The decision to establish a new international organisation, Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated, was made after years of strategic planning and consultation between the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC). It also is the natural progression with key joint activities already in place, such as the Joint General Assembly, Joint Executive Committee, Joint Management Committee for both the ILAC MRA and IAF MLA, Joint Working Group Communications, Joint A Series documents and joint meetings.

In 2019, the 19th IAF-ILAC Joint General Assembly held in Frankfurt adopted two resolutions:

• Resolution 1 endorsed the creation of a single international accreditation organisation based on the results of a global stakeholder survey; and
• Resolution 2 established a Steering Committee, reporting to the Joint Executive Committee, to lead the development of the new organisation.

In October 2024, at the 22nd Joint IAF and ILAC General Assembly held in Berlin, both memberships formally endorsed the establishment of the new body.

Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated was formally registered as an Incorporated Society on 6 December 2024 under the New Zealand Incorporated Societies Act 2022.

In October 2025 the second General Assembly of Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated took place.

• Membership numbers increased significantly, with applications that had been submitted by 21 October being approved. The breakdown of new members was as follows:

• • 103 Full Members
  • 8 Associate Members; and
  • 38 Stakeholder Members

All six of the existing Regional Cooperation Bodies (RCBs) also joined the organisation, ensuring a seamless transition to the new Multilateral Recognition Arrangement (MRA). This brought the total number of Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated members to 159.

• Members elected Mr. Brahim Houla from the GCC Accreditation Center, Saudi Arabia as the Chair-elect and Mr. Emanuele Riva from Accredia, Italy as the Vice Chair-elect. Both will commence their three-year terms on 1 January 2026.
• Procedural and guidance documents were approved at the meeting, enabling the new organisation to function as a complete entity from 1 January 2026. Processes for establishing the new MRA and transfer of the ILAC MRA Mark and licencing of the IAF MLA Mark to Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated were also formalised.
• Members noted that the next general meetings of Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated, including the third General Assembly, would be held in Prague, Czech Republic from 20 – 26 April 2026.