Conformity assessment involves processes that demonstrate a product, service, or system meets standards requirements. It provides benefits like added consumer confidence, competitive advantages for companies, and ensuring health and safety regulations are followed. The main forms of conformity assessment are testing, certification by an independent body, and inspection to check a product meets criteria on a regular basis. Validation is the collection and evaluation of data to ensure manufacturing processes can consistently produce a product meeting specifications and attributes, as defined by regulatory bodies like the FDA and WHO. It is a quantitative approach to proving quality, functionality, and performance of a product's production process.