Editorial · Standards & Research
The global trust map 2026
On 1 January 2026, the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) ceased operations and its function passed to GLOBAC, the new worldwide accreditation cooperation. This reading explains what each piece was, what changes for certified organizations and where verifiable evidence sits in the new map.
What the IAF and ILAC were
For three decades, international trust in certificates, tests and inspections rested on two acronyms. The IAF (International Accreditation Forum, founded in 1993) brought together the accreditation bodies that oversee certification bodies: the entities that issue certificates for management systems, products, services and persons. ILAC (International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation) performed the equivalent function for testing and calibration laboratories and inspection bodies.
The practical value of both structures was their multilateral recognition agreements: the IAF MLA and the ILAC MRA. Under those agreements, a certificate issued with recognized accreditation in one economy is accepted in the other signatory economies. The principle is summed up in the formula both organizations promoted for years:
Accredited once, accepted everywhere.
What GLOBAC is
GLOBAC (Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated) is the organization that consolidates into a single structure the functions the IAF and ILAC performed separately. The IAF ceased operations on 1 January 2026 and its historical site, iaf.nu, moved to archive mode: it documents the closure and refers to the successor. The unification realizes an idea the sector itself had been working on: a single global recognition agreement instead of two parallel structures with overlapping memberships.
The documentary transition continues through 2026. Application standards, the marks of the agreements and references printed on certificates are updated in stages, and each national body communicates its own timeline. Where a fact depends on that transition —the status of a membership, the validity of an agreement mark—, the primary source is the relevant accreditation body and the official GLOBAC site. This analysis is limited to published facts.
What changes for a certified organization
The validity of certificates is preserved. What changed is the name and structure of the top level of the circuit. In practice:
- · Certificates issued under recognized accreditation keep their long-standing circuit: certification body, national accreditation body, international recognition.
- · Documents citing the IAF or the IAF MLA retain historical value; new references correspond to the successor organization.
- · The marks of the national accreditation bodies remain the visible reference on the certificate.
- · The responsibility to verify the chain still rests with whoever accepts the certificate: procurement, compliance, audit.
The map in four levels
Read from the bottom up, the ecosystem of international technical trust is ordered in four levels. The first three form the official accreditation chain; the fourth is the public consultation layer that complements it.
- 01 Certification body
Assesses the organization against the standard and issues the certificate. It is the first name that appears on the document.
- 02 National accreditation body
Accredits the technical competence of the certification body within its economy. Its mark accompanies the certificate.
- 03 International cooperation
Sustains mutual recognition between national bodies. Until 2025, that function was performed by the IAF and ILAC; since 1 January 2026, the successor is GLOBAC.
- 04 Public evidence registries
A complementary layer of direct consultation: they publish the status, scope and validity of certificates and credentials so that any third party can verify without intermediaries.
Where an independent evidence registry sits
The official chain answers the institutional question: who oversees whom. The operational question remains open —the one a buyer, an auditor or a compliance area asks every day: this particular certificate, this particular credential, is it valid today, with what scope and with what evidence behind it?
An independent registry of verifiable technical evidence operates in that consultation layer. The IAC Trust Registry publishes records with a public code, current status, declared scope and last-updated date: a direct reading of technical evidence that complements —and in no case replaces— the official accreditation chain. Any IAC code can be checked at /verify.