Hmm I see your point now ...

Yes, an `import iris.tests` will cause the CF profile to be disabled for the session. But I don't see that as a big deal in the grand scheme of things.

I feel that's it's paramount that the CF profile is turned off for all testing. It should have absolutely no impact on test results.

I don't think that users will in general will ever perform an `import iris.tests` and then perform a save of a cube to NetCDF and then be upset by the lack of CF profile metadata in their file. We're not worried about this being a loop-hole to circumvent a CF profile mandate; users can easily turn off the CF profile anyways (and back on).

I'd argue that if you `import iris.tests` your actually performing tests i.e. in test mode, so CF profile should be disabled. Yes there is a side-effect that for the rest of the session the CF profile is disabled (until you explicitly enable it), but that's far from a train crash ... :train: :train: :train: :fire: