Accreditation The process of third party recognition of an organisation's technical competence, quality assurance system, and its impartiality. The ISO/IEC definition is "Third-party attestation related to a conformity assessment body conveying formal demonstration of its competence to carry out specific conformity assessment tasks." See also Certification body, Calibration laboratory, Testing Laboratory, UKAS.

ACCSQ (ASEAN Consultative Committee for Standards and Quality) South-East Asian regional body for standards. (External link)

AIDMO (Arab Industrial Development and Mining Organization) Arab states regional body for accreditation and standards. (External link)

APLAC (Asia Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Co-operation) Asia-Pacific regional body for accreditation. (External link)

APLMF (Asia-Pacific Legal Metrology Forum) Asia-Pacific regional body for legal metrology. (External link)

APMP (Asia Pacific Metrology Programme) Asia-Pacific regional body for scientific metrology. (External link)

ARSO (African Regional Organisation for Standardization) African regional body for standards. (External link)

BIPM (Bureau International des Poids et Measures) established under the terms of the Metre Convention, its mandate is to provide the basis for a single, coherent system of measurements throughout the world, traceable to the International System of Units (SI). This task takes many forms, from direct dissemination of units (as in the case of mass and time) to coordination through international comparisons of national measurement standards (as in length, electricity and ionizing radiation). (External link)

BSI UK national body for standards. (External link)

CAC-MAS-Q (Central Asian Cooperation on Metrology Accreditation and Quality) Central Asian regional body for accreditation. (No link)

Calibration Set of operations that establish, under specified conditions, the relationship between values of quantities indicated by a measuring instrument or measuring system, or values represented by a material measure or a reference material and the corresponding values realised by standards. See also Calibration laboratory, Testing.

Calibration laboratory A laboratory that has been accredited to carry out calibrations within a defined scope of activity. See also Testing laboratory.

Calibration and Measurement Capability See CMC

CEN (Comité Européen de Normalisation) European regional body for standards, other than electrotechnical standards covered by CENELEC. (External link)

CENELEC (Comité Européen de Normalisation Electrotechnique) European regional body for electrotechnical standards. See also CEN. (External link)

Certification The ISO/IEC definition is "Third-party attestation related to products, processes, systems or persons". See also Certification body.

Certification body An organisation that has been accredited to certify third parties. In the country information pages, this is for quality, environmental, and product certification.

CIPM MRA The CIPM Mutual Recognition Agreement was drawn up by the International Committee of Weights and Measures (CIPM), under the authority given to it in the Metre Convention, for signature by the NMIs of Member States of the Convention and Associates of the CGPM. The CIPM MRA establishes the degree of equivalence of national measurement standards maintained by NMIs, provides for the mutual recognition of calibration and measurement certificates issued by NMIs, and thereby provides governments and other parties with a secure technical foundation for wider agreements related to international trade, commerce and regulatory affairs. This is achieved through a series of key and supplementary comparisons, and through the quality systems and demonstrations of competence by NMIs. The outcomes are statements of the measurement capabilities of each NMI in a database maintained by the BIPM and publicly available on the Web. (External link)

Consequently, an NMI's participation in the CIPM MRA enables national accreditation bodies and others to be assured of the international credibility and acceptance of the measurements the NMI disseminates. It also provides international recognition of the measurements made by accredited testing and calibration laboratories, provided that these laboratories can demonstrate competent traceability of their measurements to a participating NMI.

See also IAF MLA, ILAC MRA, Mutual Recognition Agreement.

