ONAC

What ONAC does

ONAC (Organismo Nacional de Acreditación de Colombia) is a non-profit corporation of mixed private-and-public character, designated by Colombia's Single Regulatory Decree of the Commerce, Industry, and Tourism Sector as the country's sole national accreditation body, and additionally appointed as the National Authority for monitoring Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) under OECD principles. The organization accredits conformity assessment bodies — testing and calibration laboratories (LAB/LAC under ISO/IEC 17025), medical/clinical laboratories (LCL under ISO 15189), product, management-systems, and personnel certification bodies (CPR, CSG, OCP), inspection bodies (OIN under ISO/IEC 17020), automotive diagnostic centers (CDA), driver recognition centers (CRC), proficiency testing providers (PEA), reference materials producers (PMR), validation/verification bodies including GHG verifiers (OVV, OVV-GEI under ISO 14065), digital certification entities (ECD), and metrological verification bodies (OVM) — across 16+ accreditation schemes.

Its operational backbone is SIPSO (Sistema de Información de Prestación del Servicio de ONAC), an online platform through which conformity assessment bodies submit applications, upload documentation, process payments, and track evaluation status, complemented by the public DOA (Directorio Oficial de Acreditados) for accreditation verification. Pricing follows the Modelo Integral de Tarifas (MIT), a usage-based fee system calibrated by scheme type and scope, with payments required at least 15 calendar days prior to evaluation via PSE, bank transfer to Davivienda, or bank drafts. Customer reach flows through Sectoral Coordination Teams across laboratories, certification, and inspection segments, alongside digital channels (SIPSO), industry events (World Accreditation Day), webinars (Charlas con Ulrich), and free training via ONACademia. International recognition through ILAC, IAF, and IAAC MLA/CAA agreements extends the credibility of certificates ONAC issues to 100+ countries.

Name

ONAC

Legal name

Organismo Nacional de Acreditación de Colombia

Website

https://onac.org.co

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

ONAC is Colombia's sole national accreditation body, designated by government decree, accrediting laboratories, certification bodies, inspection bodies, and sustainability verifiers under 16+ ISO and CEA schemes, with international recognition enabling certificate acceptance in 100+ countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Accreditation Services

NAICS

Testing Laboratories and Services (54138), Regulation, Licensing, and Inspection of Miscellaneous Commercial Sectors (92615)

SIC

Services-Testing Laboratories (8734)

akta.pro primary industry

Standards, Metrology & Accreditation Bodies (BPAIAOAC)

Keywords

• Accreditation services
• Conformity assessment
• Laboratory accreditation
• Certification bodies
• Quality infrastructure

Headquarters

HQ city

Bogotá

HQ country

Colombia

HQ region

Latin America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Accreditation Service Fees: Fees charged for accreditation evaluations, follow-up assessments, re-evaluations, and complementary evaluations. Rates follow the Modelo Integral de Tarifas MIT (MIT) system.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

ONAC is Colombia's sole national accreditation body, designated by the Single Regulatory Decree of the Commerce, Industry, and Tourism Sector. It accredits conformity assessment bodies—including testing/calibration/clinical laboratories, certification bodies (product, personnel, management systems), inspection bodies, automotive diagnostic centers, driver recognition centers, and GHG validators—against international ISO/IEC standards. It also operates as Colombia's National Authority for monitoring Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) under OECD principles and provides free professional training through ONACademia.

