44th MEETING (1st General Assembly)
Tuesday, 28 May 2024, 14h00 -18h00
Board Room – 305-307
Songdo Convensia, Incheon, Korea– 20th WCNDTAttendees
S K Babu
B Alves
D Bajula
M Bakoura
K Balasubramanian
J ConteI CooperN Couture
L DickP Fisch
A Garcia
E Gonzalez
F Gomez
G Idinger
I IharaK-Y JhangJ I Jung Yuan
M Johannes
J KurzT Lutsenko
E Martin
I Mukriz
B Muthuramalingam
T Ogata
R Raisutis
C Raspado
K Sahaimi
P Trampus
E Tuberosa
G Tubrett
P Wadyalkar
C Wassink
C-C Yin

ICNDT Chair & NDTSS (Singapore)FSEND-RELACRE (Portugal)
PANNDTCANDT (Cameroon)/AFNDTISNT (India)/APFNDTABENDI (Brazil)
BINDT (United Kingdom)
ASNT (USA)NZNDTA (New Zealand)
SSNT (Switzerland)
AAENDE (Argentina)
AEND (Spain)
EFNDTÖGfZP (Austria)
JSNDI (Japan)
KSNT (Korea)
CHSNDT (China)
SAINT (South Africa)
DGZfP (Germany)
USNDT (Ukraine)
COFREND (France)
MSNT (Malaysia)
NDTSS (Singapore)
APFNDT
LNBD (Lithuania)
PSNT (Phillippines)
COMEND (Morocco)/ AFNDTMAROVISZ (Hungary)
AIPND (Italy)
CINDE (Canada)/ PANNDTAINDT (Australia)
KINT (Netherlands)
SNTCT (China Taiwan)
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Non-voting
VotingVotingVotingVotingVotingVotingVotingVotingVotingVotingVotingVotingVotingVotingVotingVotingVotingVotingVotingVotingVotingVotingVotingVotingVotingVotingVotingVotingVotingVotingVotingVoting1

C Almeida
J Amsler
C Belinco
C BirdJ ChenY Cho
L Costa
S Egerland
J M Farley
D Gilbert
J Gillmer
M Gomez
S Infanzon
E Jasiuniene
D Marshall
S OokaV Rajamani
H Seo
D Tan Beng Siew
T WenzelK A M Salleh

RELACRE (Portugal)
AAENDE (Argentina)
AAENDE (Argentina)
ICNDT ICEC Secretary
ASNT (USA)
KSNT (Korea)/20th WCNDT President
IIW
IIW
ICNDT Past ChairICNDT General Secretary
NZNDTA (New Zealand)
AEND (Spain)
AENDUR (Uruguay)
LNBD (Lithuania)
CINDE (Canada)ISO
ISNT (India)
KSNT (Korea)
NDTSS (Singapore)
DGZfP (Germany)
MSNT (Malaysia)

Non-voting
Non-voting
Non-voting
Non-voting
Non-voting
Non-voting
Non-voting
Non-voting
Non-voting
Non-voting
Non-voting
Non-voting
Non-voting
Non-voting
Non-voting
Non-voting
Non-voting
Non-voting
Non-voting
Non-voting
Non-voting

Observers
A A Abas
V K Babu
F Bey
E Cabral
K Cambridge
J-F ChaiW T Chan
S Cunningham
R Davies
M Eyheralde
C Finley
R Hoshi
H Jansen
G Liming
K KuboY Kuksawa
A Malcolm
S Mandayam
A Omimara
N OokaV Prabu
N Sihlahla
K SmithR Vivek
K Yoshida

MSNT (Malaysia)
HKSNT (Hong Kong)
COFREND (France)
CINDE (Canada)/PANNDTBINDT (United Kingdom)
SNTCT (China Taiwan)
HKSNT (Hong Kong)
BINDT (United Kingdom)
SAINT (South Africa)
AENDUR (Uruguay)
ASNT (USA)JSNDI (Japan)
ICEC/SAIW (South Africa)
ASNT (USA)JSNDI (Japan)
JSNDI (Japan)
NDTSS (Singapore)
ISNT (India)
JSNDI (Japan)
JSNDI (Japan)
NDTSS (Singapore)
SAINT (South Africa)
ASNT (USA)ISNT (India)
JSNDI (Japan)

Regional voting (2 per region)
RegionAFNDT
EFNDTAPFNDT
PANNDT

K Sahaimi
F Gomez
T Ogata
G TubrettVoting members
M Bakoura
F Gomez
K Balasubramanian
D Bajula

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1.

WelcomeS Babu welcomed all to the 2024 GA1 meeting.
Apologies had been received from G Aufricht and G Nardoni. Apologies were also received
from Antonio Aulicino from Brazil who had unfortunately been admitted to hospital upon his
arrival at WCNDT. Best wishes were expressed to Antonio for a speedy recovery.
S Babu explained that every Member country would have one vote and, in line with the revised
Constitution, every Region now had two votes. If the representative of a Region is also the
President of that Region, then that person would have two votes.
It was noted that there would not be any voting at the GA1 but attendees would be issued witha voting slip at the GA2, according to their rights.
A full quorum was recorded which included IEC members and Regional Federations andparticipants gave a round of applause for the IEC members.
Participants were reminded to complete the form to update their particulars, email addresses,
society contact details etc.
S Babu noted a small change to the agenda, i.e. GA1 was the 44th Meeting. There have been
three GAs since the last conference and all of the minutes are available on the website.

2.

Memoriam
No official information from any societies has been received.

3.

Roll Call
All present introduced themselves and confirmed whether they were a voting or non-voting
member.

4.

Procedures for voting and confirmation of quorum
S Babu advised that within ICNDT membership there are Full Members and Regional
Members. Each Region has two nominated voting members and each Full Member has one
voting member. Observers, Associate, Liaison and Honorary Members do not have voting
rights. Members who have not paid their 2023 fees were also not entitled to vote.
The requirement for a quorum was 33% of Full Members which equated to 24 out of the 72
Members.
The meeting was declared quorate with 29 voting members present plus 8 votes from theRegions, i.e. a total of 37 voting persons present. One proxy vote was allowed for each voting
member but there would be no proxy votes at this meeting.

5.

Approval of Minutes of ICNDT General Assembly/42nd Meeting
The minutes of the last GA held on 15th June 2022 had been circulated. This had been an
online meeting and the minutes were presented. S Babu thanked the secretariat at BINDT for
circulating the minutes.

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Action Ref.
No.
GA/2021-07-19/..
1.

Desc.

WHO

Look at WG objectives on
the new website and send
any comments to S Ooka.

WG Chairs

Update 15/06/22 – the new
website has been developed
and S Ooka is incommunication with all of the
WG Chairs.

STATUS/COMPLETE BY
Ongoing.

Complete.

Update 28/05/24 – S Babu isin communication with all
WG Chairs and this isongoing. The new website
is now in place.

6.

ICNDT business
6.1 Report on Annual Meeting (25 January 2024, Balance 2023, Budget 2024 and fees)
The 2024 Annual Meeting minutes were also reviewed. This was held as a hybrid meeting on
25 January 2024 and the minutes had been circulated.
The Annual Report and Finances were presented at this meeting and S Babu highlighted
G Aufricht’s presentation on the finances which had been pre-approved by the IEC. ICNDT had
a modest financial year with an opening balance of €160,139 and closed the year with anallocation to reserves of €158,314. Income from membership fees was €14,981 against the
expectation of €23,000. The shortfall was due to several unpaid membership fees.
Fees for ICNDT services for conformity assessments for ICNDT MRA Schedule 2 is asignificant part of the income. Expenditure in 2023 included auditor fees, meetings, office costs
and professional services by the ICEC Secretary who does an excellent job.
The auditors examined the accounts in 2023 and recommended approval at GA1.
On a proposal by G Tubrett, seconded by B Muthuramalingam, the Minutes of the last GA and2024 Annual Meeting were approved.
Annual Report 2023
D Gilbert reported that the Annual Report had been circulated and copies were available. The
Annual Report covered reports of all of the meetings, committees, groups, including WGs and
SIGs. The report also included details of the Chairs activities during the year as well as reports
from all of the Regional Groups and Federations. The financial reports were covered towards
the end of the Annual Report.
The budget for 2024 showed a large revenue of €50k expected as a donation from KSNT fromthe WCNDT.
On a proposal by I Cooper, seconded by D Bajula, the Annual Report, Balance 2023, Budget
2024 and fees were unanimously approved.

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6.2 Notification and approval of Operating Procedures issued since last GA
OP18 Rev 4 and OP20 Rev 3 were approved at the 2022 GA.
OP19 Rev 6 was presented for approval at this GA and C Bird highlighted the followingchanges:
The main update was to extend the procedure to allow for remote audits. This had been
triggered by the pandemic when face to face audits could not be performed so this was brought
in as an emergency item. It has been decided to keep this as a permanent thing but we would
only allow remote audits when there is an internationally recognised situation and not justbecause an organisation prefers it.
We have also brought in clarification of the use of the ICEC and ICNDT logos to specificallystate that the ICEC logo can only be used by Schedule 2 members.
Qualification of auditors – it had been noted that the International Accreditation Forum auditors
throughout the world did not require education in NDT. The ICEC had been seeing incidents inthe audit reports that were considered serious infringements of the ISO standards but thesewere not being highlighted by the auditors. Therefore, it has been brought in as a requirementthat auditors have a proven education in NDT. The IAF who are members of the Accreditation
Bodies have also put this into their own operating procedures.
S Babu commented that the 17024 auditors are system auditors who may not be technicallyaware of the details of NDT. Usually, they have a lead assessor and a technical assessor so
we have requested in our OP that the assessors should be certified as a NDT L3, haveprevious NDT L3 qualifications or be equally technically competent. There are three criteria
which have to be submitted to ICEC who will review it before auditing them to the Schedule 2
MRA.
The updated OP19 Rev 6 had been circulated to members for approval at the GA. On a
proposal by G Tubrett, seconded by J Conte, all were in favour and the document was
unanimously approved.
OP14 Rev 4 is a work in progress document and was not ready for approval today. WG4 hadsome input into this document which will go to the Annual Meeting in 2025 for approval. OP14is the procedure for the World Conference and WG4 has developed a supporting document.
The scope of this is that the Operating Procedures are firm procedures and guidelines for the
preparation of the paper proceedings for the World Conferences. Regional conferences and
ICNDT sponsored events are in accordance with the ICNDT Constitution 2018, Rev 4 andsection 4.1 in order to achieve ICNDT purposes. All scientific lectures and the issuing of
publications in this area are covered in OP14 and OP14 Appendix A primarily relates to theWorld Conferences.
It also requires Regional Conferences to follow the same process as a World Conference.
Discussions have been taking place over the last two years and we would like to introduce thisOP appendix to the next IEC meeting for approval at the next GA. The next WCNDT host andthe incoming WCNDT host were asked to contact S Ooka to get this document well in advance.
The document should be approved at the GA in 2025 and after that everyone will have toadhere to OP14, Rev 4.
7.

Nominations of Officers and Secretariat for 2024-2028
M Farley reported that the process was conducted in accordance with OP1 which defines how
to deal with proposals and nominations for Officers and for the Secretariat. A call for
nominations was sent to the full ICNDT membership, nominations came in and were reviewed
by the IEC. The IEC issued a complete list of two proposers and two nominators for eachUnconﬁrmed Minutes of ICNDT General Assembly 1
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position. Unfortunately, we were short of a nomination for the position of ICNDT Treasurer so
G Aufricht has agreed to continue for a further year. Voting will take place at the GA2 meetingfor the four-year period from the date of the GA2 to 2028. The list of nominations waspresented as follows:
Position
ICNDT ChairName
Dr Sajeesh K Babu
(Singapore)ICNDT General Secretary

Mr David Gilbert(UK)
VacantDr Caser Belinco(Argentina)
Dr Mike Farley
British Institute of NDT (UK)ICNDT Treasurer
World Conference President
ICNDT Past ChairNDT Society to provide
Secretariat

Proposed bySingapore, Malaysia,
Poland, Germany, Romania,
UK
UK, Singapore, Germany,
Poland, Romania
Argentina
UK, Singapore
UK, Germany, Poland,
Romania, Singapore

As there were no further nominations an election was not required in accordance with OP1.
The list also included nominations for the IEC which come from the Regions who automatically
become members of the IEC. There was a full set of nominations from Africa, Asia Pacific,
EFNDT and PANNDT. There are also further nominations for other positions that will beapproved by the GA.
The ICEC Chair is H Jansen. The new Chair of WG1 is Dr B Alves. J Conte is standing down
as Chair of WG2 after many years’ service and D Bajula has accepted a proposal from the IEC
to become Chair of WG2. Co-Chairs of WG3 were formed in the mid-term but Dr T Wenzel has
since become Co-Chair alongside Prof Y Cho.
The Chair of WG1 is S Ooka, and the WG5 Chair is D Gilbert. The WG6 is co-chaired by
C Belinco and L Gelman who are nominated for another term but there are some ongoing
discussions and this may be reviewed and may change mid-term. WG7 is chaired by M Farley.
Participants gave a round of applause for J Conte who was completing his term as WG2 Chairand has done an excellent job.
The list of SIGs was presented. M Farley advised that SIGs were only created a few years ago
and have been a growing part of ICNDT activities. Each of the SIGs were presented with their
Chair and the society that leads them. All of the SIGs are very active and the introduction of
new blood is welcomed into ICNDT.
M Farley reported that the SIG for Civil Engineering met this morning. The group was only
created very recently and is already very active. He congratulated C Belinco on the progressthat has already been made. This SIG already has three sub-groups looking at the different
aspects of NDT in civil engineering.
It was pleasing that all of the other SIGs (NDE 4.0, NDT Frontiers, Non-linear Ultrasonics and
NDT Reliability were all holding meetings during this WCNDT. We are open to further
suggestions for SIGs and one suggestion has been received for a SIG on NDT for the Nuclear
Industry. There is quite a lot of interest in this and it would be very well supported by our
Korean colleagues.
G Tubrett commented that the list of nominations shows that ICNDT is in good stead. Looking
to the future, it is good practice to have formal succession planning within organisations and hewished to go on record to say that the ICNDT should look at working on this to some capacity.
Within CINDE, it is assumed that the Vice Presidents will move up and they do succession
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planning in this way. Perhaps the ICNDT process should not be an open process and weshould consider a more formal process.
M Farley replied that this would need to be discussed within the IAC or IEC. G Tubrett had
made a good point but this time we only accepted the nominations that we had and we followed
the correct procedure. If we need to change the procedure then we should do that.
S Babu commented that the SIGs and WGs are a route for enriching newcomers into the
ICNDT. This will be an action item for WG7 for the process to be reviewed.
M Farley commented that it is very healthy that the people in the top three positions are notchanging. There are some changes in the regional representatives and WG chairs so there will
be new people at IEC meetings which is good.
8.

