IAF News

Joint IAF-ILAC Communiqué

IAF MLA MARK & ILAC-MRA MARK

The International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) are pleased to advise that ILAC Full Members (signatories to the ILAC Arrangement) and IAF MLA Members (signatories to the IAF Multilateral Recognition Arrangement) are now able to enter into a licensing agreement with ILAC or IAF for the use of the ILAC-MRA Mark or IAF MLA Mark, as appropriate, in combination with their own Mark.  This represents the culmination of several years of intensive work by a number of key people within both ILAC and IAF.

Both organizations have undertaken an extensive program of world wide registration of their respective Marks, initially in the countries covered by their respective signatories , but extending to other non-signatory members, within broader geographical regions, in anticipation of increasing future representation

Once licensed, ILAC Full Members and IAF MLA Signatories will also be able to  enter into a sub-licensing agreement, with their accredited laboratories (ILAC) or accredited Certification/Registration Bodies (IAF).  This will allow accredited laboratories to also use the ILAC-MRA Mark, as described in the ILAC Laboratory Combined MRA Mark Sub License Agreement.  For accredited CRBs the requirements are provided in the MLA Mark License Agreement – CRBs.

Both ILAC and IAF believe that this will be a major step forward in improving the awareness of accreditation in the marketplace.  For the first time users of laboratory services and management system certification will be able to see at a glance if  the organization issuing  a certificate or test report is, in fact, accredited.  As a result of this initiative, it is expected that the profiles and understanding of the ILAC Arrangement and IAF MLA will be significantly raised with consequent tangible benefits flowing on to the ILAC and IAF Memberships (accreditation bodies and laboratories).  Users of accredited certification will also benefit in having increased confidence, signified by the presence of the ILAC MRA or IAF MLA Marks, that requirements have actually been met.