June 9th 2008 has been designated as the first International Accreditation Day by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC). The theme will be ‘Trust’ to underline that, at the national level, accreditation builds trust in the accredited conformity assessment services and in the corresponding results. Internationally, the multi-lateral agreements established by ILAC and IAF confirm and enhance such trust and eliminate “multiple assessments”, namely the need for products and services, to be re-evaluated in every country that a supplier operates.

A joint ILAC and IAF International Accreditation Day is a fitting occasion to mark the fact that both organisations have become better known and have established strong co-operations with international organisations such as ISO, IEC, UNIDO, BIPM and WADA. The multilateral agreements now operate throughout many economies, and a structure has been put into place to support the development of accreditation and related conformity assessment infrastructure in developing economies. Since 2003, the number of newly established Accreditation Bodies has grown by almost 40%.

Nationally, there is greater recognition of accreditation, in particular from Regulators, who are adopting accreditation as a mechanism to deliver a multi-discipline solution that can support or act as an alternative to Legislation.

To celebrate the event, UKAS will be hosting an event at the House of Lords in June to promote accreditation to invited Government departments. In a similar event to one hosted last year, we plan to invite over 120 people representing 40 Government departments.

Click here to find out more and to read supporting endorsements from ISO, IEC, UNIDO, BIPM and WADA.