Product overview

ONAC (Organismo Nacional de Acreditación de Colombia) operates as Colombia's national accreditation body under the Subsistema Nacional de la Calidad (SICAL), providing a comprehensive portfolio of accreditation services organized around a core online platform called SIPSO (Sistema de Información de Prestación del Servicio de ONAC) for managing the accreditation lifecycle. The portfolio includes 16+ distinct accreditation schemes covering laboratories (clinical, testing, calibration, proficiency testing, reference materials), certification bodies (personnel, management systems, products), inspection bodies, and specialized sectors (automotive diagnostics, driver recognition, digital certification, metrological verification, and greenhouse gas validation/verification). Complementary offerings include ONACademia for professional training, the MIT fee calculation model for transparent pricing, and the DOA public directory for verifying accredited organizations. The GLP OECD Recognition service enables laboratories to present safety study results to regulatory authorities. ONAC maintains international recognition through agreements with ILAC, IAF, and IAAC, with most schemes carrying MLA/CAA endorsement enabling certificates to be accepted across 100+ countries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Medical/Clinical Laboratories (LCL) Accreditation Accreditation service for medical and clinical laboratories under ISO 15189, verifying technical competence in clinical testing environments. Target customers are medical and clinical laboratories seeking to demonstrate the reliability of their test results.
• Testing Laboratories (LAB) Accreditation Accreditation service for testing laboratories under ISO/IEC 17025, confirming competence in performing specific test measurements. Target customers are testing laboratories that need to demonstrate technical competence to issue reliable results.
• Calibration Laboratories (LAC) Accreditation Accreditation service for calibration laboratories under ISO/IEC 17025, verifying metrological traceability and measurement competence. Target customers are calibration laboratories needing international recognition of their measurement capabilities.
• Proficiency Testing Providers (PEA) Accreditation Accreditation service for proficiency testing providers under ISO/IEC 17043, ensuring quality and comparability of inter-laboratory comparison programs. Target customers are organizations that operate inter-laboratory comparison programs.
• Reference Materials Producers (PMR) Accreditation Accreditation service for reference material producers under ISO 17034, verifying competence in producing reference materials. Target customers are producers of reference materials; note that this scheme does not yet carry international recognition.
• Personnel Certification Bodies (OCP) Accreditation Accreditation service for personnel certification bodies under ISO/IEC 17024, verifying competence in certifying individuals against specific professional requirements. Target customers are bodies that certify individual professionals.
• Management Systems Certification Bodies (CSG) Accreditation Accreditation service for management systems certification bodies under ISO/IEC 17021-1, covering sector-specific standards including ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 50001, ISO 37001, ISO 18788, ISO 55001, ISO 39001, and FSSC 22000. Target customers are certification bodies that audit and certify organizational management systems.
• Product Certification Bodies (CPR) Accreditation Accreditation service for product certification bodies under ISO/IEC 17065, verifying competence in certifying products, processes, and services against specified requirements, including Global G.A.P. and Chain of Custody schemes. Target customers are bodies certifying products against standards.
• Inspection Bodies (OIN) Accreditation Accreditation service for inspection bodies under ISO/IEC 17020, verifying competence in performing inspections across various sectors including gas installations and RETIE. Target customers are organizations performing third-party inspections.
• Driver Recognition Centers (CRC) Accreditation Accreditation service for driver recognition centers under NTC ISO/IEC 17024 (transitioning to CRC CEA-3.0-08), assessing driver competency and fitness. Target customers are driver testing and recognition centers.
• Automotive Diagnostic Centers (CDA) Accreditation Accreditation service for automotive diagnostic centers under ISO/IEC 17020, verifying technical inspection competence for vehicle safety and emissions. Target customers are automotive diagnostic centers performing mandatory vehicle technical inspections.
• Validation and Verification Bodies (OVV) Accreditation Accreditation service for validation and verification bodies under ISO/IEC 17029, confirming competence in assessing claims and statements made by organizations. Target customers are validation/verification bodies; note that this scheme does not yet have international recognition.
• Greenhouse Gas Validation and Verification Bodies (OVV GEI) Accreditation Accreditation service for GHG validation and verification bodies under ISO 14065, enabling organizations to obtain credible verification of greenhouse gas emissions statements for carbon market participation. Target customers are bodies issuing GHG verification statements.
• Digital Certification Entities (ECD) Accreditation Accreditation service for digital certification entities under CEA-3.0-07 and CEA 4.1-10, verifying competence in issuing and managing digital certificates for electronic signatures. Target customers are entities operating digital certification services in Colombia.
• Authorized Metrological Verification Bodies (OVM) Accreditation Accreditation service for authorized metrological verification bodies under CEA-3.0-14 and CEA-3.0-15, ensuring competence in verifying measuring instruments. Target customers are bodies performing statutory metrological verifications.
• GLP OECD Recognition Recognition service for Good Laboratory Practice compliance under OECD principles, enabling laboratories conducting non-clinical safety studies to present results to regulatory authorities for product registration or authorization. ONAC acts as Colombia's National Authority for monitoring GLP.
• ONACademia (ON·ACademia) Virtual education platform offering free courses on Conformity Assessment and OECD Good Laboratory Practices for professionals and technicians in quality infrastructure. Target users are professionals and technicians working in accredited bodies or quality infrastructure roles.

