Liaison: Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated

On January 1, 2026, Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated assumed the roles of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC), becoming the single international authority on the accreditation of laboratories, certification bodies, inspection bodies, proficiency testing providers, validation/verification bodies, reference material producers and biobanks.

Formal relationship

BIPM-ILAC MoU

JCTLM: Declaration of Cooperation between the BIPM, the IFCC and ILAC

Joint statements

Archive of historical statements

Links between the BIPM and Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated

• A Joint CIPM/ILAC Working Group consisting of BIPM and ILAC members was established in view of the BIPM-ILAC MoU (Terms of reference of the Working Group). The group has produced a joint statement on the collaboration and roles of the two organizations;
• The BIPM interacts with Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated at senior level through annual bilateral and multilateral meetings at the BIPM (with ISO and the OIML);
• The two organizations have mutual observer/liaison status at meetings;
• Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporatedis one of the partners in INetQI;
• Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporatedis a member of the JCGM;
• Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporatedis a major partner in the JCTLM;
• The BIPM was an active participant in the ILAC Accreditation Committee (ILAC AIC) and particularly the AIC WG2;
• The BIPM organizes consultation with NMIs (via RMOs) on key documents of Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated;
• The BIPM and Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporatedissue joint declarations and joint statements when appropriate.

Purpose

Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated strengthens international trust through its Multilateral Recognition Arrangement (MRA), which enables the acceptance of accredited conformity assessment results across multiple markets, eliminating the need for repeated testing or certification and facilitating global trade. Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated facilitates trade by promotion of the acceptance of accredited test and calibration results from more than 70 000 calibration and test laboratories worldwide.

The BIPM and Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated cooperate to ensure efficient and effective dissemination of metrological traceability, particularly to the SI, and also address the special case of accredited national metrology laboratories.