Who we are ?
In France, Cofrac is the only recognised national body for accreditation: an activity of public authority and general interest.
The French accreditation committee (Cofrac) was created in 1994 at the initiative of the public authorities. We are a not-for-profit association entrusted with a public service mission: that of ensuring the competence and impartiality of conformity assessment bodies (CAB), generally referred to as "inspection" bodies. In 2008, in application of a European regulation, the State designated Cofrac as the sole accreditation body in France.
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For the sake of independence and impartiality, all interests linked to accreditation are represented within the decision-making bodies. Cofrac has put in place several such bodies, representing 280 members in all:
A Board of Administrators and a General Assembly, whose members are organised into three distinct colleges:
- College A is composed of accredited bodies or groupings they are part of (in other words, Cofrac's clients).
- College B is composed of professional business groupings, persons or structures representing buyers who call upon or may call upon the services of the bodies in college A (in other words, the clients of our clients).
- College C is composed of representatives of the public interest, either providing a statutory function or defending the collective interests (in other words, the State, agencies of the State, national institutes, and consumer, user or environmental protection associations).
As well as its permanent staff, Cofrac relies on four division committees, corresponding to the four internal accreditation divisions. Each division has its own accreditation committee.