IAAC held the XXX General Assembly annual meetings in Antigua, Guatemala, from August 12-19, 2022.  This is the first General Assembly that IAAC carried out in a hybrid way with the largest participation in IAAC history if we count the face-to-face and virtual participants. A total of 120 representatives of accreditation bodies and conformity assessment organizations in the region attended. It was the first IAAC meeting held in person since March 2019 when the pandemic began more than 2 years ago. The Certification, Inspection and Laboratories subcommittee members held discussions about technical topics of interest for the region.  The IAAC MLA Group reviewed the remote peer evaluation reports and the MLA Committee discussed ways to improve the MLA process and the extension of new IAAC MLA scopes.

On August 19, 2022, the General Assembly members unanimously elected Andrea Melo of Cgcre, Brazil, as the new IAAC Chair for the term 2022-2024.  Andrea held the position of IAAC Vice-Chair for the past four years, so she is very familiar with the region’s needs, strengths and challenges.  Andrea has been actively involved in the development of key policies and the IAAC Strategic Plan.  In previous years, Andrea served as Vice-Chair of the IAAC Technical Committee and IAAC Certification Bodies Subcommittee Chair.

At the international level, Andrea was the IAAC representative at the IAF Technical Committee and at Working Groups related to certification. Until last year, Andrea served as the IAF Development Support Committee Chair.  Andrea has also been a member of the ISO/CASCO Working Groups 29, 30, and 42 on behalf of her Accreditation Body.

Andrea is based in Rio de Janeiro and has been the Head of Division for the Development of Accreditation Programs at the General Accreditation Coordination (Cgcre) of Brazil, since 2010.  Ms. Melo joined Cgcre in 2002 and has held numerous positions of increasing responsibility.  Ms. Melo is a Doctor of Science in Physics from the State University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

As IAAC Chair, Andrea is committed to leading IAAC and its members to the forefront of the international accreditation arena in support of IAF and ILAC, as an agile international driver of Multilateral Recognition Arrangements that bolster a superior Quality Infrastructure in the Americas and improve confidence in accredited Conformity Assessment in the region.

From left to right: Ferney Chaparro, IAAC Technical Secretary; Andrea Melo, IAAC Chair; Sharonmae Shirley, IAAC Vice-Chair; Victor Gandy, IAAC Executive Secretary