EAS was established as an autonomous federal gov’t office having its own legal personality will offer accreditation services on a national & Intern' basis for conformity assessment bodies.. The mandate of EAS is to accredit, by formal third-party recognition, the competence of Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs) to perform specific activities, such as test, calibrations, certifications or inspecti
ons. During the establishment of ENAO's operational structure and resources, the EAS Council, elected by Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST), will be established to govern the strategic direction and governance of EAS in terms of good governance principles. SERVICES
EAS will offer accreditation services on a national basis, and international basis when needed, enabling MoST to reach globally accepted Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MRA) on the validity of certificates/reports issued by their Laboratories, Inspection Bodies, Certification Bodies and other related services. EAS’s accreditation of CABs will be achieved through five stages:
i) Application and document review
All applications for accreditation will be accompanied by a quality manual detailing the organization’s ability to meet the requirements of the relevant standard. EAS will initially conduct a desk review of the documents submitted as part of verifying compliance. An on-site assessment will be scheduled once EAS confirms that the applicant’s quality system, as documented, addresses all the requirements of the relevant standard. ii) Pre-assessments
Prior to embarking on the formal accreditation process, organizations that seek accreditation, may request EAS to conduct a pre-assessment to assess their readiness for accreditation. A pre-assessment is optional but advisable since it prepares the CAB for the Initial Assessment by identifying gaps between their current state of readiness and the relevant standard’s requirements. These gaps can therefore be bridged, where relevant, prior to the initial assessment. iii) Initial Assessment
Initial assessment is the on-site assessment of the organization’s competence to perform the specific tasks for which they seek accreditation. The initial assessment covers all aspects of the organisation’s relevant scope for which accreditation is sought. The EAS approval structure will base its decision to grant or not grant accreditation, to a large extent, on the information gathered during this assessment. iv) Surveillance assessment
After an organization has obtained accreditation, EAS will conduct periodic surveillance assessments at intervals as set out in its policy and which conforms to ILAC and IAF requirements. The surveillance assessments are scheduled to cover a representative sample of the organizations full scope of accreditation. v) Re-assessments
A re-assessment will be conducted at the end of an assessment cycle. An assessment cycle is normally not more than 5 years and EAS’s cycle will be based on the limitations as set out in the “Combination of reassessment and surveillance
