Australian laboratories Auscott Limited and ProClass Pty Ltd – Goondiwindi have this month become the latest laboratories to become certified under the ICA Bremen ‘International Laboratory Certification Scheme’.
They join Cotton South Africa, Konstantinos V. Markou S.A., Wakefield Inspection Services (Tashkent) Ltd and Zhangjiagang Academy of Inspection and Detection to become certified under the scheme, which has the aim of establishing an approved list of laboratories worldwide that meet a standard level of quality assurance.
Auscott’s Greg Parle said; “Auscott Limited is very proud to now be an ‘ICA Bremen Certified Laboratory’. We have been running a classing facility in Australia for over 50 years and it is great to now have international recognition of our continued commitment to classing cotton in accordance with the world’s best practice”.
ProClass’ Jon Hurford also said: “ProClass is delighted to have achieved ICA Bremen certification on our classing laboratory. This will give growers, merchants and end users of Australian cotton extra confidence that their product has been tested and graded to the highest possible international standard.”
We have developed the scheme based on ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) and CSITC (Commercial Standardization of Instrument Testing of Cotton), as well as building on the good practices of USDA (US Department of Agriculture) and our own laboratory experience.
Open to any international cotton testing laboratory, participating laboratories have to meet a level of quality assurance based on eight specific criteria, including conditioning, maintenance, calibration and testing procedures.
Eighteen laboratories are currently in the process of assessment. Once certified, they will become a ‘laboratory of choice’ to resolve quality disputes in line with the ICA Bylaws & Rules, as well as providing a service to the cotton industry.
Find out more about the
International Laboratory Certification Scheme >