Europe 1992 The Implications of Market Integration for R & D-Intensive Firms (1991) / Chapter Skim
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EC Standards Setting, Certification, and Testing Processes: Roles and Implications for U.S. R&D-Intensive Industries
EC Standards Setting, Certification, and Testing Processes: Roles and Implications for U.S. R&D-Intensive Industries
Pages 76-102
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From page 76... ...
The first speaker is Jean-Pierre Contzen, who is director general of the Joint Research Center of the European Community.
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From page 77... ...
The acceleration of the technological innovation process, the subsequent requirement for shortened innovation cycles, the increased cost of developing new products and processes, the growing importance of high-technology products to ensure industrial competitiveness, the prospect of the European Single Market, the need for eliminating nontariff barriers at the international level—all have brought new requirements for standards during the premarket phase, particularly in high-tech areas. This in turn necessitates early linkage between research and standards-making .
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From page 78... ...
Furthermore, standardization during the premarket phase creates a momentum for new products and processes, by promoting the right degree of consensus for wider use of innovative concepts; it ensures quicker and wider development of new technologies, accelerates market penetrations, and gives more assurance of end-use performance. One should note at this juncture the advent of a new element in the technological innovation process, in the penetration of new processes or products into the market that is, the element of societal acceptance, beyond strictly technical and economic factors.
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From page 79... ...
Therefore, there is clearly a strong connection between the rapid introduction of new materials on the market and the early existence of standards of performance. In advanced ceramics at the European level prenormative work has been organized since 1987 and involves four components: pressure from alert industries in close conjunction with Commission services, in this case the Joint Research Center; organizations concerned with the definition and agreements on standards, regrouped in CEN; laboratories and test houses providing testing, calibration, and analytical services, verification of conformity to standards, validation, and certification; and, finally, public and private research organizations and research laboratories from industry.
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From page 80... ...
implemented by the public and private sectors and, finally, to the formulation of agreed published standards. After three years of effort and adjustment, one might claim that the system works in a coherent fashion and that collaboration has been achieved between researchers and standards makers.
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From page 81... ...
It is essentially a supportive body aimed at providing the enabling technical base and sophisticated information that will accelerate the production of internationally agreed standards. The technical working areas of VAMAS are listed below: TABLE 1 Wear test methods Surface chemical analysis Ceramics Polymer blends Polymer composites Superconducting and cryogenic structural materials Hot salt corrosion Weld characteristics Materials data banks Creep-crack growth Efficient test procedures for polymer properties Low-cycle fatigue Technical basis for an unified classification system for advanced ceramics As one can see, the scope of the collaboration embraces all agreed aspects of enabling science and technology data bases, test methods, design methods, and materials technology which are required as precursors to the
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From page 82... ...
, and consolidation of existing views and priorities for standardization action. To get a view on who participates in VAMAS, Tables 2 and 3 give as examples the participants in round-robin tests on superconducting materials and cryogenic structural materials.
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From page 83... ...
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (United Kingdom) United States Brookhaven National Laboratory Francis Bitter National Magnetic Laboratory Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory NIST University of Wisconsin Japan Electrotechnical Laboratory Furukawa Electric Company JAERI Hitachi Kobe Steel NRIM Osaka University Tohoku University Toshiba Atominstitut der Osterreichischen Imoversotatem (Austria)
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From page 84... ...
United States Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Materials Research Engineering, Inc. NIST Teledyne Engineering Service Japan Hitachi JAERI Kawasaki Steel Kobe Steel Nippon Kokan Nippon Steel NRIM Tohoku University Toshiba University of Tokyo KfK (Federal Republic of Germany)
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From page 85... ...
The New Approach directives set out what are called essential requirements, written in general terms, relating to health, safety, or environmental matters, consumer protection, and so on fundamental safety requirements where government has a legitimate interest. Those essential requirements are described in the New Approach directives in a very general way.
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From page 86... ...
I want to answer a question I am often asked and that is: We have national standards, we have international standards. Why do we need another level between, of European standards?
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From page 87... ...
We have 18 national standards bodies forming CEN, and 18 national electrotechnical committees forming CENELEC; they correspond to ISO and IEC in the international arena. I should explain the way these bodies work together in CEN and in CENELEC.
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From page 88... ...
These are tough disciplines, which do not apply generally to international work, but they do apply to this particular international work, and, as I said earlier, it does give very powerful support to the implementation of international standards. Before I leave standardization, I would like to give you an indication of how the sheer volume of work has escalated following adoption of the New Approach.
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From page 89... ...
Everyone will face the same requirements whether they are European countries or non-European countries. In the regulated sectors, where directives applyabout 15 percent of the products used in the Community will be affected here products will have to meet the essential requirements described in the European standards, and conformity assessment procedures will be geared to the particular product.
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From page 90... ...
Behind it all, though, is the idea that industry should be driving this activity. The Commission has been the catalyst, the procedures I have described provide the mechanism, but the driving force should be industry in Europe and globally.
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From page 91... ...
Obviously, the broader objectives are two: elimination of trade barriers so we have free movement of goods, services, and products and development of a single market, perhaps somewhat similar to the one that exists in the 50 U.S. states.
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From page 92... ...
Realistically it is not necessary, not practical, to have identical systems in the EC and the United States. What is perhaps more important is that we have access on the same basis and that we go through the same requirements and same conformity assessment procedures as those applied to the European manufacturers.
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From page 93... ...
Lastly, the CE mark may not be acceptable in all cases, as we mentioned. Some directives require involvement of notified bodies, quality assessment procedures, and factory inspections.
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On January 1, 1989, Mr. Peralta was named president of the American National Standards Institute, a very central body in that it coordinates the voluntary standards system in the United States.
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From page 95... ...
The rapid pace of technological development, intense competition, and increased global markets, which I discussed earlier, are causing unparalleled change within the international standards community. Managing this change effectively will require creative leadership and a tolerance for complexity.
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From page 96... ...
Thus, through ANSI's membership in ISO and IEC, the United States has a significant opportunity to influence standards development in the EC. The ANSI federation's membership in ISO and IEC provides the umbrella for the United States to play an effective role in international standards development.
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From page 97... ...
groups with a material interest about the access agreements and is seeking to test the effectiveness of the implementation. As a long-time player in international standards activities, ANSI feels that the EC 92 efforts of the Community should not be viewed as fortress Europe, but neither should the will of the European Community be underestimated.
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From page 98... ...
Moreover, we are very pleased that in the Council of Ministers' resolution dated January 21, 1989, the EC appears to modify a hard-line position taken earlier regarding testing and certification. We are hopeful of a Council decision that would have the effect of allowing non-European private sector organizations to negotiate the acceptance of their testing and certification by European notified bodies, as long as the European notified body maintained the legal responsibility for that certification.
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From page 99... ...
Second, there is more work that needs to be done with regard to voting and funding relevancy in ISO and IEC and with regard to equal access and mutual recognition in testing and certification. These represent areas of specific focus for the ANSI federation in 1990.
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From page 100... ...
It has been stated several times here that the Europeans are going to "wherever possible" I think is the line that was used- settle on the international standard if there is one. Yet in one area that I am familiar with, the telecommunications area, we are already seeing some European Community standards being set up that differ from the CCITT standards, which have normally been the international standards.
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From page 101... ...
MR. PERALTA: The only thing I would add to Ivan's comment, is that ANSI is not involved in the CCITT aspect of international standards; that is a treaty organization.
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From page 102... ...
Their views can influence the national delegations, which come together to agree on European standards. So they do have a rather direct route, and both Manny and I forgot to mention that in our presentations.
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