Multilateral Agreement

Multilateral Agreement

The assurance of the service offered by United Registrar of Systems Limited, regarding certification activities, is based on UKAS regulations and the subsequent monitoring activities. The International Accreditation Forum (IAF), have a direct input to the UKAS regulations and many accreditation agencies around the world have joined together to mutually recognise each other's accreditations.

As a result, in 1998, a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) was signed by seventeen agencies around the world, including UKAS.

The MLA (Multilateral Agreement) for the International Accreditation Forum covers QMS accreditation. The national flags of participating countries are shown on the right. The MLA for the European Accreditation covers QMS, Product, Personnel and EMS. Neither cover ISMS.

The recognition ensures that certification by an accredited registrar, such as United Registrar of Systems Limited, will be accepted throughout the world, thus assisting in the principle of free trade.