Tuning in to harmony at the 27th PASC Meeting

2004-05-31

It's official: “'N Sync” is a global phenomenon. No, not the band. The concept has become an ideal to achieve. On the international standards stage, regional bodies like the Pacific Area Standards Congress (PASC) are recognizing synchronicity, or harmonization, as the next logical step in improving standardization. And what better place to represent “synchronicity” than Vancouver, BC.

Vancouver is where the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) hosted the 27th PASC meeting from May 24-27, 2004. Canada's natural harmony—massive mountains and raging rivers—converge with Vancouver metropolitan streets to form one of the most majestic urban settings in the world.

For the third time in 30 years, representatives from Pacific Rim countries gathered in Vancouver to discuss standardization from a regional perspective. As if inspired by the natural balance of their surroundings, participants singled out the harmonization of stakeholder relations as a key topic for discussion. The strengthening of relationships (between developed and developing countries; consumers, regulators and standards bodies) was noted as essential to opening the doors of the future.

The SCC chose the Morris J. Wosk Asia Pacific Hall at Simon Fraser University as the meeting venue. The unique circular seating design epitomizes discussion among equals, further contributing to the idea of harmonization. As a regional forum for countries bordering the Pacific, PASC promotes the value of standardization in trade and commerce by emphasizing active participation in the standards community and social development through a standards-related framework.

For four days, the 54 PASC member country representatives effectively demonstrated that cooperation and sharing are the cornerstones of the standards community. Contributions by various members of the PASC family formed an exciting array of meeting sessions, presentations, and workshops.

SCC Chairman Hugh Krentz kicked the event into gear on May 24. Acting as meeting Chairman, he highlighted the importance of maximizing the benefits of diversity in order to “reach shared objectives” and ensure that “regional considerations are taken into account at the international standards table”.

Among the deliberations, continued communication between stakeholders emerged as one of the vehicles that will help ensure that the economically and socio-politically diverse PASC members stay on the same wavelength. Most of the 28 resolutions which came out of the meeting encompassed this idea. For example, the regional body noted the importance of forging ties between consumers and standards bodies. It also stressed the necessity of sharing knowledge and experiences with COPOLCO—the Committee on Consumer Policy of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO)—through regular status reports and consultation. To that end, PASC agreed its consumer representatives would benefit from a meeting in Toronto, ON in May 2005, which will coincide with the SCC-hosted COPOLCO meeting.

The realization that goals and activities of the standards community converge also led PASC to recommend greater cooperation between ISO and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). Members of PASC were asked to prepare reports on the involvement of regulators in their standardization activities.

In step with the topic of converging interests, presenter Dr. Les Eastwood of the American National Institute for Standardization (ANSI) pointed out the common interests of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has with both ISO and IEC. He suggested that PASC start examining the issues that affect all three bodies. Michio Sakurada of the Japanese Industrial Standards Committee (JISC) discussed the use of international standards in conformity assessment and asked PASC member bodies to complete a survey on the use of conformity assessment documents by regulators.

The presentations may have set the meeting in motion, but the peak was reached with detailed workshop activities which explored the role of standards in supporting good regulatory practice and twinning/mentoring. Twinning is crucial to harmonization because it gives developing countries a voice in standardization activities, enabling them to take a leadership role by sharing a committee secretariat with a developed country.

The conference was a hit from more than one vantage point. The evaluation results demonstrated that the participants were more than pleased with the organizational details of the conference, including the venue and staff assistance. More than half of the 53 survey respondents thought the choice of location was excellent; fifteen rated it as very good, and 11 described it as good. Two thirds of the survey participants thought highly of SCC's on-site registration services and support. More importantly, the program content and networking opportunities struck the right chord with the respondents, making the resources they spent on the conference worthwhile. Eighty per cent thought the content was good or excellent, while a pleasing 96 per cent enjoyed the networking opportunities offered.

The success extended, but was not limited to SCC involvement. Tipping its hat to the “outstanding service over two and a half years”, PASC endorsed the continued role of Standards New Zealand (SNZ) as Secretary.

Having hosted another successful conference, the SCC now looks forward to participating in the 28th PASC meeting, which will be held from June 19-24, 2005 in Nagoya, Japan.

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