IAF’s global certificate database “IAFCertSearch” is gaining momentum and delivering significant value for various stakeholders including global industry across sectors especially the multinational corporations and global value chains, the regulators, the ESG (environmental, social and governance) community, the accredited conformity assessment industry and beyond.

As IAF and its members continue to progress with digitisation, IAF CertSearch stands as a pivotal tool for the successful transformation of the accredited conformity assessment industry.

For those unfamiliar with IAF CertSearch, it’s a global certificate database for accredited management systems certificates. The database simplifies the process of verifying certificates across supply chains and networks, enabling real-time verification of certificates from any economy in any language. The mission is to unify and simplify the accredited conformity assessment industry under a single worldwide database, creating value for all stakeholders by increasing the transparency, trust, and integrity of accredited conformity assessment for procurers, suppliers, governments, regulators, businesses, and consumers globally.

The accredited conformity assessment industry is truly global, expansive and intricate. IAF includes 75 IAF Multilateral Recognition Arrangement (MLA) signatory accreditation bodies (ABs) to ISO/IEC 17021-1, with over 2,000 accredited certification bodies (CBs) who have issued an estimated 2 million management systems (MS) certifications to organisations spanning all industries across 166 economies. IAF CertSearch serves as a unifying platform for the entire global accredited conformity assessment industry focused on MS. IAF CertSearch receives data from the IAF MLA signatory ABs for MS and the CBs accredited by these ABs so that users can verify a management systems certification confidently knowing the certification is valid, the CB is accredited to issue certificates for that standard and that the AB is an IAF MLA signatory to ISO/IEC 17021-1 all in one place. Over 1.1 million accredited certificates have now been uploaded to IAF CertSearch by 1342 CBs and 74 ABs. 

Prior to IAF CertSearch, a user typically needed to consult three different sources to achieve the same verification outcome. IAF CertSearch simplifies and streamlines the certificate verification process.

In today’s business landscape, supply chains and customer networks are intricate, expansive, dynamic and largely operate in a digital environment. Businesses, asset owners and regulators require swift and reliable exchange of certificate information to operate in today’s digital environment. Some large enterprises operating in multiple economies have in excess of 50,000 suppliers across the globe. IAF CertSearch allows users to verify certifications across their entire supply chain, monitor certificates held by these suppliers down to the individual site level, and receive alerts for any changes affecting certification status, such as suspension, withdrawal, or expiration. This aids in supply chain risk management and enhances supply chain transparency. Additionally, the database can integrate seamlessly with business enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems supporting efficient procurement, risk management, supply chain operations and compliance.

In August 2022, IAF members voted to mandate the uploading of MS certifications to the database to make it reliable for businesses and regulators. While the data uploaded by CBs remains voluntary at present, the IAF Technical Committee is developing a related IAF Mandatory Document which will make the process obligatory. Many CBs and ABs are collaborating to integrate their databases later this year, with over 500,000 certifications in the pipeline. 

As the number of certifications in the database increases, so do users and user engagement. Over the last 12 months, the user base of IAF CertSearch has grown at 100%, climbing to over 20,000 registered businesses and regulators from more than 100 economies. In addition, the database receives tens of thousands of unique visitors monthly for certification verification, as well as for identifying accredited CBs.

A key area of demand driving certificate verification is centered around the growing demand for ESG compliance across supply chains, portfolios and networks. Various organisations are utilising the database to support their ESG objectives. Major corporations utilise IAF CertSearch to identify suppliers with valid ESG MS certifications across their supply chains (i.e. ISO 14001 Environmental management systems — Requirements with guidance for use, ISO 50001 Energy management systems — Requirements with guidance for use, ISO 45001 Occupational health and safety management systems — Requirements with guidance for use, Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification [PEFC], ISO 37001 Anti-bribery management systems — Requirements with guidance for use, ISO/IEC 27001 Information security management systems — Requirements), while ESG rating and assessment organisations leverage it to enhance ESG scores for organisations with valid accredited certifications. A range of pilots are being conducted with ESG organisations, including a recent pilot with STACS. Additionally procurement and software and organisations are using IAF CertSearch to help their clients demonstrate compliance to an increasing number of ESG regulations around the world i.e. Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act, Modern Slavery Act UK, Authorised Economic Operators (AEO), EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D), Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD), International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) and more. And asset owners and fund managers are using the database to gain more granular data on investees to assess which companies in their portfolio hold valid accredited certifications and therefore meet these esteemed ESG related standards. 

In the coming months, IAF CertSearch will launch its application programming interface (API) verification and bulk matching feature. Collaborations with businesses and regulators are ongoing to enable system to system verification through APIs. One notable user is ANAC the Italian Anticorruption Authority, which will exclusively use IAF CertSearch to verify MS certification held by suppliers participating in Italian public tender. The database is free for regulators to verify certification around the world.  

Accredited certifications issued by CBs who are accredited by IAF MLA signatories hold substantial value. Unfortunately, some organisations falsely claim to be certified when they are not. The rise of counterfeit certifications has been a huge issue, emphasised during the pandemic. These days, fraudsters go to great lengths to imitate authentic CBs. For example, they create fake certificates that look the same, they create fake databases and QR codes, and now with generative artificial intelligence this is a high risk of occurring.

IAF CertSearch serves as a potent tool for identifying valid certifications, minimizing the risk of counterfeit claims. Given that IAF CertSearch receives data from IAF, ABs and CBs there is no way for counterfeit certificates to enter. Users have to worry less about determining if a suspicious pdf or paper-based certificate is valid, since only eligible CBs can who are invited by their ABs and eligible ABs invited by the IAF can participate. The IAF CertSearch support team has helped users all over the world identify counterfeit and fraudulent certificates, with a positive correlation between increased database usage and reduced counterfeit certificates in the market.

IAF CertSearch has been able to support the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) with their annual ISO Survey for 2022 with additional statistics to improve the accuracy of the annual ISO Survey. IAF CertSearch will continue to work closely with ISO to provide up-to-date and reliable market data and insights. 

IAF CertSearch supports businesses and regulators who rely on accredited certification in a digital driven economy, supporting IAF in achieving its promise of “accredited once, accepted everywhere”, through ensuring all certificates can be efficiently verified.  

For any further information or support, please visit www.iafcertsearch.org, or reach out to us at info@iafcertsearch.org.