The General Assembly received with appreciation the report on the Financial Affairs of IAF and the Report of the Financial Auditor on the Financial Operations of IAF, December 31, 2012 as presented.

The General Assembly resolved that the IAF Board shall appoint a Treasurer from the IAF Membership and amend the mandate of the current Treasurer's position in the IAF Secretariat to that of Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

The General Assembly received with appreciation the report of the Financial Oversight Committee (ref IAF GA27_6.2), as circulated and endorsed the recommendation that the 2012 financial accounts be accepted.

The General Assembly approved the IAF Budget for 2014, as submitted by the Treasurer.

The General Assembly received with appreciation the report by the Secretary on the current IAF membership as at October 2013.

The General Assembly received the Secretary’s report on the admission, since the 2012 Annual meeting, of the African Accreditation Cooperation (AFRAC) and the Arab Accreditation Cooperation (ARAC) as Special Recognition Organizations - Regional Accreditation Bodies. The General Assembly also noted the admissions to the IAF MoU, since the 2012 General Assembly, of the following Members (in order of membership approval):

• • Kenya Accreditation Service (KENAS);
• • Sri Lanka Accreditation Board for Conformity Assessment (SLAB);
• • National Center of Accreditation in Kazakhstan (NCA);
• • Quality Excellence for Suppliers of Telecommunications Forum (QuEST)
• • International Confederation of Inspection and Certification Organizations (CEOC International)

  The General Assembly noted the resignations of the Associazione Laboratori di Prova e Organismi di Certificazione Indipendenti (ALPI) and the International Personnel Certification Association (IPC).

The General Assembly received with appreciation the report (ref IAF GA27_8) from the Chairman of the Technical Committee and noted the Technical Committee Program.

The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the Technical Committee, resolved to endorse ISO/IEC TS 17021-3:2013 Conformity Assessment – Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management systems – Part 3: Competence requirements for auditing and certification of quality management systems, as a normative document to be applied in conjunction with ISO/IEC 17021 for QMS. The General Assembly further agreed that the deadline for conformance to ISO/IEC TS 17021-3 will be two years from the date of publication.   Note: As the publication date was 2 May 2013, the deadline for Certification Bodies to conform will be 2 May 2015.

The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the Technical Committee, resolved to endorse ISO/IEC 27001:2013 Information technology - Security techniques -Information security management systems – Requirements, as a normative document. The General Assembly further agreed that the deadline for conformance to ISO/IEC 27001:2013 will be two years from the date of publication. One year after publication of ISO/IEC 27001:2013, all new accredited certifications issued shall be to ISO/IEC 27001:2013.   Note: As the date of publication was 1 October 2013, the deadline for Certification Bodies to conform will be 1 October 2015.

The General Assembly acting on the recommendation of the Technical Committee, resolved to endorse the next revision of ISO/TS 22003:2007 Food safety management systems - Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of food safety management systems, as a normative document. The General Assembly further agreed that the transition period for the next revision of ISO/TS 22003:2007 will be three years from the date of publication.

The General Assembly acting on the recommendation of the Technical Committee, resolved to endorse the next revision of ISO 9001:2008 Quality management systems – Requirements, as a normative document. The General Assembly further agreed that the transition period for the next revision of ISO 9001:2008 will be three years from the date of publication.   Note: It was suggested that Conformity Assessment Bodies should encourage their clients to commence working on the transition as early as possible

The General Assembly received with appreciation the report from the Chairman of the MLA Committee (ref IAF GA27_9) and noted the MLA Committee program.

The General Assembly noted the admissions to the IAF MLA and MLA scope extensions, since the 2012 General Assembly, of the following IAF Members:

• • INDECOPI Peru (IAAC) – Main scope ISO/IEC Guide 65/17065 Product
• • BoA Vietnam (PAC) - Main scope ISO/IEC Guide 65/17065 Product
• • NABCB India (PAC) - Main scope ISO/IEC Guide 65/17065 Product
• • DAC United Arab Emirates (PAC) - Sub-scope ISO 9001 and ISO 14001
• • IAJapan Japan (PAC) - Main Scope ISO/IEC Guide 65/17065 Product
• • PNAC Pakistan (PAC) - Sub-Scope ISO 9001 & ISO 14001
• • ECA Costa Rica (IAAC) – Sub-scope ISO 14001.

The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the Executive Committee, approves the endorsement of the GlobalG.A.P. Integrated Farm Assurance scheme (General Regulations and related Control Points and Compliance Criteria) as a sub-scope, under the main scope of ISO/IEC Guide 65/17065 Product, of the IAF MLA.

The General Assembly resolved that IAF PL5 be revised to include the Terms of Reference for an Accreditation Body Information Exchange Group.

