A unified global accreditation body: what Global ACI means for your certification
On 1 January 2026, the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) formally unified to become a single international accreditation organisation: Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated (Global ACI).
The short version for our clients: nothing changes for you. Your Sancert certification remains fully valid, fully recognised internationally, and continues to carry the same accreditation weight it always has. There is nothing you need to do.
What has actually changed
For more than two decades, IAF and ILAC operated in parallel. IAF oversaw the accreditation of certification, inspection and validation/verification bodies; ILAC oversaw the accreditation of laboratories and related conformity assessment activities. Their respective Multilateral Recognition Arrangement (MLA) and Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) underpinned the international acceptance of accredited results across both domains.
These two organisations have now consolidated into one. The change brings:
- One organisation governing international accreditation.
- One governance framework spanning certification, inspection and laboratory accreditation.
- One MRA – a single, unified arrangement for the mutual recognition of accredited conformity assessment results worldwide.
The result is a clearer, more coherent international system: a single pathway for accredited certificates, inspection reports and test results to be recognised across borders.
What this means for your certificate
Existing accreditations remain valid throughout the transition. The legacy IAF MLA and ILAC MRA marks are anticipated to be phased out over three years as the Global ACI MRA mark is adopted, but this is a behind-the-scenes change managed between accreditation bodies and certification bodies like Sancert.
Sancert Global holds accreditation under both SANAS and UKAS, both of which are effectively members of Global ACI. Your certification continues to carry full international recognition under the new arrangement, and we will manage the mark transition on your certificates as part of our normal certification cycle.
P.S. Change at this level of the international accreditation system is rare, and when it happens, it is deliberately designed to be invisible to the organisations it ultimately serves. The mark on your certificate may evolve over the coming years; the credibility it represents only gets stronger.
