not participating in any of the Regional Cooperation member bodies.
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