Termination or Withdrawal Due to Fraud, Concealment, False Information, or Intentional Violation of Requirements

ANAB takes seriously actions by an applicant or accredited conformity assessment bodies that call into question the credibility of the organization. Such actions include:

  • Engaging in fraudulent behavior,
  • Concealing or intentionally providing false information and/or material relating to an application or accreditation, or
  • Deliberately violating requirements for accreditation as defined in ANAB’s Terms and Conditions for Accreditation (AG 1008 or AG 1008-G).

ANAB’s international recognition by the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) is based on continued conformance with ISO/IEC 17011. That standard, in part, states in 7.11.2 “Where there is evidence of fraudulent behavior, or the conformity assessment body intentionally provides false information or conceals information, the accreditation body shall initiate its process for withdrawal of accreditation.” Additionally, each applicant or accredited conformity assessment body must abide by ANAB’s agreement regarding the terms and conditions for accreditation which includes conformance to requirements established by ANAB.

The following process is implemented whenever ANAB obtains credible evidence that an ANAB applicant or accredited conformity assessment body has engaged in any of the actions described above:

For applicant customers:

  • The initial accreditation process will be terminated. This termination can occur at any time up to the point of the accreditation decision.
  • The applicant will be notified of the termination in writing, including information about why the application process has been terminated.
  • This termination is not subject to appeal.

For currently accredited customers:

  • A notice will be sent to the affected customer with information relating to the decision to withdraw accreditation.
  • The withdrawal of accreditation will be preceded by a period of suspension lasting a minimum of 30 days.
  • Within 10 business days of the notice, a customer may submit information that it believes will refute the credible evidence ANAB relied on to make its decision. ANAB will consider the submitted information and determine if it refutes the basis for the decision to withdraw. The customer will be notified in writing of the outcome of this review.
  • If the customer takes no action, withdrawal of accreditation will occur at the conclusion of the suspension period.
  • The decision to withdraw may be appealed under ANAB’s appeal procedure, but only as it relates to ANAB’s adherence to the withdrawal process outlined here, and not regarding the evidence ANAB used to make its decision to withdraw. Customers who wish to refute ANAB’s credible evidence must respond to the notice of withdrawal.