The ILAC Arrangement supports international trade by promoting international confidence and acceptance of accredited laboratory data. Technical barriers to trade, such as the retesting of products each time they enter a new economy would be reduced. The ILAC Arrangement brochure is located under Resources.
The International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) first started as a conference in 1977 with the aim of developing international cooperation for facilitating trade by promotion of the acceptance of accredited test and calibration results. In 1996, ILAC became a formal cooperation with a charter to establish a network of mutual recognition agreements among accreditation bodies that would fulfil this aim. The ILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement (often referred to as the ILAC Arrangement) is the culmination of 22 years of intensive work.
On 2 November 2000, 36 laboratory accreditation bodies, full members of the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC), from 28 economies worldwide signed an arrangement in Washington, DC to promote the acceptance of technical test and calibration data for exported goods.
The arrangement came into effect on 31 January 2001. The ILAC Arrangement provides significant technical underpinning to international trade. The key to the Arrangement is the developing global network of accredited testing and calibration laboratories that are assessed and recognised as being competent by ILAC Arrangement signatory accreditation bodies. The signatories have, in turn, been peer-reviewed and shown to meet ILAC's criteria for competence. Now that the ILAC Arrangement is in place, governments can take advantage of it to further develop or enhance trade agreements. The ultimate aim is increased use and acceptance by industry as well as government of the results from accredited laboratories, including results from laboratories in other countries. In this way, the free-trade goal of "a product tested once and accepted everywhere" can be realised.
The aim of the ILAC Arrangement is to develop a global network of accredited testing, calibration and inspection facilities that can be relied on to provide accurate data.
The ILAC Arrangement provides technical underpinning to international trade by promoting cross-border stakeholder confidence and acceptance of accredited laboratory data. Until the advent of the ILAC Arrangement, there had been no multi-lateral mutual recognition agreement in laboratory accreditation. This has been a hindrance for some types of international trade, particularly those products which have had to undergo re-testing or re-calibration upon entry to importing countries. The ILAC Arrangement should facilitate this trade.
The principal elements for establishing confidence among the participating systems within ILAC are listed below. These elements are designed to ensure conformance with the requirements in order to establish and maintain mutual confidence in the technical competence of ILAC members and their accredited laboratories. The elements are:
Exchange of information on the development and operation of ILAC member accreditation schemes;
Participation in the work and decision-making of the ILAC General Assembly and ILAC Committees where applicable;
Participation in international inter-laboratory comparisons and proficiency testing programs;
Participation in the work of ILAC Expert Groups and Task Forces held to discuss problems related to testing and calibration in various technical fields;
Evaluations of applicants and re-evaluations of signatories to this Arrangement are conducted in accordance with the relevant ILAC and regional cooperation documents;
Observations of applicant bodies’ and signatories’ assessments of their laboratories to determine if these laboratories meet the requirements of the current version of ISO/IEC 17025 or ISO 15189 (for medical testing laboratories);
Confidence in the metrology institutes of the signatory economies to which traceability is claimed by accredited laboratories and support for the measurement comparison activities of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) and/or regional metrology organizations.
This arrangement is based on the results of an intensive evaluation of each body carried out by peers and in accordance with the relevant rules and procedures contained in several ILAC publications.
Each accreditation body signatory to the Arrangement agrees to abide by its terms and conditions and by the ILAC evaluation procedures and shall:
Maintain conformance with the current version of ISO/IEC 17011, related ILAC guidance documents, and a few, but important, supplementary requirements, and
Ensure that all accredited laboratories comply with ISO/IEC 17025 or ISO 15189 (for medical testing laboratories) and related ILAC policy and guidance documents.
The ILAC Arrangement builds upon existing or developing regional arrangements established around the world. The bodies participating in these regional arrangements are responsible for maintaining the necessary confidence in accreditation bodies from their region that are signatories to the ILAC Arrangement. Each recognized Regional Cooperation Body must abide by the procedures defined in ILAC requirements documents. The European cooperation for Accreditation (EA), the Asia Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (APLAC) and the Inter-American Accreditation Cooperation (IAAC) are the current ILAC-recognized regions with acceptable mutual recognition arrangements (MRAs) and evaluation procedures. The Southern African Development Community in Accreditation (SADCA) is currently developing their MRA evaluation processes before requesting recognition and approval by ILAC. Regions being developed in other parts of the world are in their infancy, with one such region, the Central Asian Cooperation on Metrology Accreditation and Quality (CAC-MAS-Q) having recently joined ILAC. Accreditation bodies that cannot be affiliated with a recognized region may apply directly to ILAC for evaluation and recognition.
The evaluation of an accreditation body to establish its qualifications to be a signatory involves a team of peers (generally senior staff of experienced accreditation bodies). Evaluations include time spent at the headquarters office of the applicant body to determine compliance with ISO/IEC 17011. Additionally, the evaluators witness the performance of the applicant’s assessors during actual assessments/reassessments to determine if the laboratories are in compliance with ISO/IEC 17025 or ISO 15189 (for medical testing laboratories) and that there is sufficient depth of examination to determine competence.
In order to maintain the value and meaning of the ILAC Arrangement, the signatories agree to notify each other about any significant changes in the status or operation of the accreditation body. Issues of significance include changes in name or legal/corporate status; new agreements negotiated with other accreditation bodies or the revision, suspension or termination of any such agreements; changes in key senior staff or the organisational structure; or significant changes in the operations of the body. Each signatory to the ILAC Arrangement must also designate a liaison officer to afford a consistent channel of communication between the accreditation bodies.
Now that the ILAC Arrangement is in place, the next crucial step is for governments and industries to take advantage of this arrangement. Governments can use it to further develop or enhance trade agreements. Another important step that is already underway involves government acceptance of the results from accredited laboratories. Regulatory agencies around the world are beginning to accept the results from testing and calibration laboratories that are accredited by accreditation bodies, that are signatories to the ILAC Arrangement, without direct government review, including results from laboratories in other countries.
Many specifiers, like government agencies, have come to appreciate the importance of credible accreditation programs that are based on internationally recognised standards. With restricted budgets, many Government agencies can no longer do it all themselves; increasingly, they must rely on third-party laboratories to support their regulatory efforts. When they do so, they need a fair and meaningful basis for identifying qualified providers. Accreditation provides that and the ILAC Arrangement provides a means for recognition of acceptable accreditation bodies.
Industry users of test and calibration data similarly can take advantage of the ILAC Arrangement. Users will have greater confidence in the accuracy of the test or calibration report they are purchasing, particularly if they are conscious of the scope of the laboratory's accreditation, because it has been generated by a competent facility. Manufacturers also gain efficiency because of accreditation; instead of their own on-site assessments, they can defer to the assessments of competent accreditation authorities that are ILAC Arrangement signatories.
The ILAC Arrangement builds confidence among accreditation bodies and their ability to determine a laboratory’s competence to perform testing or calibrations. Confidence facilitates the acceptance of testing and calibration results between countries when the results can be demonstrated to come from accredited laboratories. This ultimately helps to reduce some technical barriers to trade. Through the ILAC Arrangement, the foundation for realising the ideal of having products "tested once and accepted everywhere" has been established.
The above link provides a list of the signatories, the scope of their recognition and the date of signing the ILAC Arrangement in a pdf document that can be printed and used for distribution if required. If you require the contact details of the signatory(ies), these are available from the members contact details page. This page includes the contact details of all the members of ILAC by economy.