ICNDT Awards and Honorary Membership
8.1

Summary of ICNDT Awards presented at the Opening CeremonyAwards were presented during the WCNDT Opening Ceremony. Awards are issued every four
years in conjunction with the WCNDT. Nominations are requested from the IEC so when anomination request is received, all participants were asked to send in their society’s input.
The ICNDT awards have been reviewed by the IAC using a secret ballot and the awards are:
Rontgen Award for major contributions to the science and technology of NDT.
Pawlowski Award for major contributions to promotion of NDT internationally.
Havercroft Award for major contributions to NDT education, training and certification.
Sokolov Award for major contributions to NDT research.
We also have the ICNDT Young Achiever award and the ICNDT recognition of voluntary effort
award.
M Farley reported that there was a really good set of nominations for all of the awards this year.
A secret ballot was carried out among the IEC members and there was a clear winner in every
category except for the Young Achiever award which was a draw so two awards were made.
The discussion among IAC was that we really need to try and have more awards for young
people and it was concluded that the GA would be advised that we should increase the numberof awards for young people from one to four. M Farley therefore proposed that the number isincreased to four and the OP would be modified to allow this for the next set of awards. This
proposal was seconded by S Babu.
Many of the people that did not receive awards deserve recognition for their efforts so theprocess in OP22 was followed and there were 7-8 awards for voluntary effort awarded at theOpening Ceremony.
M Farley reminded all members that OP22 can be used by any national society members of
ICNDT any time between meetings. Voluntary effort awards do not have to only be awarded at
a WCNDT. All members were asked to look at OP22 and think about using it for recognition
awards.
For the four Young Achiever awards, part of the award will be free registration at the next
WCNDT, funded by ICNDT and this will require a change to the OP. This will help us to budget
on an annual basis for four registrations for the Young Achiever award winners. The award
presentations will be given at the Opening ceremony and the ICNDT Chair (S Babu) and Past
Chair and Chair of IAC (M Farley) can make the recommendations for Honorary memberships.
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8.2

Approval of Nominations for Honorary Membership (confirmation of recommendations
by Chair

S Babu and M Farley put forward a nomination which was approved by the IAC and IEC. The
nomination was for Mr Harold Jansen for his services to ICNDT in chairing and leading the workof the ICEC for a very long period and for his input into the ICNDT MRA. Prof Younho Cho wasalso nominated for his services to EFNDT and ICNDT and for his services as WCNDTPresident, and Prof Fermin Gomez was nominated for his dedicated services to EFNDT and
ICNDT for many years.
By a show of hands, the GA supported these nominations and the awards would be presented
during the Gala Dinner.
There is also an award for the best photograph which has been conducted through the WG4process. Several photographs were received and the winner will receive a free registration to
the next WCNDT. This is a new award and will go to the next GA during the ECNDT so thewinner can attend the next WCNDT in Argentina.
8.3

Recognitions of Voluntary Effort

A summary of the awards that were given at this WCNDT was presented which only required IAC
approval. At the same time ICNDT also recognised the long list of the voluntary recognition
awards.

9. Membership Report (J Conte)
J Conte presented a brief report.
9.1

Presentation of new Member certificates (Full and Associate)

There were none.
9.2

Report on current applications and reference of these to the Membership Committee

S Babu commented that the pandemic has put us in a very bad position in respect ofgenerating new members and collecting membership fees. We expect that this will change andwe also want to promote membership in the Middle East, African and Pan-American regions.
This will be a big task and the incoming chair (David Bajula) will lead the new Membership
Committee which will comprise of David Gilbert, Les Dick, S Ooka and F Herelli. If anyone else
is willing to join the Membership Committee they should express their interest to David Bajula.
We also need more support from all of the volunteers in the regions to promote membershipand also to understand the needs of our members. The committee is thinking of generating aquestionnaire to all Regional Federations for input from all their member societies.
9.3

Report on Liaison Members

The WG1 Chair (B Alves) will be nominated to ISO TC135-SC7. Similarly, we are seeking a
new nominee for ISO TC108-SC5 as our current nominee (C Belinco) now has an active rolewith the next WCNDT. Any nominations should be given to S Babu and D Gilbert who will thengo through the proper process to nominate a new SC5 member.
We have an informal liaison with the IAEA and currently S Babu and D Gilbert take the lead on
various groups within the IAEA. We also have a formal liaison with IIW and the last MoU
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between ICNDT and IIW was signed in Shanghai during the IIW GA. It is now time for renewal
and this will be done at the GA2 on Thursday. T Wenzel is our new representative to IIW.
We also have liaison with WFNDEC but this is not active and we also have a relatively new
association with the World Nuclear Association. S Babu, M Farley and D Gilbert represent
ICNDT on NDT Academia. We also have liaison with the ISCM. We are trying to get all ofthese liaisons more formalised.
10.

Reports on ICNDT actions in accordance with the Strategic Plan
10.1

Strategic Plan 2016-2024

S Babu gave an overview of what has been done over the last eight years. ICNDT has beenworking on many things and each of the WGs have their action items. Two of the WGs (WG5and WG6) have been less active but all other WGs are very active.
The Best Practice Workshop looked into some areas for increasing membership. For theCentral Asia region, China was proposed to take the lead and support this region and work
together with the WG2 chair. We are also looking for opportunities in the Middle East to expand
our membership which could be supported by ASNT.
The WGs will discuss this and then we will get a more formalised Strategic Plan which will be
updated after the WCNDT.
The African Federation has several members, some of them are members of ICNDT and someare not. There could be reasons for this and the leading African societies could support thosesocieties that are just starting out,
Asia Pacific and EFNDT are very strong, they have structured meetings and we receive regular
reports. We also have articles from societies published in the ICNDT journal which is publishedthree times a year. Currently the editorial of the journal is supported by JSNDI but in the pastthis has been supported by BINDT and CINDE.
With a round of applause, participants showed their appreciation for BINDT who had done an
excellent job with the journal over the past years and to JSNDI who have taken over editorial of
the journal.
There is a new look and structure to the journal and any inputs for the journal should be sent to
S Ooka. There are timelines in place, for example for articles for the July journal, the deadline isMay. The Communications Group does not receive a lot of input and all Federations are asked
to submit articles.
The ICNDT website includes a plan of all of the conferences and events and this has a good
input from all societies. The website also contains a directory of ICNDT societies. A lot ofmoney has been spent on the new website and it is supported by JSNDI. The ‘My ICNDT’page is where people can log in with their society name (country) and password. This should
be updated every year and it is under the control of the societies to update their own particulararea.
S Ooka asked that everybody logs into their ‘My ICNDT’ page and enter the Full and Associate
member for their region. We also require the Treasurers of the Regional Federations tocoordinate with WG4 to pay their membership fees online. We have also requested that theRegional Federations have a nominee on WG4 so that we can have good communication
which will help with the administration side.
With regard to certification and qualification, WG1 has done a great deal of work with theEnglish question databank which is still on an old version. The ICEC is working on an online
exam base with the smaller societies. We also have an action to participate in events toUnconﬁrmed Minutes of ICNDT General Assembly 1
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promote ICNDT at other countries conferences and D Gilbert and S Babu are taking it in turns
to do this. We want to review our members' participation with ICNDT so we plan to run a small
workshop at other countries' events on the ICNDT.
The presentations on ICNDT are available for all members to download and we are also looking
at reviewing our ICNDT OPs to reduce conflicts in other societies. We also need to encourage
new and fledgling societies and this is our mission over the next four years.
S Ooka gave a brief update on the promotion of the importance of NDT.
10.2

Internet/Website/Journal

The ICNDT journal is published three times a year and the deadlines are very important. For
example, for the March publication, information is needed by the end of January. For the July
issue, information is needed by the end of May and for the November issue, information isneeded by the end of September.
We would also like to see some articles to get younger people more interested in the journal
and learn about the history of ICNDT and the WCNDT conferences in the past. We have a very
long history of WCNDTs and ICNDT activities.
The last journal was published in March and the one before that was published in November
last year.
In respect of other publications, we have a Guide to Qualification and Certification of Personnel
for NDT, a Guide for Education and Training and one for Research and Development.
Information is available on the website for anyone interested.
All members can now log-in to their own area of the website to update all of their information(President, voting delegates, email addresses etc).
We are trying to have a stronger social media presence, for example Facebook, Linkedin andInstagram which also lets us see what is going on around the world including regional activities.
Any updates or ideas should be sent to S Ooka.
These activities would not be happening without the involvement of members and their input tothe journal so we can get more people aware and have more impact.
10.3

Support to NDT Societies

Refer to Strategic Plan.
10.4

WG1 – NDT Qualification and Certification (incl. presentation of new ICNDTGuide)S Babu reported. A Mullin stepped down as WG1 Chair due to the EU sanctions against
Russia which put us in a difficult situation. In the interim, the group was co-chaired by S Babu
and M Farley and good progress has been achieved since the last GA. We have published the
ICNDT Guide to Qualification and Certification and copies are available on the ICNDT stand.
The ICNDT Best Practices Guide was also reviewed and is ready for publication. WG1 has
members from Austria, Brazil, South Africa, Canada, Germany, Japan, Spain, USA, Singapore,
Ukraine and we expect a nomination from Australia, BIND, China, Turkey, Iran, France, ISO
TC-135 SC7 Chair and G Aufricht in an individual capacity. There are also some observers, i.e.
WG1 members.
10.5

Certification Executive Committee

The ICEC report is attached.
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10.6

WG3 – Research and Education Committee

T Wenzel reported. The last meeting of WG3 took place in Lisbon last year and the next
meeting will be held tomorrow. There are a large number of activities and SIGs within WG3 but
some of them have not had any actions for the past year and we will review whether these
SIGs will continue for the next period. There is a lot of activity in the area of NDE 4.0 and this is
the most interesting topic for all of our members and people working in NDT.
S Babu asked that if anyone has any inputs into WG3 to please contact T Wenzel. It was notedthat WG3 is co-chaired by Y Cho.

10.7

WG5 – Radiation Safety and Security

D Gilbert reported that WG5 is currently being revitalised. He appealed to all members tonominate someone for this WG. It is a subject that affects all of us and all of our activities and it
is important to consider participation by nominating a representative. Any nominations should
be sent to D Gilbert. Activities have been focussed on the IAEA working group for the ISEMIR
IR project. A meeting was held in April and the main objectives of that meeting were to review
and analyse the results of the global survey that had taken place and to discuss the strategy topromote the ISEMIR IR system. There were 52 responses to the survey from regulatory bodies
and 382 responses from NDT companies. Most responses showed interest in the IAEA
software and in particular the proposed periodic analysis system suggesting that the grading
system is timely. ISEMIR is a large project within IAEA and some amendments were proposed
regarding the global survey questionnaire and the database itself. The questionnaire wasreviewed and updated and approaches were identified and deadlines were set. Promotion
remains a challenge. Cooperation with experts is needed to promote the system further anddissemination opportunities have been identified. There would be a further report on this at theGA2 on Thursday. ISEMIR is an important part of the activities but it is not only the subject that
WG5 is involved with.
10.8

WG6 – Condition Monitoring and Diagnostic Technologies

C Belinco reported that there has been little activity and WG6 is trying to get more members on
the WG for the next period.

11.

22nd World Conference, 2032
Bids for the 22nd World Conference in 2032 were presented. There were six presentations, andeach society was given 15 minutes to present their bid.
M Farley presented a slide showing where the previous World Conferences had been held andadvised that the intention is that the WCNDT would move around the continents and thedecision is based on geography or need.
Presentations were given in the following order which had been agreed earlier in the meeting:
•
•
•
•
•
•

Singapore
South Africa
India
USA
United Kingdom
Hungary

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11

M Farley thanked the six societies that had presented a bid. A lot of hard work andcommitment goes into making these plans and presentations and ICNDT was very grateful for
this.
12.

Reports by National Societies
This agenda item was postponed until the GA2 on Thursday. Copies of the reports areavailable on the ICNDT website.

13.

Adjournment
S Babu expressed heartfelt thanks to the following people who have given him great support
during his leadership over the past 8 years:
Gerhart Aufricht (Treasurer) for all of his hard work on the accounts and the auditors, V Smidt
and D Marshall.
Joao Conte for chairing WG1.
Mike Farley (Past Chair) for his valuable inputs which ensures that our constitution andprocedures work well.
David Gilbert for all his support as General Secretary and for providing the secretariat.
All WG Chairs and the SIG Chairs for their great work and support to ICNDT.
Cindy Bailey and Zoe White from BINDT for their secretariat support.
GA1 was then adjourned. The next meeting GA2 will be held on Thursday 30th May.

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12

Annual Report 2023
ICNDT is formally registered as alegal association in Vienna in accordance with theAustrian Corporations Act and has a bank account to
conduct financial business transactions.
The constitution meets the requirementsof the Austrian Corporations Act.
As an incorporated body, ICNDT is required to submit
its Annual Report and audited Financial Report to therelevant Austrian authorities.
This is the Annual Report for 2023.

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INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTINGANNUAL REPORT 2023

Vision and Mission
Our Vision
To create a safer world through wider use of non-destructive testing (NDT) and diagnostic technologies.

Our Mission
To lead a global network of NDT societies and their regional groups devoted to the promotion of the development of
the science and practice of NDT for the benefit of the public worldwide.

Introduction
The operations of the International Committee for Non-Destructive Testing (ICNDT), its regions and its member NDT
societies have continued during 2023, returning to normal following the COVID-19 pandemic, taking account of therevised timing of the World and Regional Conferences.
It was recommended in 2020, and confirmed in 2021, that alternative arrangements should be made for some of the
ICNDT business that is normally conducted every four years at the World Conference and these arrangements were
continued in 2023:
l The in-person General Assembly (GA) meetings were postponed until the 20th World Conference on

Non-Destructive Testing (20th WCNDT), now to be held in 2024.
l The current office bearers, Secretariat and auditors should remain in office until the GA is held at the 20th WCNDT.
l The decision on the 22nd WCNDT should be postponed until the GA is held in 2024.
l The presentation of the ICNDT Awards should be postponed until the 20th WCNDT.

The Annual Meeting went ahead on 1 March 2023, with an in-person meeting at the 16th Asia-PacificConference on Non-Destructive Testing (APCNDT 2023) in Melbourne, Australia, and other participants joining
online.

