The 2026 Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated (Global ACI) Annual Meetings will bring the international accreditation and quality infrastructure community together in Panama City from 19–26 October for eight days of collaboration, technical discussion and knowledge sharing.
Alongside Global ACI’s committee meetings and General Assembly, this year’s programme will provide opportunities to explore how accreditation and the wider quality infrastructure contribute to international trade, economic growth and confidence across borders.
Two sessions will bring these themes into particular focus: a side event examining the role of quality infrastructure and international recognition in facilitating trade, and a workshop exploring consistency across global conformity assessment schemes under the Global ACI Multilateral Recognition Arrangement (MRA).
Building confidence for trade and economic growth
On 24 October, Global ACI, together with the Ministry of Trade and Commerce of Panama, will host the side event Quality Infrastructure, International Recognition and Trade Facilitation: Building Confidence for Economic Growth.
Bringing together perspectives from government, industry, international organisations and the quality infrastructure community, the session will explore how standards, accreditation, conformity assessment and metrology work together to support trade and economic growth.
Discussions will consider how an effective quality infrastructure can help reduce technical barriers to trade, facilitate imports and exports, and provide businesses, regulators and consumers with greater confidence in products and services moving across borders.
Speakers will include Brahim Houla (Chair, Global ACI), Javier Francisco Fernández Rodríguez (International Technical Advisor, UNIDO), Cristina Draghici (Director, Conformity Assessment and Consumer Matters, ISO), Silvia Fernández de Marucci (Business Development Manager, IME), Carlos McLean Williams (Civil Engineer, ACP / CNA) and Warren Merkel (QICA Representative / Chair, IAAC). Javier Arias (Director, CENAMEP AIP) will serve as moderator.
Supporting consistency across global schemes
On 25 October, the workshop Driving Consistency across Global Schemes under the Global ACI MRA will explore how Global ACI can strengthen consistency in the evaluation and endorsement of conformity assessment schemes.
The session will consider the forthcoming ISO/IEC 17067, review Global ACI-TECH-3-019 and provide an update on improvements to the Global ACI scheme endorsement process. Discussions will focus on ensuring that Global ACI’s approach remains consistent, harmonised and responsive to the growing number and diversity of schemes seeking endorsement under the MRA.
Together, the side event and workshop highlight two closely connected aspects of Global ACI’s work: demonstrating the wider value of international recognition and strengthening consistency in the schemes and processes that support it.
A week of international collaboration
The two sessions form part of a broader programme of technical and governance meetings, culminating in the Global ACI General Assembly on 26 October.
Throughout the week, Global ACI Members will advance work across committees, exchange experiences from different regions, discuss development support activities and consider opportunities to strengthen stakeholder engagement and cooperation across the international accreditation community.
Hosted at the Hilton Panama, the 2026 Annual Meetings will provide an important opportunity for Global ACI’s international community to meet in person, strengthen connections and advance its shared work to support confidence in accredited conformity assessment results across borders.
