Allied Quality Assurance Publication AQAP-2110 — NATO Quality Assurance Requirements for Design, Development and Production

What it is

AQAP-2110 is published by NATO. The cover of the edition read for this record says "NATO STANDARD AQAP-2110 … Edition D Version 1 JUNE 2016" and the series title is Allied Quality Assurance Publication. NATO's own words for it are "publication" and "NATO STANDARD".

It takes effect through a contract. The publication states: "When referenced in a contract, this publication shall apply to all of the processes necessary for the Supplier to fulfil the contractual requirements." It adds that it "is primarily intended for use in a contract between two or more parties", that a supplier may also use it internally, and that "If inconsistencies exist between the contract requirements and this publication, the contract requirements shall prevail."

The publication defines compliance itself: "Compliance with this publication is defined as the fulfilment of the requirements in chapters 3, 4 and 5. All requirements are applicable unless agreement otherwise is documented as part of the contract with the Acquirer."

It builds on ISO 9001. Section 3.1 says: "Chapter 4, General QMS Requirements, establishes the applicability of the requirements of ISO 9001:2015." Chapter 5 adds NATO-specific quality management requirements, and the text instructs that "Whenever the ISO 9001 requirement refers to 'this international standard' it shall be read as 'this publication'."

The term "Certificate of Conformity" inside AQAP-2110 is easy to misread. Section 3.3.3 defines it as "A document, signed by the Supplier, which states that the product conforms with contractual requirements" — a declaration the supplier signs about a product, not a certificate issued by a third party after an audit.

The Letter of Promulgation of 24 June 2016 records the approval route: the publication "has been approved by the nations in the Life Cycle Management Group (AC/327)" and "The agreement of nations to use this publication is recorded in STANAG 4107." Each nation puts it into force by its own act; the document leaves a page "RESERVED FOR NATIONAL LETTER OF PROMULGATION".

Edition D Version 1 consolidated three earlier publications. The Letter of Promulgation states it "is effective upon receipt and on completion of a transition, ending 21 September 2018, will supersede AQAP-2110 Edition 3, AQAP-2120 Edition 3 and AQAP-2130 Edition 3".

Who owns it

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization owns the text; the cover records "Published by the NATO STANDARDIZATION OFFICE (NSO)" and "© NATO/OTAN". The promulgation letter is signed by Major General Edvardas Mažeikis, Director, NATO Standardization Office.

The copy read for this record is the NSO-published PDF hosted by the Italian Ministry of Defence; NATO's own NSO addresses returned HTTP 404 on 4 September 2026.

Who assesses it

The publication's own model is Government Quality Assurance. Section 3.3.5 defines it as "The process by which the appropriate National Authorities establish confidence that the contractual requirements relating to quality are met", and §3.3.6 defines the Government Quality Assurance Representative as "The Personnel with responsibility for Government Quality Assurance (GQA), acting on behalf of the Acquirer".

The Acquirer is defined in §3.3.1 as "Governmental and/or NATO Organisations, that enter into a contractual relationship with a Supplier, defining the product and quality requirements". The mutual GQA process between nations sits in a separate publication, AQAP 2070, "NATO Mutual Government Quality Assurance (GQA) Process".

AQAP-2110 does not describe an audit by a commercial certification body, and it does not define a third-party certificate, a validity period or a renewal cycle for suppliers. It does define a supplier-issued "Certificate of Conformity" in a different sense — a release document the supplier provides with the product, not a mark awarded by an assessor.