Accreditation ensures the Technical Competence, Impartiality and Conformity of an organisation in accordance with national and international recognised standards. Accreditation enhances the credibility of conformity assessment activities by providing reliable third-party services which are competent and can meet the desired level of performance. Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs) – such as Certification, Inspection, and Validation & Verification Bodies are benchmarked against international standards. Accreditation is a global system for creating confidence between economies with the objective to promote economic growth and free trade.

International Network

Internationally, Accreditation is managed by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF), in the field of Management systems, product services, personnel and other similar programmes of conformity assessment, and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) in the field of laboratory and inspection accreditation. ILAC and IAF are international associations of accreditation bodies and they facilitate world trade through Mutual recognition and also enhances the acceptance of products and services across national borders. More details on these international bodies and their MRA framework are available on www.iaf.nu and www.ilac.org

The Accreditation Framework