The 1st GCC Conference for Laboratory Proficiency

The organization of the first Gulf Conference for laboratory Proficiency comes in line with the strategic orientation of the GCC Standardization Organization (GSO) to the development of Standardization and Quality infrastructure in the member states, which would contribute to the development of commerce and industry and the national economy in the Member States.

The conference aims to spread awareness about proficiency testing activities available in the Member States, investigate the needs of laboratories and priorities in PT programs, and link the international PT providers for these programs,

Date and place of the conference were selected to coincide with the annual exhibition of laboratory equipment in Dubai ARABLAB EXPO, where thousands of laboratories meet every to get updates about the latest technological developments in the field of laboratory equipment (10-13 March 2013), the conference coincides also with the training program on proficiency testing international requirements in accordance with the international standard ISO / IEC 17043 which is organized by the GSO in Dubai during the period 10-12 March 2013.

A study on PT activities status of art was carried out in member states by the GSO during the year 2011, and showed that laboratories working with Member States are in a big need for a unified center of information on PT activities, and many of the laboratories that participated in the First Technical Symposium on integration between laboratories expressed the need to raise awareness about how to take advantage of PT activities to prove the credibility of the testing and calibration services they offer and about how to obtain PT programs covering their areas of activity.

This conference will be also the opportunity for the constitutional working group that will be the nucleus of the General Assembly of the Gulf laboratories Association the GULFLAB

The number of PT schemes has increased steadily

30-40% from developing countries

Opening Ceremony
09:00 – 09:40	Speech of the UAE Minister of Environment and Water Member of GSO Board of Directors His excellency Dr. Rashid Ahmad Bin Fahad
	Speech of the Secretary General of the GCC Standardization Organization (GSO) His excellency Mr. Nabil Ameen Molla
	Speech of ILAC Chair Mr.Peter Unger International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC)
	Speech of Sponsors
A. Open Session(09:40 – 14:15) Importance of Proficiency Testing for Testing & Calibration Laboratories. Chaired by GSO Secretary General Mr. Nabil Ameen Molla and Mr.Peter Unger
09:40 – 10:00	Acceditation of PT Providers – The A2LA Experience Mr. Peter Unger
10:00 – 10:20	ISO/IEC 17043 : General Requirements for Proficiency Testing Mr Daniel Tholan
10:20 – 10:40	How EPTIS Makes Regional PT Resources Visible Worldwide Johannes van de Kreeke, European PT Information System (EPTIS)
10:40 – 11:00	Importance of PT for Food & Envirionment Laboratories Eric Ziegler, International Bureau for Analytical Studies (BIPEA)
11:00 – 11:20	Logistics in the Provision of Global Proficiency Testing Services Mark SYKES, FAPAS (Food and Environment Research Agency)
11:20 – 12:00	Coffee Break, Questions & Discussions
Accreditation and Proficiency Testing Chaired by Daniel Tholen and Saud Rashed Alaskar
12:00 – 12:20	DAC in Support of Proficiency Testing in Member States. Dubai Accreditation Center (DAC)
12:20 – 12:40	TSE Experience in providing PT Programs Emre ERTEK, Turkish Standards Institution (TSE)
12:40 – 13:00	ASTM Experience in Proficiency Testing Programs Nick Ecart, ASTM
13:00 – 13:20	KOLAS Experience in Operating the PT Programs YOON Sung Soo, KOLAS
13:20 – 13:40	Importance of PT / ILC for National and Private Calibration Laboratories Jesus Gomez, Mettler Toledo AG (Branch)
13:40 – 14:00	GSO Strategy for the development of PT Activities at the Regional Level Ibrahim Houla, GCC Standardization Organization (GSO)
14:00 – 14:15	Closing of the open session
B. Working Group Discussion (14:15 – 16:00)
Working Group Discussion 2 Chaired by Daiel Tholen Open for all participants + The trainees from GSO training on the ISO/IEC 17043
14:15 – 15:30	“Proficiency Testing in the Medical Field”
15:30 – 16:00	Lunch

Peter S. Unger, ILAC Chairman

Peter S. Unger is President & CEO of the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA). A2LA is a nonprofit, membership organization administering the largest, internationally recognized laboratory accreditation system in the United States and one of the leading bodies in the world with over 2,300 accreditations.

He has been involved with national laboratory accreditation since 1978. Prior to attaining his current position in April 1996, Mr. Unger served as Vice President of the Association and prior to that, was Associate Manager of Laboratory Accreditation at the National Bureau of Standards.

Mr. Unger serves as Chair of the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC).

Mr. Unger has a BS degree in systems engineering from Princeton University and a masters in environmental management from George Washington University.

Daniel Tholen, Expert in ISO Committee

Daniel Tholen is an independent consultant based in Traverse City, Michigan, USA.

He has worked extensively on standards development for ISO and other standards development organizations, and conducts training on the application of these standards.

He currently serves as ILAC Liaison to ISO/TC 69, Applications of statistical methods

Johannes Kreeke, EPTIS Chairman

HJohannes is a scientist at the BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing in Germany.

