Poor IAF, they just cannot get this whole merger with ILAC off the ground.
First, they are years behind schedule on this project, largely due to outrageously gross incompetence by the tiny team of people heading it up. Then, in their mad dash to get out from under US tax law, they decided to register the company in New Zealand, but did so as a for-profit company rather than a non-profit. That set off alarm bells, and forced Germany’s accreditation body, DAkkS, to announce the entire thing is illegal and they wouldn’t be joining.
Then, they decided on the name “GLOBAC” and even created a logo, but never trademarked it. Worse, they didn’t even grab the website, so — as I reported here — it was gobbled up by a Turkish certificate mill. The fact that the IAF, whose sole job is to distinguish its members from scammer mills, lost its website to a scammer mill was too much to bear.
Now, the IAF has dropped the GLOBAC naming and has to start over. In a recent public report, IAF only refers to the new company under the name “Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated. In fact, they now insist there’s “no acronym announced yet.” Umm, guys, you already announced it, right here. They hope you weren’t paying attention.
The report also claims they are trying to negotiate the problems raised by Germany, but there’s little hope they will come up with a solution. The decision to turn IAF and ILAC into commercial for-profit companies — essentially selling accreditation recognition as a retail product — is just the inevitable culmination of their greed and corruption.
Christopher Paris is the founder and VP Operations of Oxebridge. He has over 35 years’ experience implementing ISO 9001 and AS9100 systems, and helps establish certification and accreditation bodies with the ISO 17000 series. He is a vocal advocate for the development and use of standards from the point of view of actual users. He is the writer and artist of THE AUDITOR comic strip, and is currently writing the DR. CUBA pulp novel series. Visit www.drcuba.world
