Conformity assessment is defined as a "demonstration that specified requirements relating to a product, process, system, person or body are fulfilled." The activities applied in today's marketplace include certification, inspection, registration, supplier's declaration, testing, and the one dimension in which ANAB is directly engaged: accreditation.
Ultimately, the marketplace and customers of conformity assessment services measure the beneficial value of accreditation. For most suppliers, the primary benefit of accredited third-party certification is to meet a purchaser's or regulator's requirement for this independent evaluation of compliance. Increasingly, suppliers' procurement organizations are specifying and government agencies are recognizing accredited, third-party certification as an optional dimension of their systems for risk management. In the rapidly growing area of greenhouse gas emissions reporting, ANAB accredited verification and validation bodies gain recognition of the nationally renowned reporting programs for inventories and projects.
ANAB provides services for a full portfolio of accreditation programs. This means ANAB recognizes the competence of bodies to carry out these activities in accordance with requirements defined in international standards. ANAB's accreditation programs operate in accordance with international guidelines and have been verified by government and peer review assessments.
ANAB accreditation of conformity assessment bodies (CABs):