AMMAN -- Latest international standards and guides on conformity assessment activities will be highlighted at a workshop here on Sunday.
Hosted by The Jordan Institute for Standards and Metrology (JISM), the April 9-10 ISO Regional Workshop on Conformity Assessment is coordinated with the UN Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and the Arab Industrial Development and Mining Organisation (AIDMO)
The workshop is an opportunity to improve understanding of what is expected by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreements in relation to conformity assessment procedures.
Among such procedures are suppliers' declarations of conformity (SDoC), management systems and product certification, and methods for providing added confidence in conformity assessment results such as accreditation, peer assessment and mutual recognition arrangements.
Conformity assessment is an activity whereby a product, process, system, person or body is evaluated against specific standard requirements. It covers activities such as calibration, testing, inspection and certification, as well as the accreditation of conformity assessment bodies.
Prominent local, Arab and international speakers from ISO, JISM, UNIDO and AIDMO, along with other concerned organisations and the private sectors will contribute with their insights and experiences on the latest trends in standards and quality.
Topics of the workshop include an array of issues such as the importance of conformity assessment in sustainable development and trade, inspection systems, product certification, peer assessment and accreditation-related issues, among others.
The workshop will also be an opportunity to welcome ISO Secretary General Alan Bryden, who arrived in Amman last week on his first ever visit to Jordan to take part in the workshop, which will be held at Le Royal Hotel.
Bryden, who took up his post at ISO on March 1, 2003, had been director general of the French national standards body, AFNOR. He was a cofounder of the European Federation of Measurement, Testing and Analytical Laboratories and served as its first president from 1990 to 1996. He also chaired the Laboratories Committee of ILAC (International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation).
The International Standards Organisation (ISO) is a network of the national standards institutes of 156 countries with a central secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that coordinates the system.
JISM is a full-fledged member of ISO since 2002.
It is a non-governmental organisation: Its members are not, as is the case in the United Nations system, delegations of national governments. Nevertheless, ISO occupies a special position between the public and private sectors.
By Mahmoud Al Abed
© Jordan Times 2006
