End of the transition period for proficiency testing providers
The three-year transition to ISO/IEC 17043:2023 ended in May 2026. Accreditation to the 2010 edition is no longer recognised under the global mutual recognition arrangement.
- The standard sets requirements for the competence of proficiency testing providers; the second edition appeared in May 2023 and the transition period was set at three years from publication.
- Participation in proficiency testing is an obligation for a laboratory under ISO/IEC 17025 — so it is worth checking whether the provider from whom rounds are bought already holds accreditation to the new edition.
- The main substantive change is the alignment of management system requirements with ISO/IEC 17025:2017 and ISO 17034, which tidies up documentation of providers running several kinds of activity at once.
- Among the definitions, the concept of consensus value was clarified, while the definitions of robust statistical method and of subcontractor were removed.
Source: ILAC — Publication of ISO/IEC 17043:2023 (uchwała ILAC GA 26.09 o trzyletnim okresie przejściowym)