New Delhi, October 15, 2013: Prof K.V. Thomas, Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution has called upon the Industry and Trade to adopt higher standards of products and services as standards are strategic tools that reduce costs of business and increase productivity. Conformity to international standards helps companies, especially those from developing country like ours to access new markets emerging in a free and fair global trade. He said this while delivering presidential address at “World Standards Day” seminar on “International Standards Ensure Positive Change” here today. Prof Thomas said that international standards bring in technological benefits and harmonize technical specifications of products and services. It ultimately helps the industry to become more efficient to break down technical barriers towards participation in international trade.
Following is the text of Food Minister’s address:
“I have great pleasure to be present here at this august gathering at the seminar on “International Standards Ensure Positive Change,” being organized by the Bureau of Indian Standards on the occasion of celebration of World Standards Day today. I understand that each year on 14 October, the members of the International Electro-technical Commission (IEC), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) celebrate World Standards Day, which is a means of paying tribute to the collaborative efforts of the thousands of experts world-wide who develop the ‘voluntary technical agreements’ that are published as international standards. I am happy that in harmony with these three sister organizations (IEC, ISO, ITU) that develop International Standards for the world, the BIS has also been celebrating the World Standards Day every year. This year the subject chosen for the celebration of World Standards Day puts its emphasis on a need towards positive change that can only come about through acceptance and adaptation of international standards in our business practices. The choice for the seminar could not have come at a more appropriate time for India with the global markets opening up creating enabling business environments that would spur our economic growth – especially when seen in the context of India expected to be among the top three economies of the world by 2030. I congratulate the Department of Consumer Affairs and the BIS on their joint efforts in taking the challenge to be seen in tune with global efforts aimed at standards that share innovation with all the world’s countries. These efforts, I am sure, will ultimately lead to our country developing a sustainable industrial infrastructure that should make India a top economic power.
A cursory glance of the aim of international bodies operating in global standardization activities seems to be a well-intentioned move – of helping developing countries avoid “re-inventing the wheel,” by outlining best business practices to follow that foster shared socio-economic advance. The positive change they work towards encompass critical social, economic and environmental areas that have great relevance to survival of business enterprises such as energy utilities, energy efficiency, transportation, management systems which do not lose sight of consumers that are differently-abled, climate change, health care, information and communication technology.
For business, standards are strategic tools that reduce costs by minimizing waste and errors and increase productivity. A conformity to international standards help companies, especially those from developing country like ours, access new markets emerging in a free and fair global trade. This is so because international standards bring in technological benefits and harmonize technical specifications of products and services making our industry more efficient to be able to break down technical barriers towards participation in international trade. Successful adaptation to international standards of products is imperative to ensure interoperability of different components and products, which, as we find increasingly today, are manufactured for reasons of cost cutting by different manufacturers in different countries. Needless to say, India is among developing countries favored the most by industries from around the world for its abundance of intelligence and affordable labor for part-manufacture of its products. Therefore, we have a greater reason to come forward to adapt our business practices to be in sync with international standards.
We are proud that the BIS, as a founder-member of the ISO, has been taking part in international standardization activities as a vibrant contributor of its policy making bodies. Apart from participating in various technical committees of the ISO, the BIS also holds the Secretariat responsibilities of Hydrometric and Leather Technical Committees, and in the Sub-Committee on Spices and Condiments. The BIS also had Memorandum of Understanding signed with a number of countries in the field standardization, certification and quality assurance on metrology and has also been organizing training programmes for developing countries on standardization. The BIS is also actively involved in the activities of the IEC, with participation status on a number of its Technical Committees. The result is that Indian electro-technical standards are harmonized with the IEC standards wherever they exist to the extent possible in order to facilitate adoption of IEC standards by all segments of industry and business. I am happy to note that the BIS is hosting the prestigious 77th IEC General meeting 2013 at New Delhi during this month with participation from about 100 countries that would deliberate on current issues and future directions and strategies for the IEC. I am happy that we have not lagged behind in our efforts in stepping ahead in tune with international efforts at standardization of our products and services.
