The first-ever Joint General Assembly meeting of the Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (PAC) and the Asia Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (APLAC) was attended by IAS Vice President/Chief Technical Officer Pat McCullen, IAS Vice President of Operations Raj Nathan and IAS Quality Manager Mohan Sabaratnam from June 21-26 in Guadalajara, Mexico. This was an especially important event for APLAC and PAC to establish a more cooperative role in the conformity assessment arena. Our participation in the Joint General Assembly and its technical meetings is also of strategic importance for IAS as we will undergo a full re-evaluation by PAC for continuation of our signatory status with PAC and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) for our Product Certification Body accreditation program. We will also be seeking to expand IAS' scope of recognition with PAC and IAF for the accreditation of Personnel and Management System Certification Bodies. The evaluation slated for late 2014 and successful completion of the evaluation will expand IAS' national and international reach.

APLAC and PAC are regional cooperation bodies that are associations of accreditation bodies and interested stakeholders, facilitating trade and commerce among economies in the Asia Pacific region. These regional groups in turn serve the global markets through the framework established under the International Accreditation Forum and International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC). ILAC/APLAC specializes in the fields of laboratory and inspection accreditation, while IAF/PAC specializes in the field of certification. However, both ILAC and IAF work together to enhance and harmonize accreditation and conformity assessment activities worldwide. The primary means by which IAF/ILAC achieve international acceptance of accreditations granted by its accreditation body members is based on the equivalence of their accreditation programs through the establishment of multilateral agreements. These agreements provide for worldwide recognition of reports and certificates by accredited conformity assessment bodies and their accredited-certified clients.