As of Jan. 1, a new accreditation body formed by the American National Standards Institute and the American Society for Quality will replace the ANSI-RAB National Accreditation Program as the U.S. national accreditation body. ANSI-RAB National Accreditation Program, or ANAB, as the new accreditation body will be commonly known, was formed in response to the adoption of ISO/IEC 17011, which requires that a national accreditation body be a legal entity. The ANSI-RAB NAP, as it’s currently structured, doesn’t meet that requirement. ANAB will also be divorced from RAB’s personnel certification programs, as ISO/IEC 17011 prohibits accreditation bodies from also certifying personnel. The agreement to create ANAB was approved by ASQ’s board of directors on Nov. 5. ANSI’s executive committee approved the deal two weeks later.

Certification and registration bodies accredited by the ANSI-RAB NAP will automatically convert to ANAB accreditation on Jan. 1 and receive the new ANAB accreditation mark for use with their registered clients.

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