First, I would like to thank the conference organizers for inviting me to speak on a subject so critical for global economies and the quality infrastructure community.

1. The Importance of Adopting International Standards for Economic Development
Esteemed colleagues,
First,I wouldlike to thank the conference organizers forinvitingme to speakon a subjectso
critical for global economies and the quality infrastructure community.
Itiscommonlyunderstood andadmitted thatcurrentlywe are livinginaglobalized,diversified
worldwithstrong interrelationships,interactions andlinks that have the potential togreatly
affect economies on a worldwide scale.
Today’s companies are facing fundamental changes in the way they do business. Strategies
and business practices are continuously being evaluated to determine how to maintainand
increase market share, reduce costs, increase productivity and safety, and achieve and
maintain a competitive edge.
In a modernworldwithrapidlygrowinginternational trade,competitionislessbasedonthe
availabilityof natural resources,geographical advantages,andlowerlaborcostsandmore on
factors relatedtocompanies’abilitytopenetrate andcompete innew markets.One of these
factors is the ability to demonstrate the quality and safety of goods and services as well as
compliance withinternationalstandardsintargetmarkets.Consumersare the ultimate judges
of the quality of goods and services, so products need to comply with specifications that
buyersset,andtheyneedtobe provennot harmful to human health and the environment.
To thisrespect,nowadays,itiswidelyacceptedthatinternational standardsfostereconomic
growthanddevelopment.The impactof the adoptionof internationalstandardsoneconomic
developmentbecomesprominentconsidering the outcomesof numerousstudiesconducted
by global organizations such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the United Nations
Industrial DevelopmentOrganization (UNIDO),the UnitedNationsEconomicCommissionfor
Europe (UNECE), the Organizationfor Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and
others, including international and national standardization bodies.
But let’s elaborate on how these effects are actually realized.
Standards are documented consensus agreements containing safety or technical
specifications or other specific criteria to be used consistently as rules, guidelines, or
definitions of characteristics for materials, products, processes and services. They provide
uniformity which allows worldwide acceptance and application of a product or material.
A standard isdefinedby ISO, the International OrganizationforStandardization,andIEC,the
International Electrotechnical Commission, as 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
optimumdegree of orderin a givencontext.Standardsshouldbe basedon the consolidated
results of science, technology, and experience and aimed at the promotion of optimum
community benefits.
Accordingtothe WorldTrade OrganizationAgreementonTechnical BarrierstoTrade (TBT),a
standardisdefinedasadocumentapprovedbyarecognizedbody,thatprovides,forcommon
and repeated use, rules, guidelines or characteristics for products or related processes and

2. production methods, with which compliance is not mandatory. Such a document may also
deal with terminology, symbols, packaging, marking and labelling requirements.
This is a narrower definition of the term ‘‘standard’’ considering that it relates to products
only, because Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement is limited to products and their
processes. While the ISO and IEC definition is much wider in its application since it includes
systems and services as well within its general terminology of ‘‘activities or their results’’.
The activity of establishing, with regard to actual or potential problems, provisions for
common and repeated use, aimed at the achievement of the optimum degree of order in a
given context is defined as standardization. Standardization consists in particular of the
processesneededtoformulate,issue,andimplementstandardstoimprove the suitabilityof
products, processes, and services for their intended purposes by enhancing prevention of
barriers to trade and facilitating technological cooperation.
Standardization is deemed the first of the three fundamental elements of quality
infrastructure,the othertwobeingmetrologyandaccreditation.Qualityinfrastructurecanbe
determinedas the systemcomprisingthe organizations(publicand private) togetherwiththe
policies, relevant legal and regulatory framework, and practices needed to support and
enhance the quality,safety,andenvironmental soundnessof goods,services,andprocesses.
Standards are recommendations. Interested parties or organizations apply them on a
voluntary basis. Users decide for themselves which standards are relevant and whether the
benefits warrant the cost of implementation. Standards can be part of a contractual
obligation,ortheycanbe implementedonthe strengthof marketperceptions.Standardsmay
be incorporatedintotechnical regulationsimposedbyregulatoryandstatutoryauthorities,or
referenced therein.
There are many diverse standardsinuse,rangingfromelectricalandwaterindustrytechnical
standards, to information technology standards, to mechanical engineering standards, to
health and safety standards, to management related standards. Standards cover most areas
of economic activity and come in a variety of forms.
Standardization may serve the needs of governments,businesses,and consumers in several
ways, all of which significantly impact, either directly or indirectly, economic growth.
Governments may use standardization as a mechanism to support relevant trade and
industrial policiesandensureenforcementof mandatorytechnical regulations.A recentstudy
in the United Kingdom found that more than 6 billion pounds in additional U.K. exports per
year could be attributed to standards. Businesses may be supported by standardization to
limitthe costsof production,increaseproductivityandbecome more competitive indomestic
and foreign markets. Use of standards helps companies to adopt new technologies and
innovationintheirproductionprocesses.A surveyof Britishcompaniesfoundthatmore than
60 percentof productand processinnovationsusedstandardsasa source of informationfor
innovationand37.4 percentof productivitygrowthcanbe attributedtothe use of standards.
Consumers are benefited too, because standardization comprises an essential part of and
highlycontributestothe appliedmechanisms forensuringpublichealthandsafetyaswell as
environmental andconsumerprotection. Technical regulationsplayanimportantrole inthis
regard, together with effective enforcement mechanisms such as market surveillance to
ensure that fraudulent and counterfeit products are not traded in the marketplace.

