Standard Organizations-

Organization	Description
NVLAP	National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program A laboratory accrediting agency administered by NIST in the U.S. NVLAP provides an unbiased third party evaluation and recognition of performance, as well as expert technical guidance to upgrade laboratory performance.
UKAS	United Kingdom Accreditation Service The UK's primary laboratory accrediting agency
A2LA	American Association for Laboratory Accreditation A laboratory accrediting agency in the U.S.
NACLA	National Cooperation for Laboratory Accreditation NACLA's primary mission is to evaluate U.S. laboratory accreditation bodies (ABs) and to grant recognition to those ABs found to be in compliance with NACLA procedures and the relevant international standards for competent ABs
ILAC	International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation ILAC is the world's principal international forum for the development of laboratory accreditation practices and procedures, the promotion of laboratory accreditation as a trade facilitation tool, the assistance of developing accreditation systems, and the recognition of competent test facilities.
ISO	International Organization for Standardization ISO is a network of the national standards institutes of 146 countries, on the basis of one member per country, with a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that coordinates the system. ISO is a non-governmental organization.
IEC	International Electro-technical Commission The leading global organization that prepares and publishes international standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies.
ASTM	American Society for Testing and Materials One of the largest voluntary standards development organizations in the world. Maintains many internationally recognized standards related to materials testing.
NIST	National Institute of Standards and Technology Maintains the United States' national standards.
NPL	National Physical Laboratory Maintains the U.K.'s national standards
ISO/IEC 17025	ISO/IEC 17025 is a recently introduced standard from the International Organization for Standardization and the International Electrotechnical Commission. “ISO17025”, as it has become known, replaces a number of older standards and guides including ISO/IEC Guide 25, EN45001 and ANSI/NCSL-Z540. It is a global standard for the technical competence of calibration and testing laboratories. In addition to establishing a quality system, documentation, and personnel requirements, it directs calibration labs to: analyze the uncertainty of each measurement incorporate the uncertainty into the test procedure and/or test limits provide the uncertainties with the calibration certificate and results Reporting the uncertainty qualifies the accuracy of the measurement and aids understanding when results from different labs are compared. The ratio of specification-to-calibration uncertainty is one way that equipment users gauge their confidence in a product's performance. ISO17025 is the single most important metrology standard for test and measurement products. Nearly all national standards bodies and accreditation agencies around the world have adopted it. A growing number of companies require it and some industries have even incorporated it into sector-specific standards (for example, the automobile manufacturers' QS9000).* *The above text is courtesy of Agilent's web site