What is JAC?

1.Purpose of Establishment
2.Activities
3.Membership
4.Organizatioal Structure
5.Activitier of Committees and Working Group

1.Purpose of Establishment

In response to the 2005 recommendation of Japan Industrial Standards Committee (JISC),
Japan Accreditation Council (JAC) was launched.
The purpose of this council is to contribute to increase the reliability of all conformity assessment systems in Japan, by means of
a) sharing the experience of accreditation among accreditation bodies,
b) improving technical competence of accreditation bodies, and
c) cooperating to promote accreditation systems to the market.

2.Activities

(1) Establishment of common infrastructure and attainment of solution of common issues
to improve the reliability and technical competence
(2) Research and exchange of domestic/international information on Conformity Assessment and Accreditation
(3) Dissemination and promotion activities on Accreditation System and Conformity Assessment System
(4) Other issues necessary to achieve to the purpose of the council.

3.Membership

The council consists of voluntary participants who agree with the purposes and are relevant to the following conditions;

(Note) Here, “CABs” include testing and calibration laboratory, product certification body, management system certification body, inspection body, personnel certification body, Greenhouse Gas Validation and Verification Bodies etc.

(1)Member

Accreditation bodies of CABs within Japan and its collaborators

• International Accreditation Japan (IAJapan)

• ISMS Accreditation Center (ISMS-AC)

• The Japan Accreditation Board Conformity Assessments (JAB)

• Japan Accreditation Service for agriculture, forestry and fisheries（JASaff）

• Voluntary EMC Laboratory Accreditation Center (VLAC)

(2)Observer

Bodies planning to accredit CABs within Japan and its collaborators. Or bodies whom Members agree with to participate.

• Medical Device Evaluation Division, Pharmaceutical Safety and Environmental Health Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare ( MHLW)

• New Business and Food Industry Department, Minister's Secretariat, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan ( MAFF )

• Electromagnetic Environment Division, Radio Department, Telecommunications Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications ( MIC )

• Technical Regulations, Standards and Conformity Assessment Policy Division, Industrial Science and Technology Policy and Environment Bureau, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI)

• Product Safety Division, Industrial and Product Safety Policy Group, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI)

• Shipbuilding and Ship Machinery Division Maritime Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT)

• Sewerage Planning Division, Sewerage and Wastewater Management Department, Water and Disaster Management Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT)

• Office of Manufacturing Quality for Drugs, Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA)

4.Organizatioal Structure

5.Activitier of Committees and Working Group

【Governing Board】
The mission of the board is to discuss and decide the whole policy of the council on direction, activities, establishment of committee/working group, and other relevant issues.

Furthermore, it is to discuss and research the common issues for accreditation bodies as follows; especially,
a) providing common assessor training courses, technical seminars
b) fostering proficiency providers, developing common database and official website of the council
c) exchanging international proceeding, experiences, and other information and research

【Technical Committee】
The mission of the committee is to discuss technical issues. This committee can have internal working groups as necessary. JAC has two Working Groups as follows;

■JLAC (Japan Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation) / Laboratory Accreditation Working Group
Concerned accreditation bodies using ISO/IEC 17025 are gathering to discuss on the common technical issues and conduct dissemination activities of laboratory accreditation system. Japan Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (JLAC) that had served for laboratory accreditation consisting of three members (IAJapan, JAB, VLAC), was integrated into a working group on laboratory accreditation under the Technical Committee of JAC.

- Outcomes of JLAC Activities
Brochure “Do you Know Laboratory Accreditation?” (Japanese version only)
JLAC Technical Seminar (Japanese version only)

■Product Certification Working Group
Concerned accreditaton bodies using ISO/IEC 17065 are gathering to discuss on the common interpretation of requirements and technical issues. At present, the main activities of this group are to have discussion meetings with the inter-pretation of ISO/IEC 17065.

Contact us

JAC Secretariat, National Institute of Technology and Evaluation: Phone number:+81-3-3481-1946
Fax number:+81-3-3481-1937
Address:c/o IAJapan,National Institute of Technology & Evaluation 2-49-10 Nishihara, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 1510066, Japan MAP
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