Meetings, Committees and Groups
Annual Meeting 2023
The Annual Meeting of ICNDT members was held as a hybrid meeting on 1 March 2023, with 30 voting members(14 in-person and 16 online) and 23 observers present. Those taking part included: Dr Sajeesh Babu, Chair;
Mr David Gilbert, General Secretary; Mr Gerhard Aufricht, Treasurer; Dr Mike Farley, Past Chair and ICNDT Advisory
Committee (IAC) Chair; and Professor Younho Cho, President of the 20th WCNDT.
The Annual Report for 2022 was approved, along with the accounts for 2022 and the fees (no changes) andbudget for 2023, which were presented by Mr Aufricht. Members were given an update on the plans for the
20th WCNDT, now scheduled for 27-31 May 2024.
The unconfirmed minutes of the meeting can be found at: www.icndt.org/ICNDT_Annual_Meeting_2023_03_01_
Unconfirmed.pdf

ICNDT Executive Committee (IEC)IEC meetings were held on 20 January (online), 14 June (online), 12 September (hybrid) and 13 December (hybrid)
2023. These meetings were chaired by Dr Sajeesh Babu. In addition, several sub-group online meetings were held
between the IEC and the WCNDT Organising Committee.

ICNDT Advisory Committee (IAC)
A meeting of the IAC was held in March 2023 during APCNDT 2023 in Melbourne, Australia, chaired by
Dr Mike Farley. 13 members were present, including Dr Sajeesh Babu, Mr David Gilbert, Mr Gerhard Aufricht
and two representatives from three of the four regions. The two main topics covered and the outcomes wereas follows:		

INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTINGANNUAL REPORT 2023

l Review of the ICNDT Strategic Plan

A number of changes and additions were made and Dr Farley and Dr Babu will update and circulate the draft for
approval.
l Review of ICNDT liaison memberships and confirmation of the ICNDT nominees responsible

The following were agreed:
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

Mr David Gilbert/Dr Sajeesh Babu

International Institute of Welding (IIW)Dr Sajeesh Babu/Dr Thomas Wenzel (for affairs related
to Commission V)

World Institute for Nuclear Security (WINS)/World Nuclear Association

Dr Sajeesh Babu

Word Federation of NDE Centers (WFNDEC)

Dormant

World Congress on Isotopes (WCI)Mr David Gilbert

Academia NDT International

Mr David Gilbert/Professor Peter Trampus (agreement
to be formalised)International Society of Condition Monitoring (ISCM) No meetings (arrangement lapsed)
Austrian Chamber of Commerce

Active (Mr Gerhard Aufricht)

Other discussions covered:l ICNDT Awards

Members considered it important that ICNDT is seen to be recognising younger people with its awards. It wasagreed that members would be reminded of this when finalising nominations in 2023 and that ICNDT should
consider whether new awards/new titles are needed for the next cycle in four years.
l ICNDT Publications (including WCNDT proceedings)

Members discussed the copyright arrangements and the publication of WCNDT proceedings. It was agreed tofollow up with a meeting and to review the proposed arrangements with NDT.net.

World Conference on Non-Destructive Testing (20th WCNDT)The 20th WCNDT will be held at Songdo Convensia, Incheon, South Korea, from 27-31 May 2024, which is lessthan four months from the publication of this report. The preparation of the conference by the Korean Society for
Nondestructive Testing (KSNT) is well underway.
The following information provides an update on how the arrangements for the conference are proceeding:l The submission of abstracts was closed as of 31 October 2023, with over 1000 abstracts submitted from55 countries. Subsequently, the authors were informed about the acceptance of their abstracts and were remindedthat registration and payment of the fee must be completed by the end of December 2023.
l To date, 201 companies involved in the NDT field, either as equipment or service providers, have purchased

exhibition space and a total of 354 exhibition booths are sold.
l A total of 24 sponsors, including the Exclusive Sponsor, have confirmed their sponsorship.
l The 20th WCNDT Organising Committee has invited many renowned speakers, including a Nobel laureate, for theplenary and keynote presentations. Three plenary speakers and 49 keynote/invited speakers have been confirmed
so far.
l 20 special sessions and two short courses on various topics are to be scheduled during the overall scientificprogramme.
l A social programme consisting of a Welcome Reception (27 May), Gala Dinner (29 May) and Cultural Night(30 May) has been planned. An outstanding traditional Korean performance with various examples of Korean
culture will make for a most memorable and pleasant night.

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INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTINGANNUAL REPORT 2023
l The Scientific Committee of the 20th WCNDT is focusing on structuring the scientific programme featuring

keynote/invited talks and contributed talks in parallel sessions, as well as poster sessions. It is aiming to complete
the detailed preliminary programme by the end of January 2024.
l Conference pre-registration for attendees is now available on the conference website (https://20thwcndt.com/

registration/registration.html). It is recommended that those who have not yet registered complete their registration
as early as possible to benefit from the reduced pre-registration fee.
For further information, visit: www.20thwcndt.com

Working Group 1 (Qualification and Certification)
A hybrid meeting of Working Group 1 (WG1) was held on 4 July 2023 at the 13th European Conference on
Non-Destructive Testing (13th ECNDT) in Lisbon, Portugal, with an attendance of 22. The meeting was co-chaired by
Dr Sajeesh Babu and Dr Mike Farley, after Mr Alexander Mullin stepped down from WG1 and the position of
WG1 Chair. This was as a result of the EU sanctions against Russia due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Dr Babu,
Dr Farley and Mr David Gilbert each paid tribute to Mr Mullin in recognition of his excellent work for the group.
A number of other changes to the membership of the group were agreed and have been ratified by the IEC. Dr Babu
presented the draft document ICNDT Guide to Good Practice – Fraudulent Management by Personnel Certification
Bodies and members were invited to comment in writing. Further work is underway.
Dr Babu presented the recommendations on interpretation of ISO 9712:2021, mostly prepared by Mr Mullin(whose work is much appreciated). Most of the items within the comparison document were accepted without further
discussion. The clause on reduction in compulsory training to 50% where there is evidence of other training or
education was discussed. The feedback from training establishments was that it was impractical to reduce course
duration for a few candidates depending upon the level of their education. There was also discussion on how to
implement (and verify) the industrial experience requirements and on the points option for renewal/recertification,
which is causing difficulties for several Personnel Certification Bodies (PCBs). New text will be developed for the
document.
Dr Farley presented the ICNDT Guide to Qualification and Certification of Personnel for NDT, updated to reflect
ISO 9712:2021/2022, and stated that there had been an intention to publish it on the ICNDT website soon after
the 13th ECNDT. He thanked the members of WG1 who helped with the revision. However, the posting of the
document on the website has been delayed and further changes are being made to the Appendix relating to the
EU and the UK after some recent changes in UK government policies. Printed copies will be available at the20th WCNDT.
Dr Babu advised that ISO/IEC 17024:2012 is in the process of revision by the ISO committee for conformity
assessment (CASCO). There will be the opportunity to comment in due course via TC 135. This is very important,as any significant changes to this standard will have an impact on all of the world’s accredited NDT certification
schemes.
WG1 has been operating in accordance with the Action Plan produced in 2022 by Mr Mullin. This plan is now being
updated, taking account of progress to date and the outcomes of the meeting in Lisbon.
The next meeting will be an in-person meeting at the 20th WCNDT, when there will also be a Certification
Workshop.

		

INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTINGANNUAL REPORT 2023

The ICNDT Certification Executive Committee (ICEC)
The activities of the ICNDT Certification Executive Committee (ICEC) centre around the Multilateral Recognition
Agreement (MRA), ICNDT PCB conformity assessment and the ICNDT Examination Question Bank (EQB). The ICEC
carries out most of its work via email and the internet. It had online meetings on 2 February, 2 July, 28 September and
28 November 2023.
Present ICEC members are as follows:
l Mr Harold Jansen (Chair and Africa representative)l Dr Norikazu Ooka (Asia-Pacific region)l Mr Gerhard Aufricht (ICNDT Treasurer)l Mr João Rufino Teles Filho (Pan-America region)l Dr Thomas Wenzel (Europe region)l Mr Peter Milligan
l Mr Glenn Tubrett (proposed representative to be confirmed at the GA).

The Secretary is Mr Colin Bird, who can be contacted at: icec-secretary@icndt.org
Following the period during the COVID-19 pandemic when special arrangements were in place, it can now bereported that the ICNDT OP19-registered PCBs are fully audited and registered.
There are now 46 signatories to the MRA Schedule 1. These signatories are committed to recognise the certification
awarded by the 20 PCBs registered by ICNDT under the MRA Schedule 2.
The ICNDT register of Personnel Certification Bodies has been extended to highlight MRA membershipand all known PCBs have been contacted to supply data. The revised register will be published on the ICNDT
website.
The ICEC has developed an online delivery system for the ICNDT EQB. This online EQB has been successfully trialledby several PCBs. The ICEC has been approached by additional PCBs showing continued demand for the EQB, both inits current form and the future online version.

Membership Committee
Chair: Mr João Conte
Members: Mr Shohei Ooka, Mr David Gilbert, Mr David Bajula, Professor Ferid Herelli, Mr Les Dick andMs Irene Pettigrew.
Actions:l The committee was restructured with the addition of two new members: Mr Bajula and Ms Pettigrew.
l ‘Action Plan 1: Support NDT Societies’ was revised.
l A proposal was prepared for a draft Operating Procedure: NDT Societies Operations.
l The process involving the request of another organisation to become an ICNDT member in Chile wasclarified.

Working Group 3 (Research and Education)
A meeting of Working Group 3 (WG3) was held on 6 July at the 13th ECNDT in Lisbon, Portugal, with veryfull attendance. The meeting was led by Dr Mike Farley, Chair of the IAC, with Professor Younho Cho and
Dr Thomas Wenzel, the Co-Chairs of WG3, in attendance.
A proposed membership structure was agreed, as per the table overleaf, and the experts present at this meeting will
be invited next time.

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INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTINGANNUAL REPORT 2023
ICNDT WG3 Membership Structure:
Designation
Co-Chairs

Current representative (invited to Lisbon 2023)
Professor Younho Cho
Dr Thomas Wenzel
Ex-officio

ICNDT Chair

Dr Sajeesh Babu

ICNDT IAC Chair

Dr Mike Farley

ICNDT General Secretary

Mr David Gilbert

ICNDT Treasurer

Mr Gerhard Aufricht

ICNDT Membership Chair

Mr João Conte

Chair WG1

To be announced

Chair WG4

Mr Shohei Ooka

Chair WG5

Mr David Gilbert

Co-Chairs WG6Professor Len Gelman and Mr César Belinco

ICEC Secretary

Mr Colin Bird
Regional Representatives

African Federation of Non-Destructive Testing Mr Harold Jansen(AFNDT)
Asia-Pacific Federation for Non-Destructive Testing Dr Takamasa Ogata(APFNDT)
Professor Krishnan BalasubramaniamEuropean Federation for Non-Destructive Testing Mr Fermín Gómez Fraile(EFNDT)Mr Bento Ottone Alves
Pan-American Federation for Nondestructive Testing Mr Glenn Tubrett(PANNDT)
Mr David Bajula
Specialist International Group (SIG) Chairs
NDT Reliability

Dr Daniel Kanzler

NDE 4.0

Dr Johannes Vrana

Full Matrix Capture

Professor Paul Wilcox

Terahertz

Dr Mira Naftaly

NDT of Art and Cultural Heritage

Dr Roman Gr Maev

Non-linear UT

Dr Serge Dos Santos

Magnetic Memory Method

Dr Peter Ladányi

NDT of Civil Engineering

Mr César Belinco
Representatives of Liaison Members

International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Mr Shohei Ooka
IAEA

Ms Hannah Affum

IIW

Dr Luca Costa or nominee

Academia NDT International

Professor Peter Trampus
Dr Serge Dos Santos
Dr Shant Kenderian		

INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTINGANNUAL REPORT 2023

Specialist International Groups (including reports as of 1 December)
Reports were presented from most of the Specialist International Groups (SIGs) at WG3. These reports (updated andadded here) indicated the breadth and depth of activity in this relatively new area for ICNDT. A number of decisions
were made during and as a result of the meeting:l Dr Roman Gr Maev confirmed that he will lead the Specialist International Group on NDT of Art and Cultural

Heritage, the Canadian Institute for Non-Destructive Evaluation (CINDE) will be the sponsor society and
Mr Ed Cabral will be the Secretary.
l Dr Serge Dos Santos (France) was confirmed as the Chair of the Specialist International Group on Non-linear

Ultrasound for NDT (Non-linear UT).
l The Chair of the Specialist International Group on the Magnetic Memory Method was confirmed as

Dr Peter Ladányi (Hungary).
l A new Specialist International Group on NDT of Civil Engineering was confirmed, with Mr César Belinco as

Chair. There may be a sub-group to focus on NDT of civil structures in seismically active areas. The SIG willcontinue from the IAEA project (Training Syllabus to be published by IAEA as a TECDOC) and the new standard
DIN 4871:2022-09 ‘Non-Destructive Testing – Qualification of NDT Personnel in Civil Engineering (NDT-CE)’.
l A new Specialist International Group on NDT Frontiers has been formed with Dr Roman Gr Maev as the initial

Chair and two Secretaries: Mr Ed Cabral, who is responsible for Great Britain and North, South, Central and Latin
America and the Caribbean; and Dr York Oberdorfer, who is responsible for Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.
The Specialist International Group on NDE 4.0 is led by Dr Johannes Vrana and Dr Ripi Singh.
The 3rd International Conference and Exhibition on NDE 4.0 is scheduled for 3-6 March 2025 in Bangalore, India.
The Kurzweil Award for High Impact in NDE 4.0 will again be awarded during the conference. The 4th International
Conference is scheduled for 2027.
The SIG held four virtual meetings in 2023 to review the ongoing activities of the sub-groups. An additional meeting
was conducted for the planning of a special session during the 20th WCNDT in South Korea. The work of the
sub-groups is summarised as follows:
l Sub-group T1 for Sharing of International R&D and NDE 4.0 Activities is led by Dr Johannes Vrana andProfessor Dr Norbert Meyendorf. It focused firstly on organising the NDE 4.0 conference (led by Dr Vrana andDr Shyamsunder Mandayam) and secondly on organising an NDE research and development (R&D) data-sharing
platform (led by Professor Dr Norbert Meyendorf). The group added ‘NDE 4.0 training’ as an important topic andis working on international harmonisation of NDE 4.0 training for technicians and integrating aspects of NDE 4.0
into university non-destructive examination (NDE) classes.
l Sub-group T2 for Guidelines on Data Formats, Interfaces, Exchange and Ontology is led by Dr Johannes Vrana

and Mr Pranay Wadyalkar. It focused on gathering information around ongoing activities such as
OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA), DICONDE and HDF5. As the basic information has been collected,
this group will decide next year what to do going forward.
l Sub-group P1 for Common Terminology was led by Mr Don Andrews. Due to other responsibilities, Mr Andrews

could not continue. Fortunately, Professor Dr Nathan Ida was able to pick up this group. The group published a
Wikipedia article on NDE 4.0.
l Sub-group

P2 for a Knowledge Exchange Channel (Publications, Platform and Forum) is led by
Mr Ramón Fernández Orozco and Dr Serge Dos Santos.

l Sub-group P3 for a Guideline for Roadmap/Application on NDE 4.0 is led by Dr Ripi Singh and Mr Ramón Fernández

Orozco and produced a guideline on how to create a roadmap for NDE 4.0. This document was forwarded to theleaders of WG3 with the intention of presenting it to the ICNDT Executive Committee. Feedback is awaited.
l Sub-group E2 for Ethics, Diversity, Equality and Inclusion is led by Mr David Gilbert, Dr Ripi Singh andProfessor Dr Michele Carboni. There are no activities to share at the present moment.
l Sub-group E3 for Certification was proposed by the Australian Institute of Non-Destructive Testing (AINDT),

discussed by the SIG and put on hold for the moment.

