Recognition Requirements

As stated in the ARAC Mandatory document ARAC MD 002 “Policies and procedures for a Multi-Lateral recognition Arrangement among accreditation bodies”:

  • An Accreditation body shall comply with the provisions of ISO/IEC 17011 and future versions thereof.
  • Every applicant or signatory to the ARAC MLA shall operate according to applicable IAF and ILAC mandatory documents, as specified in the IAF/ILAC A series documents, IAF mandatory documents, as specified in the MD series, ILAC procedural and policy documents, as specified in the ILAC P series, and all other requirements of IAF and ILAC, as well as any mandatory documents issued by sector specific schemes that have been endorsed by ARAC, IAF or ILAC. Every applicant or signatory of the ARAC MLA shall comply with any decision made by ARAC, IAF or ILAC regarding the implementation date of these mandatory documents.
  • Every applicant or signatory to the ARAC MLA shall contribute its fair share of personnel resources for carrying out peer evaluations at the regional and/or international level. Every signatory shall provide ARAC with at least one peer evaluator for each scope and standard for which it is a signatory.
  • Every applicant Accreditation Body or Signatory to the ARAC MLA for calibration or, testing, including medical or clinical laboratories, shall participate in and use, as far as available and practicable, Proficiency Testing Activity offered by ARAC, and when applicable by other Regional Groups, in order to verify the competence of its accredited laboratories and to demonstrate the Accreditation Body’s ability to take appropriate actions if necessary.
  • en implemented, are effective, and will be maintained.

To be eligible to sign an ARAC’s MLAs, the accreditation body must fulfill the following:

  • ARAC full membership;
  • Agreement to abide by the terms and conditions of ARAC MLA;
  • Demonstration, through evaluations and through witnessing of its assessment process, that it satisfies the following requirements:
    • Conformance with pertinent ISO/IEC standards and guides and related IAF and ILAC mandatory and guidance documents;
    • Conformance of all accredited bodies with the relevant ISO/IEC standards and Guides;
    • Completion of at least one accreditation process in each of the accreditation programs for which it applies;
    • Availability of sufficient evidence to demonstrate that applicant body’s arrangements for management review and internal audit have be