Joint ISO - ILAC - IAF Communiqué
ILAC members will be aware that many of their accredited laboratories have been experiencing difficulty convincing their customers they should be asking laboratories to be accredited to ISO/IEC 17025, (prior to 1999 ISO Guide 25) rather than be certified (registered) to ISO 9001. The situation became more acute with the publication of ISO 9001:2008, as some customers continually asked laboratories to be certified, when they really meant accredited. The confusion is caused by the perception that accredited laboratories do not operate a recognised quality management system.
To address this problem the ILAC Laboratory Committee asked that a statement be put on accreditation (attestation) certificates, issued by their accreditation body, stating that an accredited laboratory's management system meets the principles of ISO 9001:2008. The same statement could also be used by accredited laboratories on their calibration certificates and test reports.