3. International standardsare importantinthe globaleconomy.The WorldTrade Organization’s
Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) confers a high level of relevance on
international standards.Forinstance,itisstronglyadvisedthatnational standardsshouldbe
the adoptionsof international standards,andnational technical regulationsshouldbe based
oninternationalstandards.International standardsare developed,publishedandrevisedwith
full cognizance of the principles detailed by the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on
Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), namely, transparency, openness, impartiality and
consensus, effectiveness and relevance, coherence, consideration of the development
dimension,stakeholderengagement,due process,andnational adoptionorimplementation
of international or regional standards.
International standards facilitate access to global markets and world trade by providing a
commontechnical language fortradingpartnersthroughoutthe world.Forbusinessesactive
globally, these standardsare major criteria for assessing the suitability of potential business
partners and suppliers. They also ensure the compatibility and quality of products and
services.The resultsof studiesonthe economicbenefitsof standardizationhave shownthat
84 percent of manufacturing companies in Germany, for example, use European and
international standards to gain access to global markets.
One particular reason for standards’ general importance to trade is that they help lower
nontariff trade barriers, thus promoting global trade. In the World Trade Organization’s
Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement,this is codified in that (a) member states are obliged
to adoptinternational standardsasnational standardswithaslittle change aspossible, while
withdrawinganynational standardsof similarscope, and (b) technical regulationsshouldbe
based on international standards. In many regional trade agreements, similar notions are
demanded of member states.
Byrecommendingitsmemberstouse internationalstandardsratherthanregional ornational
ones whenever possible, as stipulated in the Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement, the
World Trade Organization promotes the application of such standards by manufacturers,
trade organizations, purchasers, consumers, testing laboratories, authorities and other
interestedparties. Since these standards generally reflect the best experience of industry,
researchers, consumers and regulators worldwide,and cover common needs in a variety of
countries,theyconstitute one of the importantbasesforthe removal of technical barriersto
trade.
International standardscanplayavital role inwhatconcerns accessingandcontrollingglobal
value chains. Leading companies in global value chains make the key decisions over how
production is organized, who participates, and how (that is the conditions of participation,
suchasnumberanddeliverytimesof outputs,price,quality,andotherrequirements).Leading
companies enforce these conditions through standards and their implementation. These
demands are imposed not only to first-tier suppliers, but also to second- and lower-tier
suppliers, to ensure compliance throughout the value chain.
Tothisregard,enteringand participatinginglobal valuechainsistiedtoincreasingcompliance
witha varietyof technical requirements,containedinbothvoluntarystandardsandtechnical
regulations, covering both product and processes. Demonstrable compliance (for example,
inspection,testing,andcertificationsupportedbyaccreditationandmetrology) withproduct
andprocessstandards signalstoleadingcompanies andtheirbuyersthecapabilityof suppliers

4. down the value chain. Without such demonstration of compliance, the opportunities of
getting involved in such global value chains are limited.
Standards and their implementation, demonstrated through trustworthy quality
infrastructure services,can have adecisiveimpact onthe abilityof acompany toreduce costs
in all areas of business – from purchasing, production, and sale to research & development,
quality assurance, environmental protection, and occupational health and safety – in
diverging ways and by several means.
Standardscontainfundamental knowledge whichcanbe usedbyresearch & developmentas
a basis for further technological advancements. Standards can help rationalize production,
increase productivity and boost efficiency. Standardizing interfaces can lead to lower
transactioncostsby enhancingcompatibility.Compatibleproductsandsystemsare ingreater
demand and thus more successful on the market. Standards is a key driver for continuous
quality improvements, which are essential for good customer relations. Standards ensure
safety,whichnotonly enhancescustomertrust,but alsoreducesliability. Itshouldbe noted
that safety is an integral part of quality, comprising an implied aspect of quality.
Compliance withrelevantstandardsisincreasinglyrequiredtomeetsocialandenvironmental
criteria for both the product and production processes. Consumerism, particularly in high-
income countries,isincreasinglytiedtosocialandenvironmentalnorms, standardsonhealth,
safety, ethics, fair trade, labor practices. Sustainability has become too important. Leading
companies have responded to these pressures and demand the same from their first- and
lower-tier suppliers in the value chain.In this respect, relevant standards are used in a self-
regulatory mode by the leading companies in global value chains throughout their value
chains to convey their responsible practices to customers and critics.
Companiesmay be furtherbenefitedandenjoyeconomicgrowthbyactivelytakingpartinthe
development of standardization.In this regard, companies can help shape these technical
rules to better reflect their own interests. At the same time, safety interests such as
environmental andconsumerprotectionand occupational healthare givendueconsideration.
Plusgettinginvolvedinthestandardsdevelopmentprocessbringscompaniesindirectcontact
with specialists in other areas – and with potential competitors. Such companies,therefore,
gain new knowledge ahead of time, and working together with those shaping research &
development helps them bring new technologies to market earlier than those that do not.
Given all the above, it is concludedthat an efficientand effective standards ecosystemis an
essential ingredient for competitiveness, access to new markets, productivity improvement,
innovation of new products, and environmental protection, as well as health and safety of
populations.In short, standards are not only key to a country’s growth, but also essential in
creating a safer, cleaner, and more equitable and well-integrated world.
Thank you for your attention.