ANAB Expands IAAC MLA Status in Three Areas, Maintains Existing Recognitions in IAAC and APAC

The ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), has expanded its signatory status with the Inter-American Accreditation Cooperation (IAAC) multilateral recognition arrangement (MLA) to include personnel credentialing, product certification/global GAP, and greenhouse gas validation and verification. The significant expansion comes on the heels of a successful joint evaluation conducted by IAAC and Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (APAC), which also resulted in ANAB maintaining its existing signatory status in both regions.

In addition to the new recognitions, ANAB is also recognized by IAAC and APAC for:

• ISO/IEC 17020 – Inspection
• ISO/IEC 17021-1– Management system certification (multiple scopes)
• ISO/IEC 17024 – Certification of persons
• ISO/IEC 17025 – Calibration and testing
• ISO 17034 – Reference material producers
• ISO/IEC 17065 – Certification of product, process and services
• ISO 14065 – Greenhouse gas validation and verification
• ISO 15189 – Testing

MLAs facilitate the acceptance of accreditations among signatory bodies. By reducing the need for multiple assessments, MLAs facilitate international trade by encouraging regional and worldwide acceptance of valid certificates, registrations, and results issued by signatory accreditation bodies.

Accreditation bodies that are MLA signatories have undergone a rigorous peer evaluation in accordance with the requirements of ISO/IEC 17011, Conformity assessment – General requirements for accreditation bodies accrediting conformity assessment bodies, to demonstrate their competence.

About ANAB

The ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB), a wholly owned subsidiary of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), is the largest multi-disciplinary ISO/IEC 17011 accreditation body in North America, with comprehensive signatory status across the multilateral recognition arrangements of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC). The ANAB accreditation portfolio includes management systems certification bodies, calibration and testing labs, product certification bodies, personnel credentialing organizations, forensic test and calibration service providers, inspection bodies, police crime units, greenhouse gas validation and verification bodies, reference material producers, and proficiency test providers. For more information, visit www.anab.org.

 About ANSI

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is a private non-profit organization whose mission is to enhance both the global competitiveness of U.S. business and the U.S. quality of life by promoting and facilitating voluntary consensus standards and conformity assessment systems, and safeguarding their integrity. Its membership is comprised of businesses, professional societies and trade associations, standards developers, government agencies, and consumer and labor organizations.

The Institute represents and serves the diverse interests of more than 270,000 companies and organizations and 30 million professionals worldwide. ANSI is the official U.S. representative to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and, via the U.S. National Committee, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). For more information, visit www.ansi.org.