Geneva 4 May 1999
ECE/TRAD/99/8
HOW
INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS AFFECT GLOBAL TRADE
CEOs of
Three International Organizations Meet with UN
Ambassadors Friday to Examine Current Issues
On Friday, May 7, the Chief Executive
Officers of three international organizations, Yves Berthelot,
Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for
Europe (UN/ECE), Aharon Amit, General Secretary of the
International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and Lawrence D.
Eicher, Secretary-General of the International Organization for
Standardization (ISO), meet the Geneva-based ambassadors to the
UN to examine how international standards affect global trade.
Standards are developed by consensus among
trading partners and serve as a lingua franca for trade. One such
standard is the UN/ECE's European Agreement concerning the Carriage of
Dangerous Goods by Road, which 33 countries have signed. This
Agreement helps to avoid accidents that could cause serious
health and environmental damages.
The activities of ISO cover a wide range of
subjects. For instance, ISO issues the ISO 9000 series standards
for quality management. Over 200,000 ISO 9000 certificates have
already been issued worldwide.
IEC is responsible for all international
standards in electronics, electricity and related fields, from
domestic electrical appliances to standards in multimedia and
power generation.
Failing to provide the global standards
needed by the trading partners will hamper the development of a
free and fair global trading system. The automotive industry, for
instance, has over 80 different standards for the various stages
of the manufacturing process, running the gamut from Australian
railways= standards to standards for Brazilian fuels.
The international standardization process
is open to all countries. It provides a framework for producing
the most suitable products and services for all sectors of
government, business, industry and the consumer. The three
organizations, UN/ECE, IEC and ISO are working towards further
improving this framework so as to respond even more effectively
to clearly defined business requirements and facilitate closer
collaboration between all countries for implementing standards
worldwide.
For further information, please
contact:
Hans Hansell, Chief,
UN/CEFACT secretariat
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Tel: (+41 22) 917 24 57
Fax: (+41 22) 917 00 37
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://www.unece.org/cefact