INTERNSHIP ON INTERNATIONAL STANDARDIZATION: TOOLS FOR PARTICIPATION
COPANT Training in Santiago, Chile, May 2018
From May 15 to 17, 2018, the second version of the COPANT Internship on Participation in International Standardization was held in Santiago, Chile. This event was organized together with the National Institute of Standardization of Chile, INN, under the auspices of COPANT and PTB.
The workshop was facilitated by the expert Mario Wittner, and 17 delegates participated from 14 National Standards Organizations from the following countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, St. Lucia and St. Kitts & Nevis. The following experts also supported through virtual presentations: María Aurora Agulló (IRAM-Argentina), Daniel Trillos (ICONTEC-Colombia), Pilar Pérez Paradelo (UNE-Spain) and Mercedes Mira (CEN-Brussels).
The objective of the workshop program was to provide the necessary tools and experiences to the normalizers of the National Standards Bodies (NSB) members of COPANT, to improve their ability to participate in international standardization processes effectively and efficiently.
The participation of Latin American and Caribbean NSBs in international standardization is still insufficient and, fundamentally, centered on the ISO Technical Committees of a horizontal nature: ISO/TC176 (ISO 9000), ISO/TC 207 (ISO 14000), ISO/TC 34 (ISO 22000), ISO/CASCO and other management systems.
In addition, there is very little integration to the technical management bodies of ISO such as TMB (Technical Management Board) and as coordinators in the Technical Committees, Sub-Committees and Working Groups. The reasons are varied, through economic capacity, technical skills and English proficiency.
The Program has been defined in a way that is balanced and formative for the participants, consisting of the presentation of:
- The framework of international standardization;
- The WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade;
- The Principles for international standardization;
- Representative’s self-assessments on compliance with the Code of Good Practice in Standardization (Annex 3 WTO / TBT).
- The relationship between quality and competitiveness, with data from the WEF (World Economic Forum).
- Anticipation for changes in 2018 of the ISO/IEC Directives: Part 1 – for technical work in the International Committees and Part 2 – for the drafting and structure of International Standards.
- Experiences of the 14 members of COPANT on their policies for:
- achieve the integration of the Stakeholders in their standardization programs and
- its international participation through the National Mirror Committees of the corresponding ISO Committees.
The Program also included:
- the regional experiences of standardization through the presentation of the CEN,
- the Spanish translation activities of the ISO standards by the STTF led by UNE – Spain, where all the Spanish-speaking standardization bodies, ABNT and ANSI participate,
- the activities of the COPANT Focal Groups, presented by INN, and
- the participation in ISO/TC 207 of Environmental Management, through communications via Web Ex with ICONTEC and IRAM.
Source: Report by Mario Wittner (Facilitator) – Photograph by Jimena Pimentel (INN)
