International • 3 mins read
As the United Kingdom’s National Accreditation Body, UKAS plays a vital role in supporting conformity assessment across both regulated and non-regulated sectors. This ensures the reliability of the products and services that the UK depends on while also promoting trade and supporting exports. As such, UKAS’s international activities are key to strengthening the UK economy.
UKAS’s role as the national accreditation body places it within a global network of accreditation organisations, representing the UK’s interests on international platforms. These forums, such as the European co-operation for Accreditation (EA), the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC), and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF), help ensure the consistent application of conformity assessment standards worldwide. This, in turn, provides confidence in the reports and certificates issued by accredited bodies.
This global recognition is facilitated through multilateral (or mutual) recognition arrangements (MLAs), where accreditation bodies demonstrate their competence in accordance with the international standards for the operation of accreditation bodies (ISO/IEC 17011: 2017). Just as conformity assessment bodies (e.g., laboratories, certification bodies, inspection bodies) are assessed for competence by UKAS, accreditation bodies themselves undergo rigorous peer evaluations by experts from other accreditation organisations.
UKAS is a long-standing signatory to the MLAs managed by EA, ILAC, and IAF. This status, held for over 25 years, ensures that UKAS’s accreditation services are recognised as equivalent to those of other accredited bodies worldwide. Consequently, reports and certificates from UKAS-accredited organisations are also internationally recognised. Routine peer assessments, including the most recent EA evaluation in November 2024, ensure that UKAS maintains this high standard.
During the November evaluation, a team of 11 experts spent a full week assessing the competence of UKAS’s staff and the effectiveness of its services. The evaluation covered the organisation’s management systems, policies, procedures, and their implementation across the range of fields in which it is active, such as testing, calibration, certification, inspection, and verification.
The findings of the evaluation were overwhelmingly positive, with the team praising UKAS for its transparency, openness, and the dedication of its management and staff. The team also commended the competence of UKAS staff in delivering quality accreditation services. However, there were a few minor areas where UKAS policies were found not to be in full compliance with some of the accreditation requirements. These related primarily to the way UKAS presents the scopes of its accreditations.
Since the evaluation, UKAS has been actively reviewing and addressing these findings. Actions are being implemented to ensure full compliance, and UKAS will provide evidence of these improvements to the evaluation team in the coming weeks.
At the evaluation’s closing meeting in November, the evaluation team confirmed that, subject to successful evidence submission, it shall be recommending that UKAS remain a signatory to the EA MLA, with official ratification by the EA’s Multilateral Agreements Council (MAC) expected to be made in early 2025. As the EA is a ‘Recognised Region’ under both ILAC and IAF, this will automatically ensure the continued validity of UKAS’s signatory status with these organisations as well.
Lord Lindsey, UKAS Chairman, congratulated the UKAS team on this achievement, recognising the significant benefits it brings to the UK, especially in reducing technical barriers to trade and enhancing international recognition of UKAS’s accreditation services.