GUIDING PRINCIPLES IN STANDARDIZATION

• Standards should be needed and wanted (market relevance)

• Standards should be used

• Standards should be impartial

• Standards should be planned

• Standards should not be duplicated

• Standards should not create unnecessary barriers to trade

STANDARDS PREPARATION PROCESS

Standards are prepared on the basis of a project approach consisting of five stages, namely:

• The proposal stage where a study is carried out to determine the socio-economic benefits of producing the requested standard.

• The preparatory stage where a Technical Committee is convened consisting of all parties interested in the project and a search is done for information in the form of other international/regional/foreign national standards to be considered as a basis for the national standard project.

• The committee stage where the drafting of standards is carried out during technical committee meetings. Issues are resolved through consensus i.e. agreement from all parties involved. Technical Committee meetings are held at the Association’s Headquarters in Borrowdale. The Committee comes up with drafts, which are circulated to committee members for perusal, comment and discussion. Finally, the committee comes up with a final draft.

• Final draft stage where the draft is circulated for at least 60 days not only to Technical Committee members but also to Standards Council members, other national standards bodies and any other organizations and persons who have indicated interest in the project. Once approved by all interested parties, the standard is then published.

• Publication stage, once published, standards can be amended or revised to keep them up to date with technological developments.

STANDARDS DEVELOPMENT PROJECT INITIATION

Work to prepare and publish a standard is initiated after a proposal has been made by any stakeholder thus indicating the need for a standard. The SAZ can also identify projects in consultation with the relevant national stakeholders. 

All standards project proposers have to complete a project application form (external) and when submitted, a project application form (internal) is completed by SAZ in order to evaluate the project. Click here download project proposal form .

_{4General Information     4Target users of standards     4Why get involved?     4Developing standards   4Selection criteria...}