The International Accreditation Forum (IAF) is the world 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 of conformity assessment.
The International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) is the international organisation for accreditation bodies accrediting calibration laboratories, testing laboratories, medical testing laboratories and inspection bodies.
Accreditation body members of IAF and ILAC operate in accordance with the international standard ISO/IEC 17011 “Conformity assessment -- General requirements for accreditation bodies accrediting conformity assessment bodies”. Each organisation maintains a multilateral mutual recognition arrangement between signatory accreditation body members who have been successfully peer evaluated in accordance with this standard to demonstrate their competence. Signatories agree to accept the results of each other’s conformity assessment bodies under the arrangements, and so accredited conformity assessment under the accreditation of each signatory is able to be recognized internationally.

Both organisations work together and coordinate their efforts and those of regional cooperations to enhance accreditation and conformity assessment worldwide. Together, they have a global vision of a single worldwide programme of conformity assessment which reduces risk for business, regulators and the consumer, by ensuring that accredited services can be relied upon; that government and regulators rely on the IAF and ILAC Arrangements to further develop or enhance trade agreements; and to support the freedom of world trade by eliminating technical barriers, realizing the free-trade goal of ‘tested, inspected or certified once and accepted everywhere'.