Joint General Assembly of APLAC-PAC 2014

The inaugural Joint General Assembly (GA) for the Asia Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (APLAC) and the Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (PAC) was held in Guadalajara, Mexico, from 21 to 27 June 2014. These joint meetings between the two regional groups facilitate closer collaborations and joint activities to achieve the common outcomes of both organisations.

SAC is a full member of both APLAC and PAC, and has contributed significantly as an immediate former Chair of APLAC and as a member of the PAC Executive Committee. As a MRA signatory member of APLAC and PAC, SAC participates in key meetings to ensure the equivalence of accreditations provided by our counterparts and influence related accreditation and certification issues where necessary.

The key highlight for SAC at this Joint Meeting is our signing of the inaugural APLAC MRA for Proficiency Testing Providers (PTP) and the PAC MLA for Food Safety Management System (FSMS). We have also successfully renewed both our APLAC MRA and PAC MLA signatory status for another 4 years for Testing, Calibration, Medical and Inspection, and for Quality Management System and Product respectively. With these MRAs, SAC accreditation facilitates market access to over 75 economies.

Congratulations to SAC! All these achievements are only possible with the good work of all our volunteers, assessors and staff.

Signing of MRA to include PTP
(From L to R) Mr Nigel Jou (APLAC Chair), Ms Choy SK (SAC/SPRING Singapore), Ms Roxanne Robinson (APLAC MRA Council Chair)

Group Picture with other AB signatories who signed the MRA for PTP.
(From L to R) Mr Nigel Jou (APLAC Chair), Ms Maribel Lopez (ema), Mr. Keith Greenaway (ANSI-ASQ), Mr Yoshinobu Uematsu (JAB), Ms Roxanne Robinson (APLAC MRA Council Chair / A2LA), Mr Chen JS (TAF), Mr Wong WW (HKAS), Ms Choy SK (SAC/SPRING Singapore)

Group Picture with 9 other AB signatories who signed the MLA for FSMS.

They are Indonesia (KAN), Sri Lanka (SLAB), India (NABCB), Vietnam (BOA), Australia/New Zealand (JAS-ANZ), Chinese Taipei (TAF), Japan (JAB), Singapore (SAC) and Mexico (ema).

PAC is now ready to accept MLA application for Certification of Persons. At the meeting, the development of MLA for Energy Management System (EnMS) was approved. SAC can look forward to entry into these new MLAs in the near future.