Global Harmonization of International Standards International Congress of
Global Harmonization of International Standards • International Congress of Mechanical Engineering Societies • September 13, 2005 • Richard E. Feigel, Ph. D • President, ASME Slide
The Road to Standardization Earliest known standards • 7000 B. C. : cylindrical Stones Used for Units of Weight • King Henry I of England standardized the ancient “yard” as exact length of his forearm 2
The Road to Standardization Modern era: Rapid Technological Advancement and Commercialization of Equipment • Standards setting needed to capture technical knowledge, foster public safety, reliability, efficiency, interchangeability, consistency across borders, and serve as basis for laws/regulatory requirements • 1884 -First ASME Performance Test Code-Steam Boilers • 1902 -First ASME Standard for Machine Screw Threads • 1915 -First ASME Boiler Code 3
Principles for Development of Standards to meet Societal and Market Needs In successful standards processes • Decisions are reached through consensus among those affected • Participation is open to all affected interests • Balance is maintained among competing interests • The process is transparent -information on the process and progress is directly available 4
Principles for Development of Standards to meet Societal and Market Needs In successful standards processes • Due process assures that all views will be considered and that appeals are possible • The process is flexible, allowing the use of different methodologies to meet the needs of different technology and product sectors • The process is timely; purely administrative matters do not slow down the work • Standards activities are coherent, avoiding overlap or conflict 5
Principles for Development of Standards to meet Societal and Market Needs successful standards processes yield the right results • Standards are relevant, meeting agreed criteria and satisfying real needs by providing added value • Standards are responsive to the real world; they use available, current technology and do not unnecessarily invalidate existing products or processes • Standards are performance-based, specifying essential characteristics rather than detailed designs 6
Industry Expectations: Consensus Standards • Market Access • Product Acceptance without redundant testing or conformity assessment requirements • Stability-common set of rules for production • Flexibility-standards development process that keeps current with technical innovation • Fairness and Impartiality-international standards should not distort the global market or favor one region over another 7
Industry Expectations: Consensus Standards • Global and Technical Relevance-meets market needs of nations and regions and technically sound • Standards Process is open to all interests, is transparent and provides due process for complaints to be heard • Standards reflect accepted business practice 8
Additional Purchaser Expectations: Consensus Standards • • Safety in Construction Product Choice Economic Property and Casualty Insurance 9
Regulator Expectations: Consensus Standards • Meet public safety, health and environmental objectives • Confidence in the Integrity of the product or service • Support mutual recognition essential to trade 10 10
WTO-Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade • Encourages development of international standards • Prohibits unnecessary obstacles to trade • Recognizes important contributions of standards and conformity assessment • Encourages technology transfer to developing countries 11 11
Interpretations of Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement • Performance Based Definition of International Standards – Focus on use-not process – Widely used – Due Process – Non-discriminatory • Participation in ISO Standards – Encourage Performance Based Standards where appropriate – Provide U. S. input to Prescriptive Standards – Copyrights 12 12
ASME Global Initiatives • Concept of Life Cycle Management • Risk Based Technologies-Inspection, Management • Acceptance of International Materials • Metrication • Stronger public/private partnering with government agencies 13 13
ASME Global Initiatives • Increasing International Membership on ASME Standards Development Committees – International Delegate • allows representatives of organized groups of interested experts focused on a specific technical area to participate in ASME standards development • May perform ASME committee work on Internet via ASME web-based tool – International Interest Review Group • Allows any national regulatory agency worldwide accepting BPV Code as a means of meeting their regulatory requirements to appoint a representative to participate in BPV Code development 14 14
Expected Outcomes • First to market with high quality and globally relevant standards • Maintain ASME conformity assessment marks as the marks for international trade • Minimize legal exposure for ASME 15 15
- Slides: 15