A number of scoring systems for proficiency testing and interlaboratory comparison are in use by the metrology community. The choice of scoring system for a given study is often based on the study coordinator's experience and anecdotal knowledge, perhaps attributable to a historic lack of detailed and formal explanation about the foundation of these systems. This has influenced the development of new scoring systems, some of them departing from the well-established hypothesis testing theory. Often, different scoring systems give different results not because one may be better than the others but because, as they are documented, the user cannot control the confidence level of the test. We present a formal evaluation of seven of these systems under the fixed effects model assuming known variances. Under these sound assumptions, the systems analyzed all have the same statistical properties. Furthermore, these systems are all members of a family of systems based on strictly increasing functions in which the statistical decision problem is invariant. Under the fixed effects model with known variances, no unbiased scoring system can provide greater statistical power than the members of this family of systems. We apply these results to the lead content of water example provided in International Standard ISO 13528:2015 "Statistical methods for use in proficiency testing by interlaboratory comparisons."

Metrological traceability for organic chemical measurements is a documented unbroken chain of calibrations with stated uncertainties that ideally link the measurement result for a sample to a primary calibrator in appropriate SI units (e.g., mass fraction). A comprehensive chemical purity determination of the organic calibrator is required to ensure a true assessment of this result. We explore the evolution of chemical purity capabilities across metrology institute members of the Consultative Committee for Amount of Substance: Metrology in Chemistry and Biology's Organic Analysis Working Group (OAWG). The OAWG work program has promoted the development of robust measurement capabilities, using indirect "mass balance" determinations via rigorous assessment of impurities and direct determination using quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy methods. A combination of mass balance and qNMR has been shown to provide a best practice approach. Awareness of the importance of the traceability of organic calibrators continues to grow across stakeholder groups, particularly in key areas such as clinical chemistry where activities related to the Joint Committee for Traceability in Laboratory Medicine have raised the profile of traceable calibrators.

The 43rd meeting of the Reference Material Committee of ISO, ISO/REMCO, that was scheduled to take place in Milan, Italy, from 30 June to 3 July 2020 with Accredia, the Italian accreditation body and INRIM, the Italian Metrology Institute as the hosts, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This report shares the details of the important decision that was taken by the ISO Technical Management Board (TMB) in December 2020 to transform ISO/REMCO into an ISO technical committee, ISO/TC 334, . The background that led to the decision is provided as well as the implications of the decision for the future of the development of guidance for the production and use of reference materials. The report also gives an update on the progress with the work program of the committee during the past year and the strategy for the future work of the committee.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) implemented an innovative project for assisting neutron activation analysis laboratories in improving the validity of their results by feedback workshops for discussion of results from participation in interlaboratory comparisons rounds in 2010. The participants learned during these meetings to identify the most probable sources of errors in their analytical procedures and how to implement corrective actions to prevent reoccurrence. The outcome of successive rounds between 2010 and 2018 is discussed and experiences during the feedback workshops are given. The quantitative evaluation of the results shows an overall improvement in satisfactory performance. Moreover, there is a clear indication that improvements are consolidated in most laboratories but also stimulate laboratories to develop to a higher level of excellence. Regional differences in performance are also analysed.

The first proficiency testing of pesticides in fruits and vegetables in Indonesia is reported. This report covers the findings of five-year proficiency testings. Every year, from 2016 to 2020, 18-25 laboratories join the proficiency testings and analyze 5-11 pesticides in tomato, orange, lettuce, brown rice, strawberry respectively. The number of laboratories participating in the proficiency testings tends to increase, although only 38 % of the laboratories are able to report all pesticides. More than 72 % of participants use QuEChERS or its modifications for sample preparation, all participants use gas chromatography or liquid chromatography for separation, at least 20 % of participants still rely on detectors other than mass spectrophotometer for detection, and 20 %-60 % of participants use matrix-matched calibration for quantification. The performance of laboratories is evaluated as -score with an average of 90.8 % achieves satisfactory results while 3.3 % and 5.9 % achieve questionable and unsatisfactory results correspondingly. Overall, the performance of laboratory participants during proficiency testings is good. However, improvement is still needed, especially for the number of target pesticides for multi-residue pesticide analysis. Moreover, unsatisfactory -scores are likely to be resulted from laboratories which use conventional solvent extraction, use detectors other than mass spectrometers, and are not accredited.

The COVID-19 pandemic posed new and manifold challenges to organizations and their operations worldwide. Conformity assessment bodies (CABs), such as testing or medical laboratories, certification, and inspection bodies, were also affected by the associated disruptions. Their role in this crisis is highly relevant, as CABs are essential pillars of the quality infrastructure: their activities ensure that products and services meet requirements as defined in standards and regulations, thereby contributing to their safety and reliability. The question arises of how CABs and their operations were affected by the pandemic and how they responded. To this end, we present the results of an international survey of 986 CABs of all types in Germany, the UK, Italy, and New Zealand. Overall, CABs reported, on average, a reduction in demand for their services during the pandemic, facing restrictions in all countries. In addition, the pandemic had an overall negative impact on the CABs' investment and innovation activities. However, investments in digital infrastructure were increased as a countermeasure, with CABs reporting a higher need for digitalization. The paper highlights and discusses results from in-depth analyses relevant to policymakers and industry alike.

Compliance with all the requirements in the ISO/IEC 17025:2017 is crucial for testing and calibration laboratories in assuring the quality of measurement conducted in their laboratories. The latest version of the ISO/IEC 17025:2017 presents a different structure compared to the previous version, ISO/IEC 17025:2005. Therefore, amendments in the quality documents and the operational procedures in the laboratories are urgently required. However, not all laboratories' personnel understand this new standard and know how to implement or incorporate this new version standard with their old version documents and operational procedures. It causes a problem for the testing and calibration laboratories, especially in Indonesia. This study is expected to provide enlightenment and hints for the laboratories struggling to comply with the ISO/IEC 17025:2017.