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INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTINGANNUAL REPORT 2023
The Specialist International Group on NDT Reliability (with three subsections: Standardisation, Human Factors and
NDE 4.0), currently led by Dr Daniel Kanzler, serves as a platform for addressing questions related to reliability,
including:l Promoting the topic of reliability and its importance throughout industry and creating awareness on the topic tousers of NDT/structural health monitoring (SHM) through international events: a significant milestone was achievedin March 2023 with the successful 8th International Workshop on the Reliability of NDT/NDE, in collaboration
with SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, held in Long Beach, California, USA;l Standardisation: several standards are currently in progress in collaboration with the ICNDT SIG, including

German standards NA 062-08-28 AA (General evaluation of the reliability of NDE application) andVDA 239-170 (Process capability for NDE application in automotive) and European standard EN 16991(Risk-based maintenance);l Predicting the challenges of reliability in the context of industry/NDE 4.0;
l Discussions on the development of new reliability models for future applications;l Tackling existing setbacks in current reliability models, including updating to the modular model 4.0 by also

including algorithms as influencing factors;l Highlighting the importance of reliability requirements for the software involved in the inspection and maintenanceactivities separate to the NDT techniques used;l Efforts towards including human factors in the reliability assessments; andl Efforts towards extending the topic of reliability from highly safety-critical industries such as aviation and nuclear

to other critical industries such as automotive, civil, railways, etc.
Despite efforts to make people aware of the importance of NDT reliability, some reliability assessments are lessthan ideal. Discussions around quality management, predictive maintenance and inspection on the production floor
need to consider NDE reliability. This is particularly important when artificial intelligence (AI) is being evaluated.
The group extends an offer to anyone grappling with issues related to reliability. If anyone is unsure how to meetthese requirements or if certain NDE-related requirements seem unnecessary, please reach out. While the group
may not be able to participate in every standardisation committee, it is eager to support the NDE community withits knowledge.
This SIG has set up a sub-group on the effect of Human Factors on reliability, initially led by Dr Marija Bertovic.
ICNDT looks forward to her return in February 2024 after maternity leave. In the meantime, Dr Abdeldjalil Bennecer
is acting as Secretary of the sub-group, which is actively developing a guide.
The Specialist International Group on Terahertz (THz) is led by Dr Mira Naftaly and supported by the British Instituteof Non-Destructive Testing (BINDT). This group was established in 2021 to promote and advance techniques utilising
THz technologies to inspect components, materials and structures and to recommend standardisation and best practice
as appropriate. Currently, the group has circa 60 members from academia and industry, including major equipment
manufacturers and end-users. In 2022, the group published a promotional leaflet, titled: ‘Terahertz technologies fornon-destructive testing and condition monitoring’, listing the capabilities and applications of terahertz measurements,
which can be found on the ICNDT website at: www.icndt.org/common/pdf/Terahertz%20technologies%20for%20
non_destructive%20testing%20and%20condition%20monitoring.pdf. This activity was continued in 2023 with the
publication of a second leaflet, titled: ‘Terahertz technologies for specific applications’, listing the capabilities ofvarious THz technologies and their applicability to particular applications, which can be found on the ICNDT website
at: www.icndt.org/common/pdf/Terahertz_Leaflet_A4_2.pdf. An item about the group’s activities was published in the
September 2023 issue of NDT News, which is produced by BINDT and circulated to its membership. A plenary talk
introducing THz to an audience of NDT professionals was presented at the 60th Annual British Conference on NDT(NDT 2023), organised by BINDT. In 2024, the group is planning to develop a ‘THz appreciation’ one-day course, tobe presented to a variety of NDT audiences.
The Specialist International Group on Full Matrix Capture (FMC) is led by Professor Paul Wilcox and supported by
BINDT. The group currently has 67 members (including 32 from the UK, ten from France and nine from the USA).
Regular meetings continued, with a hybrid meeting at the annual RCNDE Technology Transfer event in London, UK,		

INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTINGANNUAL REPORT 2023

in January 2023 (25 attendees) and an online meeting in October 2023 (21 attendees). The development of an open
file format for the interchange of FMC data and promotion of open NDE file formats in general remains a major
activity of the group. This work is relevant in the context of Industry 4.0 and efforts are being made to align withother initiatives for common formats for NDE data, such as that being driven by Professor Stephen Holland at Iowa
State University. Professor Wilcox presented on the development of the Multi-frame FMC (MFMC) file format at theAmerican Society for Nondestructive Testing (ASNT) Research Symposium in Columbus, Ohio, USA, in June 2023.
A Python library for reading, writing, checking and viewing MFMC files (which will eventually supersede the existing
MATLAB library) is under development, with a formal release expected in the near future.
The Specialist International Group on Non-linear Ultrasound for NDT (Non-linear UT) is led by new Chair
Dr Serge Dos Santos (Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA) Centre Val de Loire Centre, France) andsupported by the French Confederation for Non-Destructive Testing (COFREND). The group, specifically focused on
non-linear UT for NDT, was reactivated in July 2023 during the 13th ECNDT in Lisbon, Portugal, and brings together
experts and researchers working in this specific field, thus promoting knowledge exchange and collaborations. This
SIG will focus on the promotion of new non-linear ultrasonics techniques and methods suitable for NDT, taking
advantage of recent advances in the field. Through the combination of skills and resources, the group will improve
the sensitivity and accuracy of flaw detection and characterisation techniques. Moreover, it will contribute to thestandardisation of NDT procedures based on non-linear UT, to facilitate their adoption in the industry. Finally, thegroup will also serve as a platform for training and education, sharing knowledge and best practices with the newgeneration of worldwide NDT professionals interested in the subject.
The objective of this SIG is to assess the relevance of developing new NDT methods using non-linear ultrasonics. NDTis constantly evolving and the utilisation of non-linear UT opens new perspectives for the detection and evaluation of
defects in various materials. The project consists in forming a task group that will delve deep into the potential benefits ofthese innovative approaches. In this context, three key areas could play a crucial role. Firstly, the role of big data and theInternet of Things (IoT) is paramount, as it would enable the collection and analysis of vast amounts of data. Secondly, theintegration of AI could aid in extracting meaningful patterns and trends from the gathered data. Thirdly, fine metrology
associated with measuring non-linearities in noise would be essential in ensuring precise and reproducible measurements.
The formation of sub-groups constitutes the initial action plan. A preliminary meeting was held with COFREND
members on 13 November 2023.
The Specialist International Group on NDT of Art and Cultural Heritage is led by Dr Roman Gr Maev, with two
Secretaries: Mr Ed Cabral, who is responsible for Great Britain and North, South, Central and Latin America and the
Caribbean; and Dr York Oberdorfer, who is responsible for Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.
The 14th International Conference on Non-Destructive Investigations and Microanalysis for the Diagnostics andConservation of Cultural and Environmental Heritage (art’23) was held in Brescia, Italy, from 28-30 November
2023, and hosted by the Italian Society for Non-Destructive Testing (AIPnD). Honorary committee members, ICNDT
members Mr David Gilbert, Dr Maev (SIG Art Chair), Professor Peter Trampus and Dr Giuseppe Nardoni participated.
Also in attendance was Mr Cabral (SIG Art Secretary).
The formation of the Specialist International Group on NDT of Civil Engineering was agreed, with Mr César Belinco(Asociación Argentina de Ensayos No Destructivos y Estructurales (AAEND)) as Chair. The creation of sub-groups isplanned, one of which will focus on NDT for civil structures in seismically active areas (pre and post events). It is
hoped that the SIG will cooperate with the IAEA.
The Specialist International Group on NDT Frontiers is a new group being formed that will focus on the future
horizons of NDT. Dr Roman Gr Maev is the initial Chair, with Dr York Oberdorfer and Mr Ed Cabral as Co-Secretaries.
An ICNDT Workshop on this topic is planned for the 20th WCNDT.
The Specialist International Group on Magnetic Memory Method (MMM) has been operating since 2018. It is led
by Dr Peter Ladányi as Chair and supported by the Hungarian Association for Non-Destructive Testing (MAROVISZ).
During the period from 2020 to 2023, the following work was performed and events were held within the frameworkof ICNDT SIG MMM activities:l The group specialists took part in ten international and national NDT conferences with reports on ‘Practicalapplication of the MMM method’.

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INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTINGANNUAL REPORT 2023
l An international scientific and technical online conference, titled: ‘Diagnostics of Equipment and Structures Using

the MMM Method’, was held in February 2021. More than 170 specialists from different countries took part in theconference.
l Within the framework of IIW and ISO/TC 44 standardisation committees, a new revision of international standards

was prepared and put into effect: ISO 24497-1:2020(E) ‘Non-destructive testing – Metal magnetic memory –Part 1: Vocabulary and general requirements’ and ISO 24497-2:2020(E) ‘Non-destructive testing – Metal magnetic
memory – Part 2: Inspection of welded joints’.
l 15 papers were published in technical journals, in particular: ‘Diagnostics of power boiler superheater tubes

made of austenitic steel using the metal magnetic memory technique’ in Welding in the World and ‘Experimental
substantiation of diagnostic parameters used in metal magnetic memory method’ in Insight.
l The book Metal Magnetic Memory Method: Purpose and Practical Capabilities was published in Russian andEnglish under the general editorship of A Dubov. The book was written in collaboration with five specialists.
A full report on the above activities will be published on the ICNDT website.

Working Group 4 (Communications)
ICNDT Working Group 4 (WG4) (Chair: Mr Shohei Ooka from the Japanese Society for Non-Destructive
Inspection (JSNDI)) has been working on the ICNDT Strategic Plan and the Action Plan, titled: ‘Promotion of theimportance of non-destructive testing (NDT)’. WG4 was established to promote ICNDT activities and disseminate
information to national NDT societies around the world, other NDT-related organisations, regional federations andcorporations involved with NDT. WG4 activities include, but are not limited to, ICNDT website updates, journals, etc.
WG4 held three hybrid meetings in 2023 on 1 March (Melbourne, Australia), 3 July (Lisbon, Portugal) and 22 October(Houston, Texas, USA).
Along with new WG4 members, a very fruitful discussion was had, with great
progress made regarding ongoing items in the ICNDT Strategic Plan, including the
ICNDT Journal, ICNDT website and ICNDT membership system. The ICNDT Journal, witha new editorial team supported by JSNDI, was published once, Volume 9 Issue 11, in
November 2023. Due to the restrictions on activities during the COVID-19 pandemic, it has
been difficult to publish the ICNDT Journal, but things are moving forward with activities
and the aim is to publish the journal in the original cycle of three times a year in the monthsof March, July and November.
The ICNDT website was progressed, with more information added on ICNDT Specialist
International Groups and other pages.
The ICNDT membership system was maintained and developed further this year to provide more systematic andeffective communications, with a streamlined approach for members and users regarding the ICNDT online system.
As a new endeavor, WG4 is currently considering developing the ICNDT library on the ICNDT website.
WG4 will keep working on the promotion of the importance of NDT.

Working Group 5 (Radiation Protection and Safety)
A hybrid meeting of the IAEA Working Group on the Information System on occupational Exposure in Medicine,
Industry and Research focusing on industrial radiography (ISEMIR-IR) was held 12-14 June 2023, the main objectivesof which were to review and analyse the results of the global survey and discuss the strategy to promote the ISEMIR-IR
system.
The objectives of the meeting were to:l Review the activities of ISEMIR-IR in 2022;l Propose the work plan for ISEMIR-IR in 2023;
l Analyse and summarise the results of the ISEMIR-IR global survey in 2022; andl Discuss the upgrade on the ISEMIR-IR system.

		

INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTINGANNUAL REPORT 2023

The methodology and results of the 2022 ISEMIR-IR global survey were discussed. 52 responses were received
from Regulatory Bodies and 382 responses came from NDT companies. Most responses showed interest in IAEA
software and in particular the proposed periodic analysis feature, suggesting that upgrading of the ISEMIR-IR
is timely. ISEMIR is a large project within the IAEA and some amendments were proposed regarding the global
survey questionnaire and the database. The questionnaire was reviewed and updated, approaches were identified
and deadlines were set. Promotion remains a challenge; cooperation with experts is needed to promote thesystem and further information dissemination opportunities have been identified, for example the 20th WCNDT in
South Korea.
ISEMIR is an important part of the activities, but it is not the only subject covered by the EFNDT WG, which also
includes personnel who are not involved in the ISEMIR WG. More members are invited and if anyone is interested injoining the WG they should contact Mr David Gilbert.
It is hoped meetings will be held at the 20th WCNDT in 2024.

Working Group 6 (Condition Monitoring and Technical Diagnostics)
There were no meetings of Working Group 6 (WG6) in 2023.
The Chairs will try to organise in-person WG6 meetings in 2024 during the 20th WCNDT, in South Korea, and the
3rd World Congress on Condition Monitoring (WCCM), in China.

Chair’s Activities
Dr Sajeesh Babu, ICNDT Chair, has been actively engaged in a series of impactful activities and meetings during2023, once again demonstrating unwavering dedication to the organisation’s mission. His activities included:
ICNDT Annual Meeting and IEC meetingsl Chaired the physical ICNDT Annual Meeting in Melbourne, Australia, during APCNDT 2023.
l Led four meetings of the IEC, discussing various activities of ICNDT.

WG1l During the 13th ECNDT in Lisbon, Portugal, Dr Babu led the meeting of WG1 as an interim Co-Chair withDr Mike Farley, further strengthening ICNDT’s global presence and engagement within the NDT community in thefield of personnel certification.
Ad hoc meetings for 20th WCNDT preparationl In preparation for the 20th WCNDT, Dr Babu dedicated substantial time to various ad hoc meetings, ensuring

KSNT, the host society, was well prepared to make a meaningful impact at this significant event.
ICEC and WG4 meetings as Observerl Observed and contributed to meetings of the ICNDT ICEC and WG4, providing advice to the committee and group,

respectively.
External engagements representing ICNDTDr Babu represented ICNDT at several external activities, strengthening ICNDT’s global presence and fosteringinternational cooperation:l Cooperation Forum for Nuclear Technology Associations (held 18 January 2023 and hosted by the World Nuclear

Association): participated in an online meeting hosted by the World Nuclear Association, where he presented
ICNDT’s mission and activities.
l APCNDT 2023 (held 28 February-3 March 2023 in Melbourne, Australia): delivered opening remarks and actively

participated in various ICNDT and APFNDT meetings during this prestigious conference. He was honoured withthe prestigious Dr Ooka Award for exceptional support to the Asia-Pacific region.
l JSNDI Spring Conference 2023 and 70th Anniversary (held 6-8 June 2023 in Tokyo, Japan): presented a keynote

speech during the JSNDI 70th Anniversary, sharing insights on personnel certification in the Asia-Pacific region andengaging with international society leaders to promote NDT.