The General Assembly congratulated Mr Vu Xuan Thuy (BoA), elected as Director representing Accreditation Body Members located in low and medium income economies, as designated by the World Bank, for a three year term ending at the 2016 general Assembly; Notes:

1. Mr Randy Dougherty (ANAB) will complete his second term as IAF Chairman, at the 2015 General Assembly Meeting.
2. Mr Xiao Jianhua (CNAS) will complete his second term as IAF Vice Chair at the 2015 General Assembly Meeting;
3. Dr Thomas Facklam (DAkkS) will complete his second term as Director representing Accreditation Body Members located in a high income economy, as designated by the World Bank, at the 2015 General Assembly Meeting.
4. Mr Martin Stadler (BDI) will complete his first term as Director representing Industry and User Association Members at the 2015 General Assembly Meeting.
5. Mr Roger Bennett (IIOC) will complete his second term as Director representing Conformity Assessment Body Association Members, at the 2014 General Assembly Meeting.

The General Assembly agreed to appoint Ms Leena Tikkanen (FINAS) for a second term of 2 years as a member of the Financial Oversight Committee for the complete years of 2014 and 2015.

The General Assembly confirmed the Resolutions adopted by IAF and ILAC at the 13th IAF-ILAC Joint General Assembly as listed in Annex 1 to this document.

The General Assembly expressed its appreciation for the excellent meeting arrangements and friendly atmosphere provided by the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS), Korea Laboratory Accreditation Scheme (KOLAS), Korea Accreditation System (KAS) & Korea Accreditation Board (KAB) for the 27th meeting of the IAF General Assembly and associated meetings, 16 to 25 October 2013, in Seoul, Korea.

The Joint General Assembly received with appreciation the presentations and reports from the following organizations:

• · International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and IEC/CAB
• · International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) and ISO/CASCO
• · International Organisation for Legal Metrology (OIML)
• · United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)

The Joint General Assembly received with appreciation the presentation from Dr Lee on the KATS Symposium and the Role of Conformity Assessment in Facilitating International Trade.

The Joint General Assembly received with appreciation the report from the Chairman of the IEC-IAFILAC Steering Committee

The Joint General Assembly endorses the revised Terms of Reference for the JWG A-series. This amendment was required to clarify the membership of the JWG A-series.

The Joint General Assembly received with appreciation the reports provided by APLAC, EA, IAAC, PAC, AFRAC, ARAC and SADCA.

The Joint General Assembly accepted with appreciation the invitation from L’Ente Italiano di Accreditamento (ACCREDIA), Italy to host the 2015 IAF-ILAC Joint Meetings.

The Joint General Assembly accepted with appreciation the invitation from the National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB) and the National Accreditation Board for Testing & Calibration Laboratories (NABL), India to host the 2016 IAF-ILAC Joint Meetings.

The General Assembly received and accepted the list of apologies for non-attendance and accepted the notifications of proxies by members.

The General Assembly adopted the draft agenda (ref IAF GA 26_3).

The General Assembly approved the draft Minutes as a true record of the Twenty Fourth Annual Meeting, held in Shanghai, China, on 27 and 29 October, 2010 (ref IAFAM- 10-007 Oct10 Rev).

The General Assembly received with appreciation the report from the Chairman as presented.

The General Assembly received with appreciation the report by the Secretary on the current IAF membership as at October 2012 (ref IAF-AM-12-002).

The General Assembly received the Secretary’s report (ref IAF GA26_6.3) on the admission to Accreditation Body membership since the 2010 Annual Meeting, of the Organisation of Ecuadorian Accreditation (OAE), the Uruguayan Accreditation Organization (OUA), International Accreditation Japan (IAJapan), and the Accreditation Body of Serbia (ATS).   The General Assembly noted the renewal of Observer Membership of the International Council of Management Consulting Institutes (ICMCI) and the Libyan Centre for Standardization and Metrology (LNCSM) up to the end of 2012.

The General Assembly received with appreciation the report (ref IAF GA26_7) from the Chairman of the Technical Committee and noted the Technical Committee Program.

The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the Technical Committee, resolved that the period for the transition of Information Security Management System Accreditation to ISO/IEC 27006: 2011 from ISO/IEC 27006: 2007 be 18 months from the date of publication. Note: The date of publication was 1 December 2011.

The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the Technical Committee, resolved that the transition period for ISO/IEC17065:2012 be three years from the date of publication. Note: The date of publication was 15 September 2012.

The General Assembly resolved that the transition period for ISO/IEC17024: 2012 be three years from the date of publication. Notes: The date of publication was 1 July 2012. (Resolution 2012-10 was approved on 24 October 2012 with 4 abstentions and 5 negative votes)

The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the Technical Committee, resolved that the transition for the implementation of all relevant newly published ISO/CASCO conformity assessment standards shall be two years from the date of publication, unless overridden by the need to produce a specific application document as agreed by the IAF Technical Committee.

The General Assembly, acting on the recommendation of the Technical Committee, resolved to endorse ISO/IEC TS 17021-2 as a normative document to be applied in conjunction with ISO/IEC 17021 for EMS. The deadline for conformance to ISO/IEC TS 17021-2 shall be the default two years from the date of publication. Note: As the publication date was 15 August 2012, the deadline for Certification Bodies to conform is 15 August 2014.

