ANAB's Reinaldo Figueiredo Appointed as Chair of ISO Committee on Conformity Assessment (CASCO)

NEW YORK, Nov. 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Reinaldo Figueiredo, senior program director of product, process, and services accreditation programs at the ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB), a wholly owned subsidiary of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), has been confirmed as chair of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Committee on Conformity Assessment (ISO/CASCO). Mr. Figueiredo will succeed Alister Dalrymple of the Association Française de Normalization (AFNOR) on January 1, 2020, for the 2020 to 2021 term. ANSI is the U.S. member body to ISO.

Created in 1970 to develop standards and address issues related to conformity assessment, CASCO has 107 participating national member bodies and 34 observer members. It functions by developing harmonized and internationally accepted policies on conformity assessment, and liaising with industry sectors and intergovernmental agencies on conformity assessment activities.

In his role as CASCO chair, Mr. Figueiredo's responsibilities will include guiding the strategic direction of the committee and achieving the committee's main objectives. He will also serve as the convenor of the ISO/CASCO Coordination Policy Committee (CPC), the Strategic Alliance and Regulator Group (STAR), and as chair of the annual CASCO plenary. Additionally, Mr. Figueiredo, together with the ISO Secretary-General and CASCO secretary, will be a member of the IAF (International Accreditation Forum) – ILAC (International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation) – ISO Joint Working Group.

"On behalf of the U.S. standards and conformity assessment communities, congratulations to Reinaldo on this prestigious appointment," said S. Joe Bhatia, ANSI president and CEO. "We look forward to the many excellent contributions he will make to further conformity assessment activities in the international arena."

Since 1994, Mr. Figueiredo has dedicated his expertise to a variety of international conformity assessment activities, playing an active role in ISO/CASCO working groups, including participating in the revision of ISO/IEC Guide 65, General requirements for bodies operating product certification systems, and many other ISO/CASCO standards (ISO/IEC 17000, ISO/IEC 17011, ISO/IEC 17032). In 1998, he initiated a United States Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) program enabling IAF and ILAC to manage pre-peer evaluation in support of accreditation bodies in developing countries.

Mr. Figueiredo joined ANSI in 1999, as the manager of the Institute's conformity assessment activities. In 2001, he was promoted to program director for product certification accreditation. His business development acumen and technical knowledge helped ANSI to achieve the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) National Voluntary Conformity Assessment Systems (NVCASE) recognition as an accreditation body for telecommunication certification bodies.

In his current role as a senior program director at the ANSI National Accreditation Board, he manages operations, systems enhancements, and fiscal administration for multiple accreditation programs. He works with nearly 100 conformity assessment bodies, and he has garnered recognition by multiple government agencies and sector scheme owners. He has helped the ANSI National Accreditation Board to achieve signatory status for IAF and PAC Multilateral Recognition Arrangements (MLAs) — significant milestones for the credibility of ANSI National Accreditation Board accreditation.

Most recently, in June 2019, Mr. Figueiredo was elected to serve on the Executive Committee of the Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (APAC). APAC's members include accreditation bodies and other organizations with an interest in accredited conformity assessment results. He formally assumed the position at the inaugural APAC annual meetings earlier this year, and will serve a three-year term.

Mr. Figueiredo holds a degree in metallurgical engineering from the University of Santos Dumont in Brazil. He launched his career as a standards specialist at INMETRO in 1982 where he provided critical input into the creation of the IAF, PAC, and the Inter American Accreditation Cooperation (IAAC). He also served as the first IAAC chair, and in that role, as an IAF and ILAC Regional Member representing Latin America in regional cooperation activities.

About ANSI
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) coordinates the U.S. voluntary standards and conformity assessment system, serving the diverse interests of more than 270,000 companies and organizations and 30 million professionals worldwide. ANSI is the official U.S. representative to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and, via the U.S. National Committee, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).

About ANAB
The ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB) is the largest multi-disciplinary ISO/IEC 17011 accreditation body in North America, with comprehensive signatory status across the multilateral recognition arrangements of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC). The ANAB accreditation portfolio includes management systems certification bodies, calibration and testing labs, product certification bodies, personnel credentialing organizations, forensic test and calibration service providers, inspection bodies, police crime units, greenhouse gas validation and verification bodies, reference material producers, and proficiency test providers.

About CASCO
CASCO is the ISO committee that works on issues relating to conformity assessment. CASCO develops policy and publishes standards related to conformity assessment; it does not perform conformity assessment activities. CASCO's main objectives are to:

• Study means of assessing the conformity of products, processes, services, and management systems to appropriate standards or other technical specifications;
• Prepare standards and guides relating to the practice of testing, inspection, and certification of products, processes, and services, and to the assessment of management systems, testing laboratories, inspection, certification, and accreditation bodies, and their operation and acceptance; and
• Promote mutual recognition and acceptance of national and regional conformity assessment systems, and the appropriate use of International Standards for testing, inspection, certification, assessment, and related purposes.

SOURCE American National Standards Institute

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