He is involved in various PT activities, such as the use of PT results to monitor the effectiveness of the EA MRA (an EA Laboratory Committee WG) and the development of PT policies (via the EEE-PT WG and ILAC-PTWG).

He coordinates the activities for the EPTIS database and was a project leader for IMEP inter-comparisons at the Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements in Belgium. Johannes (45) is

Nick Ecart, ASTM Marketing Manager

Nick Ecart is Senior Director, Business Development, Europe, Middle East and Africa for ASTM International.

In the Gulf, Mr Ecart is responsible for managing ASTM’s regional partner network, key customers and ASTM’s close working relationships with all the regional National Standards Bodies including with the GCC Standardization Organization (GSO).

Prior to joining ASTM, Mr Ecart worked for IHS Inc for over 24 years where he led various sales, marketing and product management teams as well as various business development initiatives.

He lives near London with his wife and two teenage daughters.

Sung Soo, YOON KCL KOREA

Sung Soo , Master of science, Department of Nano Science and Technology, Seoul National University,

He is as an assessor of testing laboratories, an operator of PT programs,

he is also a researcher of the national R&D projects ,and a lecturer of Measurement Uncertainty.

Sung had experience in LG Display (2003~2007) and presently in KCL(Korea Conformity Laboratories)

Jesús Gómez,GM of METTLER TOLEDO

Jesus Gomez, Switzerland received his Bachelor in Economics from Swiss Federal Institute and Master in Export Administration from Swiss Business School.
Jesus Had the responsibility in METTLER TOLEDO as Product Manager for metrology Solutions and Customer Support for Africa and Product Manager for Metrology Solutions and Area Manager for Middle East.

He was a leader or participant in numerous international, national, bilateral and industrial programs. He has proven experience in industrial cooperation and education programs.

By end of 2010 he relocated to the United Arab Emirates and opened the Middle East Office of METTLER TOLEDO in Dubai Silicon Oasis.

Eric ZIEGLER, BIPEA Scientific

Eric ZIEGLER graduated from the chemistry engineering school of Rennes (FraSnce). He worked seven years in an environment laboratory, in charge of the chromatography service. He joined Bipea three years ago, as scientific and technical adviser.

Mark Sykes, FAPAS Scientific Advisor

Mark Sykes is the scientific advisor to FAPAS.

Following a degree in chemistry at the University of York, UK, and a Masters degree in analytical chemistry at the University of Huddersfield, UK,

Mark spent 12 years specialising in residues analysis by LC-MS.

Mark’s role in FAPAS, since 2009, is to manage the science delivery of the proficiency tests and publish and present work on the analysis of proficiency test data.

Mark represents FAPAS on national and international proficiency testing working groups

Emre ERTEK, TSE

Emre Ertek is Assistant PT Coordinator of Turkish Standard Institution (TSE).

He has working on TSE PT organization activities since 2010, specifically on data calculations and he is also lecturer of ISO 17043 Standard and measurement uncertainty.

He is experienced in natural stone test methods and a member of Natural Stone Mirror Committee of Turkey.

He is graduated from Civil Engineering Department of Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara Turkey. He has a master degree of Earthquake Engineering, Historical Buildings.

Ibrahim Houla, GSO PT Expert

Ibrahim Houla is in charge of accreditation section in GSO since 2010, Industrial Engineer, Following a Master Degree in in production systems management,

He specialized in Quality and accreditation since 2001, he was responsible of assuring the setting up and the application of the accreditation procedures and policies as Head of Laboratory Accreditation department in the Tunisian Accreditation Council TUNAC who achieved EA and ILAC MLA recognition.

Lead assessor and trainer in the field of accreditation of testing and calibration laboratories, certification bodies and Inspection bodies

Amina Mohamed Ahmed – DAC Dubai

Miss Amina is appointed as the Director of Accreditation Department (DAC) 2008
She worked in Dubai Central Laboratory for 19 years, where she got her experience in testing and management in deferent fields – mainly construction and food.
She was granted her Bachelor Degree in Chemistry from Al Ain University – UAE,
She was involved in different accreditation schemes as lead assessor since 1990.
She represented the UAE in many technical meetings; seminars; conferences, and; forums, such as: ILAC, IAF, SMIIC, ARAC, PAC & GAC.
She lead DAC to the international recognition by ILAC in the field of Accreditation of Testing; Calibration; Medical Laboratory & Inspection.

