OK...you should have guessed I'd have an opinion on this one
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AKC recently added (the description is in the updated 2004 rulebook...can't find my book prior to this one, but I know it's a fairly recent addition) their own description and requirements for Herding Instinct Testing. In my own personal opinion they saw an opportunity to add a few more bucks to their coffers with very little work involved (herding folks affiliated with AHBA, ASCA and AKC had been handing out Herding Instinct Certificates for years, why not hand one out that has the AKC seal of approval on it).
Any instinct test is only as good as the tester, sheep and facility, and can be downright terrible given the wrong components (we've worked with quite a few dogs that had improper first experiences on stock and needed serious rehabilitation). Personally, I wouldn't waste my money or time on an AKC affiliated test (and I won't be taking any assignments where instinct testing is involved)...but that's just me. According to the AKC rulebook the dog with be issued an Instinct Tested certificate (it's not listed as an HIC...) when certified by two different judges to have qualified by passing two separate licensed or member herding instinct tests. The dog comes in on a 6-15 foot line (my first beef...herding with a longline on is a recipe for disaster...we call it "sheep fishing"), must show a stop and recall while on the line (if they don't that's the end of the test...no "instinct"...yeah, right), then the line is dropped or removed and the tester conducts the test as he/she sees fit.
Last thing...no matter what organization, club or training facility an instinct certificate is earned through, it is just like the CGC...it's a certificate, not an official title.