1. What is accreditation?

According to the terminology standards: ISO/CEI 17000 § 5.6 – this is an attestation issued by a third party, in relation to a conformity assessment body, constituting formal recognition of the latter's competence to carry out specific conformity assessment activities.

The term "accreditation" now applies only to attestation concerning a conformity assessment body. Conformity assessment standards are the ISO/CEI 170xx series, managed by the ISO-CASCO committee, and ISO 15189.

In Europe, accreditations are issued by national bodies under the terms of European regulation 765:2008, which prohibits competition between accreditation bodies.