CAIRO, June 9, 2018 (MENA) - The Egyptian Accreditation Council (EGAC) has successfully passed an evaluation test carried out by the European Accreditation (EA), in a prior step to inking a mutual recognition agreement on accreditation of Proficiency Testing Providers (ISO/IEC 17043), Trade Minister Tareq Qabil said on Saturday. In a statement, the minister said that such procedure reflects his ministry's plans that aim to develop the quality assessment infrastructure and efforts aiming to obtain recognition from international, regional and continental organizations of the EAGAC. The EA's recognition of the EGAC contributes to increasing Egyptian exports to the EU member states, Qabil said, describing the EU as "Egypt's largest trade partner." For his part, EGAC Executive Director Hani el Desouqi said that an EA assessment team's visit to the Egyptian body in May came upon a mandate issued by the council of the EA Multilateral Agreement (MLA) in order to get acquainted with the Egyptian body's activities. Desouqi said that inspecting measures were carried out in accordance with the EA MLA for Reference Material Producers (EN ISO 17034) connected with accreditation activities. The EGAC's strategy seeks to broaden the international recognition, he noted. The EA MLA is recognized at international level by ILAC(International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation) and IAF (International Accreditation Forum), in which Egypt is a member. This means that a test report or certificate accredited by an EA MLA signatory is also recognised by the signatories to the IAF and ILAC multilateral agreements. In this way, the EA MLA acts as an international passport to trade.
