International Dimension of Accreditation
Accreditation is an internationally harmonised procedure for demonstrating competence and is based on the standard ISO/IEC 17011. The principles and practices of accreditation are agreed within international cooperation organisations in the field, whose members are the national accreditation bodies.
The Accreditation Service FINAS is a member of the European co-operation for Accreditation (EA) and Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated. As of 1 January 2026, Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated has taken over the tasks previously carried out by ILAC and IAF. FINAS has been a member of these organisations for many years and is now also a member of Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated.
The European Commission has designated the European co-operation for Accreditation (EA) to be responsible for the accreditation system in Europe. EA is responsible for liaison and agreements with the European Commission and evaluates the implementation of the EU Accreditation and Market Surveillance Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 765/2008) as part of peer evaluations.
Recognition Arrangements
The Accreditation Service FINAS has signed international multilateral mutual recognition arrangements, the so-called MLA (Multilateral Agreement) and MRA (Mutual Recognition Agreement) arrangements. These arrangements mean that FINAS applies common international rules and recognises accreditations granted by other accreditation bodies, provided they are equivalent to its own.
The recognition arrangements are based on the standard ISO/IEC 17011 applied by accreditation bodies. Within the EU, the requirements are laid down in Regulation (EC) No 765/2008. For the global organisation, the requirements are defined in document MRA-001.
As part of the mutual recognition arrangements, the international organisations regularly evaluate the Accreditation Service FINAS in the fields covered by the arrangements. The Accreditation Service FINAS has demonstrated its competence in international peer evaluations.
The Accreditation Service FINAS is a signatory to the EA MLA in the following fields
- Testing laboratories – ISO/IEC 17025
- Medical laboratories – ISO 15189
- Calibration laboratories – ISO/IEC 17025
- Inspection bodies – ISO/IEC 17020
- Management system certification – ISO/IEC 17021-1
- Product certification – ISO/IEC 17065
- Certification of persons – ISO/IEC 17024
- Proficiency testing providers – ISO/IEC 17043
- Validation and verification bodies – ISO/IEC 17029
The EA MLA - European Accreditation
Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated and its members may, during a transition period, continue to use the IAF MLA mark and the ILAC MRA mark until the mark of the new organisation becomes available and the IAF MLA and ILAC MRA marks are gradually withdrawn.
IAF MLA (hereafter Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated)
- ISO/IEC 17021-1
- ISO 9001 (QMS)
- ISO 14001 (EMS)
- ISO 22000 (FSMS)
- ISO/IEC 27001
- ISO 50001 (EnMS)
- ISO 13485 (MDMS)
- ISO 45001 (OH&SMS)
- FSSC 22000 Scheme Part 2
- ISO/IEC 17065
- ISO/IEC 17029
- ISO 14065, ISO 14066, ISO 14064-3
ILAC MRA (hereafter Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated)
- Testing laboratories – ISO/IEC 17025
- Medical laboratories – ISO 15189
- Calibration laboratories – ISO/IEC 17025
- Inspection bodies – ISO/IEC 17020
- Proficiency testing providers – ISO/IEC 17043
Certificates, reports and other attestations issued under accreditation granted by the Accreditation Service FINAS and referring to any of the above-mentioned standards fall within the scope of these arrangements. This means that they are equally reliable and competent as corresponding documents issued by other accreditation bodies that are signatories to the arrangements.
Reference to the EA MLA shall be agreed with the Accreditation Service FINAS in order to ensure that the accredited activities of the operator are included within the scope of the MLA. The same rules apply to references to the EA MLA as to references to FINAS accreditation. However, clients of accredited organisations may not refer to the EA MLA.
The ILAC MRA mark may be used by an accredited laboratory, inspection body or proficiency testing provider that has been granted the right of use by the Accreditation Service FINAS.
The IAF MLA mark may be used when an accredited certification body has concluded an agreement with the Accreditation Service FINAS on the use of the IAF MLA mark. The IAF MLA accreditation mark may be used on accredited certificates when the scope of validity of the certificate falls within the scope of the Accreditation Service FINAS under the IAF MLA, such as ISO/TS 22003-1.
The marks shall always be used together with the organisation's own accreditation symbol. The implementation of the marks is described in document V1 (pdf), and further information on applying for their use is available from FINAS.
Cross-Border Principles
Under the European accreditation system established by Regulation (EC) No 765/2008, each Member State is responsible for accreditation activities within its own territory. Accreditation bodies may carry out assessments in other countries in specific situations, where a country agrees to procure the service from another country. Assessments are also carried out in other countries when accredited organisations operate there.
Accreditation across national borders is always discussed and agreed with the national accreditation body of the country concerned. In Europe, the EA Cross Border principles are applied.
Guides of International Organisations
The accreditation cooperation organisations EA, ILAC and IAF publish documents related to accreditation. These are divided into mandatory and guidance documents. Organisations applying for accreditation and accredited organisations shall take these documents into account in their activities. They shall comply with the requirements of documents designated as mandatory.
EA publishes Mandatory (M) documents as well as Guidance (G) and Informative (INF) documents. These are available on the EA website. In addition, EA publishes EA-INF/01, which lists EA publications and their version information.
Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated will in future publish both mandatory and guidance documents on its website. Link to website: Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated
The Policy (P) and Guidance (G) documents previously published by ILAC are available on the ILAC website.
The Mandatory Documents (MD) and Informative Documents (ID) previously published by IAF are available on the IAF website.