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INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTINGANNUAL REPORT 2023
l 13th ECNDT (held 3-7 July 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal): participated in the opening of the conference and actively

engaged in various ICNDT and EFNDT meetings in person, while also contributing to ISO/TC 135 meetings online.
l IV NDT Days, with the title: ‘On the Way to the XIII Welding Congress’ (held 16 September 2023 in Bursa, Turkey):delivered a pre-recorded speech during this event, enhancing international collaboration and knowledge sharing.
l 50th National Conference on NDT (KKBN) (held 17-19 October 2023 in Kołobrzeg, Poland): participated in the

opening of the conference and presented a keynote presentation on ‘Advancing non-destructive testing on a global
scale with a roadmap towards NDE 4.0 integration’.
l KSNT Electromagnetic/Nuclear Division Joint Conference (held 30 November 2023): presented a pre-recorded

speech at the conference, furthering the reach and impact of the ICNDT MRA and the recognition of ISO 9712
personnel certification on a global scale.
Note from Dr Mike Farley, Past Chairman
ICNDT members and the NDT community as a whole owe a huge debt of gratitude to Dr Sajeesh Babu, ICNDT Chair,for his immense contribution to promoting the mission of ICNDT during an exceptionally busy year. His efforts have been
instrumental in strengthening ICNDT’s global influence and fostering meaningful partnerships within the NDT community.

ICNDT Officers 2023
ICNDT Chair

Dr Sajeesh K Babu (Singapore)ICNDT Past Chair

Dr Mike Farley (UK)ICNDT General Secretary

Mr David Gilbert (UK)World Conference President

Professor Younho Cho (Korea)

NDT Society to provide Secretariat

The British Institute of NDT (UK)

Treasurer

Mr Gerhard Aufricht (Austria)

Auditors

Mr Douglas J Marshall (Canada) and Dr Werner Schmid(Switzerland)

Chair – ICNDT Certification Executive Committee Mr Harold Jansen (South Africa)
Chair WG1 – Qualification and Certification

Mr Alexander Mullin (Russia) until July 2023, then
Dr Sajeesh K Babu and Dr Mike Farley acted as Co-Chairs

Chair WG2 – Membership

Mr João Conte (Brazil)

Co-Chairs WG3 – Research and Education

Professor Younho Cho (Korea) and Dr Thomas Wenzel (Germany)

Chair WG4 – Communications

Mr Shohei Ooka (Japan)

Co-Chairs WG5 – Radiation Protection and Safety Mr David Gilbert (UK)
Co-Chairs WG6 – CM and Technical Diagnostics

Professor Len Gelman (UK) and Mr César Belinco (Argentina)

Chair WG7 – Administration

Dr Mike Farley (UK)Regional Group Representatives
AfricaDr Kamal Sahaimi
Mr Harold Jansen

Asia-Pacific

Dr Takamasa Ogata
Professor Krishnan BalasubramaniamEuropeMr Fermín Gómez Fraile
Mr Ezio Tuberosa

Pan-America

Mr Glenn Tubrett
Mr David Bajula

		

INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTINGANNUAL REPORT 2023

Strategic Planning and Organisation
Revisions to the Strategic Plan were discussed at the IAC meeting in Lisbon, Portugal. A final version will be circulated
for approval. In the meantime, the IEC has continued to organise ICNDT according to the intent of the previous
Strategic Plan but taking into account the COVID-19 situation.

Changes to the Constitution and Operating Procedures
There have been no changes to the constitution or operating procedures during 2023.

APFNDT (Asia-Pacific)
APFNDT Membership
Regarding the Asia-Pacific Federation for Non-Destructive Testing (APFNDT)’s membership and organisation status,
the current members and regional representatives are as follows. To see other regularly updated information for the
Asia-Pacific region, visit: www.apfndt.org
Full Member Societies(16 members)

The American Society for Nondestructive Testing (ASNT)The Australian Institute for Non-Destructive Testing (AINDT)The Bangladesh Society for Non-Destructive Testing (BSNDT)The Canadian Institute for Non-Destructive Evaluation (CINDE)
The Chinese Society for Nondestructive Testing (ChSNDT)The Indian Society for Non-Destructive Testing (ISNT)The Iranian Society for Nondestructive Testing (IRNDT)The Japanese Society for Non-Destructive Inspection (JSNDI)
The Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing (KSNT)The Malaysian Society for Non-Destructive Testing (MSNT)The Mongolian Society for Non-Destructive Testing (MSNDT)The New Zealand Non-Destructive Testing Association (NZNDTA)
The Non-Destructive Testing Society (Singapore) (NDTSS)
The Philippine Society for Nondestructive Testing Inc (PSNT)The Russian Society for Non-Destructive Testing and Technical Diagnostics (RSNTTD)The Society for Nondestructive Testing and Certification of Taiwan (SNTCT)

Potential Member Societies(8 members)

Azerbaijan Society for Non-Destructive Testing (AZNDT)Indonesian Society for Non-Destructive Testing (AUTRI)
Kazakhstan Association of Flaw Detection (KAOFD)
Myanmar (Society under formation)
Pakistan Society for Non-Destructive Testing (PASNT)
Society for Non-Destructive Testing, Sri Lanka (SNDT)Thai Society for Non-Destructive Testing (TSNT)
Vietnam Association for Non-Destructive Testing (VANDT)

Regional Group One

Western Asia, Central Asia, South Asia

Regional Group Two

East Asia, South East Asia

Regional Group Three

Pacific, Oceania

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INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTINGANNUAL REPORT 2023
APFNDT Executive Committee (AEC)
President

Dr Takamasa Ogata (JSNDI)

Vice President

Professor Krishnan Balasubramaniam (ISNT)

Past President

Dr Norikazu Ooka (JSNDI)

General Secretary

Mr Paulchamy Pugalendhi (NDTSS)

Treasurer

Mr Kevin Smith (ASNT)

President of the 17th Asia-Pacific Conference on
Non-Destructive Testing (APCNDT 2026)

Mr Danny Keck (ASNT)

AuditorDr Sajeesh K Babu (NDTSS)

Secretariat Representative

Mr Shohei Ooka (JSNDI)APFNDT Board Members
Regional Representative: Group One(Western Asia, Central Asia, South Asia)

Mr Diwakar D Joshi (ISNT)Mr Alexander Mullin (RSNTTD)
Dr Ji Jingyuan (ChSNDT)Regional Representative: Group Two(East Asia, South East Asia)

Professor Ik-Keun Park (KSNT)Dr Ilham Mukriz Zainal Abidin (MSNT)
Professor Chih-Hung Chiang (SNTCT)Regional Representative: Group Three(Pacific, Oceania)

Mr Neal Couture (ASNT)Mr Pranay Wadyalkar (AINDT)APFNDT Task Groups
The following seven task groups (TGs) were established in order to carry out specific activities. As per APFNDT official
documentation, TGs may be organised by the Board on a short-term or permanent basis. The current TGs are as follows:
TG1 Membership

Mr Kevin Smith (ASNT)TG2 APFNDT Journal

Professor Jung-Ryul Lee (KSNT)TG3 Communications

Mr Shohei Ooka (JSNDI)

TG4 Education and Training

Dr B Venkatraman (ISNT)TG5 Certification

Mr Paul Grosser (AINDT)TG6 Standards

Dr Makoto Ochiai (JSNDI)

TG7 NDE 4.0

Mr Pranay Wadyalkar (AINDT)

Current and Future Activities
16th Asia-Pacific Conference on Non-Destructive Testing (APCNDT 2023)
APCNDT 2023 was held in Melbourne, Australia, from 28 February to 3 March 2023. The conference was opened by
Mr Paul Grosser, APCNDT 2023 President, who led the APCNDT Organising Committee. Despite the many obstacles
posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the conference was a great success, with people from 47 countries attending,
47 exhibitors showcasing their work/products and over 125 papers presented. There were 657 participants, including
80 students and 151 people from overseas. During the conference, over 40 technical sessions were held covering a
range of topics including, but not limited to, ultrasonics, surface methods, eddy current, thermography, radiography,
NDT 4.0, commercial presentations and excellent panel discussions.
APFNDT meetings
During APCNDT 2023, the AEC/APFNDT Board met on 28 February and held GA 1 on 1 March and GA 2 on 2 March
2023. It was the first opportunity to meet in person after the pandemic and there was a lively exchange of views.

		

INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTINGANNUAL REPORT 2023

The election of the next APFNDT Board was held at the GA and Dr Takamasa Ogata was elected as the new
President, succeeding Dr Norikazu Ooka, who had served as President for ten years since the establishment of
APFNDT in 2013. The newly elected Vice President is Professor Krishnan Balasubramaniam, the General Secretary is
Mr Paulchamy Pugalendhi and the APCNDT 2026 President is Mr Danny Keck. In terms of Regional Representatives,
Mr Diwakar D Joshi, Dr Ji Jingyuan, Professor Ik-Keun Park, Dr Ilham Mukriz Zainal Abidin and Mr Neal Couturewere elected as new members of the Board. The Dr Ooka Award for Distinguished Service in APFNDT waspresented for the first time since its commencement to Dr Sajeesh Babu and the APFNDT Award was presented to
Dr Abd Nassir Ibrahim at the APCNDT Banquet. Following APCNDT 2023, APFNDT implemented the new Board
structure and held two meetings, the AEC meeting on 10 August and the APFNDT Board meeting on 18 August 2023.
The next APCNDT is scheduled to be held in Hawaii, USA, from 11-14 May 2026 and will be hosted by ASNT.
The following APCNDT is planned to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 12-16 November 2029.
APFNDT homepage
APFNDT is working on a new website. It is scheduled to be renewed around January 2024.
Future plans for APFNDT
Since APFNDT’s establishment in 2013, the primary focus has been on building the overall structure of the Federation. This
includes activities such as drafting official documentation, for example the Constitution and Operating Procedures, forming
TGs and maintaining communication in the region. While all of these activities have laid the foundation for APFNDT, from
September 2023 the focus of APFNDT will shift from organisation building to a new phase of goals outlined below:l Phase 1: supporting APFNDT national societies in fulfilling their key functions;l Phase 2: forming an organised networking platform among APFNDT national societies to promote activities; andl Phase 3: enhancing APFNDT’s overall capabilities.

To achieve the above, the secretariat function of all APFNDT member societies must first be strengthened, because
this is one of the most important functions in the development of a society. In order for each NDT society to operate
more smoothly, communication and exchange of information between the respective secretariats is important.
Therefore, the APFNDT Board will undertake activities to improve the secretarial functions of APFNDT member
societies.
For the next step:l Online consultation with the secretariats of APFNDT member societies, led by the APFNDT Secretariat and theSecretariat of the Volunteer Association.
In the future:l Secretariat exchange workshop.
l Lectures and seminars by experts on topics such as non-profit organisation (NPO) studies or NPO management.
l Organising a conference-style event for secretariats to exchange information.

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INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTINGANNUAL REPORT 2023

AFNDT (Africa)
Membership
President

Dr Kamal Sahaimi (Centre National de l’Energie des Sciences et desTechniques Nucléaires, Morocco)

Secretariat

Mr Harold Jansen (Southern African Institute of Welding (SAIW),South Africa)

Founding Members

Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Democratic Republic of theCongo, Libya, Mauritius, South Africa, Tunisia, Tanzania, Zambia

ICNDT Membership (Active)

Egypt, South Africa

Signatories to Current Constitution (2014)

Algeria, Angola, Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Libya,
Mauritius, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, Tunisia, Uganda,
Zambia, Zimbabwe

Country (Active) Representation

Cameroon, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, Tunisia
There are 54 countries that are potential members

Sub-Regions

North Africa: Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Egypt
East Africa: Sudan, Burundi, Djibouti, Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia,
Eritrea, Somalia, Uganda, South Sudan
Central Africa: Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad,
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, São Tomé and
Príncipe, Gabon
West Africa: Ghana, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Gambia,
Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria,
Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo
Southern Africa: South Africa, Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar,
Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, Eswatini,
Union of Comoros, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Meetings
The African Federation of Non-Destructive Testing (AFNDT) last met in 2022, with nine participants from Cameroon,
Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa and Sudan.

Outcomesl Final draft constitution is pending adoptionl AFNDT ‘renewal’/rejuvenation agreementl Participation agreementl Membership and communication: 54 countries; establish communication channels.

Outstandingl Operating procedures: June 2022l AGM and election of dignitaries/representatives: July 2022
l Action plan, activities and website: July 2022 – ongoing activities.

IAEA-AFRAl Triangular project: IAEA, Cameroon, SA – Level 3 Workshop (completed 2021)
l National project: Cameroon – Authorised Qualification Body (AQB) and PCB establishment (2023-2026).

		

INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTINGANNUAL REPORT 2023

Visits in 2023
l SAIW provided training to Malawian Fellows during 2023 as part of an IAEA-AFRA (African Regional Cooperative

Agreement for Research, Development and Training Related to Nuclear Science and Technology) triangular project,with the intent to establish an Approved Training Body (ATB) in Malawi.
l An anticipated visit to Sudan during 2023 was cancelled due to the internal conflict that broke out in

April 2023.
l Initiating discussions were held with IAEA-AFRA in establishing a nine-year project to establish ATBs,

AQBs and PCBs in various African countries. Five initial countries have been identified as the sub-regional
leaders and the intent would be to initiate this project via triangular projects in the 2024/2025 period.
Expansion into neighbouring countries shall be facilitated via these countries and through proposed triangularprojects.

Website and Digital Platformsl A formal AFNDT website is being developed and will be linked to the ICNDT website once completed andapproved by the AFNDT Board.
l An AFNDT LinkedIn group has been initiated.
l A Meta (Facebook) group will be initiated.
l A database has been initiated with 63 email addresses.

Strategic Plan Objectives
l National NDT liaison/NDT societies in 54 countries.
l ICNDT MRA Schedule 1 signature.
l At least one ATB per country.
l A sustainable PCB (and AQB) per country.
l ICNDT MRA Schedule 2 registration – via National Accreditation Body or ICEC OP20 process.

