Consultancy Service

AQAP-2110 Compliance Support

Independent readiness review for the assessment that actually counts: examination by your National Quality Assurance Authority, not a certificate.

Start here if you have been asked for AQAP-2110.

A commercial certificate against AQAP-2110 carries no mutual-recognition standing across NATO. AQAP-2000 defines supplier assessment as formal examination by a national quality assurance authority, and records no arrangement giving a certification-body certificate cross-border effect. The body that will actually assess you is your NQAA, working through a Government Quality Assurance Representative. This service prepares you for that.

What the review does

A clause-by-clause readiness assessment against AQAP-2110 Edition D, written from the buyer side. The output is a gap register, not a certificate.

Why independence matters here

Search for AQAP-2110 support and most of what you find is sold by certification bodies. They are selling the certificate. That is a legitimate product with real uses, but it creates an obvious problem: a readiness review from the organisation that also sells you the certificate is not an independent review, and the certificate itself is not what your NQAA will assess you against.

SGS issues nothing. There is no certificate at the end, no accreditation to protect, and no commercial reason to tell you that you are ready when you are not.

The full analysis, with the AQAP-2000 wording and the NQAA position set out in NATO’s own terms, is published openly: AQAP-2110 Certification: Why NATO Doesn’t Recognise It, ISC Defence Intelligence.

Who this is for

What it costs

Initial Discussion, £400 + VAT, one hour. The standard entry point. A structured video call, NDA on request, producing a written summary with an indicative scope and price band. Nothing larger is committed until scope is fixed.

Review delivery at the Principal Specialist tier, £1,500 + VAT per day. Half-day minimum. This is the tier covering senior technical authority and NATO quality assurance gap analysis.

Rates exclude VAT, travel and subsistence. Full terms and the complete rate card are on the pricing page.

Who delivers it

Steve Sawyers MIExpE VR spent nearly eight years at the NATO Support and Procurement Agency in Luxembourg, latterly as Senior Ammunition Technician, where the work included technical evaluation of bids, support to Contract Award Committees, management of quality plans and technical documentation, and closing out discrepancy reports with suppliers. He has assessed AQAP compliance evidence from the side of the table that decides whether it is adequate.

Before NSPA he was Explosives Safety Assurance Manager at HM Naval Base Clyde, holding SQEP-designated regulatory accountability for explosive safety under DSA 03.OME, and spent five and a half years in munitions management at Defence Munitions Longtown. More than 25 years in Weapons, Ordnance, Munitions and Explosives in total. The full record is published.

Common questions

Is an AQAP-2110 certificate from a certification body recognised across NATO?

No. AQAP-2000 records no mutual recognition arrangement giving an AQAP-2110 certificate cross-border standing, and defines supplier assessment as formal examination by a national quality assurance authority. ISO 9001 is handled differently in the same publication, where certification by an IAF-accredited body is expressly contemplated. A certificate can still be useful evidence. It is not the assessment.

Who actually assesses a supplier against AQAP-2110?

The National Quality Assurance Authority of the supplier nation, through a Government Quality Assurance Representative under the STANAG 4107 mutual government quality assurance process. The GQAR builds a risk picture of supplier and contract; a certificate is one input to it.

Do we need ISO 9001 first?

AQAP-2110 supplements ISO 9001 rather than replacing it, so an ISO 9001 system is the normal foundation. The AQAP adds contract-specific requirements ISO 9001 does not cover, and Clause 7.2 competence is the one most often found wanting, because the standard requires competence without defining it for the sector.

Are you a certification body?

No, and deliberately not. SGS issues nothing and has nothing to sell at the end of an assessment except the assessment.

Book an Initial Discussion

One hour, £400 + VAT, NDA on request. You leave with a written summary and a scope you can decide on.

Contact SGS