To A2LA members, accredited bodies, participants and stakeholders:

It is our pleasure to introduce our 2001 annual report on the activities of the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA).

The year 2001 was an interesting and challenging one for A2LA. It was a year of several significant events - an economy in recession, a large turnover of accredited laboratories, and an increase in staff to support growth in certain sectors.

The second year of transition from ISO/IEC Guide 25 to ISO/IEC 17025 went smoothly as the laboratories adapted to the new requirements. By the end of 2001, all assessments were being conducted against the new requirements and full compliance by all accredited laboratories is expected by the end of 2002. A2LA continues to provide guidance and interpretations on some of the more challenging requirements and their application in various fields.

During 2001, A2LA issued several updated policies, including an interim policy on the application of measurement uncertainty to testing, a policy on traceability and accreditation of calibration laboratories by recognized peers, and an updated policy on reference to A2LA-accredited status and the use of logo. In addition, several of the special program requirements documents were revised to bring them into alignment with ISO/IEC 17025.

During 2001, A2LA continued as the largest multi-discipline laboratory accreditation body in the United States. By the end of the year:

• 1,281 testing laboratories were accredited;
• 292 calibration laboratories were accredited
• 197 laboratories were in the process of achieving laboratory accreditation.

The searchable directory of all accredited organizations' scopes of accreditation is now available at www.a2la.org.

A2LA will continue to maintain its high standard of service. We are proud to be the benchmark upon which other domestic accreditation bodies compare themselves. A2LA is committed to maintaining its system in accordance with national and international standards and will not bend its process or compromise the integrity of the accreditation process for short-term market gains. A2LA now enjoys the widest possible domestic and international recognition among its peers, unique among USA accreditation bodies.

We will strive to ensure the fulfillment of Federal government policy to rely on private sector systems, such as A2LA, in lieu of Federal government-administered systems. We have made some strides in this area in 2001 and expect better results in future years. Working under the obligations of the mutual recognition arrangement of the National Cooperation for Laboratory Accreditation, we intend to support the NACLA aim of 'one test accepted everywhere, one accreditation accepted everywhere' as an integral part of our mission.

We wish to extend our appreciation to our Association members, accredited and applicant organizations, stakeholders, assessors and countless volunteers for the invaluable contributions made to our organization in 2001. We are confident that we can count on the help of these and other people who enter the A2LA family.

For the Board of Directors

Douglas Berg, ChairmanPeter S. Unger, President