Quantifiable outcome

• Accredited conformity assessment body results accepted in over 100 countries through international recognition agreements

Named customers12 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• ILAC (International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerONAC is a member of ILAC, enabling mutual recognition of accreditation results between member bodies. This agreement facilitates international trade by ensuring test and calibration results from accredited laboratories are accepted across ILAC economies.
• IAF (International Accreditation Forum)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerONAC is a member of IAF, providing recognition for accreditation of certification and inspection bodies. The MLA (Multilateral Recognition Arrangement) supports global acceptance of certificates and inspection reports.
• IAAC (Inter-American Accreditation Cooperation)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerONAC participates in IAAC as the regional accreditation cooperation for the Americas, contributing to harmonization of accreditation practices and mutual recognition within the hemisphere.
• OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerONAC serves as the National Authority for Monitoring Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) under OECD principles, providing recognition for non-clinical safety studies submitted to regulatory authorities.
• SICAL (Subsistema Nacional de la Calidad)coreOthersONAC belongs to the National Quality Subsystem (SICAL), a government-coordinated system for quality infrastructure in Colombia that includes metrology, standardization, and accreditation activities.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service): UK's national accreditation body, also an ILAC MRA and IAF MLA signatory with a comparable portfolio accreditating labs (ISO/IEC 17025), certification bodies (ISO/IEC 17021-1), and inspection bodies (ISO/IEC 17020). Most direct peer as a single-country national accreditor.
• ANAB (ANSI National Accreditation Board): U.S. national accreditation body under ANSI, operating across management systems certification, product certification, personnel certification, and inspection bodies — directly comparable to ONAC's CSG, CPR, OCP, and OIN schemes with IAF MLA recognition.
• DAkkS (Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle): Germany's national accreditation body, ILAC MRA and IAF MLA signatory accreditating conformity assessment bodies across all major ISO/IEC 17000 standards. Comparable scheme portfolio and non-profit operational model.
• A2LA (American Association for Laboratory Accreditation): U.S.-based accreditation body focused on testing and calibration laboratories (ISO/IEC 17025) with international recognition via ILAC. Comparable to ONAC's LAB, LAC, and PEA accreditation schemes and similar non-profit/single-market structure.
• SWEDAC (Styrelsen för ackreditering och teknisk kontroll) / SAS: Sweden's national accreditation authority and a founding ILAC MRA/IAF MLA signatory, accrediting labs, certifiers, and inspectors under the same ISO standards ONAC applies. Comparable governance and operational structure.
• COFRAC (Comité Français d'Accréditation): French national accreditation body operating under ILAC MRA and IAF MLA, accrediting laboratories, certifiers, and inspectors using the same ISO/IEC 17000 series standards ONAC applies. Direct comparable in scope, governance, and international recognition model.
• ENAC (Entidad Nacional de Acreditación): Spain's sole national accreditation body operating the same ISO/IEC 17025, 17065, 17021-1 scheme architecture as ONAC and holding ILAC/IAF recognition. Closest Spanish-speaking direct peer given linguistic and procedural parallels.

Regional players

• CNAS (China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment): China's national accreditation body with comprehensive scheme coverage across labs, certifiers, and inspectors under ILAC/IAF recognition. Comparable in scale and breadth though operating in a different geography.
• INMETRO (Instituto Nacional de Metrologia, Qualidade e Tecnologia): Brazil's national quality infrastructure body that performs accreditation, metrology, and conformity assessment, also a member of ILAC/IAF/IAAC. Closest Latin American peer serving a similar role within the regional quality ecosystem.
• EMA (Entidad Mexicana de Acreditación): Mexico's national accreditation body operating within ILAC and IAAC, accrediting testing/calibration labs, certifiers, and inspectors. Latin American regional peer with overlapping scheme architecture and joint IAAC recognition activities.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ONAC_COLOMBIA
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/ONACACREDITADOR/videos
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/onac
• Instagraminstagram.com/onac_co
• Facebookfacebook.com/161354674473932

Compliance16 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ONAC