After three years of work, ISO/CASCO has published the ISO/IEC 17043:2023 update on general requirements for proficiency testing providers’ competence. ILAC has established a three-year transition period between both versions of the standard, setting a deadline of May 31, 2026, and so, ENAC has published the transition plan both for already accredited bodies and for those interested in starting the accreditation process according to the requirements of the previous version.

ENAC has been involved in the development of this new version of the standard, aimed to adapt the structure to the canons of the ISO 17000 standards’ conformity assessment series, including the mandatory common elements of ISO / CASCO in the management system requirements, while adopting requirements similar to the ISO/IEC 17025 standard in those aspects shared by both activities. The standard also broadens the proficiency testing providers’ activity spectrum beyond the calibration and testing laboratories.

Regarding the specific proficiency testing provider requirements, it includes aspects related to monitoring process controls, and clarifies some clauses and definitions of the previous version while aligning and the statistical terms and symbols with the latest version of ISO 13528:2022.

Soon, the standard will be approved by the European Committee for Standardization, CEN, and the Spanish version of the standard's publication will have a translation by the ISO/CASCO STTF (Spanish Translation Task Force).