Accreditation of reference material producers: an Australian perspective

The National Association of Testing Authorities, Australia has operated an accreditation program for reference material producers since 1997 with accreditation now being offered to ISO Guide 34 (2000). This paper discusses the benefits and disadvantages to both the producers and the users of reference materials (testing laboratories) and their clients of a formal system of third-party accreditation of reference material producers. The merits of using ISO Guide 34 (2000) rather than ISO/IEC 17025 as the core standard in the accreditation process are discussed.