Xiao Jianhua
IAF Chair (2015-2021)

2023 marked the 30^th anniversary of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF). As a longtime participant in IAF and past IAF Chair, I am very pleased to share some information on IAF’s history to commemorate its anniversary.

Fundamental Change

IAF held its first meeting with seven accreditation bodies on 28 January 1993. My first IAF meeting was the 3^rd IAF Plenary meeting on 12-13 January 1994, which witnessed the formation of the groups that would eventually become the IAF Technical Committee (TC) and IAF MLA Committee (MLAC). The MLA transition group for management purposes, which would become the IAF MLA Management Committee, was created at the 8^th IAF Plenary Meeting on 11-12 July 1996.

The first round of IAF peer evaluations was conducted in 1997. 13 IAF Accreditation Body (AB) Members first signed the IAF MLA for accreditation of quality system management certification on 22 January 1998.

Now, IAF has 130 members. The IAF MLA has 85 AB signatories representing 101 economies, with six Recognized Regional Accreditation Groups. The IAF MLA currently has five main scopes with 24 sub-scopes.

The acceptance and interest by relevant parties in accreditation and the MLA are continually increasing. The support from relevant international organizations and national authorities for IAF to develop IAF CertSearch, the largest global database for accredited certifications, is a good indication for relevant parties to rely on the accredited certifications under the IAF MLA.

Continuous and Collective Efforts

IAF has made historical progress in development of harmonized accreditation practices to support consistent application of relevant conformity assessment standards among ABs, including development of IAF application documents, implementation of a discussion paper mechanism, balanced participation of both AB Members and stakeholder members in working groups and task forces through the co-convener approach, and other means. Consistency of accreditation practices among ABs is always a strategic direction of IAF, and this is a journey with no end.

A similar example is the promotion of the IAF MLA. It is also a long-standing strategic direction of IAF with great achievements based on continuous and collective efforts.

Unity and Cooperation

The COVID-19 pandemic affected all aspects of life around the world and tested the robustness of IAF systems and the flexibility of IAF processes. I am immensely proud of IAF and its members for their excellent work during this difficult time.

New, unprecedented decisions and practices were quickly agreed and implemented to support the global fight against COVID-19 and to allow economies to continue operating using accredited conformity services. The IAF COVID-19 FAQs developed by the COVID-19 FAQ Task Force at the IAF Executive Committee level were widely recognized by IAF Members, accredited certification bodies and relevant international organizations.

The fight against the pandemic not only united us further, but it also allowed us all to step up with new ways of serving our community. This proved that unity and cooperation make us stronger.

There are many examples of unity and cooperation. For instance, the IAF/ILAC Joint Executive Committee (JEC) unanimously decided to recommend to IAF and ILAC members to establish a single international organization for accreditation on 10 April 2019. It was a historical decision based on long debate, and finally a unanimous decision was made.

I hope that the single international organization for accreditation will unite all members, and cooperate with all relevant parties, for the goal of accreditation making the world better.