Current American landscape in laboratory accreditation according to ISO/IEC 17025

Abstract

The number of laboratories worldwide seeking accreditation has increased considerably in the last years. These laboratories are from different institutions, some of them higher education institutions (HEIs) and research institutes. The aim of this work is to present the current landscape of accreditation of testing and calibration laboratories, according to ISO/IEC 17025 standard, in the American Continent (North, Central and South America). Data on accredited laboratories were taken from the Web sites of accreditation bodies signatories to the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation Mutual Recognition Arrangement. The accredited laboratories were classified by institution type. Countries with a high number of accredited HEI laboratories were identified, as well as a correlation between gross domestic product and total number of accredited laboratories. North American countries have the highest total numbers of accredited laboratories, except for Brazil in South America. This survey highlights strategies and activities adopted in some countries that resulted in high number of accredited HEI laboratories.