COOPERATING LABORATORY ACCREDITATION SYSTEMS

A2LA seeks to establish cooperative arrangements with laboratory accreditation systems in other countries and in the United States. These arrangements facilitate the acceptance of test and calibration data between A2LA-accredited laboratories and other countries/economies. A2LA will testify to the competence of each accreditation system with whom it has an MRA and attest to the fact that they follow the recognized norm for operating such systems, ISO 17011, and use ISO/IEC 17025 as the basis for the accreditation of laboratories. Copies of the MRAs are available upon request. A2LA's current cooperative arrangements include the following:

Asia Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (APLAC)

The Mutual Recognition Arrangement with the Asia Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (APLAC), which includes both testing and calibration, was signed on November 19, 1997 and establishes cooperation among many accreditation bodies throughout the Asia-Pacific Region. The contact information for A2LA's partner accreditation bodies that are now signatories to the APLAC MRA is located at http://www.aplac.org/aplac_mra.html.

European Cooperation for Accreditation (EA)

The Bilateral Mutual Recognition Agreement with the European Cooperation for Accreditation (EA), which includes both testing and calibration, was signed on September 21, 1999. The Agreement is meant to facilitate the acceptance of test and calibration data with a number of European countries whose national accreditation bodies have signed the EA Multilateral Agreement (MLA). EA promotes the recognition and acceptance in all the MLA countries of certificates and reports issued by organizations accredited by national accreditation bodies who have signed the MLA. The contact information for A2LA's partner accreditation bodies in Europe that are now signatories to the EA MLA is located at the MLA link on the following web site: http://www.european-accreditation.org.

Inter-American Accreditation Cooperation (IAAC)

The Inter-American Accreditation Cooperation is an association of accreditation bodies and other organizations interested in conformity assessment in the Americas. The Multilateral Recognition Arrangement (MLA) with the Inter-American Accreditation Cooperation (IAAC) was signed on October 24, 2002. The first three signatories are A2LA, INMETRO of Brazil and SCC of Canada. By signing the arrangement, A2LA, SCC and INMETRO agree to formally recognize and promote the equivalency of each other's laboratory accreditations. Since these three bodies already recognize each other under the ILAC (International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation) Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA), this first signing was largely symbolic but forms the foundation for expanding recognition in the Americas. To obtain more information on the current IAAC MLA signatories, please visit the IAAC web site at : http://www.iaac.org.mx/

International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC)

The Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) with the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) was signed on November 2, 2000 and entered into force on January 31, 2001. The original Arrangement was signed by 36 laboratory accreditation bodies from 28 economies worldwide. The primary aim of the arrangement is promote the acceptance of technical test and calibration data for exported goods. A2LA was one of three U.S. signatory bodies. The up-to-date contact information for A2LA's partner accreditation bodies that are now signatories to the ILAC MRA is listed at the Arrangement link on the following web site: http://www.ilac.org.

Please note that if you are currently using a calibration provider that does not meet the A2LA Traceability Policy, you do not need to immediately re-calibrate the equipment in question, however, you must use an acceptable source of calibration for the next regularly scheduled calibration cycle.  A list of A2LA accredited calibration laboratories can be located on our web site.

If you have any questions or need any further information, please contact A2LA.