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INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTINGANNUAL REPORT 2023

EFNDT (Europe)
The European Federation for Non-Destructive Testing (EFNDT) has a number of ongoing actions, despite the situation
facing all societies due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Brexit and the Russia-Ukraine war. The Board of Directors (BoD)
met several times online and in person during the year.
EFNDT elections were held during the 13th ECNDT, which took place from 3-7 July 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal.
Board of Directors
President

Mr Fermín Gómez Fraile (Spain)

Vice President

Mr Ezio Tuberosa (Italy)

Treasurer

Mr René Klieber (Switzerland)

Directors

Dr Thomas Wenzel (Germany)
Mr Frédéric Schaditzki (France)
Mr Peter Fish (Switzerland)
Professor Libor Topolar (Czech Republic)
Mr Gerald Idinger (Austria)
Mr Bento Ottone Alves (Portugal)
Mr David Gilbert (UK)
Professor Dr Eng Tomasz Chady (Poland)
Co-opted Members (non-voting)
N/A
Mr René Klieber (Switzerland)
Ex-Officio Members (non-voting)General Secretary

Dr Emilio Romero (Spain)

Past President

N/A

14th ECNDT (Verona, Italy)

Professor Dr Michele Carboni

EFNDT Certification Executive Committee (ECEC)
President

Dr Thomas Wenzel (Germany)

Auditor

Mr Casper Wassink (Netherlands)

EFNDT Matters
EFNDT has redefined the ten Working Groups and three Forums and these have started their work through virtual
meetings and conferences. They are as follows:l WG1 – Educationl WG2 – Radiation Protection and ADR
l WG3 – Condition Monitoringl WG4 – Laboratory Accreditationl WG5 – NDT for Public Safety and Securityl WG6 – NDT on Additive Manufacturing (two meetings)
l WG7 – Failure Analysis (Risk Analysis) (three meetings together with ICNDT SIG)l WG8 – Human Factorsl WG9 – Ethics (internal work with some associations)l WG10 – NDT 4.0 (eight meetings, one conference hosted by the German Society for Non-Destructive Testing (DGZfP)

and an international conference planned in Spain for aerospace NDT (AEROEND 4.1)). Joint with ICNDT SIG.

		

INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTINGANNUAL REPORT 2023

l Forum for European National Aerospace NDT Boards (NANDTBs) (four meetings and development of EN 4179)
l Forum for Railway Industries
l Forum for Marine (preparing underwater inspection specifications; contact with the International Association ofClassification Societies (IACS)).
Additionally, a Working Group with the European Welding Federation (EWF) has been reactivated to complete theEuropean NDT Engineer proposal (two meetings were held in 2021).
An agreement has also been reached with the TIC Council Confederation of Inspection and Certification Organisations
to work together on WG6 and WG10 matters.

Projects and Actions
Robotics for Inspection and Maintenance (RIMA) is a four-year EU Horizon 2020 project that aims to establish a
network of 13 digital innovation hubs (DIHs) on robotics, sharing best practices and providing services to facilitate theuptake of inspection and maintenance technologies. The very successful EU project RIMA Network closes after fourand a half years of work towards closing the market gap. In its place, the project partners have built something greaterthat will work beyond the scope of the project itself, the RIMA Alliance, with the collaboration of institutions such as
the European Commission, euRobotics, ADRA, Sprint Robotics and BDVA.

BrexitDuring the EFNDT BoD meeting, the situation due to Brexit was analysed in relation to the European Pressure
Equipment Directive (PED) 2014/68/EU and the new requirements of the United Kingdom Accreditation
Service (UKAS) affecting how NDT personnel with certificates issued by an EU Recognised Third-Party
Organisation (RTPO) can work under the UK Pressure Equipment (Safety) Regulations (PE(S)R). There have been
a number of interim arrangements (which BINDT can advise on), but following a UK government announcement
in August 2023 (see: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-government-announces-extension-of-ce-markrecognition-for-businesses) and the completion of the parliamentary process, certificates issued by an EU RTPO arevalid against the UK PE(S)R and this will remain the case in future (so long as the certificates are valid). Please refer to
BINDT for information on this subject as changes are still being made to the requirements.

Russia-Ukraine War
On 27 December 2022, the BoD received the resignation of Mr Alexander Mullin (EFNDT Vice President andChair of the ECEC) from these positions until the end of the Russia-Ukraine war.

TIC Council agreement
EFNDT is preparing an agreement with the TIC Council to obtain administrative support in Brussels.
Mr Fermín Gómez Fraile
EFNDT President

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INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTINGANNUAL REPORT 2023

PANNDT (Pan-America)
Current members of the Pan-American Federation for Nondestructive Testing (PANNDT) are as follows:
Argentina

AAENDE

Bolivia

ASBOSENDIC

BrazilABENDI

Associação Brasileira de Ensaios Não Destrutivos e Inspeção

CanadaCINDE

Canadian Institute for Non-Destructive Evaluation

Chile

ACHISEND

Asociación Chilena de Soldadura Inspección y Ensayos no Destructivos

Colombia

ACOSEND

Asociación Colombiana de Soldadura y Ensayos No Destructivos

Costa Rica–

EcuadorESPOL

Asociación Argentina de Ensayos No Destructivos y Estructurales
Asociación Boliviana de Soldadura, Ensayos No Destructivos, Inspección y Corrosión

Instituto Tecnologico de Costa Rica
Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral

MexicoAMEXEND A.C. Asociación Mexicana de Ensayos No Destructivos, A.C.

MexicoIMENDE A.C.

Peru

APEND

Asociación Peruana de END

Uruguay

AENDUR

Asociación Uruguaya de Ensayos No Destructivos

USA

ASNT

Instituto Mexicano de Ensayos No Destructivos, A.C.

American Society for Nondestructive Testing

Meetings were held during the 2023 ABENDI CONAENDI conference, which took place in São Paulo, Brazil, from
20-22 September 2023. The current Board is as listed below:
President

Mr Glenn Tubrett (CINDE, Canada)

Vice Chair

Mr David Bajula (ASNT, USA)

Treasurer

Mr Antonio Aulicino (ABENDI, Brazil)

Secretary

Mr Jorge Amsler (AAENDE, Argentina)

Discussions centred on the role of PANNDT compared to the other regional groups and how PANNDT should evolve.
The Terms of Reference of the Federation and the PANNDT Strategic Plan are being reviewed by the Board.
The next PANNDT Meeting and Regional Conference is scheduled for June 2025 and will be held in Niagara Falls,
Ontario, Canada; see: https://www.panndt.org/panndtconference. Visit the website for opportunities to sponsor,
exhibit, attend and present.

		

INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTINGANNUAL REPORT 2023

Certification of NDT Personnel – MRA, PCB and EQB
Multilateral Recognition Agreement (OP19)l There are currently 46 signatories to Schedule 1 of the MRA. See: www.icndt.org/OP19%20Schedule%201_

MRA%20Master%20Register%2007.05.2022.pdf
l There are currently 20 PCBs registered under the MRA Schedule 2. See: https://www.icndt.org/OP19%20

Schedule%202_MRA%20Master%20Register%2010.01.2023.pdf

Personnel Certification Body Compliance Assessment (OP20)
l China re-registered under OP20 in 2021.

Examination Question BankThe ICEC has developed an online delivery system for the ICNDT EQB. This online EQB has been demonstrated to thecurrent EQB users and the new delivery method has been trialled by volunteer PCBs. The ICEC has been approachedby additional PCBs showing continued demand for the EQB, both in its current form and the future online version.

ICNDT Guide to Qualification and Certification of Personnel for NDT
See WG1 report on page 4.

ISO/TC 135
ISO/TC 135 Plenary and SC meetings are scheduled for three days following on directly from the 20th WCNDT.
Lastly, acting as the ICNDT representative and liaison member, respectively, for ISO/TC 135, Dr Mike Farley and
Dr Sajeesh Babu have also been participating.

Website/Journal/Publications
The ICNDT Secretariat has continued to provide updates to members through the website and the ICNDT Journal,
issued in November 2023.
ICNDT is grateful to JSNDI for providing the platform for the ICNDT website and to BINDT, especially Zoe White andCindy Bailey, for their support to the committees and for the preparation of the Annual Report and other publisheddocuments.

Finance
The audited financial report for 2023 and the budget for 2024 are shown in the following pages.

Acknowledgements
ICNDT wishes to thank its Executive Committee, Committees and Working Groups for their efforts during 2023 andacknowledges the support of the Secretariat provided by BINDT. Thanks are also reiterated to the 20th WCNDTOrganising Committee, particularly Dr Dong-Jin Yoon, Chair of the Conference Organising Committee, andProfessor Younho Cho, WCNDT President, for their efforts in dealing with the complexities of organising andrearranging the 20th WCNDT. ICNDT is also grateful to the organisers of APCNDT 2023 and the 13th ECNDT, as well
as ASNT and BINDT for their provision of facilities for ICNDT meetings during their conferences.
ICNDT also thanks JSNDI for maintaining the ICNDT website. The Chair personally thanks Dr Mike Farley, who has
coordinated and compiled the contents of the Annual Report. All volunteers working for their NDT societies haveagain faced extra challenges this year and their work is much appreciated. It is vital to continue to create a safer world
through the wider use of NDT and diagnostic technologies.
We hope to see all our members in person for the first time in seven years at the 20th WCNDT. Please make every
effort to attend!
Dr Sajeesh K Babu
Chair, ICNDT

21

22

INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTINGANNUAL REPORT 2023

Financial Report – Balance at 31.12.2023

Opening balance€€

Income 2023

Expenditure 2023

160,139.34

Donation from Austrian Chamber of Commerce

500.00Donation from WCNDT

0.00

Membership fees (new fee structure)

14,981.60

Interest from bank account no 290-317-99501

15.90

PCB CA service (OP20)

0.00

MRA service (OP19)4,900.00

EQB product: application fees (OP23)

0.00

EQB update fees (OP23)

0.00

Meeting expenses/Go to meetings (OP18)

4,060.05

Cost of bank account no 290-317-99501

348.97

Bank expenditure for incoming fees

11.53

Printing costs

0.00

Office costs (insurance, various)

1,749.34

PCB CA service costs: system administration (OP20)

418.00

MRA/PCB: auditor payment, administration (OP19)5,544.00

EQB service costs: administration (OP23), overheads,
third-party services

3,476.00

Professional service

6,402.00

Preparation of ICNDT monographs

0.00

Supplies (ICNDT badges, flags, etc)212.00Miscellaneous (shipping, conference calls)

0.00

Website upgrade

0.00

Totals
Allocation to reserves

180,536.84

22,221.89
158,314.95

Pending costs 2024: Website €25,000.00
Ing Gerhard Aufricht (Treasurer)
Vienna, 02.01.24

INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTINGANNUAL REPORT 2023

		Financial Report – Draft Budget 2024

Opening balance€€

Income 2024

Expenditure 2024

158,314.95

Donation from Austrian Chamber of Commerce

500.00Donation from WCNDT

50,000.00

Membership fees (new fee structure)

22,800.00

Interest from bank account no 290-317-99501

20.00

PCB CA service (OP20)

0.00

MRA service (OP19)6,900.00

EQB product: application fees (OP23)

7,500.00

EQB update fees (OP23)

500.00Meeting expenses/Go to meetings (OP18)8,000.00

Cost of bank account no 290-317-99501

300.00Bank expenditure for incoming fees

500.00Printing costs

4,000.00

Office costs (insurance, various)

2,000.00

PCB CA service costs: system administration (OP20)

1,000.00

MRA/PCB: auditor payment, administration (OP19)9,400.00

EQB service costs: administration (OP23), overheads,
third-party services

6,000.00

Professional service

4,500.00

Preparation of ICNDT monographs

0.00

Supplies (ICNDT badges, flags, etc)

1,000.00

Miscellaneous (shipping, conference calls)

3,000.00

Website upgrade

25,000.00

Totals

246,534.95

Allocation to reserves

181,834.95

64,700.00

Ing Gerhard Aufricht (Treasurer)
Vienna, 02.01.24

Published on behalf of ICNDT by the Publishing Department, The British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing,Midsummer House, Riverside Way, Bedford Road, Northampton NN1 5NX, UK.
Tel: +44 (0)1604 438300 | Email: info@bindt.org | Web: www.bindt.org
The ICNDT is registered as a legalised association with its seat in Vienna, Austria.
Registered office: 1230 Vienna, Jochen-Rindt-Straße 33.
Chair: S K Babu | Email: chairman@icndt.org

www.icndt.org

23

OP19 Revision 6
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ICNDT Operating Procedure OP19:
ICNDT Multilateral Recognition Agreement
Executive Summary
Representatives of the members of the International Committee for Non-Destructive Testing (ICNDT)
have recognised the need for a global Multilateral Agreement on Recognition of NDT Personnel
Certification. The work of developing the ICNDT Multilateral Recognition Agreement (MRA), which isbased upon compliance with ISO 9712, was entrusted to the ICNDT Working Group on Qualification
and Certification (WG1). The implementation and operation of the ICNDT MRA is the responsibilityof the ICNDT Certification Executive Committee (ICEC).
This document is a strategic level Operating Procedure as defined in Operating Procedure OP 18 andis subject to approval by the ICNDT Executive Committee (IEC) and the International Committee.
The document describes (a) the objectives of the MRA, (b) the obligations of ICNDT members thatare signatories to the MRA, (c) the criteria for Personnel Certification Bodies to become registeredunder the MRA and (d) the high-level processes by which the MRA is managed.

Disclaimer
ICNDT accepts no liability for the use of certification awarded by any PCB registered under the MRA.
In accordance with ISO 9712 (Non-destructive testing – Qualification and certification of NDT
personnel) the responsibility for the quality of NDT tests with the employer of the certificatedperson.

Jurisdiction
The ICNDT Multilateral Recognition Agreement is subject to the jurisdiction of Austria.

Secretariat: The British Institute of NDT, Midsummer House, Riverside Way, Bedford Road,
Northampton NN1 5NX Tel: +44 1604 438300 Fax: +44 1604 438301 Email: gensec@icndt.org
The ICNDT is registered as a legalised Association with its seat in Vienna, Austria. ICNDTRegistered Office: 1230 VIENNA, Jochen-Rindt-Strasse 33.
Chair: S K Babu Email: chairman@icndt.org

OP19 Revision 6
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Revision and Approval Status
Issue / Draft
Issue 1Date
15/05/2013

Details
Previous issue

Issue 2

30/09/2015

Revision 3

15/02/2017

Revision 4

14/06/2018

Revision 5

23/01/2020

Modified to improve clarity; requirement
for additional information to be provided byapplicant PCB
Approval by PGP replaced with approval by
the International Committee.
Issue 2 changed to Revision 3
Section 6.3 revised to clarify expectations ofauditors’ NDT expertise
Sections 6.1 and 6.4 revised to enhance thereview process and to have clarity.
Section 6.5 revised to require an annual
return from PCBs to confirm continuity ofregistration.
Section 6.7 revised to allow use of the
ICNDT MRA logo by registered PCBs
Edited for responsibility and updated forremote audit if necessary.
Clarification of use of Logo.
Clarification of qualifications for auditors.
Clarification of obligations

Revision 6

Status / Approval
Approved by ICEC,PGP & GA
Approved by ICEC,
WG1, PGP & GA
Approved by IEC

Approved by ICEC and
IEC then by ICNDT GA
on 14 June 2018
Agreed by ICEC and
IEC and approved by
ICNDT Annual Meetingon 23 January 2020
For approval

Secretariat: The British Institute of NDT, Midsummer House, Riverside Way, Bedford Road,
Northampton NN1 5NX Tel: +44 1604 438300 Fax: +44 1604 438301 Email: gensec@icndt.org
The ICNDT is registered as a legalised Association with its seat in Vienna, Austria. ICNDTRegistered Office: 1230 VIENNA, Jochen-Rindt-Strasse 33.
Chair: S K Babu Email: chairman@icndt.org

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1 ScopeThis Operating Procedure covers the operation of the ICNDT Multilateral Recognition Agreement(MRA). The Operating Procedure is supported by lower level Work Instructions (WI) under control of
the ICNDT Certification Executive Committee (ICEC).

