FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 1998-08-31

Canadian Standards Strategy to support competitiveness, advance societal interests

AUGUST 31, 1998, OTTAWA -- The Standards Council of Canada today joined with representatives from business, government, and non-governmental organizations to begin developing the country's first Canadian Standards Strategy.

The strategy will be a national master plan to provide guidance on the standardization measures and priorities necessary to enhance Canada's economic, social, and environmental well-being.

"Recent troubles in the global marketplace underscore the need for Canada to position itself as a leader in value-added sectors of the new economy. These are precisely the sectors where standards are most influential and where a Canadian Standards Strategy will have the greatest benefit," said John Manley, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for the Standards Council.

Businesses looking for rapid, global market penetration are increasingly relying on standards to demonstrate that they meet marketplace requirements for technological interoperability, performance, quality and environmental management. For example, an estimated 160,000 companies worldwide are now registered to the ISO 9000 series of quality management standards.

Governments have found standards to be invaluable in liberalizing trade and reforming regulatory regimes.  Non-governmental interest groups have found they can affect change by ensuring that their concerns are incorporated into standards.

Fueling the growing prominence of standardization is the fact that the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) promote the use of standards developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). These two organizations have published thousands of standards in fields ranging from information technology to terminology.

In Canada, the Standards Council oversees the country's National Standards System, an effort involving some 15,000 Canadians who take part in the development of Canadian and international standards, as well as over 200 organizations involved in conformity assessment - the determination of conformity to a standard.

"The strength of Canada's standardization effort is its extraordinary level of collaborative spirit. The Canadian Standards Strategy will help harness and direct this energy towards critical issues such as sustainable development, trade and health and safety," said Linda Lusby, chair of the Standards Council of Canada.

The Canadian Standards Strategy is being developed by a Stakeholders Advisory Council. The  membership of this council includes, in addition to the chair: five representatives from industry, three representatives from government (one federal, two provincial/territorial), three representatives from non-governmental organizations, four representatives from the National Standards System (one each from Standards Development Organizations, Conformity Assessment Organizations, Testing Organizations and Registration Organizations) and one SCC staff representative. In addition, the Standards Council's executive director is an ex-officio member.

At it first meeting, on Monday, August 31, the advisory council examined the current state of standardization in Canada and discussed a background paper that focused on the following issues:

• International trade - improving market access by harmonizing standards and conformity assessment requirements with key trading partners;
• International standardization activities - enhancing Canadian interests through strategic participation;
• Domestic standardization activities - responding to process concerns and reorganizing and renewing the infrastructure; and
• Role of Canadian governments - developing a more strategic relationship with standards activities.

The goal is to unveil the strategy in the fall of 1999. More information on the Canadian Standards Strategy is available from the Standards Council's World Wide Web site at http://www.scc.ca, by e-mail at [email protected] or by phoning (613) 238-3222.

The Standards Council of Canada is a Crown corporation with the mandate to promote efficient and effective standardization and is the Canadian member body of ISO and IEC.

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