Logistics in the Provision of Global Proficiency Testing

Mr. Mark Sykes a presentation about Logistics in the Provision of Global Proficiency Testing Services

A2LA Accreditation Program for Providers of PT

Mr. Peter run a presentation about A2LA Accreditation Program for Providers of Proficiency Testing

ASTM Presentation Dubai 13.3.2013 abstract

Mr. Nick Ecart run a presentation about ASTM International’s Approach to Proficiency Testing

KOLAS experience in operating PT Programs

Mr. Brahim Houla run a presentation about KOLAS experience in operation Proficiency Testing Programs

The Role of ILAC

Mr. Peter run a presentation about The Role of ILAC

PT Presentation for GCC-3 (468 KB)
ILAC 2013 – GSO Presentation (946 KB)
Daniel Tholen (484 KB)
EPTIS Presentation (1 MB)
BIPEA Presentation (1 MB)
Sykes FAPAS PT Logistics GCC 2013 Fera Template (881 KB)
DAC Presentation (4 MB)
TSE (731 KB)
ASTM GCC Presentation 2013 Dubai Final (1 MB)
Sungsoo Yoon KCL KOLAS (1 MB)
Mettler Toledo 2013 JG (633 KB)
GSO Strategy (2 MB)
Workshop (485 KB)

SGS

SGS is the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company.

We are recognized as the global benchmark for quality and integrity. With more than 75,000 employees.

We operate a network of more than 1,500 offices and laboratories around the world

MOTABAQAH

‘MOTABAQAH’ is specialized in setting up testing, inspection, measurement and calibration labs, providing services of conformity, testing and analysis for all locally manufactured and imported materials/products, issuance of conformity certificates, and operation and management of laboratories. MOTABAQAH aims to be a partner in maintaining the safety and public health, protecting the consumer and environment, and enhancing the competitive of national products through the application of the Saudi and international standards, along with contributing to the national economy and technological progress of the Kingdom by emphasizing on application of Saudi Arabian Standards Organization (SASO) and International standards, besides application of (ISO 9100:2000) and (ISO 17025) standards. Along with providing Issuance of conformity certificates and operation and management of laboratories.

Bureau Veritas

Created in 1828, Bureau Veritas is a global leader in Testing, Inspection and Certification (TIC), delivering high quality services to help clients meet the growing challenges of quality, safety, environmental protection and social responsibility.

Our 8 Global Businesses:

MARINE & OFFSHORE: Classification & certification

INDUSTRY: Assurance Processes of industrial facilities and equipment

OIL & GAS: Power – Process & Manufacturing

IN-SERVICE INSPECTION & VERIFICATION: Inspection of building facilities & equipment

CONSTRUCTION: Conformity assessment of Buildings and Infrastructures

CERTIFICATION: Certification of management systems and second party auditing services in the area of QHSE

COMMODITIES: Commodities inspection and testing

OIL & PETROCHEMICALS: Metals & Minerals – Agriculture

CONSUMER PRODUCTS SERVICES: Testing, inspection and certification of consumer goods

GOVERNMENT SERVICES & INTERNATIONAL TRADE: Trade facilitation services for Governments and Trade Communities.

TUV

Experience Comes with Time. And with Deeds.

For more than 140 years TUV Rheinland has successfully contributed to the safety of products, the Quality of systems and protection of the environment throughout the world.

Established in 1872, TUV Rheinland has its origins in Germany. During the continuous growth and expansion, from automotive to energy and environmental protection, from medical equipment to industrial plants, and from chemical analysis to railroad services TUV Rheinland received authorization and recognition by numerous countries. The authorizations include testing, inspection, auditing and certification of products and systems for conformity with national and international requirements. To most effectively offer our services to customers, TUV Rheinland has set up more than 500 locations in 60 countries, with the number of employees exceeding 16,000.

ASTM

ASTM International is a globally recognized leader in the development and delivery of international voluntary consensus standards. Today, some 12,000 ASTM standards are used around the world to improve product quality, enhance safety, facilitate market access and trade, and build consumer confidence.

ASTM’s leadership in international standards development is driven by the contributions of its members: more than 30,000 of the world’s top technical experts and business professionals representing 150 countries. Working in an open and transparent process and using ASTM’s advanced electronic infrastructure, ASTM members deliver the test methods, specifications, guides and practices that support industries and governments worldwide.

ASTM serves diverse industries ranging from metals to construction, petroleum to consumer products, and many more. ASTM International standards are developed in accordance with the guiding principles of the World Trade Organization for the development of international standards: coherence, consensus, development dimension, effectiveness, impartiality, openness, relevance and transparency.

Beyond its leadership in the area of standards development, ASTM International offers technical training programs for industry and government, as well as proficiency testing, interlaboratory crosscheck programs and certification programs, which support manufacturers, users, researchers and laboratories worldwide.

Contact: Nick Ecart, necart@astm.org or visit: www.astm.org

MAAMEL

The National Laboratory Company Ltd. (MA’AMEL) is a Saudi national company specialises in the field of investment and laboratories development. MA’AMEL has been successful in developing a number of important projects such as: Arabian Australian Laboratories Services (ALS), Clean Air Arabia (Air Laboratories), SCAL Arabia (Oil Fields Laboratory), in addition to Arabian Environmental Science Ltd. Co. (Arensco). These combinations of capabilities have made MA’AMEL a standout company and one of the most important corporations in the laboratory sector in the region.

The 1st GCC Conference for Laboratories Proficiency, Dubai, UAE