Pacific Northern, Inc. announces completion of ISO 9001:2000 certification process - January 2004

Pacific Northern, Inc. announced today that it has successfully completed the new ISO 9001:2000 certification for its manufacturing facility in China.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies from some 100 countries. It is a non-governmental organization established in 1947 with a mission to promote the development of standardization in the world with the view to facilitate the international exchange of goods and services and to develop cooperation in the spheres of intellectual, scientific, technological and economic activity.

As a part of the ISO 9000 family of standards, ISO 9001:2000 represents a set of standards for quality management systems assessment that is accepted around the world. It is named "Quality System — Model for quality assurance in design/development, production, installation and servicing" and applies to organizations of any size or description. It is a modernized version of the original ISO 9001 certification that was reviewed and updated by the International Organization for Standardization in 2000.

After assessing the detailed analysis of performance of ISO 9000-certified organizations, Pacific Northern, Inc. made the important decision to go through the registration and certification process for its manufacturing facility to become ISO 9001:2000 compliant. Over 10 years of research by a distinguished group of business school academics provided evidence that companies with ISO 9000 certifications experienced dramatic reductions in customer complaints and increased demand for their products and services. Other benefits included better working conditions and increased market share.

"We view our achievement of an ISO 9001:2000 certification as an indicator of the all-around high standards of our organization's performance," said Mr. Eddie Lee, the CEO of Pacific Northern, Inc. "This certification demonstrates our commitment to the clients in the quality of our products and services."