Qatar-based Global Accreditation Bureau (GAB) has become an Associate Member of Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (APAC). With the recent approval, GAB has become the first and only APAC member legally established in Qatar that is providing accreditation to conformity assessment bodies which offer certifications to clients as per applicable international standards. GAB’s management system has been established in accordance with the international standard ISO/IEC 17011:2017 and the requirements of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC).

Established by the Gulf Organisation for Research and Development (GORD), Global Accreditation Bureau is among MENA region’s leading organizations providing accreditation services to third-party conformity assessment bodies. Operating as an independent legal entity, GAB provides accreditation services to certification bodies dealing in a range of sectors. These include third-party validation and verification bodies for environmental information including GHG emissions, certification bodies for management systems, inspection bodies, testing and calibration laboratories, product certification bodies and personnel certification bodies. Within MENA region, GAB is the first and only accreditation body that provides accreditation for validation and verification bodies in accordance with ISO 17029 and ISO 14065 for validation and/or verification of environmental information including greenhouse gas (GHG) assertions.

Speaking about the significance of GAB for Qatar and its recent elevation in APAC membership, Dr. Yousef Alhorr, Founding Chairman of GAB, said, “In recent years, Qatar has experienced unprecedented economic growth. Businesses from all over the world have penetrated the market. At the same time, the country has witnessed a rapid rise in the number of local ventures and small enterprises. While the trend is promising for the national economy, it has also called for an urgent need to ensure that the goods and services entering and being produced in Qatar are on par with international benchmarks in terms of quality, safety and reliability.  With GAB now accepted and approved as an associate member of Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (APAC), businesses in Qatar will have an accreditation body that is locally available.”

Organizations across the world are increasingly looking for voluntary product and service certifications to assure the consumer that the products and services are in line with international industry standards. Certification issued by an independent, impartial accredited entity makes a statement that the product or service is of high quality, safe and reliable. That said, with a rise in the number of certification bodies operating in voluntary market, those with accreditation hold more credibility and better value addition for client organizations and their stakeholders. For this reason, accreditation has gradually become a valuable tool across a wide range of government policy areas including better regulation, good governance, voluntary standards, fair markets and public confidence. Accreditation has been recognized by many governments and regions as an effective market-led tool to deliver and cascade policy decisions more efficiently, thereby helping the governments deliver on their obligations in diverse areas, such as climate change, quality, healthcare, production of food, personnel safety, energy supply and use, etc.

In assessing the certification bodies, GAB’s evaluation framework is designed to ensure the technical competence and integrity of the conformity assessment process followed by the conformity assessment bodies. GAB’s accreditation services are rendered in compliance with international standard ISO/IEC 17011 “Conformity assessment – Requirements for accreditation bodies accrediting conformity assessment bodies”.