Press Release
Meetings of the Board of Directors and the General Assembly were held in the elegant surroundings of the beautiful historic city of Vienna on 11 and 12 November 2005.

The picture shows those present at the General Assembly in the main hall of the Vienna Chamber of Commerce. All 21 member societies were represented.

The Board reported its activities during 2005, including:

• Update of the EFNDT website incorporating new information services.
• Completion of a Question Bank which is available for purchase by Certification Bodies which are members of the EFNDT Mutual Recognition Agreement.
• Transfer of responsibility for the MRA to the Certification Executive Committee.
• Expansion of the scope of WG1 and retitling as “EFNDT Forum on Certification, Qualification and Accreditation”.
• Completion of the preparations for EFNDT to approve Certification Bodies.
• Documents originally prepared under the auspices of EFNDT on the approval of NDT personnel for work under the European Pressure Equipment Directive have been approved and are published on the EFNDT website. Almost all the RTPOs are using these documents.
• WG5, previously renamed “Detection of Anti Personnel Land Mines”, has broadened its scope and is now named “Public Security and Safety NDT Technology”.
• The German NDT Society, DGzfP, is well advanced with plans for the 2006 ECNDT in Berlin 25-29 September 2006. The Exhibition is fully booked and more than 700 papers/abstracts will be presented. Details are accessible at www.ecndt2006.info.
• Discussions have begun on strengthening the EFNDT administration, its presence in Brussels and liaison with the European Commission and other European institutions.
• EFNDT maintains contact with other European bodies (including EUROLAB, EPERC) and International bodies (including IAF Task Group on ISO 17024) through individuals nominated by the BoD.
• The President represented EFNDT in Sweden, UK, Russia, Belgium, Italy and the USA and the Federation was represented by other Board Members in Czech Republic, Slovenia, Croatia, Germany, Ukraine, etc. EFNDT was represented at the ICNDT PGP meeting in Albuquerque by Mr Romero.
• EFNDT members are participating in several collaborative projects, supported by the European Commission, including a “Leonardo Project” on NDT Training initiated by the Spanish NDT Society, and a “Collective Project” on Long Range Ultrasonics, led by TWI with EFNDT co-ordinating the activities of member societies.

The Russian Society was selected to host the 10th ECNDT in 2010 in Moscow. The General Assembly unanimously accepted a proposal for the Board to make three EFNDT Awards. These will be announced at the Berlin Conference. The next Board Meeting will be in Glasgow on 27 January 2006 and the following one in Budapest on 22 May 2006. The next General Assembly will be in Berlin on Friday 29 August 2006.

J M Farley
President, EFNDT, Nov 2005

Officers:
President: Dr J M (Mike) Farley mfarley@mitsuibabcock.com
Vice-President: Gerhard Aufricht office@oegfzp.at
Secretary: Mr M (Matt) E Gallagher matt.gallagher@bindt.org

Secretariat:
British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing
1 Spencer Parade, Northampton, NN1 5AA
Tel: +44 (0)1604 630124 Fax:+44 (0)1604 231489
Website: www.efndt.org