International Accreditation Day 2009

June 9th 2009 will mark International Accreditation Day, a global initiative established by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) to raise awareness of the importance of accreditation.

INAB are signatories to the multilateral agreements of IAF and ILAC, along with more than forty countries world wide including USA, Canada, Japan, China, South Africa and Australia.

The theme of the day this year is ‘competence'. Accreditation provides an independent and authoritative attestation of the competence, impartiality and integrity of conformity assessment bodies (CABs). In such a complex and highly competitive market, a level of confidence is required when procuring products or services.

Such reassurance is underpinned by accreditation. Specifiers, like Government regulators, have come to appreciate the importance of credible accreditation programs that are based on internationally-recognized standards. With restricted budgets, many Regulators can no longer do it all themselves and increasingly, they must rely on third-party organisations to support their regulatory efforts. When they do so, they need a fair and meaningful basis for identifying qualified and competent providers. Accreditation provides this declaration of competence.

Related Links:

• International Accreditation Forum (IAF)
• International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC)