About Global ACI

Global ACI was launched on 01 January 2026, further to a decision by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) to establish a single international organisation for accreditation. Activities formerly covered by IAF and ILAC are now all covered by Global ACI, streamlining global efforts to promote accreditation and the quality infrastructure.

Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated (Global ACI) is the international authority on the accreditation of laboratories, certification bodies, inspection bodies, proficiency testing providers, validation/verification bodies, reference material producers and biobanks. Global ACI members include accreditation bodies, regional cooperation bodies and stakeholder organisations from around the world.

Accreditation is the independent evaluation of conformity assessment bodies against recognised standards to ensure their impartiality and competence. Competent, impartial, and transparent accreditation builds global trust – giving people confidence that products, services, and systems are safe, reliable, and contribute to a more sustainable everyday life.

Global ACI’s primary purpose is to establish an international arrangement between member accreditation bodies based on peer evaluation and mutual acceptance. Global ACI provides a globally accepted approach recognised by governments, regulators, and markets, reducing duplication, opening access to trade, and building trust in results worldwide. Through this, it helps create safer societies, stronger economies, and a more sustainable world.

Accreditation bodies are established in many economies with the primary purpose of ensuring that conformity assessment bodies are subject to oversight by an authoritative body. Through the application of national and international standards, government, procurers and consumers can have confidence in the calibration and test results, inspection reports and certifications provided.

Accreditation body members of Global ACI operate in accordance with ISO/IEC 17011 and are involved in the accreditation of various types of conformity assessment bodies:

Medical testing laboratories (using ISO 15189)
Testing laboratories (using ISO/IEC 17025)
Calibration laboratories (using ISO/IEC 17025)
Inspection bodies (using ISO/IEC 17020)
Management system certification bodies (using ISO/IEC 17021-1)
Product certification bodies (using ISO/IEC 17065)
Proficiency testing providers (using ISO/IEC 17043)
Persons certification bodies (using ISO/IEC 17024)
Validation/verification bodies (using ISO/IEC 17029)
Reference material producers (using ISO 17034)
Biobanking facilities (using ISO 20387)

Accreditation bodies that have been peer evaluated as competent sign regional and international arrangements to demonstrate their competence. These accreditation bodies then assess and accredit conformity assessment bodies to the relevant standards.

The arrangements support the provision of local or national services, such as providing safe food and clean drinking water, providing energy, delivering health and social care or maintaining an unpolluted environment. In addition, the arrangements enhance the acceptance of products and services across national borders, thereby creating a framework to support international trade through the removal of technical barriers.

Global ACI operates the Global ACI Multilateral Recognition Arrangement (MRA) between Global ACI member signatories, allowing for the mutual recognition of accredited certificates, reports and statements in economies worldwide.

About the Global ACI MRA

Global ACI members are admitted to the Global ACI MRA only after a stringent evaluation of their operations by a peer evaluation team charged to ensure that the applicant complies fully with both international standards and Global ACI requirements. Accreditation body signatories of the Global ACI MRA are designated as Global ACI Full Members, while regional cooperation body signatories are designated as Recognised Regional Cooperation Bodies.

Global ACI MRA signatories commit to recognising other signatories’ accreditation programmes and competence as equivalent, except when prohibited by regulation or law. This mutual recognition supports the reduction of technical barriers to trade, facilitates international acceptance of accredited results, and strengthens trust in accredited activities globally.

The Global ACI MRA consists of a five-level arrangement, with levels 2 and 3 constituting main scopes and levels 4 and 5 constituting sub-scopes. More information on the structure of the MRA can be found in Global ACI MRA-001 Multilateral Recognition Arrangement: Structure, Scope and Obligations, and the current status of the Global ACI MRA is available in Global ACI FMRA-001 Structure and Normative Documents Under the Scope of the Global ACI MRA. Both documents are available in the MRA Documents section of the website.

The Global ACI MRA relies heavily on the MRAs of Recognised Regional Cooperation Bodies, which include:

https://www.apac-accreditation.org/

https://european-accreditation.org/

https://iaac.org.mx/

https://www.sadca.org/Pages/Home.aspx

https://www.intra-afrac.com/Pages/Home.aspx

https://arabaccreditation.org/

These groups perform the majority of peer evaluation activities, not Global ACI.

To gain confidence in the work of Recognised Regional Cooperation Bodies, Global ACI evaluates and accepts the process and outcomes of their MRAs for main scopes and related sub-scopes. Recognised Regional Cooperation Bodies are evaluated at regular intervals by Global ACI.