Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated a step closer

The final Joint IAF/ILAC Annual meetings held at the end of October 2025 laid further solid foundations for the creation of Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated.

On 1 January 2026 the merger of IAF and ILAC will see the new organisation take over the work of these two global accreditation organisations, creating one global accreditation organisation. Underpinning Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated will be the IAF and ILAC members, dominated by the accreditation bodies who accredit conformity assessment bodies across the globe, giving confidence to the services they provide.

At the Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated General Assembly, about 75% of the IAF and ILAC members were accepted into the new organisation; it is anticipated that in the next couple of months, the majority of the remaining members – who may need to go through additional tasks with stakeholders such as their national governments – will join.

One significant role of the meetings was the election of the Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated Chair and Vice Chair. Elected to these roles were Brahim Houla (GCC Accreditation Center ([GAC]) and Emanuele Riva (ACCREDIA), who will bring vast experience, energy and enthusiasm to leading the new organisation. Over the next two months, the other members of the Executive will elected. Hear from Brahim as the Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated’s first ever Chair here.

Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated Chair Brahim Houla and Vice Chair Emanuele Riva

Vitally, the meetings held in Bangkok between 15 and 24 October 2025 were all about the future, with IAF and ILAC members working to continue the vital work of accredited conformity assessment in addressing the globe’s major issues.

IIOA was at the heart of many of these activities, driving forward initiatives that will be critical for the new organisation to continue. Through a mixture of workshops and conventional meetings, IIOA worked with other IAF (and ILAC) members on key issues, including:

• Sustainability – following presentations on the use of accreditation by Thai schemes including Premium T-VER scheme (Greenhouse Gas reduction) and the Thai Labor Standard, the workshop examined ideas for Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated to take forward, such as the priorities for sustainability, partners to work with and how to encourage more resource within the new organisation. Hear from IAF Sustainability Working Group Chair Emanuele Riva (ACCREDIA) and Vice Chair Marcus Long (IIOA) about the workshop.
  

  L-R: Emanuele Riva (ACCREDIA) IAF Sustainability Working Group Chair; Mr. Sakdisilpa Tuladhorn, Deputy Director-General Department of Labour Protection and Welfare; Marcus Long IAF Sustainability Group Vice Chair (IIOA).

• AI – a key issue for the new organisation to take forward and using workshops and plenary discussions, IAF looked at the key issues around AI . To do this, the IAF Technical Committee looked at four topics concerning AI: competence of assessors and auditors; ethics and governance; cooperation with regulators and other stakeholders;  future guidance, documents and communication. As an illustration of the kind of activity discussed, this workshop and other parts of the meetings examined two papers proposed by IIOA: one on the make-up and competence of teams auditing organisations to AI standards such as ISO/IEC 42001 and the other considering the competence of all auditors relating to AI as AI becomes more commonly used within all standards and schemes.
  

  Abdel Kassou (SCC) and Marcus Long (IIOA) AI Workshop Workstream on documents/communication

• Stakeholders – One of the strengths of Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated will be the membership of stakeholders. Carefully integrated with the accreditation community in the new organisation, the voice of stakeholders is a vital one in ensuring accreditation delivers benefits and value. The new Stakeholder Committee will bring together the most diverse group within Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated, former IAF and ILAC members, scheme owners, conformity assessment body associations and a whole range of eligible members who use, benefit and deliver accredited conformity assessment. In a number of workshops, IAF and ILAC members examined: the priorities for the new Stakeholder Committee; how to be structured; the interaction with the rest of Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated; and how to encourage more stakeholders to join the new organisation. Hear from IAF Conformity Assessment Body Advisory Committee Chair Pedro Alves (IQNET) and Vice Chair Marcus Long (IIOA) about the workshops.
  

  IAF Conformity Assessment Bodies Advisory Committee Chair Pedro Alves (IQNET) and Vice Chair Marcus Long (IIOA)

• Marketing/Communications – the transition from IAF and ILAC to Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated needs to focus on building on the foundations’ of these bodies and looking forward to a dynamic future where the invaluable work of accredited conformity assessment is understood ever wider. This also includes vital communication on how the IAF MLA and ILAC MRA will be managed with the move to the new Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated Multilateral Recognition Agreement (MRA). The Co-Chairs of the (IAF/ILAC) Joint Working Group Communications, Verónica Ramirez (EMA) and Marcus Long (IIOA) lead IAF and ILAC members in a workshop examining communicating the new organisation.
  

  Joint Working Group Communication Co-Chairs Verónica Ramirez (EMA) and Marcus Long (IIOA)

• Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated strategic priorities – at the final meeting of the IAF/ILAC Joint Executive Committee (JEC), the JEC looked at the priorities for the new organisation. One of the basis of these discussions was the brand strategy for Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated. This includes the Purpose and Objectives of Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated, including its Vision and Values.
  

As well as the strategic forward-looking activity of the IAF/ILAC Joint Annual Meetings, moving from IAF and ILAC to Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated is as much about the continuation of its operational excellence and those of its members’ delivery. IIOA continues to play an active role in this, for example through two of the IIOA members’ involvement as part of the IIOA delegation. From main committees, like the IAF Technical Committee, and Working Groups dealing with a range of accredited conformity assessment operational issues – including management system certification, food, validation & verification, medical devices – the IIOA team worked to take forward, the key matters from IAF into Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated.

As a member of Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated, IIOA will be as active as it has in IAF. The knowledge, experience and market-focus of IIOA members will continue to play a vital part in the accredited conformity assessment system, delivering trust, competence and confidence.

L-R: Guillaume Gignac (Intertek, IAF Technical Committee Vice-Chair and IAF Management System Working Group Co-Chair), Charlene Rice (SGS), Marcus Long (IIOA)