Mexico: ICITAP Trains 114 Experts on International Quality and Accreditation Standards for Forensic Sciences

On October 27, ICITAP-Mexico graduated a course on “Accreditation of Forensic Laboratories under ISO/IEC 17020:2012 and ISO/IEC 17025:2017.” It was a week-long virtual course with 114 participants from the forensic disciplines of ballistics, chemistry, CSI, fingerprints, and genetics. The course leveraged the partnership with the Mexican Federal Attorney General's Office (FGR) with 97 participants from the regional laboratories of the FGR based in Chihuahua, Oaxaca, Quintana Roo, Sonora and the central sector, as well as 17 from the expert forensic services of the State of San Luis Potosí. The objective of the course is to train and reinforce knowledge about the technical and management requirements for International Organization for Standardization (ISO), in accordance with the ANAB accreditation board and requirements for laboratories and forensic inspection agencies. These international standards are critical for forensic infrastructure in Mexico and a healthy justice system with reliable forensic evidence. This is the second course ICITAP held this year, the first being from June 26 to 30 with 290 participants from Mexico, 66 from Honduras, and 20 from Panama, helping to create standards and forensic professionalization across Latin America. In Mexico, ICITAP works with the support of and in coordination with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL).