GSTC has changed the name to “Assurance Panel” from the former name of “Accreditation Panel” of its internal but independent body that plays the important decision-making roles for the Recognition of Standards (whereby a set of standards voluntarily requests GSTC to mark their standard as compliant with the GSTC Criteria) and to oversee the management of accreditation of Certification Bodies.

GSTC’s partner ASI (Assurance Services International) provides accreditation service on behalf of GSTC, while GSTC’s internal Assurance Panel and Secretariat set guidelines for that accreditation program. This is simply a name change, without change to function, to better reflect the functions of the Panel.