The International Accreditation Forum has finally ejected the official Russian Accreditation Body, but not for its role in the military invasion of Ukraine, nor to comply with international sanctions. Instead, the IAF ejected RusAccreditation because it failed to pay its overdue membership fees.
According to an update on the IAF website, RusAccreditaation’s membership was “terminated for failure to pay annual dues.”
The IAF refused to honor EU and international sanctions, and eject Russia from its membership, largely because key IAF members were, themselves, still operating in Russia. This includes the Italian accreditation body, Accredia, which is run by IAF Chair Emanuele Riva.
The move by IAF now raises more questions about the level of corruption in IAF under Riva, as it leaves his employer, Accredia, as one of the only remaining IAF members in that country. some have claimed that Riva is using his position in the IAF to illegally gain market share in key regions such as Central Asia.
The Italian government has taken a generally soft position against Russia, and has refused to investigate Accredia for violating EU sanctions.
Riva has maintained that IAF procedures trump international law, a position that would unlikely succeed before any court in the world.
