In 2019, the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) voted to form a new, single organization. The Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated was established as a non-profit organization in 2024, with the intention of becoming fully operational, including a multilateral recognition arrangement (MRA), in 2026. The three organizations have held meetings in late October 2025, where the next steps in this critical transition were determined. This marked the most impactful development in international recognition of accreditation since IAF and ILAC established their respective recognition arrangements in 2000.

This webinar presents outcomes from the October 2025 meetings, next steps in the transition process to the Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated, and how this may affect accredited conformity assessment bodies and stakeholders.

Key Takeaways

• The latest timeline and milestones in the transition from IAF and ILAC to the Global Cooperation Incorporated.
• Plans for transitioning from the IAF and ILAC marks to the Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated.
• How and when these changes will affect accredited conformity assessment bodies, scheme owners, and other stakeholders

Audience Questions

At the end of the webinar, questions were asked by the webinar’s attendees. These included:

• What are some examples of stakeholder members and what qualifies them for membership?
• Besides Brahim Houla, has there been any other decisions with other board members?
• Can you address the challenges to get the Global Cooperation Incorporation together?
• Is there going to be market place confusion with the ILAC and IAF marks?
• Is there any limit on how long someone can serve on the executive committee or how many people from a region can be on the executive committee?

Presenter

Warren Merkel, Vice President of Policy, ANAB

Warren Merkel is ANAB’s Vice President, Policy. He previously worked at the National Institute of Standards and Technology advising government agencies on the use of standards and conformity assessment, and served as co-convenor for the revision of ISO/IEC 17025 and ISO/IEC 17060.