CMC (Calibration and Measurement Capability) BIPM defines a CMC as "the highest level of calibration or measurement normally offered to clients, expressed in terms of a confidence level of 95 %, sometimes referred to as best measurement capability". CMCs for national measurement institutes are published on the BIPM website, and are an outcome of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Agreement. (External link)

Comparisons To support the CIPM MRA, comparisons are organised between national measurement institutes for various physical and chemical quantities. In a comparison, the involved NMIs all measure the same artefact under strictly controlled conditions, quoting a result and the associated uncertainty. The comparisons, split into key and supplementary comparisons, are listed in the Key Comparison Database (KCDB). (External link)

COOMET (Euro-Asian Cooperation of National Metrological Institutions) Euro-Asian regional body for legal metrology and scientific metrology. (External link)

COPANT (Pan American Standards Commission) Regional body for the Americas for standards. (External link)

EA (European Cooperation for Accreditation) European regional body for accreditation. (External link)

EASC (Euro Asian Council for Standardization, Metrology and Certification) Euro-Asian regional body for standards. (External link)

EURAMET (European Collaboration in Measurement Standards) European regional body for scientific metrology. (External link)

IAAC (Interamerican Accreditation Cooperation) Regional body for the Americas for accreditation. (External link)

IAF (International Accreditation Forum) Global association of Conformity Assessment Accreditation Bodies and other bodies interested in conformity assessment in the fields of management systems, products, services, personnel and other similar programmes. Its primary function is to develop a single worldwide program of conformity assessment which reduces risk for business and its customers by assuring them that accredited certificates may be relied upon. IAF members accredit certification or registration bodies that issue certificates attesting that an organisation's management, products or personnel comply with a specified standard (called conformity assessment). See also IAF MLA, ILAC. (External link)

IAF MLA (IAF Multilateral Recognition Agreement). Provides users in countries with accreditation bodies that are IAF MLA members assurance that equivalent certification bodies in other countries operate to the same standard as those in their own country. Accreditations granted by IAF MLA accreditation body members are recognised by other signatories worldwide based on their equivalent accreditation programmes. International experts subject IAF MLA members to rigorous operational evaluations before and during their MLA membership to ensure that the high standards of the IAF are maintained. See also CIPM MRA, ILAC MRA, Mutual Recognition Agreement. (External link)

IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) Global body preparing and publishing international standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies. Through its members, the IEC promotes international cooperation on all questions of electrotechnical standardization and related matters, such as the assessment of conformity to standards, in the fields of electricity, electronics and related technologies. See also ISO. (External link)

ILAC (International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation) Global cooperation of laboratory and inspection accreditation bodies. ILAC provides a focus for developing and harmonising practices, for promoting accreditation to industry, governments, regulators and consumers, assisting and supporting developing accreditation systems, and global recognition of laboratories and inspection facilities via the ILAC Arrangement, thus facilitating acceptance of test, inspection and calibration data accompanying goods across national borders. See also ILAC MRA, IAF. (External link)

ILAC MRA (ILAC Mutual Recognition Agreement, or ILAC Arrangement) The ILAC Arrangement provides technical underpinning to international trade by promoting cross-border stakeholder confidence and acceptance of accredited laboratory data. The aim of the ILAC Arrangement is to develop a global network of accredited testing, calibration and inspection facilities that can be relied on to provide accurate data. See also CIPM MRA, IAF MLA, Mutual Recognition Agreement. (External link)

ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation) Global body for standards. ISO's principal activity is the development of technical standards (except for electrotechnical ones which are covered by the IEC), and is a network of the national standards institutes of over 150 countries. (External link)

LGC UK national measurement institute for chemistry. Formerly known as Laboratory of the Government Chemist. See also NEL, NMS, NPL. (External link)

Metre Convention Diplomatic treaty established in 1875 for the purpose of ensuring a globally uniform system of measuring units. In 2006 there were 51 member nations and 21 associates. The BIPM is authorised under the Metre Convention to act in matters of world metrology.

Metrology The science of measurement. Metrology is split into legal, industrial, and scientific metrology. In the Country Information pages if used on its own 'metrology' may be inclusive of both legal and scientific metrology, but may be used to refer only to scientific metrology.

Metrology, Industrial Ensures appropriate function of the measuring instruments used in industry as well as in production and testing processes. See also Metrology, Metrology, Legal, Metrology, Scientific, NMWL.

Metrology, Legal Ensures accuracy of measurement where measured values can affect health, safety, or the transparency of financial transactions. See also Metrology, Metrology, Industrial, Metrology, Scientific, NMWL.

