ISO Certification METAFIX, INC. ACHIEVES PRESTIGIOUS ISO 9002 CERTIFICATION MONTREAL, QUEBEC, JUNE 1998 - METAFIX, INC. a leading manufacturer, worldwide distributor and service organization of silver recovery and photochemical minimization systems serving the photo-imaging industry, has received ISO-9002 certification following a rigorous registration audit conducted by the firm SGS International. The ISO-9002 level accreditation is awarded to companies that meet quality standards set forth by the International Standards Organization (ISO). ISO-9002 covers all areas of manufacturing, purchasing, installation, training and service. Furthermore, the quality system provides a standard method of self-assessment and internal audits to help prevent or correct problems that may arise in the future. According to John Riviere, President of Metafix, Inc., "This is a significant milestone in the history of our company. ISO-9002 certification will indicate to our customers around the world that we are on the leading edge with our quality system and our products, while providing us with internal benefits as well." The individual responsible for the ISO-9002 implementation at Metafix, Inc., Gordon Bathurst, Vice President Operations and ISO Management Representative said, "We are proud of the effort of all of Metafix's employees. They have worked extremely hard over the past two years to achieve this goal. This achievement demonstrates our commitment to remaining the leader in our industry." The International Standards Organization (ISO), was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, promotes the development of international technical standards and the activities that demonstrate compliance with these standards. ISO is composed of member bodies from more than 90 nations, including ANSI in the U.S. and the Canadian Standards Association in Canada. The following information comes from the ISO website: "ISO is the International Organization for Standardization. It is made up of national standards institutes from countries large and small, industrialized and developing, in all regions of the world. ISO develops voluntary technical standards which add value to all types of business operations.They contribute to making the development, manufacturing and supply of products and services more efficient, safer and cleaner. They make trade between countries easier and fairer. ISO standards also serve to safeguard consumers, and users in general of products and services Ð as well as to make their lives simpler. ISO develops only those standards which are required by the market. This work is carried out by experts on loan from industrial, technical and business sectors which have asked for the standards, and which subsequently put them to use. These experts may be joined by others with relevant knowledge, such as representatives of government agencies and testing laboratories. Published under the designation of “Inter-national Standards”, ISO standards represent an international consensus on the “state of the art” in the technology concerned. The vast majority of ISO standards are highly specific to a particular product, material or process. However, both ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 are known as generic management system standards. Generic means that the same standards can be applied to any organization, large or small, whatever its product —independent of whether its “product” is actually a service —in any sector of activity, and whether it is a business enterprise, a public administration, or a government department. ISO 9000 is primarily concerned with quality management. The definition of “quality” in ISO 9000 refers to all those features of a product or a service which are required by the customer. Quality management means what the organization does to ensure that its products conform to the customer’s requirements.   Our ISO certification is the result of teamwork and a commitment to high standards of quality assurance. This certification represents the dedication we have to our customers and the quality of our products.