From 28 September to 1 October 2026, the 11th Workshop on Proficiency Testing in Analytical Chemistry, Microbiology and Laboratory Medicine, organised by the Eurachem Proficiency Testing Working Group co-hosted by CITAC and EQALM, was held in Alicante, Spain. Under the theme “Current Practice and Future Directions,” the workshop brought together delegates from accreditation bodies, proficiency testing (PT) providers, authoritative reference laboratories and related organisations worldwide.The China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment (CNAS) sent representatives to attend the event .
Spanning three days, the workshop consisted of invited lectures, short oral presentations, poster sessions and working group discussions. Participants conducted in-depth discussions on core topics, including the implementation of ISO/IEC 17043, metrological traceability of assigned values in PT, performance evaluation in qualitative and interpretative PT, whether PT test items are always reference materials, flexible accreditation scopes for PT providers, reporting measurement uncertainty in PT, approaches to homogeneity and stability assessment, and understanding and interpreting PT reports.
The workshop attracted a large number of authoritative international accreditation bodies and leading PT service institutions. Participating accreditation bodies included ENAC (Spain), UKAS (United Kingdom), NABL (India), ACCREDIA (Italy), TURKAK (Türkiye), NAAU (Ukraine), the Lithuanian Accreditation and Standardization Agency, and EAK (Estonia). PT providers and professional technical institutions in attendance featured renowned organizations in the PT field, such as Waters ERA (United States), Unichim (Italy), the Instituto Nacional de Metrología (Colombia), Gold Standard Diagnostics and QuoData.
The CNAS representatives participated in all plenary sessions and working group discussions throughout the workshop and had in-depth exchanges with delegates from various countries. During the event, the CNAS representatives shared work experience and technical perspectives with international counterparts on topics including accreditation requirements for PT providers, the practial application of PT results and international mutual recognition. They closely followed the latest developments in the international proficiency testing community and systematically summarised the key outcomes from working group discussions on the implementation of ISO/IEC 17043, metrological traceability of assigned values, and the reporting of measurement uncertainty.
Participation in this workshop has enabled CNAS to keep abreast of the latest developments within Eurachem and the global PT community, ans further deepen its understanding of the technical requirements and practical application of ISO/IEC 17043. Furthermore, it promote the consistency of PT accreditation requirements between CNAS and international peers , consolidates the technical foundation for the standardized and internationalized development of laboratory proficiency testing in China, and provides crucial technical support and practical reference for the continuous advancement of international mutual recognition of China’s accreditation results.