Certification deal

An agreement between IEC, ILAC and IAF may help significantly reduce cost, time and complexity for the reassessment of certification bodies and testing laboratories that are accredited by IAF and ILAC Member ABs.

One of the most important outcomes of the tripartite memorandum of understanding that was signed in Shanghai, China, will be that in future a single reassessment - instead of three - will suffice and be accepted by all three bodies.

This type of cooperation agreement builds on years of collaboration between the IEC CA Systems, ILAC and IAF. It directly and positively impacts the certification bodies and testing laboratories that are accredited by IAF and ILAC Member ABs and operate as registered members of the relevant IEC CA System(s).

The three bodies have already put in place a successful pilot program to test this new approach, and have set up a dedicated website to implement the tripartite agreement.

Another objective set out by the MoU is to facilitate a coordinated application of ISO/IEC standards and guidance documents for assessing certification bodies and testing laboratories operating in the IEC CA Systems.

This includes a common understanding of the technical issues and the harmonisation of the respective assessment procedures.

Provisions are also made for joint training and workshops for lead assessors, and, when possible, joint work on the development of harmonised procedures and policies.