WHAT IS "ACCREDITATION/ CERTIFICATION" ? In the world of international conformity assessment, "accreditation" and "certification" are terms to which distinctly different meanings are given. In the context of conformity assessment, the term ÅgaccreditationÅh represents the official approval and registration of the activities (assessment and registration, certification, testing, inspection) of bodies operating assessment and registration against ISO 9000s or ISO 14001, certification of personnel/ products, or testing/inspection, etc., after assessment to verify that such activities have been performed with impartiality and transparency (such assessment called accreditation assessment) and in accordance with relevant international criteria. For accreditation assessments, there are different sets of requirements (ISO/IEC guides, etc.) against which individual bodies are assessed. There are also requirements applicable to accreditation bodies that are defined in relevant international criteria, which accreditation bodies are required to satisfy. On the other hand, "certification" represents a scheme for a third party to assess if an organization is in satisfaction of standards for management systems, personnel and products that define their respective specification and to register those in satisfaction. Certification is classified roughly into the following three categories according to the contents to certify: registration of management systems based on management system standards; certification of personnel; and certification of products. 1. Registration of management systems based on management system standards This concerns the registration of companies/organizations based on ISO 9000 series of standards or ISO 14001. Companies/ organizations develop their own management system that is in conformity with the requirements of management system standards, and ask a third party or "registration body (certification body)" to perform its assessment. 2. Certification of personnel This concerns the activities of a third party body, to attest that in areas where human skills are required, e.g., welding or nondestructive testing techniques, a person has a suitable competence. At present, accreditation is granted to personnel certification bodies operating certification of the competence of welding and gas pressure welding technicians, and of inspectors performing nondestructive inspections. The evaluation and registration of auditors for ISO 9000 series of standards and ISO 14001 can also be considered as belonging to one of such areas. 3. Certification of products This is a scheme for a third party body to assess if a particular product is in conformity with standards that define the specification of the product (referred to as "product standards") and certify the conformity.