VIENNA, 30 MAY 2022 – Within the framework of its Global Quality and Standards Programme (GQSP), which is funded by the Swiss Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) provided support to the Georgian Laboratory Association (GeLab) by organizing an online scientific workshop from 16 to 18 May 2022.

Titled “Quality Assurance of Measurements: from Field to Laboratory, with a Focus on ISO/IEC 17025:2017 Requirements”, the workshop, which was attended by over 100 participants from laboratories, associations and universities in 33 countries from all around the world, focused on the quality of analytical measurements and the reliability of decisions based on test results as per the relevant international standards ISO/IEC 17025.

The workshop, which was undertaken in connection with the 2022 Eurachem General Assembly, also addressed current practices, challenges, and future recommendations on quality assurance of physicochemical and microbiological measurement methods and their validation, including sampling-related issues.

GeLab is one of the main beneficiaries of the GQSP Georgia, which helped upgrade its service capacity in terms of knowledge sharing, talent training, network building and capacity upscaling. UNIDO also provided support inter alia in institutional setup, membership strategy, business plan development, provision of services to laboratories, establishment of a training centre, creation of a corporate branding and of a professional website for increasing membership engagement and enhanced service provision.

Overall, the GQSP Georgia aims at strengthening the capacity of conformity assessment bodies (CABs) serving the fruit and vegetable value chain towards upgrading producers’ ability to comply with market requirements, thereby facilitating market access for SMEs and ultimately enhancing export capacities of fruits and vegetables from Georgia, mainly towards the EU market.

Download the leaflet of the workshop here.

For more information, please contact:

Cong WU (C.WU@unido.org)