FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 1999-08-25

Canadians to participate in setting new Canadian Standards Strategy

OTTAWA - The Standards Council of Canada is inviting Canadians to help shape a new standards strategy - a national master plan to enhance Canadian competitiveness and promote Canada's social and economic well-being in the global economy.

This public consultation is an important opportunity for Canadians to affect the way standards are developed and implemented. 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.

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.

A draft of the new strategy has been posted on the Standards Council's Web site at www.scc.ca. Interested parties are invited to review the draft and provide feedback by October 15th, 1999. The strategy is expected to be finalized in December and unveiled in January 2000.

The draft strategy focuses on a number of strategic directions, including:

•     Adopting international standards and guidelines for conformity assessment and actively pursuing arrangements such as mutual recognition agreements;
•     Using voluntary standards as the basis for regulations wherever possible; and
•     Actively promoting the benefits of standards among decision-makers and members of the Canadian public.

The Standards Council of Canada is the federal Crown corporation that oversees the 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 250 organizations involved in assessing conformity to standards.

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