Ann Arbor, MI - NSF International today announced the appointment of Koen Bontinck as managing director of NSF's European office in Brussels, Belgium. The recent appointment of Mr. Bontinck will help meet the public health and safety needs of clients in the European Union while also expanding NSF's presence in new international markets.

Headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, NSF International certifies products and writes standards to help protect food, water, air and consumer goods. As the head of NSF's European operations, Mr. Bontinck brings more than 10 years of management experience in global operations to NSF, which conducts business in more than 80 countries.

At the Brussels office, Mr. Bontinck will oversee all aspects of NSF International's operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa to deliver localized public health and safety solutions to clients in these regions. Leading the development and execution of international business strategies, he will focus on providing key services that impact water quality and treatment, food safety, dietary supplement testing and certification and ISO registration (ISO 9001 and ISO 14001).

Mr. Bontinck will report directly to NSF's President and Chief Executive Officer Kevan P. Lawlor. "To help us extend our leadership position in public health and safety around the world, we intend to focus locally within individual nations to meet the unique needs of industries and consumers," said Mr. Lawlor. "With Mr. Bontinck's successful track record in global management and business development, he is the ideal person to help us create and execute a strategy that will raise the visibility for NSF overseas to help regulators, consumers and industry further understand the important role of the NSF Mark."

By leveraging his skills from his previous management positions for the Tauw Group and for Bureau Veritas, Mr. Bontinck will focus on forging expanded and new relationships with clients, governmental agencies, trade associations and other standards organizations. He will also participate in global corporate planning, programming and policy setting for NSF International. Throughout his career, Mr. Bontinck has held several senior level positions. He served as managing director in charge of overall performance improvement for subsidiaries in Belgium and France at the Tauw Group, a Dutch multi-national environmental consulting company offering environmental, civil engineering and laboratory services worldwide. Mr.Bontinck was also managing director for the Belgian subsidiary of
Bureau Veritas Quality International (BVQI), a large multinational technical service provider offering certification and inspection services in over 100 countries. Mr. Bontinck has a master's degree in safety engineering from the Free University (VUB) in Brussels (BE) and an MSc degree in electromechanical engineering from the Catholic University (KUL) of Leuven (BE).

About NSF International: NSF International, an independent, not-for-profit organization, helps protect you by certifying products and writing standards for food, water, air and consumer goods (www.nsf.org <http://www.nsf.org>). Founded in 1944, NSF is committed to protecting public health and safety worldwide. NSF is a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Food and Water Safety and Indoor Environment.Additional services include safety audits for the food and water industries, management systems registrations delivered through NSF International Strategic Registrations, Ltd., organic certification provided by Quality Assurance International and education through the NSF Center for Public Health Education.

CONTACT:
Greta Houlahan
Phone: (800) NSF-MARK Ext: 5723
Email: houlahan@nsf.org