The General Assembly received with appreciation the report on the Financial Affairs of IAF and the Report of the Financial Auditor on the Financial Operations of IAF, December 31, 2011 as presented.

The General Assembly received with appreciation the report of the Financial Oversight Committee (ref IAF GA26_12-2), as circulated and endorsed the recommendation that the 2011 financial accounts be accepted.

The General Assembly received with appreciation the report by the Treasurer on the financial affairs of IAF for the period 1 January to 30 September 2012 as presented.

The General Assembly approved the IAF Budget for 2013, as submitted by the Treasurer.

The General Assembly received with appreciation the report from the Chairman of the MLA Committee (ref IAF GA 26_8) and noted the MLA Committee program.

The General Assembly noted the MLA scope extension of the Inter American Accreditation Cooperation (IAAC) to include main scope ISO/IEC Guide 65 and Sub-scope ISO 14001 (May 2011). The General Assembly also noted the admissions to the IAF MLA and MLA scope extensions, since the 2010 General Assembly, of the following IAF Members:

• • ECA Costa Rica (IAAC) – Main scope ISO/IEC Guide 65 and ISO/IEC 17021; Sub-scope ISO 9001
• • A2LA USA (IAAC) - Main scope ISO/IEC Guide 65
• • IAS USA (PAC) - Main scope ISO/IEC Guide 65
• • HKAS Hong Kong, China (PAC) - Main Scope ISO/IEC Guide 65 and ISO/IEC 17021; Sub-scope ISO 14001
• • OLAS Luxembourg (EA) - Main Scope ISO/IEC Guide 65 and ISO/IEC 17021; Sub-Scope ISO 9001 & ISO 14001
• • OUA Uruguay (IAAC) - Main Scope ISO/IEC 17021; Sub-Scope ISO 9001 & ISO 14001
• • OAE Ecuador (IAAC) – Main scope ISO/IEC Guide 65 and ISO/IEC 17021; Sub-scope ISO 9001
• • ATS Serbia (EA) - Main scope ISO/IEC Guide 65

The General Assembly congratulated the following Directors on their election to the IAF Board:

• -Mr Randy Dougherty (ANAB) elected unopposed as IAF Chairman, for a three year second term ending at the 2015 General Assembly Meeting;
• -Mr Xiao Jianhua (CNAS) elected as Vice Chair for a three year second term ending at the 2015 General Assembly Meeting;
• -Dr Thomas Facklam (DAkkS) elected unopposed as Director representing Accreditation Body Members located in a high income economy, as designated by the World Bank, for a three year second term ending at the 2015 General Assembly Meeting;
• -Mr Martin Stadler (BDI) elected as Director representing Industry and User Association Members for a three year first term ending at the 2015 General Assembly Meeting

Notes:

1. Mr Ekanit Romyanon (NSC) will complete his first term as Director Resolutions IAF26 Approved.doc representing Accreditation Body Members located in a low and medium income economy, as designated by the World Bank, at the 2013 General Assembly Meeting.
2. Mr Roger Bennett (IIOC) will complete his second term as Director representing Conformity Assessment Body Association Members, at the 2014 General Assembly Meeting.
3. The Director representing Industry and User Association Members is automatically the Chair of the User Advisory Committee (UAC) as per IAF PL5.

The General Assembly congratulated the following members elected as IAF Committee Chairs for three year terms ending at the 2015 General Assembly Meeting:

• -Mr Ekanit Romyanon (NSC) elected as IAF Technical Committee Chairman;
• -Mr Steve Keeling (JAS-ANZ) elected unopposed as IAF MLA Committee Chairman;
• -Mr Jon Murthy (UKAS) elected unopposed as IAF Communications and Marketing Committee Chairman;
• -Mr Martin Stadler (BDI) elected as IAF User Advisory Committee Chairman;

Note: Mr Balakrishnan Venkataraman (NABCB) will complete his second term as IAF Development Support Committee Chairman at the 2013 General Assembly Meeting.

The General Assembly agreed to appoint Mr. Marcos Aurélio Lima de Oliveira (Cgcre) and Mr. Eric Janssens (EOQ) to be members of the Financial Oversight Committee for the complete years of 2013 and 2014, and confirmed the nomination of Mr. de Oliveira as the Chair of the Financial Oversight Committee. Note: Ms Leena Tikkanen (FINAS) will complete her term as a member of the FOC at the end of 2013.

The General Assembly expressed its appreciation to Dr Axel Mangelsdorf of BAM (Germany) for his presentation on Exploring Business Benefits of Internationally Recognised Certification.

Resolutions - The General Assembly confirmed the Resolutions adopted by IAF and ILAC at the 12th IAF-ILAC Joint General Assembly as listed in Annex 1 to this document.

The General Assembly expressed its appreciation for the warm and gracious hospitality and excellent meeting facilities provided by CGCRE (General Coordination for Accreditation) as the host of the IAF Twenty Sixth Annual Meetings, held in October 2012, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The General Assembly particularly thanked CGCRE for providing delegates with an insight to the vibrant life style that Rio de Janeiro residents experience.