IAAC Contributes to Global Strategic Dialogue on Accreditation and Conformity Assessment at ANAB’s ACAS

January, 2026

The Inter-American Accreditation Cooperation (IAAC) participated in the Accreditation & Conformity Assessment Symposium (ACAS), organized by ANAB and held on January 19–20, 2026, in Orlando, Florida (United States). ACAS is a global forum designed to bring together the conformity assessment community—including accreditation bodies, conformity assessment bodies, regulators, industry, and standards developers—to discuss strategic challenges and opportunities facing quality infrastructure worldwide.

IAAC Chair Andrea Melo participated as a panelist in the session titled “Interface of Conformity Assessment in the EU and the US”, together with:
• Matt Gantley, CEO, United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS)
• Jennifer Stradtman, Senior Director, Technical Barriers to Trade, Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR)
• Hanane Taidi, Director General, TIC Council

IAAC was also represented by its Vice-Chair, Warren Merkel, who moderated the panel in his capacity as ANAB Vice President, Policy.

In her remarks, Andrea Melo shared IAAC’s perspective, emphasizing that while US and EU conformity assessment systems reflect different legal and regulatory traditions, they pursue the same fundamental objective: providing reliable assurance of conformity. She highlighted that these models are not opposed but complementary, and that internationally recognized accreditation serves as a common technical denominator enabling interoperability and avoiding unnecessary duplication and costs for industry.

Discussions also addressed emerging regulatory initiatives such as the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), as well as the challenges of alignment between developed and emerging economies, underscoring the importance of international cooperation, capacity building, and reliance on accreditation to ensure credibility and acceptance of conformity assessment results.

The leadership of Doug Leonard, Executive Director of ANAB, was highlighted for convening this important strategic dialogue and bringing together the international community around a collaborative, technically robust, and trust-based approach that supports trade, innovation, and public policy.

IAAC’s participation in ACAS reaffirms its commitment to collaborative leadership, respect for the work of its members and stakeholders, and the strengthening of a global accreditation system grounded in cooperation, technical competence, and mutual trust.