NAB-MALTA
The
National Accreditation Board - Malta (NAB -
MALTA) is operated as a Board under the
responsibility of the Parliamentary Secratary for Consumers, Fair Competition, Local Councils and Public Dialogue which falls under the responsibility of the Office of the Prime Minister. Legal Notice 306 of 2007 has established the NAB-MALTA as the single
nationally recognized accreditation body in
Malta with the authority to give
accreditation. The Government of Malta has also established that the NAB-MALTA is the national accreditation body for the purposes of Article 4.1 of EU regulation 765/2008.
NAB-MALTA operates a
management system in line with the
requirements of MSA EN ISO/IEC 17011
(Conformity Assessment - General
requirements for accreditation bodies
accrediting conformity assessment bodies) and EU Regulation 765/2008.
It is responsible for assessing and
accrediting the competence of conformity
assessment bodies in the field of
calibration, testing,
inspection,
certification of
management systems, products and personnel,
and
EMAS verifiers. The
NAB-MALTA has also been designated as the
competent authority with the responsibility
for verifying compliance with the principles
of Good Laboratory Practice of any testing
laboratory in Malta claiming to use Good
Laboratory Practice, as referred to in
regulation 2(1) of L.N 371 of 2004, in the
conduct of tests on chemicals.
In
particular, the functions of the NAB-MALTA
include the following:
-
to
accredit testing laboratories according
to the requirements of ISO17025;
-
to
accredit medical laboratories according
to the requirements of ISO15189;
-
to
accredit calibration laboratories
according to the requirements of
ISO17025;
-
to
accredit certification bodies providing
certification of products,
-
to
accredit certification bbodies providing
certification of management systems such
as ISO9001, ISO14001, ISO27001 etc
(ISO17021) and personnel;
-
to
accredit inspection bodies (ISO17020);
- to accredit and
supervise EMAS Verifiers (EU Regulation
1221/2009);
-
to
collaborate with European and
international accreditation bodies, and
to represent in them the Maltese
interests as and when requested;
-
to
provide advice to the Government in
matters concerning accreditation and
other assessments and in the approval or
otherwise as to the competence of bodies
carrying out conformity assessment
activities;
-
to
perform other assessments and approvals
of competence for carrying out
conformity assessment activities;
-
to
publish accreditation procedures and
keep a register of accredited conformity
assessment bodies
NAB-MALTA receives administrative support from MSA, which for the purposes of ISO 17011 is regarded as a related body.
