Global ACI

The international organizations ILAC and IAF have merged into a new organization in the field of accreditation: Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated (Global ACI).

FOR ACCREDITATION BODIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Members of Global ACI include accreditation bodies from around the world – including DANAK. Other members may be representatives from industry or accredited companies.

Global ACI works to promote widespread use and recognition of accreditation globally. This helps facilitate international trade, allowing products and services to cross borders without requiring re-assessment.

The global accreditation system is built on a uniform interpretation and application of international standards—both the standards forming the basis for the accreditation of companies and the standards used by accredited companies when delivering services to customers.

CO-SIGNATORIES TO Global ACI-AGREEMENTS

Accreditation bodies that have implemented and correctly apply the accreditation criteria can become signatories to the Global ACI agreement.

For an accreditation body to sign the mutual recognition agreement for individual accreditation fields under Global ACI, a peer evaluation is conducted. In Europe, this takes place at the EA (European co-operation for Accreditation) level, which thus includes DANAK. This evaluation assesses whether standards are implemented and correctly applied by the accreditation body. The assessment is repeated every four years.

Signatories to the agreements commit to recognizing accreditations from other accreditation bodies as equivalent. At the same time, they commit to complying with common guidelines from Global ACI regarding the interpretation of accreditation standards.

DANAKS AGREEMENTS WITH Global ACI

DANAK has signed multilateral agreements with Global ACI on the global mutual recognition of reports and certificates bearing DANAK’s accreditation mark or a reference to DANAK accreditation.

Agreements have been established with Global ACI within calibration, testing, medical examination, proficiency testing and reference material production, inspection, certification of management systems, products and persons, as well as validation and verification. Furthermore, the agreement is limited to certain sub-scopes, as described here.

DANAK participates annually in the Global ACI General Assembly and takes part in the technical committees discussing the interpretation of accreditation standards. Director Jesper Høy is DANAK’s contact person regarding Global ACI.

BROCHURES AND WEBSITES

Global ACI also publishes brochures and other materials, which can be found here.