Intertek Celebrates 20 Years as an Accredited Management Systems Registrar

09 Jun 2011

“World Accreditation Day” provides an opportunity to reflect on the last two decades of experience

As one of the world’s leading independent quality and safety organizations, Intertek maintains a wide range of accreditations to independently test, inspect and certify and accredit organizations and their products in more than 25 different industries in over 100 countries.

As people around the globe observe World Accreditation Day today, recognizing the importance of accreditation and accredited activities, Intertek looks back on its twenty years of experience as an accredited management systems certification body. 

On August 7, 1991, Intertek became the first management systems registrar in the U.S. to be accredited by the RvC (Dutch Certification Council) for ISO 9001.  A year and a half later, in February 1993, Intertek (then known as Warnock Hersey Professional Services) also became one of the first three registrars to be accredited for ISO 9001 by the Standards Council of Canada.

ISO 9001, the international standard for quality management systems, has experienced meteoric growth in the last twenty years.  The first annual ISO Survey showed that there were 46,571 certificates issued as of January 31, 1993.  Now, according to the most recent ISO Survey (December 31, 2009), there are over 1 million certificates for ISO 9001.  Other management systems standards such as ISO 14001, ISO 13485, and ISO/TS 16949 have experienced similar growth.

Likewise, Intertek’s growth in the industry has followed the same trend.  Thanks to both organic growth and its recent acquisition of Moody International, Intertek has grown over the last twenty years to have more than 46,000 certificates to its credit.

As an accredited registrar, Intertek demonstrates through independent third-party verification that it is competent to perform auditing and certification activities.  Like their customers, accredited registrars are also assessed against an international standard – in this case, ISO 17021 (Conformity assessment -- Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management systems).  Organizations seeking certification often select accredited registrars as an added layer of confidence that their certifications will be conducted in a consistently proficient manner.

“In this continually growing and evolving industry, we at Intertek are very proud to have maintained our accreditation for twenty years.  We look forward to the next twenty years, and beyond,” said Calin Moldovean, president of Intertek’s Business Assurance group.  “Accreditation has always been one of the keys to our success.  By holding us to certain standards, our accreditors help us to ensure that we maintain a high level of performance and integrity.” 

Note to Editors: More information on World Accreditation Day is available at www.ilac.org/461.html.

Contacts
For further information, please contact:

Stacey Corbin
Global Marketing Manager, Business Assurance
Telephone: +1 978 929 2116
E-Mail: stacey.corbin@intertek.com

Intertek is a leading provider of quality and safety solutions serving a wide range of industries around the world. From auditing and inspection, to testing, quality assurance and certification, Intertek people are dedicated to adding value to customers' products and processes, supporting their success in the global marketplace. Intertek has the expertise, resources and global reach to support its customers through its network of more than 1,000 laboratories and offices and 30,000 people in over 100 countries around the world.  Intertek Group plc (LSE: ITRK) is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index.  Visit: www.intertek.com.