Global ACI, or Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated, is the international body for accreditation. It replaced both the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) on January 1, 2026.
This is the short definition. For the full picture, including what changed for certificates, laboratories, documents and marks, see our Global ACI explainer.
What changed and what did not
For almost everyone holding a certificate or an accreditation, nothing needs doing. Certificates remain valid. Accreditation bodies such as ANAB, A2LA and IAS continue as before, now under the Global ACI arrangement.
Legacy IAF mandatory documents moved across under their existing numbering and are being republished under Global ACI numbers. ANAB confirmed on September 29, 2026, that it treats an IAF document and its Global ACI equivalent as interchangeable, and that the IAF MLA mark stays valid until the new Global ACI mark is fully adopted. Completion of the mark transition is anticipated by January 1, 2029.
Where it does matter
Transition periods for revised standards are set by the accreditation community, which is now Global ACI, not IAF. Global ACI set the transition requirements for ISO 14001:2026 and ISO 9001:2026 in September 2026; the ISO 9001 transition ends on September 30, 2029, and our transition tracker carries all five dates. Any source still telling you the International Accreditation Forum will confirm transition arrangements has not been updated since 2025.
It also matters for accuracy in your own system. If a quality manual, supplier requirement or certification procedure names IAF as a current body, that is a reference worth tidying at your next document review. Not a finding — just out of date.
Why it covers laboratories too
Because ILAC was absorbed as well, the change reaches ISO/IEC 17025 laboratory accreditation, not only management system certification. Recognition of accredited results now runs through one arrangement rather than two.