ANSI and Mexican Accreditation Body Sign MoU, Strengthening Collaboration for Global Climate Action

Signing Bolsters Accreditation Process for Greenhouse Gas Programs

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the Entidad Mexicana de Acreditacion, AC (EMA, Mexico) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) pledging to mutually work together to harmonize their accreditation processes for greenhouse gas (GHG) programs. This agreement will enable each accreditation body to provide the validation and verification bodies operating in both countries greater flexibility, consistency, and value. The signing is a response to the July Climate Summit of the Americas conference, hosted by the Government of Ontario, Canada, which set out to foster and strengthen partnerships among jurisdictions for global climate action and build motivation and support for carbon pricing.

The signing will ultimately help bolster a spectrum of GHG programs and other businesses that rely on accreditation to operate with optimum efficiency in their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Since 2008, ANSI has offered an accreditation program for organizations providing third-party validation/verification services for the reduction and removal of greenhouse gases. The ANSI Accreditation Program for Greenhouse Gas Validation/Verification Bodies operates according to requirements defined in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard ISO 14065:2013, Greenhouse gases - Requirements for greenhouse gas validation and verification bodies for use in accreditation or other forms of recognition.

EMA, the Mexican accreditation body, is Mexico's first non-government body for the accreditation of conformity assessment bodies, which comprise testing laboratories, calibration laboratories, clinical laboratories, inspection bodies and certification bodies, proficiency testing providers, and GHG emission verification/validation bodies. Since 2010, EMA has offered an accreditation program for third-party validation/verification of greenhouse gases in the Mexican market.

ANSI and EMA are both signatories to the Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (PAC) Multilateral Recognition Arrangement for Accreditation of GHG Verification and Validation Bodies. The MoU takes this arrangement a step further by defining specific areas for collaboration and harmonization between the two accreditation programs.

"This is an important step towards greater collaboration with EMA, and it is important to note that the benefits of this agreement are not limited to the validation and verification bodies that we both accredit," said Lane Hallenbeck, ANSI's vice president for accreditation. "This agreement will also benefit the GHG programs and regulatory authorities that depend on our respective accreditation programs to ensure a robust process of oversight for the independent audits of GHG emissions that they require."

"Mexico has committed to comprehensive climate change legislation and to greater collaboration and potential linkage with the Western Climate Initiative (WCI)," said Maria Isabel Lopez Martinez, executive director of EMA. "It makes sense that the accreditation bodies involved also collaborate because it is in all of our best interests to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the accredited validation and verification process."

ANSI and EMA are both members of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and PAC, and operate ISO 14065 accreditation programs.