Acquisition and accreditation of JNLA antibacterial evaluation and accreditation laboratory [2002.4.22] Sumitomo Osaka Cement, Advanced Materials, Antibacterial Evaluation Section was certified on March 22, 2002 as a testing organization according to industrial standardization law No. 57. The accreditation institution is National Institution of Technology and Evaluation, and this approval is in conformity with JIS Q17025(IOS/IEC 17025), and the classification is antibacterial testing for general merchandise. We take this accreditation as an opportunity to serve our customers with dependable antibacterial evaluations and examinations of a high quality from here on. [ Changing to JIS ] In recent years, products with various functions have been developed and marketed due to consumers' increasing interest in hygiene and safety. In particular, a number of antibacterial products have been marketed. However, there was no regulation for antibacterial products, and makers used their own terminology; therefore, descriptions on products were inappropriate or insufficient, and that was causing misunderstandings about antibacterial products. As explained above, because there was no standardized examination, demand for setting guidelines from industries, consumers, administrations, etc. increased, leading to the standard of antibacterial testing being constituted. Examination according to JIS standard was regulated based on the importance of standardizing effectiveness of various antibacterial products and accuracy of evaluation and performance. [ JNLA ] JNLA stands for Japan National Laboratory Accreditation system, and is a system to accredit laboratories according to revised JIS regulations which have been effective since Sep., 1997. Laboratory accreditation system is to certify laboratories to perform examinations in certain categories when the laboratories satisfy certain conditions in order to keep credibility of data which was tested by other laboratories.