|
WORLD STANDARDS DAY – 14
OCTOBER 2001 |
|
|
Maseru, |
Every year, October 14 is celebrated in many countries as World Standards Day. This is to commemorate the birth of the International Organization for Standardization, also known as ISO. It was on 14 October 1946, when delegates from twenty-five countries, meeting in London, decided to create a new international organization “the object of which would be to facilitate the international coordination and unification of industrial standards.” The object of ISO has, since, been reviewed to that of promoting the development of standardization and related activities in order to facilitate international exchange of goods and services and to develop cooperation in the spheres of intellectual, scientific, technological and economic activity. The aim of World Standards Day is to raise awareness on the importance of international standardization to the world economy and to promote global awareness on the role standards play in helping meet the needs of business, industry, government and consumers. World Standards Day was first celebrated in 1970 by ISO. In 1988, the International Elecro-technical Commission (IEC), which is responsible for international standards for electrical, electronic and related technologies, became a partner in this event. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) became the third partner in 1993. ITU is responsible for standardization in the field of telecommunications. Together, these three organizations are responsible for the bulk of international standards. Each year, leaders of the three
organizations decide on a theme for the World Standards Day and correspondingly
release a joint message on that theme. For this year, the theme is “The
Environment and Standards: close together”. In the past there were themes such
as Global Trade (1992), Consumers (1994), Standards in Daily Life (1998) and
Peace and Prosperity (2000). They believe that environmental standards may be approached in a three dimensional manner. In the first dimension are those standards that address specific questions such as sampling, testing and analysis of air, water or soil. The second dimension consists of other standards that cover the multitude of physical products and contain information or recommendations on environmental aspects such as recycling and waste disposal. Standards on environmental management are considered to occupy a third and strategic dimension, and offer a structure, methodology and practical tools to help organizations to manage impact of their activities on the environment. The leaders note that
international standards are based on consensus and offer globally applicable
solutions, making them a cost effective means of technology transfer as less
developed countries can take advantage of the knowledge and experience gained in
more developed economies. That is another example of sustainable development.
Because of their voluntary nature and consensus basis, international standards
on environment can be adopted and used strategically for self-regulation before
legal requirements are introduced. ISO has long recognized that environmental problems are, by their nature, international and can only be solved at international level. But, they also require that all laws, regulations and standards concerning air and water should repose on the same scientific and technological base. Such a base is provided by international standards on environment because of their consensus basis. This underscores the fact that the environment and standards are, truly, together. To mark the World Standards Day,
the Standards and Quality Assurance Section of the Ministry of Industry, Trade
and Marketing, as the ISO Member Body for Lesotho, announces the launching of a
comprehensive awareness campaign on quality and related issues. Specifically,
the Section will introduce a column on quality and standards entitled
Competitiveness Through Quality. Along with other activities such as radio and
television programmes, the column will seek to create awareness on the role of
quality and standards in development, to promote adoption of quality and
standards within the business community and to cultivate a culture of quality in
all sectors of our society. It will further affirm that quality culture and
attitudes are a cornerstone for competitiveness and hence sustained economic
development. |