ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board Acquires FQS
Ben Perillo, president of Forensic Quality Services; John
Knappenberger, president and CEO of the ANSI-ASQ National
Accreditation Board, and Keith Greenaway, ACLASS vice
president met in Milwaukee to formalize the acquisition of
FQS.
The ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board has acquired Forensic
Quality Services, Inc. (FQS), expanding the company's range of
conformity assessment services to include accreditation of forensic
testing agencies.
FQS has provided ISO/IEC 17025 accreditations to forensic
testing agencies in the United States longer than any other
organization.
"The ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board will maintain the FQS
brand because we recognize its enduring value," said John J.
Knappenberger, president and CEO of the ANSI-ASQ National
Accreditation Board. "We will also retain FQS's employees because
their knowledge and expertise in the forensics field are
unmatched."
With the acquisition of FQS, the ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation
Board builds on its services, which include accreditation of
calibration and testing laboratories, inspection bodies, reference
material producers, proficiency testing providers, and
certification bodies that audit and issue certificates to ISO 9001,
ISO 14001, and other management systems standards.
"The FQS brand benefits by joining forces with the ANSI-ASQ
National Accreditation Board's family of brands," said Ben Perillo,
president of FQS. "The combined resources of ANAB, ACLASS, ANSI,
ASQ - and now FQS - provide a full range of customer-focused
conformity assessment services in the United States and
elsewhere."
FQS is internationally recognized by the International
Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and the Inter-American
Accreditation Cooperation (IAAC) through the signing of
multilateral recognition arrangements that facilitate the
acceptance of test data between FQS-accredited laboratories and the
international community.
"With this acquisition, the ANSI-ASQ National
Accreditation Board becomes the leader for independent third-party
accreditation of forensic testing agencies," said Keith Greenaway,
ACLASS vice president. "Current FQS customers will experience no
change in accreditation status and no interruption to their
accreditation cycles. Their FQS accreditations will maintain the
same international recognition they have today."
Forensic Quality Services is a not-for-profit membership
organization incorporated in Florida. FQS accredited the first U.S.
forensic testing agency to ISO/IEC 17025 and the first U.S.
forensic crime laboratory to ISO/IEC 17025. FQS has been recognized
by the National Cooperation for Laboratory Accreditation since
2004, and is a signatory of the multilateral recognition
arrangements of ILAC and IAAC. FQS is recognized by the Federal
Bureau of Investigations to perform QAS DNA assessment and by the
National Institute of Justice as a provider. In addition to its
accreditation services, FQS offers a variety of training, workshops
and academic programs. For more information about FQS, visit www.forquality.org.