Metrology, Scientific Endeavours to organise, develop and maintain measuring standards. See also BIPM, LGC, Metrology, Metrology, Industrial, Metrology, Legal, NEL, NPL, NMO

MLA (Multilateral Recognition Agreement) See Mutual Recognition Agreement.

MRA (Mutual Recognition Agreement) See Mutual Recognition Agreement.

Mutual (or Multilateral) Recognition Agreement An agreement, at a global or regional level, whereby organisations agree to recognise certificates issued or measurements made by other organisations in other countries, where all organisations concerned are signatories to the agreement. Sometimes referred to as the 'Tested once, accepted everywhere" concept, or variations on that phrase. See also CIPM MRA, IAF MLA, ILAC MRA.

National measurement institute An institute designated by national decision to develop and maintain national measurement standards for one or more quantities. See also BIPM, LGC, NEL, NPL, NMO.

National Measurement System See NMS.

NEL (National Engineering Laboratory) UK national measurement institute for flow measurement. See also LGC, NMS, NPL. (External link)

NMI See National measurement institute.

NMS (National Measurement System) Responsible in the UK for stimulating good measurement practice and enabling business to make accurate and traceable measurements, for the benefit of the nation. This is delivered through maintaining the measurement infrastructure, representing the UK position internationally, enabling fair and safe competition, and providing support for innovation. The NMS is funded under the DTI, and is responsible for the UK's NMIs. See also LGC, NEL, NPL, NMO. (External link)

NPL (National Physical Laboratory) Principal UK national measurement institute for physical measurements, but also non-physical areas such chemistry, biology, software. See also LGC, NEL, NMS. (External link)

NMO (National Weights and Measures Laboratory) UK national body for legal metrology. (External link)

OIML (International Organisation of Legal Metrology) Global body for legal metrology. Promotes the global harmonisation of legal metrology procedures. Established in 1955 as an intergovernmental treaty organisation, as of 2006 OIML has 59 member countries and 54 corresponding members. See also NMO. (External link)

PAC (Pacific Accreditation Cooperation) Pacific rim regional body for accreditation. (External link)

PASC (Pacific Area Standards Congress) Pacific rim regional body for standards. (External link)

RAB Acronym for Regional Accreditation Body. For full list, see Regional bodies.

Regional bodies An international body covering several countries grouped usually by geography and recognised by the relevant global body for their area:

RMO Acronym for Regional Metrology Organisation. For full list, see Regional bodies.

SADCA (Southern African Development Community in Accreditation) Southern Africa regional body for accreditation. (External link)

SADCMEL (SADC Cooperation in Legal Metrology) Southern Africa regional body for legal metrology. (External link)

SADCMET (Southern African Development Community Cooperation in Measurement Traceability) Southern Africa regional body for scientific metrology. (External link)

SIM (Sistema Interamericano de Metrologia) Regional body for the Americas for legal metrology and scientific metrology. (External link)

Standard Within the context of the Country Information pages, 'Standard' always refers to written standards, and never to measurement standards. To avoid confusion when talking about standards, some sources may refer to written standards as 'norms' and measurement standards as 'etalons'.

Standard, Written Agreed upon set of guidelines for interoperability. See also ISO, IEC, BSI, Standard, Standard, Measurement.

Standard, Measurement Material measure, measuring instrument, reference material or measuring system intended to define, realise, conserve or reproduce a unit or one or more values of a quantity to serve as a reference. See also Standard, Standard, Written.

Testing Technical procedure consisting of the determination of one or more characteristics of a given product, process or service, in accordance with a specific procedure. See also Testing laboratory, Calibration.

Testing laboratory A laboratory that has been accredited to carry out testing within a defined scope of activity. See also Calibration laboratory.

UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service) UK national body for accreditation. (External link)

UKTI (UK Trade and Investment) UK government organisation (part of the DTI) charged with helping UK companies do business abroad and help overseas companies do business in the UK(External link)

WELMEC European regional body for legal metrology. (External link)

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