FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 1997-02-03

Canadian to head international environmental standards committee

Dr. Margaret G. Kerr, senior vice-president for environment, ethics and quality at Northern Telecom (Nortel) Ltd., has been named chair of an international committee developing a comprehensive series of voluntary standards for environmental management. The appointment was announced today by the Standards Council of Canada (SCC).

Dr. Kerr will chair the technical committee on environmental management (TC 207) of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). TC 207 is responsible for the ISO 14000 series of environmental management standards, which includes guidelines for environmental management systems, auditing, site assessments, labeling and life-cycle assessment. The first five standards in the series were published last fall.

Dr. Kerr has been active for many years in the fields of occupational health and safety, ethics and the environment. She was a founding member of the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy, and president of the Industry Cooperative for Ozone Layer Protection.

Her appointment is just one example of Canada's contribution to the development of international environmental standards. SCC, the Canadian member body of ISO, has held the secretariat of TC 207 since the committee was first established in 1993. The Canadian Standards Association (CSA) administers the secretariat on SCC's behalf. George Connell, the outgoing chair, is also Canadian.

ISO brings together volunteers from about 120 countries to develop international standards for a wide range of products, services and systems. SCC is a federal Crown corporation whose mandate is to promote efficient and effective voluntary standardization in Canada, and to coordinate Canada's participation in international standardization. CSA is an independent, not-for-profit organization that operates nationally and internationally. It is a leader in the field of standards development, product certification, quality and environmental management systems registration, and information products.

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