ARLINGTON, VA-The ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board/ACLASS has been approved for continued status as a signatory of the Inter-American Accreditation Cooperation (IAAC) multilateral recognition arrangement (MLA) for calibration and testing. The approval took place at a meeting of the IAAC MLA Committee on February 18 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board provides accreditation services under the ACLASS and ANAB brands. Under the ACLASS brand, the organization accredits ISO/IEC 17025 testing and calibration laboratories, ISO/IEC 17020 inspection bodies and ISO Guide 34 reference material producers.

A regional association of accreditation bodies in the Americas and other organizations interested in conformity assessment, IAAC promotes international acceptance of endorsed test and calibration reports and other documents issued by laboratories accredited by signatories to the IAAC MLA.

“This ongoing recognition by IAAC promotes regional and international acceptance of accreditations granted by ACLASS,” says Dr. Bill Hirt, ACLASS senior accreditation manager. “By promoting acceptance of testing and calibration results among participating bodies, the IAAC MLA helps facilitate trade among the economies of the Americas and globally.”

IAAC evaluates and recognizes the competence of accreditation bodies, which in turn evaluate and recognize the competence of certification, registration, inspection bodies and testing and calibration laboratories that operate in North and South America. Approval to sign the IAAC MLA is granted only after a rigorous peer evaluation, which is conducted every four years after MLA signatory status is attained.

For more information, visit www.aclasscorp.com or www.anab.org.