International accreditation organisations

Mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) between accreditation bodies in international organisations ensure that Swiss accreditation is recognised internationally. As a result, conformity assessments are generally accepted worldwide.

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International structure of accreditation and main features

• Harmonisation of accreditation through technical committees
• Peer evaluation of accreditation bodies for the purposes of international recognition
• Mutual recognition

Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRA)

• agreements between accreditation bodies on their mutual recognition of accreditations;
• increasingly important in the unregulated sector;
• often a prerequisite for removing technical barriers to trade in the regulated sector.

Under the Accreditation and Designation Ordinance, SAS safeguards Swiss interests in relation to bodies abroad that assess the competence of accreditation, testing and conformity assessment bodies.

Membership

SAS is a member of the European co-operation for Accreditation (EA) and Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated (Global ACI).

Aim

The aim of these organisations is to ensure mutual recognition of accreditations across Europe and internationally, with a view to facilitating acceptance of reports and certificates issued by accredited bodies. This requires a shared understanding and broad harmonisation in the interpretation of all relevant standards. To this end, the EA and Global ACI have established several working groups which address the interpretation and implementation of standards requirements, together with the relevant organisations representing testing and conformity assessment bodies, industry and consumers.

This work typically results in guidance documents that support individual accreditation bodies and stakeholder groups.

SAS represents Swiss interests within these international organisations. As a national accreditation body, it brings technical and scientific expertise, which greatly enhances recognition of the Swiss conformity assessment system.

Key aspects of MRAs

• Each signatory recognises the bodies accredited by the other signatories as if it had accredited them itself.
• Each signatory actively promotes recognition of all bodies accredited by the other signatories among industry and authorities in its own country.
• Each signatory undergoes re-evaluation by the other signatories every four years.

Global ACI – MRA

• SAS accreditation scopes under the Global ACI MRA

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