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International network
Memberships
DAkkS is a full member of the following European and international accreditation organisations:
European co-operation for Accreditation (EA)
The European co-operation for Accreditation is the unifying organisation for European accreditation bodies.
International Accreditation Forum (IAF)
The International Accreditation Forum, Inc. (IAF) is the global network of accreditation bodies that provide accreditations for products, management systems and persons.
International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC)
The International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) is the global association for the cooperation of accreditation bodies that provide accreditations for laboratories and inspection bodies.
DAkkS international network activities
DAkkS represents German interests at the General Assemblies and committees of EA, ILAC und IAF and assumes important positions in these international accreditation organisations. It fulfils this function in coordination with the accreditation advisory board.
In addition, DAkkS also supports the "peer evaluation process" of the EA and is active in the development of new documents and standards on an international level. In this vein, DAkkS makes an important contribution to the acceptance of the German conformity assessment system.
Mutual recognition of accreditation
A key objective of the international accreditation network is the mutual recognition of the services and results of accredited bodies in order to prevent technical obstacles and multiple accreditations.
This is made possible by multilateral agreements and treaties (MRA or MLA) between the national accreditation bodies and the international accreditation organisations (EA MLA, IAF MLA und ILAC MRA).
What is the EA MLA?
The EA Multilateral Agreement (EA MLA) is an agreement between the full members of the EA among themselves that recognizes the equivalence and reliability of accreditations and accredited conformity assessment results from the signatory states.
The key prerequisite for receiving EA MLA status for an accreditation body is a successful assessment as part of the EA's peer evaluation process.
This process also determines the areas to which the EA MLA applies. At the global level, the EA MLA is recognized on a global scale by the IAF and ILAC. This means that test and inspection reports, calibration certificates or certificates from bodies with accreditation from a recognized EA MLA signatory are also accepted as equivalent by the signatories to the multilateral IAF MLA and ILAC MRA agreements.
DAkkS is a signatory to the following agreements:
EA Multilateral Agreement (MLA)
IAF Multilateral Recognition Arrangement (MLA)
ILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA)
