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Getting Accredited

Dubai accreditation Department (pre-viously called Dubai accreditation Center, and generally referred to as DaC) is celebrating a momentous journey in its 10th year of operations.

after traversing the entire GCC and beyond to establish quality infrastructure in all walks of life, DaC continues to have people’s health, safety and satisfaction as its main goal. This charts the next stage of DaC’s journey to achieve the uaE Vision 2021 launched by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, Vice-Pres-ident and Prime Minister of the uaE and Ruler of Dubai, aimed to make the uaE among the best countries in the world by the Golden Jubilee of the union.

in order to translate the vision into reality, DaC started as an affiliate organ under Dubai Municipality — Dubai Government to provide accreditation services in diversified sectors. it

was set up to support the establishment of infra-structure quality in the uaE and covers all busi-ness sectors including the healthcare industry. all along DaC has been committed to its cause with dedication. individuals working for DaC like technical assessors, task force members, ex-

perts, and workforce under the able guidance of amina ahmed Mohammed, Director of DaC, have contributed hugely in the development of the department.

Established as a centre in May 2005, DaC was restructured as a department in 2008. The department is Dubai’s governmental accredita-tion body that grants accreditation to Confor-mity assessment bodies including but not lim-ited to testing and calibration laboratories, medical laboratories, inspection bodies, certifi-cation and Halal certification bodies according to national and international standards. DaC works under the administrative control of the Dubai Municipality.

DaC is a Mutual Recognition arrangement (MRa) signatory and full member of interna-tional Laboratory accreditation Cooperation (iLaC). it is also a full member of the Multilat-eral Recognition agreement (MLa) of interna-tional accreditation Forum (iaF) and Pacific accreditation Cooperation (PaC). after receiv-ing such a level of recognition for accreditation work, DaC became the sole GCC recognised accreditation body. in the field of Halal accred-itation, DaC is an active member at the Stan-dard and Metrology institute for islamic Coun-tries accreditation Committee.

DAC facilitates the leadership’s vision to make the emirate a hub of Islamic economy

The UAE has become part of an elite list of 74 economies providing haccreditation services that are recognised worldwide. Ever since DAC got recognition as ILAC MRA and IAF MLA within a hspan of six years, the number of CABs has increased exponentially. Being the only internationally recognised body in the Gulf region, DAC provides recognised accreditation services to other Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain. Wings of DAC, like a flying falcon, have spread across various hcountries in Asia, Europe, MENA region apart from the GCC.DAC organises various trainings in the field of lead auditors, hinternal auditors, awareness on various accreditation standards, measurement uncertainty, Halal certification and accreditation, and technical courses to improve the competency of the CABs.As a support service, DAC conducts proficiency testing for various hsectors like construction materials testing, environmental testing,

calibration, gold testing, etc. DAC organised the world’s first Halal PT programme in 2014.Initiation of Medical Lab Accreditation in 2008. hSigning ILAC MRA in 2009. hDHA mandated the Medical Lab Accreditation and issue of Law hnumber 2/2010 for mandating the professional services accredita-tion in 2010.Increase in the number of labs to 320 by 2014 from 50 in 2008. hDAC started the provision of accreditation in medical labs to henhance the credibility and confidence in patient test results since 2008.DAC’s future plan is working in parallel with jointly established IAF hand ILAC World Accreditation Day 2015, to raise awareness on how accreditation can support the delivery of health and social care.DAC conducts training courses on various accreditation related htopics. It launched the first cost effective web-based training programme for the first time in 2015.

MAin hiGhliGhts

Amina Ahmed Mohammed, Director of DAC

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Dubai accreDitation center KHaLeeJ tiMeS | ADvERTISING SUPPLEMENT

british Standards institution (bSi) is a business standards company that equips businesses with neces-sary solutions to turn standards of best practice into habits of excel-lence. Formed in 1901, bSi was among the world’s first National Standards body and a founding member of the international Or-ganisation for Standardisation (iSO).

Over a century later, it contin-ues to facilitate business improve-ment across the globe by helping its clients drive performance, manage risk and grow sustainably through the adoption of interna-tional management systems stan-dards, many of which were origi-nated by bSi. Renowned for its marks of excellence including the consumer-recognised bSi Kite-mark™, bSi’s influence spans multiple sectors including aero-space, construction, energy, engi-neering, finance, healthcare, iT and retail.

The bSi Middle East and africa (MEa) Regional Head Office is based in Dubai with branches in abu Dhabi, Qatar and South afri-ca. bSi business streams in the MEa region focus centrally on as-surance, training and product test-ing. bSi MEa works with leading entities around the region like uaE Exchange, Etisalat, Mashreq, Qatar Petroleum, RasGas, SMSa Express, and many more.

bSi is accredited with DaC for

iSO 9001, iSO 14001 and OH-SaS 18001, iSO 22000 and HaCCP Certification. bSi looks forward to continuing a collabora-tive and prosperous relationship with DaC in the future. The ma-jority of growth in the MEa region comes from countries such as the uaE, Qatar, Saudi arabia and Ni-geria. The market is mainly driven by Environment, Quality, Health and Safety (EQH&S), yet there is a steady increase in demand for in-formation Security Management (iSMS) and business Continuity Management (bCM) throughout the MEa. With over 72,000 cli-ents in 150 countries, bSi is an organisation whose standards in-spire excellence across the globe.

