FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 2005-07-19

PAC Appoints New Chair

OTTAWA – The Standards Council of Canada (SCC) is pleased to announce the appointment of Elva Nilsen, Director, Intergovernmental Affairs and Trade as the new Chair of the Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (PAC).

Nilsen was appointed to her new position at the July 8, 2005 PAC meeting after serving six years as Vice-Chair. Through her work at the SCC, Nilsen has helped establish and maintain important connections with the international standardization community and to further Canada's trade and policy objectives.

"I look forward in my new role to helping PAC to advance and realize its mission," said Nilsen. "I know with the continued support and cooperation of PAC members, we can expect a successful future."

Nilsen succeeds Xiao Jianhua of the China National Accreditation Board of Certifiers who has served as Chair of PAC since 1999. Some of Xiao's achievements in his six years as Chair include the extension of the PAC MLA to cover Environmental Management Systems and Product Certification.

The Pacific Accreditation Cooperation is an association of accreditation bodies and other interested parties that are established and operate in the member economies of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation. It facilitates trade among APEC economies within the global recognition system of conformity assessment programs.

The Standards Council of Canada is a Crown corporation with the mandate to promote efficient and effective voluntary standardization, and is Canada's representative to the International Accreditation Forum, Inc. (IAF) and PAC. For more information on the Standards Council of Canada visit www.scc.ca, or contact the Standards Council's via e-mail at [email protected].

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