What are standards? Development, use & benefits

Transcript:What are standards? Development, use & benefits:
What are standards? Development, use & benefits explained Jeffrey G. Weiss Tyler G. Welti Partner Counsel Venable LLP Venable LLP Background on the development and use of standards 2 Background on standards What are standards? ISO/IEC A “document, established by consensus and approved by a recognized body, that provides, for common and repeated use, rules, guidelines or characteristics for activities or their results, aimed at the achievement of the optimum degree of order in a given context” Office of Management and Budget’s Circular A-119 Common and repeated use of rules, conditions, guidelines or characteristics for products / practices; The definition of terms; classification of components; delineation of procedures; specification of dimensions, materials, performance, designs, or operations; measurement of quality and quantity in describing materials, processes, products, systems, services, or practices; test methods and sampling procedures; formats for information and communication exchange; or descriptions of fit and measurements of size or strength; and Terminology, symbols, packaging, marking or labeling requirements as they apply to a product, process, or production method. 3 Background on standards What types of standards are there? Performance standard Stated in terms of required results with criteria for verifying compliance, and does not specify required methods for achieving the results Design or prescriptive standard Specifies design requirements, such as materials to be used, how a requirement is to be achieved, or how an item is to be made Non-consensus standard Includes industry and company standards and “government-unique standards” that are not developed through a full consensus process Voluntary consensus standard Developed in a specifically defined open and fair environment with general agreement by stakeholders (OMB Circular A-119, NTTAA) 4 Background on standards International standards and world trade The WTO’s Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) exists to ensure technical regulations, standards, and conformity assessment procedures do not create unnecessary obstacles to international trade The TBT Agreement recognizes that “international standards” can improve the efficiency of production and international trade International standards, which are a subset of voluntary consensus standards, represent global consensus on a solution to an issue Two important WTO documents WTO Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade’s six principles for international standards development Annex 3 of the WTO/TBT Agreement – the Code of Good Practice for the Preparation, Adoption and Application of Standards 5 Background on standards Who developed ISO 30500? ISO is a non-governmental standard-setting body based in Geneva, Switzerland Comprised of the national