The british Standards institution facilitates business improvement through the adoption of international management systems standards

FormIng prosperous relAtIonshIps

2005 Establishment of Dubai Accreditation Centre.2006 ILAC membership and IAF membership.2008 Celebrates the first World Accreditation Day, June 9. 2008 First ILAC Peer Evaluation. First accredited medical lab according to ISO 15189.2009 Full member and signatory of ILAC MRA in the field of Testing, Calibration and Medical services (ISO/IEC 17025, ISO 15189).2010 A regulation Number 2/2010 for accreditation services in Dubai was issued by the Executive Council of the Emirates of Dubai.2010 Member of the International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQua) for inspiring, promoting and supporting continuous improvement in the quality and safety of healthcare.2011 Accredited the first personnel certification body in the country based on the certification for Person-In-Charge (PIC) for food safety standard based on ISO 17024. 2012 First recognised Accreditation Body in the Arab region, for the field of Inspection (ISO/IEC 17020).2012 Membership of SMIIC AC, vice Chair.2013 Full member and signatory of IAF/PAC MLA in the field of Certification Bodies (ISO 17021 – Quality management

Systems and Environmental Management Systems). Signed the Multilateral Recognition Agreement (MLA) of International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and Multilateral Recognition Arrangement (MLA) of Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (PAC) for management system certifications according to ISO/IEC 17021 for QMS ISO 9001 and EMS ISO 14001 certification scopes.

2013 Won the “Idea of the Year” — Best Innovation award from Dubai Quality Group for proposing the Group Accreditation.2014 First Halal Accreditation of slaughterhouses inspection.2014 First Halal Proficiency Programme in the world. The programme for food examination checks the efficiency of

food and beverage Halal testing laboratories. It is considered the first of its kind in this field. as a part of developing the Halal infrastructure in Dubai, and supports Dubai Islamic Economy’s capital initiative. It is in line with the policies of the government and achieves the vision of leadership in this area by establishing Halal accreditation system.

2014 Organised the OIC First Halal accreditation peer evaluation training (OIC/SMIIC-AC) in Dubai.2014 Peer training programmes reached 254 and covered a

large segment of the testing laboratories, which took into account the economic and commercial growth in many areas of Dubai and the region, as well as urbanisation and infrastructure projects within Dubai. DAC is the only regional body that provides such specialised programmes.

2015 First Amusement.

Services

DaC provides assessment and ac-creditation services to Testing and Calibration Laboratories, Medical Laboratories, inspection bodies, Certification bodies, and Halal Certification bodies

Future plans

amina ahmed Mohammed, Di-rector DaC, noted, “accredita-tion relating to safety and human health is one of Dubai Municipal-ity’s highest priorities in achiev-ing its strategic objective of en-suring environmental and health protection. Due to this impor-tance we are going to launch ac-creditation schemes for hospitals and pharmaceutical laboratories. in addition, DaC recently launched Halal accreditation ac-cording to the uaE and OiC/SMiiC standards.”

DaC is also undertaking an ac-creditation of inspection bodies working in the field of amusement rides and devices inspection in Dubai. This will enhance the qual-ity and credibility of safety within the amusement parks and the Fa-cility Entertainment Centres (FEC) industry in Dubai.

No accredited laboratories for •specific Halal testing.Different Halal recognition •systems between Muslim countries.No established accreditation •system for Halal industry in OiC countries.

DaC developed the Integrated Halal Accreditation System (IHAS) for food industry, bearing the mark “From Farm to Fork”, which is in harmony with the vision, “We accredit… World Recognise”.

new fieLD anD Scope of HaLaL accreDitation

Innovation

To adopt the vision of His High-ness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, Vice-Presi-dent and Prime Minister of the uaE and Ruler of Dubai, by posi-tioning Dubai as the capital of is-lamic Economy, Dubai Munici-pality (represented by DaC) has conducted several studies on ac-tual market situation of Halal con-formity and found a huge bias and differences between the available certification systems when bench-marked against the needed inter-national traceability and confor-mity. The situation of islamic associations who are witnessing the Halal slaughtering is not upto the mark as most of those associa-tions and companies have no qual-ity system and adequate compe-tency required for evaluating and recording their processes against a united standard and system.

based on studies, the present situation drawback in the Halal business and market are as follows:

Differences between national •and international Halal standards. Differences in Halal certifica-•tion schemes.absence of quality manage-•ment system to run the associations and groups witnessing Halal slaughtering and food commodities manufacturing.

iHaS is the first model for Halal food products and services, which comprise safety, quality and Sha-riah requirements. it is also inter-nationally recognised to be a well-known trade mark in the Halal products industry. One of the unique features of the integrated business model is to have a mu-tual recognition of the Halal con-formity certificate (One accredita-tion/One logo).

DaC is the first in the region to have full membership and autho-rised signatory from the interna-tional Laboratory accreditation Cooperation (iLaC) and the inter-national accreditation Forum (iaF), besides being vice chair and member of OiC/SMiiC accredita-tion committee), the department has emphasised an approach to have a secure internationally rec-ognised business model that is open to the international trade and market.

The new model requires in-volvement of all parties in the Ha-

lal chain of traceability, including Halal product manufacturers, Ha-lal Certification and islamic asso-ciations, Halal manufacturing and

market inspection (24/7), and Halal Testing Laboratories. www.dac.dm.ae/dac/major/home

FActs And tiMeline

Al Qusais, Dubai, UAE Tel. : 04 251 3123 Fax : 04 251 3328 email : info@mirdifsecurity.comAl Mussafah, A.D., UAE Tel. : 02 553 4337 Fax : 02 553 4296 email : infoad@mirdifsecurity.com

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Mirdif Security & Safety Consultants would like to congratulate Dubai Accreditation Department (DAC) for it’s 10th Year Anniversary.

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World Accreditation Day 2015