{{More citations needed, date=January 2021 The International Accreditation Forum, Inc. (IAF) is the worldwide association of

conformity assessment Conformance testing and also known as compliance testing or type testing, is testing or other activities that determine whether a process, product, or service complies with the requirements of a specification, technical standard, contract, or regu ...

accreditation Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

bodies and other bodies interested in conformity assessment in fields like

management system A management system is a set of policy, policies, business process, processes and procedures used by an organization to ensure that it can fulfill the tasks required to achieve its objectives. These objectives cover many aspects of the organizati ...

products Product may refer to: Business * Product (business), an item that can be offered to a market to satisfy the desire or need of a customer. * Product (project management), a deliverable or set of deliverables that contribute to a business solution ...

services Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a ...

personnel Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...

, processes, and

validation and verification Verification and validation (also abbreviated as V&V) are independent procedures that are used together for checking that a product, service, or system meets requirements and specifications and that it fulfills its intended purpose. These are ...

. The IAF's primary function is to develop a worldwide program of conformity assessment which reduces risk for businesses and their

customer In sales, commerce, and economics, a customer (sometimes known as a Client (business), client, buyer, or purchaser) is the recipient of a Good (economics), good, service (economics), service, product (business), product, or an Intellectual prop ...

s by assuring them that accredited

certificate Certificate may refer to: * Birth certificate * Marriage certificate * Death certificate * Gift certificate * Certificate of authenticity, a document or seal certifying the authenticity of something * Certificate of deposit, or CD, a financial p ...

s and validation and verification statements may be relied upon. IAF accreditation body members accredit certification or validation and verification bodies that issue certificates or statements attesting that an organization is complying with a specified

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object ...

Role

The primary purpose of IAF is two-fold. Firstly, to ensure that its accreditation body members only accredit bodies that are competent to do the work they undertake and are not subject to

conflicts of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations in whi ...

. The second purpose of the IAF is to maintain a mutual recognition arrangement, known as the IAF Multilateral Recognition Arrangement (MLA), between its accreditation body members. This reduces risks to business and customers by ensuring that an accredited certificate may be relied upon anywhere in the world. The MLA eliminating the need for

suppliers A supply chain is a complex logistics system that consists of facilities that convert raw materials into finished products and distribute them to end consumers or end customers, while supply chain management deals with the flow of goods in distr ...

to be certified in each country where they sell their products or services. The work of ILAC and IAF is strongly aligned to key projects of UNIDO and UNECE, which promote the adoption of accreditation to facilitate trade, provide employment opportunities, and to facilitate exports and foreign direct investment. The relationship between UNIDO, the IAF and ILAC aims to enhance the impact of industrial development on economic growth and achieving the SDGs.

IAF CertSearch

IAF launched IAF CertSearch so accredited management systems certifications from around the world can be validated. IAF CertSearch is a global database where users can search and validate the status of accredited certification issued by a certification body which has been accredited by an IAF signatory member accreditation body. IAF CertSearch also provides organisations with information about the accredited network, which includes a list of all accreditation bodies and certification bodies across the globe.

Structure

The highest level of authority in IAF are General Meeting Members. General Meetings make decisions and lay down

policy Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an or ...

in the name of the members. The Board is responsible for legal actions to be carried out on behalf of the members, for developing broad policy directions for IAF and for ensuring that the day-to-day work of the IAF is carried out in accordance with policies approved by members.

World Accreditation Day

The IAF and ILAC, the global associations for accreditation, established World Accreditation Day to take place each year on June 9 to act as a springboard for awareness-raising actions and to promote accreditation to governments, the public and private sectors, and, more generally, citizens. It also provides national organisations the opportunity to organize activities related to the theme of the day.

External links

Accreditation Auditing Practices Group

International Accreditation Forum

IAF Newsletter

References