THE JAPAN ACCREDITATION BOARD FOR CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT

IAF is an international organization of bodies granting accreditation to certification/ registration bodies operating certification/registration of management systems, products and personnel. The International Accreditation Forum Inc. (IAF) was established in 1993, under the auspices of the American National Standards Institute, as a forum for Accreditation Bodies from six countries to exchange information. Over the next five years, IAF developed a role as a neutral body, independent from the US Government. At the 12th General Assembly of the International Accreditation Forum, held in October 37, 1998 at Gold Coast in Australia, it was decided, with the support of the US Government, to register IAF as a non-profit organization in the state of Delaware, USA. Dr. Takashi Ohtsubo, then Executive Director of the Japan Accreditation Board for Conformity Assessment (now Senior Advisor to JAB), was elected as the inaugural Chairman of IAF. When his initial two-year term expired, Dr Ohtsubo was re-elected and is currently serving as IAF Chairman.

Since its establishment, IAF has played an active role as the lead organization internationally for Accreditation Bodies in the fields of management system certification/ registration bodies, product certification bodies and personnel certification bodies, and has worked to harmonize technical capability among Accreditation Bodies and to promote Multilateral Recognition Arrangements. Specific achievements include publishing the following guidance documents: IAF Guidance on the Application of ISO/IEC Guide 61:1996 (IAF-98-21); IAF Guidance on the Application of ISO/IEC Guide 62 (IAF-97-072); and IAF policies and procedures for a Multilateral Recognition Arrangement between Accreditation Bodies (IAF-97-041, Rev. 1). IAF has also provided input into the development of the new international standard for the operation of Accreditation Bodies, ISO/IEC 17011. As of today, 41 Accreditation Bodies are signatories to the IAF MLA. Japan has two signatories: JAB for the accreditation of QMS and EMS registration bodies and accreditation of product certification bodies; and JASC (Japan Accreditation System for Product Certification Bodies (JIS Mark)).

(As of February 2, 2005)
COUNTRY/ REGION	IAF SIGNATORY BODY	IAF MLA GROUP	PAC MEMBERSHIP
ACCREDITATION BODY
Argentina	OAA
Australia/ New Zealand	JAS-ANZ	+	+
Austria	BMWA	+
Belgium	BELCERT	+
Brazil	INMETRO	+
Canada	SCC	+	+
China, P.R.	CNAB	+	+
China, P.R. Hong Kong	HKAS		+
Chinese Taipei	TAF(CNAB)	+	+
Czech Republic	CAI	+
Denmark	DANAK	+
Finland	FINAS	+
France	COFRAC	+
Germany	DAR(TGA)	+
India	NABCB	+
Indonesia	KAN-BSN	+	+
Ireland	NAB	+
Italy	FIDEA	+
Japan	JAB	+	+
Japan	JASC		+
Korea	NAA
Korea	KAS		+
Korea	KAB	+	+
Malaysia	DSM	+	+
Mauritius	MAS
Mexico	EMA	+	+
Netherlands	RvA	+
Norway	NA	+
Pakistan	PNAC		+
Philippines	BPS	+	+
Poland	PCA
Romania	RENAR
Singapore	SAC-SINGLAS	+	+
Slovakia	SNAS	+
Slovenia	SA
South Africa	SANAS	+
Spain	ENAC	+
Sweden	SWEDAC	+
Switzerland	SAS	+
Thailand	NAC	+	+
Tunisia(SUSPENDED)	TUNAC
United Kingdom	UKAS	+
United States	ANSI-RAB NAP	+
REGIONAL GROUPS
APEC	PAC
Europe	EA
North, Central, South America	IAAC
Southern African	SADCA
ASSOCIATE MEMBERS
Canada	CEA
Germany	BDI
United Kingdom	ABCB
India	APEDA
Italy	AIOICI
Italy	ALPI
Japan	JACB
United States	IAAR
United States	ITIC
World Wide	IQNET
World Wide	CIES
World Wide	IIOC
(Total members)	(58)	(32)	(16)

Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (PAC) is an association of Accreditation Bodies in the Asia Pacific region. It was established in 1994, following an APEC-sponsored study of the standards and conformance needs of the region, and with support from the Australian government, to provide a regional forum for bodies that accredited certification/registration bodies for management systems, products and personnel. Together with existing regional bodies covering standards development, metrology, laboratory accreditation, and legal metrology, PAC is recognized as a Specialist Regional Body, providing technical input to the APEC Sub-Committee on Standards and Conformance (SCSC).
In 1997, PAC member bodies undertook peer evaluations jointly with IAF, with a view to establishing a regional Multilateral Recognition Arrangements. At the MLA Committee meeting held in October 1997, the evaluation reports of four bodies were considered and the Committee recommended to the Special Plenary Meeting of PAC that CNACR (China), JAB (Japan), JAS-ANZ (Australia/New Zealand), and SCC (Canada) be accepted as signatories of the PAC Multilateral Arrangement.

The PAC Special Plenary Meeting approved this recommendation and these four Accreditation Bodies, representing five countries, became the inaugural members of the PAC MLA group. The PAC MLA uses the IAF Multilateral Recognition Arrangement documentation (IAF 97-041, Rev1) to ensure that its MLA policies and procedures are consistent with those of IAF.