Currently USAS is not a member of any international accreditation organisations but USAS is in to the planing to get the membership of International Accreditation Forum (IAF), International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and European co-operation for Accreditation (EA).
What is the MLA?
The Multilateral Agreement (MLA) is an agreement between the accreditation boards among themselves that recognizes the equivalence and reliability of accreditations and accredited conformity assessment results from the signatory region.
The key prerequisite for receiving MLA status for an accreditation body is a successful assessment as part of the accreditation board's peer evaluation process.
This process also determines the areas to which the MLA applies. At the global level, the MLA is recognized on a global scale by the IAF and ILAC. This means that test and inspection reports, calibration certificates or certificates from bodies with accreditation from a recognized MLA signatory are also accepted as equivalent by the signatories to the multilateral IAF MLA and ILAC MRA agreements.
Mutual recognition of accreditation
A key objective of the international accreditation network is the mutual recognition of the services and results of accredited bodies in order to prevent technical obstacles and multiple accreditations.
This is made possible by multilateral agreements and treaties (MRA or MLA) between the national accreditation bodies and the international accreditation organisations. It creates both national and international recognition that e.g. each laboratory accredited by USAS is able to conduct certain testing or test types or calibrations in a competent manner.
