It was not until twenty-six years later that other countries also began to establish laboratory accreditation schemes, with the United Kingdom (NAMAS in 1973, now part of UKAS), New Zealand (TELARC in 1973, renamed IANZ in 1997), the United States (NVLAP in 1976) and other European countries setting up similar schemes.

Initially, the methods for evaluating testing and calibration laboratories were developed to respond to the differing needs of individual countries, and varied considerably, depending on the countries and the fields.
But growing international trade and increasing economic integration brought about a general consensus on the reasonableness of introducing common evaluation procedures to facilitate accepting each other's test results.
This led to the publication, in 1978, of ISO/IEC Guide 25 as agreed evaluation criteria or requirements for testing and calibration laboratories. These criteria cover the qualifications and technical competence of staff, test methods, equipment, recording and all other aspects that could affect a test result. If all criteria are satisfied, the laboratory is accredited as competent to undertake specific tests.

The third edition of ISO/IEC Guide 25, published in 1990, also reflected the Quality Management System approach of the ISO 9000 series of standards that were first published in 1987.
ISO/IEC Guide25 was revised again in 1999 and was published as an International Standard, ISO/IEC 17025:1999 - General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories (JIS Q 17025:2000).
A further revision was carried out in 2005. The current version of the Standard is ISO/IEC 17025:2005 (JIS Q 17025:2005). See below for details.

Requirements for laboratories
International Standard	JIS Standard	JAB policy
ISO/IEC Guide25:1990 (Third edition)	JIS Z 9325:1996	JAB RL100-1996 (equal to JIS Z 9325:1996) was the requirement for competent testing and calibration laboratories.
ISO/IEC 17025:1999 (First edition)	JIS Q 17025:2000	JAB RL100-2000 (equal to JIS Q 17025:2000) was the requirement for competent testing and calibration laboratories.
ISO/IEC 17025:2005 (Second edition)	JIS Q 17025:2005	JIS Q 17025:2005 is now the requirement for competent testing and calibration laboratories.

In 1993, the requirements for the operation of accreditation bodies accrediting testing and calibration laboratories were specified in ISO/IEC Guide 58.
This document has now been integrated with the requirements for bodies accrediting certification bodies and bodies accrediting inspection bodies. The merged document has been published as an International Standard, ISO/IEC 17011:2004 (JIS Q 17011:2005).

At the end of 1992, when the EC established the Single European Market, laboratory accreditation was adopted as a component of a wider scheme to harmonize product certification within Europe. Today within the European Union, a product that has been tested and found to conform to the relevant European product Standards in one EU member country, will be accepted in any other EU member country.

In Japan, it was decided to establish a laboratory accreditation scheme in order to realize international harmonization and to assist in reducing non-tariff barriers in line with the principles of the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT). In 1996, JAB launched a laboratory accreditation scheme based on these established and internationally recognized Guides and Standards.

In 2005, JAB commenced a medical laboratory accreditation service based on ISO 15189:2003.
For further details on JAB's laboratory accreditation services, please refer to the table below.

JAB laboratory accreditation services

Laboratory accreditation services
Name of service	Laboratory accreditation service (non-medical)	Medical laboratory accreditation service
Accredited body	Testing laboratory or calibration laboratory	Medical laboratory
Accreditation requirement	JAB RL100-2000 or JIS Q 17025:2005	JAB RL130-2004(equivalent to ISO 15189:2003)