ILAC MRA
Definition
International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation Mutual Recognition Arrangement; a network of signatory accreditation bodies (NABL, ANAB, UKAS, DAkkS, COFRAC, and others) whose accreditation decisions are mutually recognised, allowing laboratory results to cross borders without re-testing.
- Full name
- ILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement
- Function
- Network of mutually recognised accreditation bodies
- Example members
- NABL, ANAB, UKAS, DAkkS, COFRAC
- Effect
- Cross-border acceptance of results without re-testing
Common questions
Why does a signatory arrangement matter for a lab report used in another country's court?+
Without mutual recognition, a foreign court might question whether an overseas laboratory meets equivalent competence standards to a domestic one. Signatory status under the ILAC MRA gives the receiving court a basis to treat the originating lab's accreditation as broadly equivalent to its own national scheme.
Does ILAC MRA membership guarantee that two labs use identical methods?+
No. It confirms that the accreditation bodies overseeing each lab apply equivalent competence and quality management criteria under ISO 17025, not that the labs themselves use identical test methods or produce interchangeable results for every analyte.
Related terms
- ANAB
- The American National Standards Institute National Accreditation Board, formed after the merger of ASCLD-LAB with ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board in 2016. Now...
- ASCLD-LAB
- American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors Laboratory Accreditation Board; the legacy US forensic accreditation body before its merger into ANAB in 2016....
- CTS (Collaborative Testing Services)
- A Herndon, Virginia-based proficiency testing provider offering fire debris analysis and explosives proficiency schemes. CTS distributes evidence-can samples containing burned substrate with...
- Evaluative Reporting
- A framework for expressing forensic conclusions in terms of the probability of the evidence given the prosecution hypothesis versus the defence hypothesis...
- ISO/IEC 17025:2017
- The international standard specifying general requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories. Covers management (document control, non-conforming work, audits) and...
- NABL T-126
- Technical Requirement T-126 issued by India's National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories: the discipline-specific criteria for forensic science laboratories, covering...
- OSAC (Organisation of Scientific Area Committees)
- A NIST-supported network of working groups that develops forensic science standards and guidelines. The OSAC Fire Investigation and Explosives Subcommittees produce method...
- Proficiency Testing (PT)
- A quality assurance mechanism in which laboratories analyse blind samples distributed by an external scheme coordinator and have their results compared against...
- UKAS
- United Kingdom Accreditation Service; the sole national accreditation body for the UK and ILAC MRA signatory. Accredits forensic science providers under ISO/IEC...