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     ISO BENCHMARK - ISO 9001 - ISO14001

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search accreditation Bodies WORLDWIDE

There are around 120 Accreditation Bodies (AB) worldwide. They ensure that certification bodies (CB) are following ISO standards and 'accredit' CBs. Simply said an AB certifies a CB.

Be aware
+/-10% of the accreditation bodies are not recognized or audited by an independent party.
Therefore certificates with their logo are not so trustworthy as those of  recognized  by IAF MLA

Only IAF -MLA accreditation bodies are audited and therefore deserves the highest level of confidence.

DATABASE SEARCH

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SOURCES: IAF and IAF Regional Groups: AFRAC - IAAC - ARAC - EA - APAC - SADCA
Note: A link can fail due to changes on the linked websites. Please inform us.

Accreditation Body Name (AB)
 AB mark char.
Country - Region
 Recognized by
IAF, EA, ...
 Recognition status
MLA, MoU, Not Recognized
 MLA for
ISO std
   Rec. xx-yy of x         Rec./page       p. 1/bbb   

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More info:

  • AB Logos, marks unclear - unreadable characters ...
  • AB Recognized by ...
  • AB status  ...
  • Abbreviations ..

ABBREVIATION

ABAccreditation Body
CBCertification Body also called Conformity Assessment Body (CAB) or "REGISTRAR"
AB codeRecognizable characters in a logo. (often an abbreviation of the full name)
IAFInternational Accreditation Forum
MLAMutual level Agreement - "Certified Once Accepted Everywhere"
MoUMemory of Understanding

Regional Groups IAF recognized

EA European Cooperation for Accreditation>
APACAsia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation
IAACInter American Accreditation Cooperation
AFRACAfrican Accreditation Cooperation
ARACARAB Accreditation Cooperation
SADCASouthern African Development Community in Accreditation

ISO Standards

17011General requirements for accreditation bodies accrediting conformity assessment bodies
17021Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management systems
 
 

RECOGNISING BODIES


IAF (International Accreditation Forum)
  • recognizes accreditation bodies (AB) based on their national or sector status.
  • recognizes regional accreditation body groups
  • manages the peer audits amongst their members
  • issues mandatory documents that must be followed by the AB. For example see ..

    • EA, IAAC, ... : are REGIONAL AB GROUP
  • groups are evaluated in a process similar to that used for the evaluation of a single accreditation body.
  • issues mandatory documents that must be followed by their AB members
  • manages the peer audits amongst their members against ISO 17011, IAF and group mandatory documents.

    • AB Not recognized
  • AB is not recognized by an independent body
  • AB is not audited by an independent party.
  • AB declare itself as conform with ISO 17011.

    • AB RECOGNITION STATUS


    MLA (Mutual level Agreement)
  • AB is recognized by IAF based on their status (e.g. ministry of economic affairs).
  • AB is evaluated by their peers against ISO 17011 and IAF mandatory doc. When positive the AB receives the status "MLA RECOGNISED" . (similar to certified)
  • AB issues mandatory requirements to be followed by the CB.
    e.g., add certificates to the AB database, mandatory use of AB logo (not mandatory in ISO 17021).
  • MLA certificates have the HIGHEST CONFIDENCE level
    and should be ACCEPTED EVERYWHERE .

    • MoU (Memory of Understanding)
  • AB is recognized by IAF based on their status (e.g. ministry of economic affairs).
  • AB have signed a 'Memory of Understanding' (MoU).
  • AB is supported by an AB MLA in order to achieve the MLA status.
  • AB is informally evaluated by their peers.

    • // (Not recognized)
  • AB is not recognized by an independent body
  • AB is not audited by an independent party.
  • AB is not audited by an independent party and declare itself as conform with ISO 17011.
  • AB declares that ISO 17021 is in use for the accreditation of a CB.

    • PS Certification body (CB) are also called Conformity Assessment Body (CAB) or "REGISTRAR"

    AB LOGO - CODES


    Most AB logos do have recognizable letters in their logo.

    For your convenience, AB logos in which the letter code is difficult to identify are shown here.

    CGCRE (MLA)
    Brazil
    EA-BAS (MLA)
    Bulgaria

    SCC (MLA)
    Canada

    CAI (MLA)
    Czech Republic

    LA (MLA)
    Lithuania

    RvA (MLA)
    Netherlands

    IARNM (MLA)
    North Macedonia

    SA (MLA)
    Slovenia
    NAAU (MLA)
    Ukraine

    ALGERAC
    (NO MLA)
    Algeria

    DTA-IBMETRO
    (NO MLA)
    Bolivia

    ONARC
    (NO MLA)
    Cuba

    LIBAC
    (NO MLA)
    Libya

    ATCG
    (NO MLA)
    Montenegro

    CNA
    (NO MLA)
    Panama
    RusAccr
    (NO MLA)
    Russian Federation

    STC-IS
    (NO MLA)
    Russian Federation

    SAC°°
    (NO MLA)
    Saudi Arabia

    GAC (GCC)
    (NO MLA)
    Saudi Arabia

    NCA °
    (NO MLA)
    Tajikistan

    NAC
    (NO MLA)
    United States of America (USA)

    GACCB
    (NOT RECOGNIZED)
    Germany
    EAS
    (NOT RECOGNIZED)
    United Kingdom


    PS. Ensure you use the AB code, not the CB code.

    Country IAF recognition status

    Countries with an IAF MLA status are recognizing each other certificates.


    Verified Jan 2020

    Note: An AB can be a member of IAF and/or a Regional IAF Group. The countries of the regional group are highlighted when hovering a country.

    Note: The USA has 2 IAF MLA recognized ABs. ANAB is a member of IAAC (InterAmerican Accreditation Cooperation) , IAS is a member of APAC (Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation)


     
    Roger De Vos
    QMS Consultant

    Hof te Walle 44
    8500 Kortrijk
    Belgium

    Tel: +32 56 201 996    		 Certification Chain - structure & standards Information SEARCH REQUEST