At the annual meeting of the International Personnel Certification Association (IPC) in Beijing, the DGQ and the EOQ reaffirmed their commitment to international cooperation. As part of the rotating chairmanship of the general assembly, Thomas Votsmeier, Head of Standardization at DGQ eV and IPC Board Member, representing DGQ and EOQ, was elected IPC Deputy Chairman. Huang Jixian, Head of the Chinese Certification and Accreditation Administration of the People's Republic of China (CCAA), serves as Chairman.

George Anastasopoulos, Secretary of the IPC, presented a certificate to the active IPC members on the occasion of the renewed recognition of the IPC certification scheme for auditors by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF). This recognition has been in place since 2017 and also forms the basis for DGQ and EOQ auditor certification.

Members of the IPC General Assembly – in the middle Huang Jixian (Chairman IPC), Michael Sturm DGQ, Thomas Votsmeier, Vice Chairman IPC, George Anastasopoulos, Secretary IPC, © CCAA

Revision of the certification program

Part of the IPC's work program for next year is a revision of the certification program, which will, among other things, take into account the revisions to ISO 19011 and other relevant standards. Michael Sturm, Product Manager at the DGQ Personnel Certification Body, is involved in the relevant IPC working group. With this, the DGQ underscores its support for the system of global recognition of harmonized competency standards and the integrity of accredited personnel certification with global recognition.

In conjunction with the annual meeting, the CCAA also held a conference to discuss changes in the certification of qualified personnel. Topics included the new developments in the personnel certification standard ISO 17024 – "General requirements for bodies certifying persons" – and the consideration of the use of artificial intelligence in conformity assessment procedures.

September 22, 2025

European Accreditation (EA) considers joining new Global Accreditation Body

The umbrella organization of European accreditation bodies, the European Co-operation for Accreditation (EA), is considering joining the newly established Global Accreditation Board – but is imposing conditions. This decision was made in an official resolution following the EA General Assembly. The "Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated" (still without an official acronym) will begin operations on January 1, 2026 .

The EA's conditions include, on the one hand, the requirement to delete the phrase "engage in trade" from the statutes so as not to jeopardize the non-profit status. On the other hand, the EA insists that no member be required to implement requirements that conflict with national or regional law.

The German accreditation body DAkkS announced earlier this year that it would not join due to legal and governance concerns based on the existing statutes. "We assume and hope that the negotiations will be conducted in such a way that Germany will also be represented in the new organization with DAkkS," commented Thomas Votsmeier, Head of Standardization at DGQ. "This is the only way to ensure international recognition of certificates accredited through DAkkS – especially management system certificates."

Simplification and harmonization of international processes

At the end of 2024, the decision was made to establish a joint global accreditation organization. Both the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) supported the creation of the Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated. The rationale behind this is the desire to simplify and further harmonize international accreditation processes and to strengthen confidence in cross-border conformity assessments.