National Standards Committee Meetings Held in Bangladesh and India
National standards committee meetings were held this month in Bangladesh and India. These national standards committees are part of the work of ISO Technical Committee 285. In addition to standards activities at the international level, participating country stakeholders met to discuss their country’s contributions to TC 285 and to align the international standards with national adaptation and adoption of standards.
Strengthening Participation
At the meetings in Dhaka and Delhi, standards organizations (Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution, and the Bureau of Indian Standards), testing centers, researchers, enterprises and other stakeholders discussed the new drafts being developed in the TC 285 Working Groups. The participants also discussed plans to share their recommendations with the international community through the Bangladesh and India experts on the Working Groups. Despite the challenges of working remotely across multiple time zones, the experts who attended understood that direct and active participation in the Working Groups is the best way to influence the standards efforts.
For some Bangladeshi and Indian manufacturers, this was their first time joining a standards meeting. Because standards will have broad impacts their businesses, they were enthusiastic to learn about the progress so far and how they can contribute in the future.
International and National Standards Coordination
International standards meetings are an opportunity to resolve technical challenges, maximize harmony in technology evaluation across borders, and provide flexibility to local goals and conditions. The experts who attended also talked about how to benefit from the discussions, create a pathway to national standards adoption, and drive the market towards better and better technologies over time.