The latest picture of the ILAC General Assembly summarises many years of activity. The first conference was in October 1977 in Copenhagen. Since then, many interested countries have joined us, and we have added to the list of international partners and MoU signatories from many diverse organisations whose activities include the solid foundations of conformity assessment. The last joint conference in the format known as ILAC was a special moment – an end and a beginning at the same time.

Starting in January 2026, all activities, collaborations and initiatives carried out in the past by IAF and ILAC will take place within the framework of the Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated.

We are all required to learn to LEAD the change at the national, regional and international levels. Lead, Learn, Educate, and have the Agility and Dare to Develop and make changes.

We should all teach the National, Regional and International markets that from now on the international accreditation infrastructures have a ONE-STOP SHOP. We will speak a uniform and precise language, with full transparency with all members, and close cooperation in all changes.

A personal thank you to all the volunteers who took the initiative over the last six years in which I served as Chair, for leading the implementation of the necessary changes. Thank you also to the members of the Executive Committee, to the current secretariat and especially to the previous secretariat, who led us with a strong hand and brought about management infrastructure that made the change possible. A special thank you to ILAC Vice-Chair Maribel Lopez; without her support we would not have been able to do all of this, and to all members of ILAC for their engagement and trust over the last six years.

The next meetings of the Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated will be held in Prague, Czech Republic from 20 – 26 April 2026.