On 19-20 November 2014, the EA General Assembly endorsed the decision of the EA Executive Committee to offer the EA Recognised Stakeholder status to the International Certification Network (IQNet).
Through EA Resolution 2014 (34) 09 adopted at the last EA General Assembly in The Hague, Netherlands, EA has decided to enter into an agreement with IQNet in accordance with EA-1/15: EA Policy for Relations with Stakeholders.
IQNet is an international non-governmental and non-profit institution established under the civil laws of Switzerland. By September 2014, IQNet gathers 36 leading certification bodies from all over the world with the aim of representing the Association and its Partners by fostering active relationships with industry regulators and key stakeholders. IQNet’s mission consists in actively contributing to the development of effective, efficient and user-friendly conformity assessment processes ensuring credible output.
Through its member certification bodies, IQNet relies upon the use of accreditation and accredited conformity assessment services. IQNet partners, which work in the field of standardization and in other technical and scientific fields correlated to accreditation and conformity assessment, may provide a significant contribution to the best development and dissemination of the accreditation rules and practices. IQNet is in constant contact with the market and actively promotes accredited conformity worldwide. IQNet continues to collect information related to certification, accreditation and best practices in conformity assessment. The results could constitute another source of information made available to EA organizational units and working groups.