Business and organizations do not operate in a vacuum and have to strike a balance between economy of the business and the welfare of society and environment in which they operate. Conscious of the need to ensure that organizations operate in a socially-responsible way the Government of India has recently announced a policy which makes it mandatory for large organizations to dedicate a fixed percentage of their earnings towards fulfilling corporate social obligations. I am glad to note that an International Standard ISO 26000 ‘Social Accountability at the work place – Requirements’ has been developed in which India as an ISO member, through the BIS, had played an active role, and has also adopted it as an Indian Standard.
Efficient energy utilization helps organizations save money as well as conserve resources and tackle climate change. ISO 50001 ‘Energy Management Systems – Requirements’, supports organizations in all sectors to use energy more efficiently through the development and compliance of an Energy Management System (EnMS). The BIS has come forward in adopting this standard, and the Indian industry is also applying the guidelines given in the standard to demonstrate that it manages energy efficiently.
An inherent strength of the standardization process is that the standards are created by the stakeholders. Getting involved in this process can ensure significant advantages to business enterprises. I am happy to note that the BIS is formulating Indian Standards in line with national priorities in a time-bound manner. The BIS has formulated over 19,000 standards on diverse subjects ranging from food, chemicals, engineering and textiles to high technology areas of electronics with a focus on their conformity to international standards. The fact that these standards are formulated by consensus through a network of technical committees comprising different stakeholders like industry, research and development organizations, consumers, testing laboratories, government, etc ensures that these standards take into account the needs of all stakeholders and can, therefore, be implemented by all sections of society without any hindrance.
Indian Standards are being developed with special attention to multidisciplinary areas such as health and safety, energy conservation, environmental protection, rural development, accessibility of persons with disabilities, etc all of which play a role in providing a better quality of life and driving towards positive change. On the issue of human health and safety, one concern is on the availability of food that is hygienic and free of contaminants so that the food is safe for consumption. The BIS has done extensive work in this area and brought out a number of standards covering food safety requirements for street food vendors (IS 16066), good retail management practices across food supply chain (IS 16019), hygienic practices applicable throughout food supply chain (IS 16020) and on effective manufacturing practices in food processing (IS 16021). Another important area is consumption of energy. In our pursuit for better quality of life, we are increasingly consuming more and more electric energy, resulting in energy crisis and the need for energy efficient equipments and practices to tackle the problem. The National Electric Code and the National Lighting Code, apart from various other Indian Standards on electrical products and equipments are relevant in improving electrical efficiency and in energy conservation. Effective management of water, which is one of our precious natural resources, contributes to preservation of the environment. I am glad to note that the BIS is leading the international standardization work in this area and holds the Secretariat of the ISO Technical Committee (TC 113) on Hydrometrics engaged in development of standards related to hydrometric measurements.
International trade is a key component of economic development. We are today a global economy and globalization provides us the world market to exploit. World trade is guided by free and transparent trade objectives of the World Trade Organization. In the context of international trade and WTO-TBT agreement, participation in international standardization work is very important so as to take strategic positions on various issues that will be in the best interests of our country. Realizing the importance, the Government of India has been funding the BIS under Five Year Plan Scheme for ‘National System for Standardization’ in intensifying India’s participation in such meetings on international standardization. I hope that the BIS would make the most use of the scheme and play a bigger and useful role in International standardization activities.
Our achievements so far have given us the confidence to say that we have been enacting our role, insofar as our responsibility towards international standardization activities is concerned, in a very systematic and fruitful manner. I am happy to have joined you on this occasion of celebration of World Standards Day 2013 and hope that the deliberations that we are going to have here in the technical session would help us have a better understanding of the theme of this year’s World Standards Day celebrations “International Standards Ensure Positive Change,” so that we could contribute our mite towards international standardization processes in a significant way”. — CCI Newswire
