PAC Mission: To represent the interests of Asia-Pacific economies nationally, regionally and internationally in the area of certification body accreditation and related activities, in support of APEC, IAF and WTO/TBT aims and objectives.
COMMUNIQUE HIGHLIGHTS FROM PAC 16 June 2009 PAC 16th Plenary a Great Success: The 16th PAC Plenary meetings were held in Taipei 13-20 June. Representatives from PAC Members, certification bodies, industry, Regional Accreditation Groups and other interested parties attended. PAC thanks TAF for hosting and for their warm hospitality.
Training Activities: Members participated in a number of training events including a workshop for Experienced Peer Evaluators, a training course on Greenhouse Gases, and a Seminar and an Open Forum on various food safety programs, which PTB co-hosted. Members identified conformity assessment programs and standards for organic products as a high priority area for future training, and unanimously supported an application to APEC for funding under its Trade and Investment Liberalization & Facilitation program for a Food Safety Management Systems training project – Mexico is one of the co-sponsors of the PAC proposal, which was submitted following the Plenary and is currently being considered. The development of a course on Auditor Competence was also agreed to by PAC members. IAAC Members are welcome to participate in any of PAC’s training activities at no charge, pending available space. Information on upcoming courses to be offered in 2010 will be posted on the PAC website, as it becomes available. Communications & Marketing: Members recounted highlights from the 2nd annual International Accreditation Day celebrations held June 9 and exchanged ideas regarding potential new communications and marketing tools. The second PAC newsletter for 2009 will be available shortly for downloading from the PAC website.
Technical Matters: Technical Committee members reviewed progress made with PAC initiatives as well as IAF and CASCO projects including new MLA programs, Cross Frontier Accreditation, and Forestry Certification Schemes. PAC Membership: The Mongolian Agency for Standardization and Metrology, the Kazakhstan National Centre for Accreditation, and the Sri Lanka Accreditation Board for Conformity Assessment were welcomed as Full Members.
PAC Elections: Mr Ridzwan Kasim (STANDARDS MALAYSIA) was reappointed as a Full Member Representative on the Executive Committee for a second 3-year term, and Ms Rachada Isarasenarak (NAC) was appointed as a member of the PAC Financial Oversight Committee for a 3-year term, replacing Dr. Sunarya who will be retiring from KAN.
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PAC MLA Activities: Progress regarding MLA applications and re-evaluations, joint evaluations with APLAC, IAAC, and the upcoming IAF re-evaluation of PAC was reviewed. Next steps regarding the expansion of the PAC MLA to include Food Safety Management Systems, Information Security Management Systems and Certification of Persons were discussed. KAN and STANDARDS MALAYSIA formally signed the PAC MLA for Product, bringing the number of Product MLA signatories to 10. Two Peer Evaluators were recognized for their contributions to PAC: Mrs Yuh-guang Jin from TAF, and Mr Phua Kim Chua from SAC.
Next Meeting: The next annual meeting of PAC will be held in Wellington, New Zealand, in June 2010, hosted by JAS-ANZ. Further information will be posted on the PAC website as it becomes available.
Further information on PAC and PAC activities is available at www.apec-pac.org or by contacting the PAC Secretary, Ms Belinda Mort at Ph +612 6345 5828 or email [email protected]
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