Courtesy of the international mutual recognition arrangements, an accreditation candidate should normally turn to one of the accreditation bodies (AB) officiating in the country where the candidate is located.

In accordance with the international regulations (documents EA-2/13, ILAC G21 and IAF GD3) and Regulation (EU) No. 765/2008, Cofrac only accepts to review accreditation requests for bodies based abroad under the following conditions:

  • There is no designated accreditation body for the country in which the candidate is located (local AB).
  • There is a local AB but it is not a signatory of the international recognition arrangements for the activity concerning the accreditation request.
  • The local AB does not have the resources to handle the candidate's application.
  • Another reason as argued by the candidate and accepted by the local AB.

Cofrac reserves the right to decline requests meeting these criteria, in particular for insurance or safety reasons.

Cofrac does not respond to requests for proposals placing it in competition with other accreditation bodies.

The conditions for accepting and processing accreditation requests for establishments based abroad are specified in Cofrac procedure GEN PROC 23.

This procedure also applies to cases of accreditation for bodies based in France but with sites abroad ("multi-site" accreditation).