2 References
OP13
OP 18
OP 20
OP 24
ISO 9712
ISO/IEC 17011
ISO/IEC 17024
IAF MLA
OP13
ATO

Use of ICNDT Logo
ICNDT Certification Executive Committee
Personnel Certification Body Conformity Assessment (PCB CA)
Procedure for Complaints and Appeals Relating to ICEC Activities
Non-destructive testing – Qualification and certification of NDT personnel
Conformity assessment – General requirements for accreditation bodies
accrediting conformity assessment bodies
Conformity assessment – General requirements for bodies operating
certification of persons
Accreditation Body and Regional Accreditation Group Members of
IAF
Use of ICNDT Logo
Authorised Training Organisation

Note 1. Any requirement for conformity with the above documents means conformity with thecurrent edition (up to 12 months will be allowed between the issue of a revision andimplementation of a referenced document).

3 Abbreviations
AB
AQB
CA
EA
IAF
ICEC
ICNDT
IEC
GA
MRA
OP
PCB
PGPC
WG1
WI

Accreditation Body
Authorised Qualification Body
Conformity Assessment
European co-operation for Accreditation (https://www.europeanaccreditation.org/)
International Accreditation Forum (https://www.iaf.nu/)
ICNDT Certification Executive Committee
International Committee for Non-Destructive Testing
ICNDT Executive Committee
ICNDT General AssemblyMultilateral Recognition Agreement
Operating Procedure
Personnel Certification Body
ICNDT Policy & General Purposes Committee
ICNDT Working Group 1
Work Instruction

Secretariat: The British Institute of NDT, Midsummer House, Riverside Way, Bedford Road,
Northampton NN1 5NX Tel: +44 1604 438300 Fax: +44 1604 438301 Email: gensec@icndt.org
The ICNDT is registered as a legalised Association with its seat in Vienna, Austria. ICNDTRegistered Office: 1230 VIENNA, Jochen-Rindt-Strasse 33.
Chair: S K Babu Email: chairman@icndt.org

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4 Multilateral Recognition Agreement
4.1 General Principles
The MRA (the Agreement) is in two parts, described as ‘Schedule 1’ and ‘Schedule 2’. Schedule 1
comprises the list of national NDT societies / institutes (Parties) that are members of ICNDT and havesigned the agreement, committing to supporting the objectives of the MRA. Schedule 2 comprises alist of personnel certification bodies (PCB) that meet the required criteria and are registered by ICNDT
under the Agreement.
A PCB seeking registration under Schedule 2 must be proposed for registration by a Party to the
MRA Schedule 1 or an ICNDT regional federation should perceived conflicts of interest occur. In somecases this may be academic, as many national societies are PCBs. But this need not be the case andthere may be more than one PCB in a country.

4.2 Objectives
The objectives of the Agreement are to elevate standards and to harmonise NDT personnel
certification operations of personnel certification bodies registered under the Agreement.

4.3 Administration of the Agreement
This MRA is administered as a series of agreements under the jurisdiction of Austrian law, and shallbe administered by the ICNDT Certification Executive Committee (ICEC), which assigns the day to day
responsibility for reviewing applications for PCB registration to the ICEC Secretary.

4.4 Complaints and Appeals
Any complaints or appeals concerning the implementation of the Agreement or registration of PCBs
shall be dealt with under Operating Procedure OP 24.

5 Multilateral Recognition Agreement: Schedule 1
5.1 Obligations
Each Party to Schedule 1 of the MRA should:• commit itself to the pursuance of the objectives of the MRA;
• promote the recognition and acceptance of certification issued by issued by MRA schedule 2
signatories• assist other interested parties by giving a clear overview of the NDT personnel certification
activities in its own country, including a description of the sectorial arrangements;• provide other Parties with non-confidential information on the certification scheme(s)operated by PCBs registered under this Agreement;• consult with and seek membership of the scheme and technical committees of NDT PCBs in
its own country;• indemnify ICNDT against liability for the Party’s use or misuse of this MRA.
• Provide an annual National NDT Society report to regional federations & ICNDT in relation tonational NDT certification capabilities.

5.2 Access to Schedule 1 of the MRA
Secretariat: The British Institute of NDT, Midsummer House, Riverside Way, Bedford Road,
Northampton NN1 5NX Tel: +44 1604 438300 Fax: +44 1604 438301 Email: gensec@icndt.org
The ICNDT is registered as a legalised Association with its seat in Vienna, Austria. ICNDTRegistered Office: 1230 VIENNA, Jochen-Rindt-Strasse 33.
Chair: S K Babu Email: chairman@icndt.org

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Access to Schedule 1 of the MRA is available to any ICNDT member that has committed to accept
theobligations set out above.

5.3 Fees, Renewal and Termination•

There are no fees for Schedule 1 of the MRA and no requirement for renewal.

•

If any of the obligations within any of the ICNDT procedures are proved to have been
deliberately broken then ICNDT has the right to immediately suspend the Schedule 1 or
Schedule 2 signatory from ICNDT MRA registration.

•

Any Schedule 1 or Schedule 2 signatory which is "Suspended” from Schedule 1 will be
removed from the register of Schedule 1 and schedule 2 members.

•

If any of the obligations are proved to be broken, then the ICEC secretary will inform the ICEC
committee and the ICNDT Chairman.

•

If any obligations continue to be proven1 to be broken then the ICNDT may exclude the PCB
from both Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 registration and announce any such
violations/suspensions via the ICNDT journal and on the ICNDT website.

NOTE
1“Proven” will be enacted in accordance with ICNDT procedure OP24.

5.4 Publication of Schedule 1
The register of Parties to Schedule 1 of the MRA is available on the ICNDT website.

6 Multilateral Recognition Agreement: Schedule 2
6.1 Criteria for Registration
An NDT PCB seeking registration under this MRA shall:• Be proposed for registration under Schedule 2 by a Party to this MRA that is a signatory to
Schedule 1 (see notes 2a, 2b and 2c below); The registration proposal can be made by any
MRA Schedule 1 signatory society and can also be proposed via an ICNDT regional
federation should perceived conflicts of interest occur.
•

Have confirmed their acceptance of the ICNDT Code of Practice for Personnel
Certification Bodies set out in Appendix 1.

•

Have provided information on the possible use of Authorised Qualification Bodies andsectorial arrangements and shall have a published code of ethics (see 6.2.3 below);•

Have been independently accredited (see 6.3 below);•

H ave provided evidence that the accreditation meets ICNDT requirements (see 6.4
below);•Have remitted to the ICNDT the current initial application fee or the renewal fee if
applicable.

•

Provide an annual report to regional federations & ICNDT regarding PCB's / AQB's & ATO's activities
and Schemes followed in represented countries.

Note 2a. If a Party to this MRA (a signatory listed in Schedule 1) is also a PCB, this shall not on its own
be reason to refuse to propose other PCBs in the country concerned for registration.
Secretariat: The British Institute of NDT, Midsummer House, Riverside Way, Bedford Road,
Northampton NN1 5NX Tel: +44 1604 438300 Fax: +44 1604 438301 Email: gensec@icndt.org
The ICNDT is registered as a legalised Association with its seat in Vienna, Austria. ICNDTRegistered Office: 1230 VIENNA, Jochen-Rindt-Strasse 33.
Chair: S K Babu Email: chairman@icndt.org

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Note 2b. If the ICNDT member in the country concerned is not a Party to this MRA, an NDT PCB
based
in that country may be proposed for registration by any ICNDT member that is party to this
MRA with the agreement with the national NDT Society (if one exists) of the applicant PCB.
Note 2c. The Certification Executive Committee has the right, if it wishes, to ask the national NDTSociety of the applicant’s country for an opinion on the suitability of the applicant PCB.

6.2 Additional Information
ISO 9712 permits some freedom for a PCB (a) to establish one or more Authorised Qualification Bodies(AQB) under its control and (b) to set up sectorial arrangements to satisfy national needs. In addition,
ISO 9712 requires a PCB to develop a code of ethics. Information is required on the way that the PCB
implements these points both to check compliance with ISO 9712 requirements and to publicise
details on the ICNDT website if registration is successful (see 6.7 below). Further details are in 6.2.1,
6.2.2 and 6.2.3 below.
Note 3. The requirement for this information was introduced in Issue 2 of this Operating Procedure.
PCBs registered under Issue 1 of this Operating Procedure will be required to provide theinformation on or before renewal of their registration (see 6.5 below).
6.2.1 Management Structure and Use of Authorised Qualification Bodies
The requirements for a PCB (‘Certification Body’ in ISO 9712) are given in clause 5.2 of the standard.
Clause 5.2.2 c) states that the PCB “may delegate, under its direct responsibility, the detailed
administration of qualification to authorized qualification bodies, to which it shall issue specifications
and/or procedures covering facilities, personnel, calibration and control of NDT equipment,
examination materials, specimens, conduct of examinations, examination grading, records, etc”. The
requirements for an Authorised Qualification Body (AQB) are given in clause 5.3 and Clause 5.3.2 notesthat “If there are no authorized qualification bodies, the certification body shall fulfil the requirementsof the qualification body”.
The use or otherwise of one or more AQBs is acceptable for registration under the MRA but a PCB
seeking or renewing registration shall provide information on the management structure of the PCB,
including whether the PCB is part of the national society / institute or a separate legal entity andwhether or not qualification is delegated to one or more AQBs. On successful registration, thisinformation will be made available in the register entry on the ICNDT Website (see 6.7 below).
6.2.2 Definition of Sectors‘Sector’ is defined in ISO 9712 as a “section of industry or technology where specialized NDT practices
are used, requiring specific product-related knowledge, skill, equipment or training”. It is noted further
that “A sector can be interpreted to mean a product (welded products, castings) or an industry(aerospace, in-service testing)” and a reference is made to normative Annexe A which provides
reference lists of product and industrial sectors without precluding the development of additional
sectors to satisfy national needs.
A PCB seeking or renewing registration, or one already registered that is altering its sectorial
arrangements, shall provide a definition of the sectors used and shall inform the ICEC Secretary of any
changes during the period of registration. This information will be made available in the register entry
Secretariat: The British Institute of NDT, Midsummer House, Riverside Way, Bedford Road,
Northampton NN1 5NX Tel: +44 1604 438300 Fax: +44 1604 438301 Email: gensec@icndt.org
The ICNDT is registered as a legalised Association with its seat in Vienna, Austria. ICNDTRegistered Office: 1230 VIENNA, Jochen-Rindt-Strasse 33.
Chair: S K Babu Email: chairman@icndt.org

OP19 Revision 6
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13
on the ICNDT Website (see 6.7 below). The PCB shall supply evidence of an annual surveillance
which will be verified during application for renewal.
Note 4. The existence of different sectorial arrangements between PCBs shall not be used as a barrier
to harmonisation. If certification awarded by a PCB under the ICNDT MRA does not fully covera particular sector required, for example in another national jurisdiction, then this should be
remedied by additional examination, not by a complete new certification.The PCB in theother national jurisdiction may require a certificate holder to undertake to abide by the codeof ethics for that national jurisdiction (see 6.2.3 below).
6.2.3 Code of Ethics
Clause 5.2.2 k) of ISO 9712 requires that “The certification body shall require all candidates andcertificate holders to give a signed or stamped undertaking to abide by a code of ethics which it shalldevelop for the purpose and publish.” A PCB seeking or renewing registration shall provide a copy of
its code of ethics which will be made available in the register entry on the ICNDT Website (see 6.7
below).

6.3 Accreditation
For registration under Schedule 2 of the MRA, the ICNDT requires evidence of independent
accreditation in conformance with ISO/IEC 17024 and ISO 9712. This will usually be provided by an
Accreditation Body (AB) meeting the following criteria:•

The AB is a shall be a member of an international body acceptable to ICNDT (see note 5);•

The accreditation process is judged satisfactory by ICNDT on the basis of a review of theAccreditation Body’s Assessment Report;
The Accreditation Body’s Assessment Report demonstrates in the judgement of ICNDT thatthe assessment involved an assessor who has held NDT qualifications (for example ISO 9712
certification Level 3 in at least one method or education in a degree which includes NDTcourses and sufficient experience of auditing certification bodies to be able to assess
compliance with ISO 9712 (see Notes 6 and 7 below).

••

The ICEC reserves the right to request further evidence or audit should these be required aspart of the application review process.

Note 5. Accreditation Bodies which are members of the European co-operation for Accreditation (EA)or the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) meet this requirement.
Note 6. It is reasonable to ask this of Accreditation Bodies because they are required to use “experts”
who are defined in ISO 17011 as a “person assigned by an accreditation body to provide
specific knowledge or expertise with respect to the scope of accreditation to be assessed”.
Note 7. As stated above, the ICNDT considers it good practice to include a qualified NDT assessor oran assessor with either ISO9712 Level 3 certification or equivalent knowledge. E.g. A degree
in NDT or related applied science or engineering degree and previous NDT certification..
However, ICNDT recognises that PCBs do not control the makeup of the audit team but
ICNDT will require documented evidence that the PCB has asked the audit organization to
Secretariat: The British Institute of NDT, Midsummer House, Riverside Way, Bedford Road,
Northampton NN1 5NX Tel: +44 1604 438300 Fax: +44 1604 438301 Email: gensec@icndt.org
The ICNDT is registered as a legalised Association with its seat in Vienna, Austria. ICNDTRegistered Office: 1230 VIENNA, Jochen-Rindt-Strasse 33.
Chair: S K Babu Email: chairman@icndt.org

OP19 Revision 6
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provide at least one auditor with acceptable NDT knowledge. Further where 8suitable
auditors cannot be found within a country, the ICNDT can nominate a suitably
qualified/acceptable assessor to review the PCB’s operating procedures.
Note 8. ICNDT considers that in exceptional circumstances where governments impose travel
restrictions due to internationally recognized events e.g. epidemics, remote audits may be
accepted by the ICEC instead of the normal face to face audits. It shall be noted that this may
only apply for re-registration to OP19 and not for the initial registration audit.
Note 9. ICNDT encourage the PCBs to ask the accreditation body to include in their assessment reportstatements with regard to the independence of the training and certification aspects of the
PCB, AQBs and any ATOs. In particular it is encouraged that, with the possible exception of
the organization board, the management structure clearly separates training fromcertification with personnel not being permitted to hold positions in both the training and/or
certification structure of the PCB without showing clear delineation/separation of activities
in the PCB’s organogram.
These separation rules are to apply to any person, regardless of job function, that could be
active in the areas of an AQB’s examination and training functions.

