Background Paper: Emerging International Framework for Accreditation

The document examines the development of international accreditation frameworks designed to facilitate global trade by ensuring that testing and certification results are accepted across borders. It details the functions of ILAC and IAF, their respective Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MLAs), and the importance of policy correlation between governments and accreditation bodies to reduce redundant assessments and technical barriers to trade.

• The International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) have established Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MLAs) to create a global network of competent conformity assessment organisations, aiming for a trade environment where products are "Once Tested, Once Certified and Accepted Everywhere".
• There is a fundamental distinction between laboratory accreditation and certification: accreditation (under ISO/IEC 17025) focuses on demonstrating specific technical competence for tests or calibrations, whereas certification (under ISO 9001) focuses on compliance with generic quality management system requirements and does not demonstrate technical competence to produce valid data.
• To prevent the duplication of services and avoid accreditation becoming a technical barrier to trade, the Asia Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (APC) published a Code of good practice for Cross Frontier Accreditation, which provides guidance for accreditation bodies operating in economies without mature national infrastructures.
• The document argues that for international conformity assessment services to flourish, there must be mutual recognition and close policy correlation between policy makers, manufacturers, standardisers, and consumers to reduce redundant assessments and associated costs.
• The WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) encourages members to negotiate the recognition of each other's conformity assessment procedures, often utilizing international guides or recommendations to verify technical competence.

APA

Stanger, D. H. (2002). Background Paper: Emerging International Framework for Accreditation. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/trade_standards_framework.pdf

Chicago

Stanger, David H. Background Paper: Emerging International Framework for Accreditation. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2002. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/trade_standards_framework.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Stanger |first1=David H |title=Background Paper: Emerging International Framework for Accreditation |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=4 November 2002 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/trade_standards_framework.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stanger2002background, author = {Stanger, David H}, title = {{Background Paper: Emerging International Framework for Accreditation}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2002}, month = nov, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/trade_standards_framework.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }