Standards, Conformity Assessment, and Trade Into the 21st Century (1995) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction
1 Introduction
Pages 9-22
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From page 9... ...
Social customswaving or shaking hands, for example are informal standards. There is no codified, formal, "standard handshake" to which we refer for guidance when we meet someone; yet most Americans know and follow the standard.
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From page 10... ...
The manufacturer also applies performance criteria to internal operations, as part of a continuous process of managing and improving the quality of his or her own products. Use of formal standards describing quality management systems, such as the International Organization for Standardization's ISO 9000 international standards series or the Department of Commerce's Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award criteria, is increasing rapidly in this country, with consequences that are considered in this report.3 These examples demonstrate clearly that standards take many forms and serve many purposes.
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From page 11... ...
If there were no standard, the consumer would have to invest time and effort in researching and trying out various batteries, or pay extra costs for expert advice and assistance. By contrast, in product sectors with less complete standardizationsuch as personal computer software-the task of identifying, buying, and installing compatible products can be time-consuming and expensive.6 The buyer-seller interaction is not a feature of the consumer marketplace alone.
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12 In In to In o o o to o ._ or .
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First popularized by Eli Whitney in producing muskets for the Continental Army during the American Revolution, manufacturing standardization may have reached a peak in the 1920s at Ford's River Rouge automobile plant.~° Standardization of parts and processes enables efficiency-increasing measures such as repetitive production, reduced inventories, and flexibility in substituting components on the assembly line. Production of standardized goods in great quantities for a uniform marketplace brings about significant economies of scale.
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From page 15... ...
In the late twentieth century, standardization of processes may be replacing standardization of final products as a key enabler of large-scale manufacturing efficiency.~5 Compatibility When products are used together, the standards defining their interfaces are important. For example, the widespread standard for stereo equipment interconnection makes it possible for a compact disk player made by one firm and an amplifier made by another to work together.
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a private, international standards-developing organization in Geneva, Switzerland, with membership including national standards organizations from most countries of the worlds It is also reflected in the Department of Commerce's Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award criteria. These standards furnish objective criteria for evaluating aspects of a firm's quality assurance processes.
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From page 17... ...
Conformity assessment is the comprehensive term for procedures by which products and processes are evaluated and determined to conform to particular standards. As distinct from standards development, conformity assessment may be thought of as a central aspect of the use of standards.
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Products that pose potential health, safety, or environmental risks are subject to many more regulatory standards than are relatively riskless products. This report does not identify a discrete quantity representing the total economic impact of standards.
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This variation may, in some cases, strongly influence whether standards development activities produce the greatest possible public benefit with respect to such concerns as market efficiency and technological advance.27
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Unfair trading practices based on standards, testing, and certification requirements are prohibited under these two sections of the agreement.29 The Uruguay Round provisions include updated and expanded coverage of governments' product approval regulations; inclusion of process and production method regulations; increased transparency to foreign firms of national and re
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From page 21... ...
trade policy, discussed in Chapter 4, is the negotiation of agreements with our trading partners for mutual recognition of conformity assessment procedures. Chapter 4 assesses the potential utility and feasibility of such agreements for realizing the full benefit of trade enhancement provisions of the Uruguay Round, as well as forestalling the growth of trade barriers related to conformity assessment systems worldwide.
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From page 22... ...
Reimann and Harry S Hertz, The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and ISO 9000 Registration, 42-53.
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