6.4 Assessment of Application
The application for registration shall include evidence that the independent accreditation of the PCB
meets ICNDT requirements. This shall include but is not be limited to:•

A copy of the main quality management system documents;•

A certificate of accreditation from the national/international accreditation body;•

A document demonstrating the scope of accreditation. Where a remote audit has been
undertaken as allowed in clause 6.3 this shall be noted in the audit report with an explanationof such activities.

•

A copy of the most recent assessment report from the national/international accreditation
body.

Note 1. All copies of documents will be treated in confidence and will be returned or destroyed in theevent of an unsuccessful application.
Note 2.

All documents shall be provided in the English language.

Note 3. While not mandatory, it will be useful if an application is made shortly after assessment or
re-assessment by the accreditation body. This will help to ensure (a) that the assessment
report is up to date and (b) that a three-year renewal of MRA registration (see 6.5 below) is
synchronized with a further re-assessment by the accreditation body.
Each application shall be assessed by a panel composed of ICEC members that, if necessary, may seek
advice from other experts. The results of this assessment shall be fully recorded and available for audit
if required.
If it is concluded that some or all of the ICNDT requirements are not met, ICNDT may offer anassessment under the ICNDT Personnel Certification Body Approval Scheme (see ICNDT OP 20). This
Secretariat: The British Institute of NDT, Midsummer House, Riverside Way, Bedford Road,
Northampton NN1 5NX Tel: +44 1604 438300 Fax: +44 1604 438301 Email: gensec@icndt.org
The ICNDT is registered as a legalised Association with its seat in Vienna, Austria. ICNDTRegistered Office: 1230 VIENNA, Jochen-Rindt-Strasse 33.
Chair: S K Babu Email: chairman@icndt.org

OP19 Revision 6
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may be a complete conformity assessment or a limited assessment targeted at specific items. 9
Theof this assessment will be paid for by the applicant.
The ICEC or the review panel has authority to make further enquiries about the performance historyof the applicant PCB or its directors. If these enquiries raise doubts about the applicant PCB, then aspecific conformity assessment audit may be deemed necessary or the application may be refused.
There is no right of appeal against such decisions.

6.5 Renewal and Continuity of Registration
Registration under the ICNDT MRA is valid for three years after which the PCB may apply for renewalof an initial or renewed registration. The criteria for renewal are the same as for initial registration.
Within the three-year period before renewal, registration shall be maintained subject to annual
submission of a return to the ICEC Secretary. The details required for the annual return are specified in
OP19_Form C, but typically the requirements are:•Continued validity of ICNDT recognised accreditation or ICNDT certificated conformity of the NDTPCB demonstrating compliance with the standards referred to in the PCB’s scope of accreditation
or ICNDT certificate of conformity;

and•Provision of the latest assessment report from the accreditation body confirming compliancewith the standards referred to in the PCB’s scope of accreditation;•

Provision of any major revisions to the quality management system documentation;•

Provision of any changes to the scope in which certification is offered including
methods/techniques, sectors and levels;•

Provision of any changes in the list of AQBs (if any) and reports of any AQB audits including
witness assessment;•

Where accreditation is based on an ICNDT assessment of conformity under OP20, ICNDT reserves
the right to carry out a surveillance audit during the three-year renewal period at cost to theregistrant;•

Continued compliance with the ICNDT Code of Practice for NDT PCBs (see Appendix 1).

The ICEC will review the annual submission and decide whether continued registration is adequately
supported. An NDT PCB failing to fulfil the conditions for continued registration shall be de-registered on
the authority of the ICEC. A deregistered PCB shall have access to the complaints and appeals process
detailed in OP 24.

6.6 Fees
The fees for registration comprise:•

An initial application fee, which could include;• Full - Site and / or remote digital audit• Part - Remote digital audit pending audit scope•

A three-year renewal fee, which could include;
Secretariat: The British Institute of NDT, Midsummer House, Riverside Way, Bedford Road,
Northampton NN1 5NX Tel: +44 1604 438300 Fax: +44 1604 438301 Email: gensec@icndt.org
The ICNDT is registered as a legalised Association with its seat in Vienna, Austria. ICNDTRegistered Office: 1230 VIENNA, Jochen-Rindt-Strasse 33.
Chair: S K Babu Email: chairman@icndt.org

••

Full - Site and / or remote digital audit
Part - Remote digital audit pending audit scope

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See OP20 for the fees relating to a full or part conformity assessment (see 6.4 above).
The fees will be proposed by the ICEC and confirmed at the Annual General Meeting of ICNDT. A listof the current fees, updated annually, is available on the ICNDT website.

6.7 Publication of Schedule 2
A certificate is provided to the PCB to acknowledge registration (see Figure 1) and the list of PCBs
registered under Schedule 2 of the MRA is available on the ICNDT website athttps://www.icndt.org/news/5c32f4b8f6a695d937e5d50dbee6bfc89e0cd13f/.Additional
information, where available, (see 6.2 above) is provided in an appendix to the register on the website.
The registered NDT PCB may announce that holders of its certificates gained under thesearrangements “are certificated by a body which is registered by the ICNDT as meeting therequirements of Standards and Technical Documents referenced in its schedule of Accredited Scope orscope of its ICNDT Certificate of Conformity”.
A PCB registered under Schedule 2 of the MRA may use the ICNDT MRA logo as defined in Figure 4 ofOperating Procedure OP13:•

When advertising their certification;•

On certificates relating to the certification issued during the period of valid registration
indicating compliance with the standards referred to in the PCB’s scope of accreditation
or ICNDT certificate of conformity, including on certificates issued following the renewal
process permitted in ISO 9712. PCBs are advised to check that such use of this logo isacceptable to their accreditation body.

6.8 Process for Application for Initial Registration and Renewal of Registration
The process map for application and renewal of registration is shown in Figure 2. The renewal
process is similar to the initial application except that the ICEC are able to take cognisance of
information provided by the initial application and any following renewals.

Secretariat: The British Institute of NDT, Midsummer House, Riverside Way, Bedford Road,
Northampton NN1 5NX Tel: +44 1604 438300 Fax: +44 1604 438301 Email: gensec@icndt.org
The ICNDT is registered as a legalised Association with its seat in Vienna, Austria. ICNDTRegistered Office: 1230 VIENNA, Jochen-Rindt-Strasse 33.
Chair: S K Babu Email: chairman@icndt.org

OP19 Revision 6
Draft
28/11/2023
Page 11 of 13

Figure 1: Example of a certificate

Secretariat: The British Institute of NDT, Midsummer House, Riverside Way, Bedford Road,
Northampton NN1 5NX Tel: +44 1604 438300 Fax: +44 1604 438301 Email: gensec@icndt.org
The ICNDT is registered as a legalised Association with its seat in Vienna, Austria. ICNDTRegistered Office: 1230 VIENNA, Jochen-Rindt-Strasse 33.
Chair: S K Babu Email: chairman@icndt.org

OP19 Revision 6
Draft
28/11/2023
Page 12 of 13

Figure 2 Process map for application and renewal of registration

Secretariat: The British Institute of NDT, Midsummer House, Riverside Way, Bedford Road,
Northampton NN1 5NX Tel: +44 1604 438300 Fax: +44 1604 438301 Email: gensec@icndt.org
The ICNDT is registered as a legalised Association with its seat in Vienna, Austria. ICNDTRegistered Office: 1230 VIENNA, Jochen-Rindt-Strasse 33.
Chair: S K Babu Email: chairman@icndt.org

OP19 Revision 6
Draft
28/11/2023
Page 13 of 13

Appendix 1: Code of Practice for Personnel Certification Bodies
NDT personnel certification bodies (PCBs) seeking ICNDT registration under the ICNDT Multilateral
Agreement on Recognition of Certification are obliged to sign an undertaking to comply with thisCode of Practice. Inter alia, they shall:
1. Maintain compliance with the standard(s) and specification(s) detailed on their certificate ofaccreditation or the ICNDT certificate of conformity, notifying the ICNDT Certification
Executive Committee (ICEC) of any change in status, or in the standards with which thecertification scheme that they operate to complies;
2. Require all candidates and certificate holders to give a signed or stamped undertaking toabide by a code of ethics which they shall develop for the purpose and publish;
3. Promote recognition and acceptance in their own country of the certificates of conformanceissued by other NDT PCBs registered under the ICNDT MRA;
4. Keep confidential all examination material, including examination questions and specimens,in secure conditions with strictly controlled access only to authorized individuals;
5. Conduct their business in a responsible manner and utilize fair and equitable practices indealing with clients and candidates;
6. Perform their professional duties with proper regard for the physical environment and thesafety, health and well-being of certificate holders and candidates for certification;
7. Protect to the fullest extent possible, consistent with the wellbeing of the public and theprovisions of this Code of Practice, any information given to them in confidence by an
employer of certificated NDT personnel, candidates and certificate holders, or members of
the public;
8. Avoid conflicts of interest with employers of certificated NDT personnel or candidates, butwhen unavoidable, forthwith disclose the circumstances to the employer or candidate;
9. Not falsify nor permit misrepresentation of their Accreditation, ICNDT certificate ofconformity or certificate of registration under the ICNDT MRA;
10. Refrain from making unjustified statements or from performing unethical acts which would
discredit the NDT profession or the ICNDT;
11. Immediately report to the ICEC any perceived violation(s) of this Code of Practice by any
party;
12. Accept the right of the ICNDT, and provide unhindered access to a nominated representativeof the ICNDT, to investigate any alleged infringements of this Code of Practice;
13. Indemnify ICNDT against liability for the PCB’s use or misuse of the ICNDT MRA and/or PCB
CA systems which are administered as a series of signed agreements under the jurisdictionof Austrian law.
14. Personnel Certification Bodies are only permitted to use the ICNDT LOGO on certificates if
authorized to do so. PCBs wishing to include the ICNDT logo must first supply the ICEC
secretary with a full description of the intended use before proceeding. Once authorized by
ICEC the appropriate logo will be supplied by the ICEC secretary for this inclusion.
15. Use of the ICNDT logo without prior permission will be considered a serious breach of ICNDTCode of Practice.

Secretariat: The British Institute of NDT, Midsummer House, Riverside Way, Bedford Road,
Northampton NN1 5NX Tel: +44 1604 438300 Fax: +44 1604 438301 Email: gensec@icndt.org
The ICNDT is registered as a legalised Association with its seat in Vienna, Austria. ICNDTRegistered Office: 1230 VIENNA, Jochen-Rindt-Strasse 33.
Chair: S K Babu Email: chairman@icndt.org

Report from the ICNDT Certification
Executive Committee (ICEC) for
GA Meeting in 28 May 2024
Compiled by Colin Bird Secretary ICEC and Harold Jansen ICEC Chair

Contents

 ICNDT MRA Schedule 1 Members
 ICNDT MRA Schedule 2 Registrants
 Certification Bodies which are under renewal process New Certification Body Applications
 PCBA status
 Updates to OP19 and OP20
 EQB Progress and New Owners

ICNDT Multilateral Recognition Agreement (MRA) Current Status of Schedule 1
45 National Societies/Institutes, which are
Members/Associate Members of ICNDT have signed the
ICNDT MRA Schedule 1:
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada,
China, China Taiwan, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic,
Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India,
Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco
Netherlands,New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia,
Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa (SAINT & SAIW), South Korea,
Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, UK and
Uzbekistan.

They have thereby agreed to promote the recognition of thecertification awarded by the Personnel Certification Bodies(PCBs) which are registered with ICNDT under Schedule 2.
2 National societies have been lost Lebanon and Russia

ICNDT Multilateral Recognition Agreement (MRA) Current Status of Schedule 2
19 Personnel Certification Bodies (PCBs) are registered with
the ICNDT MRA Schedule 2
IRAM Argentina,
AINDT Australia,
ABENDI Brazil,
ChSNDT China,
IMENDE Mexico,
Inspecta Sertifiointi Finland,
ISNDT India
KSNT Korea
DoS Malaysia,
NDTSS Singapore,
NCNDT Sri Lanka.

PCN UK,
RELACRE Portugal
SAIW Certification South
Africa,SECTOR Cert Germany,
NDT Society Taiwan
TUV Nord Czech, s.r.o.
TWI, UK
UDT-CERT Poland,

ICNDT Multilateral Recognition Agreement (MRA)Recent Changes to Registrations
Recent losses to MRA Schedule 2 (Personnel Certification
Bodies)RussiaUkraineRecent renewals of registration to MRA Schedule 2 (PCBs)

 China Finland Korea Sri Lanka
 Singapore
 British Institute NDT
 Chinese Taiwan

May 2024
August 2023
February 2024
October 2023
July 2023
July 2023
February 2024

2023/24 was a good year for ICEC MRA review teams.
THANK YOU for your hard work and dedication

ICNDT Multilateral Recognition Agreement (MRA)Other activities
Schedule 2 Applications in Progress

 AINDT Australia
 TWI Certification
 ISNT India
Schedule 2 Continuity Check (Form C)

 All MRA Schedule 2 members have completed form C and have registered
their continuity of registration.

ICNDT Multilateral Recognition Agreement (OP19)

The OP19 MRA procedure has been updated in some areas
and the IEC asks permission of the GA for its issue.
–The following areas have been updated

 Enable remote audits where physical events such as pandemics prevent travel.
Clarification of the ICNDT logo on certificates
Clarification of auditor qualifications
Clarification of obligations
Provide an annual report to the regional federation regading the PCB activities.

ICNDT Conformity Assessment of Personnel
Certification Bodies (OP20)

 In situations where independent accreditation of PCBs is notavailable or considered sufficient, ICNDT may offer aconformity assessment to support an application forregistration under the MRA Schedule 2.

 China used the OP20 route during 2023 after updating to ISO
9712 2021.

 OP20 will be used where certification bodies have had

difficulties within their certification system with respects toaudits.

 OP20 has been amended to take into consideration remote
audits where international travel has been restricted.

ICNDT Examination Question Bank (OP23)

 The current Examination Question Bank delivery system isbeing replaced by on on-line delivery platform supported by apay per examination system.

 This system will improve the security of the current
examination delivery
monitoring by ICNDT.

systembyenabling

continuous A further benefit will be the ease of updating the question bankin-line with current technology and standards.