1 Global Harmonization of International Standards International Congress of Mechanical Engineering Societies September 13, 2005 Richard E. Feigel, Ph.D President, ASME

2 Slide 2 The Road to Standardization Earliest known standards 7000 B.C.: cylindrical Stones Used for Units of Weight King Henry I of England standardized the ancient “yard” as exact length of his forearm

3 Slide 3 The Road to Standardization Modern era: Rapid Technological Advancement and Commercialization of Equipment Standards setting needed to capture technical knowledge, foster public safety, reliability, efficiency, interchangeability, consistency across borders, and serve as basis for laws/regulatory requirements 1884-First ASME Performance Test Code-Steam Boilers 1902-First ASME Standard for Machine Screw Threads 1915-First ASME Boiler Code

4 Slide 4 Principles for Development of Standards to meet Societal and Market Needs In successful standards processes Decisions are reached through consensus among those affected Participation is open to all affected interests Balance is maintained among competing interests The process is transparent -information on the process and progress is directly available

5 Slide 5 Principles for Development of Standards to meet Societal and Market Needs In successful standards processes Due process assures that all views will be considered and that appeals are possible The process is flexible, allowing the use of different methodologies to meet the needs of different technology and product sectors The process is timely; purely administrative matters do not slow down the work Standards activities are coherent, avoiding overlap or conflict

6 Slide 6 Principles for Development of Standards to meet Societal and Market Needs successful standards processes yield the right results Standards are relevant, meeting agreed criteria and satisfying real needs by providing added value Standards are responsive to the real world; they use available, current technology and do not unnecessarily invalidate existing products or processes Standards are performance-based, specifying essential characteristics rather than detailed designs

7 Slide 7 Industry Expectations: Consensus Standards Market Access Product Acceptance without redundant testing or conformity assessment requirements Stability-common set of rules for production Flexibility-standards development process that keeps current with technical innovation Fairness and Impartiality-international standards should not distort the global market or favor one region over another

8 Slide 8 Industry Expectations: Consensus Standards Global and Technical Relevance-meets market needs of nations and regions and technically sound Standards Process is open to all interests, is transparent and provides due process for complaints to be heard Standards reflect accepted business practice

9 Slide 9 Additional Purchaser Expectations: Consensus Standards Safety in Construction Product Choice Economic Property and Casualty Insurance

10 Slide 10 Regulator Expectations: Consensus Standards Meet public safety, health and environmental objectives Confidence in the Integrity of the product or service Support mutual recognition essential to trade

11 Slide 11 WTO-Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade Encourages development of international standards Prohibits unnecessary obstacles to trade Recognizes important contributions of standards and conformity assessment Encourages technology transfer to developing countries

12 Slide 12 Interpretations of Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement Performance Based Definition of International Standards –Focus on use-not process –Widely used –Due Process –Non-discriminatory Participation in ISO Standards –Encourage Performance Based Standards where appropriate –Provide U.S. input to Prescriptive Standards –Copyrights

13 Slide 13 ASME Global Initiatives Concept of Life Cycle Management Risk Based Technologies-Inspection, Management Acceptance of International Materials Metrication Stronger public/private partnering with government agencies

14 Slide 14 ASME Global Initiatives Increasing International Membership on ASME Standards Development Committees –International Delegate allows representatives of organized groups of interested experts focused on a specific technical area to participate in ASME standards development May perform ASME committee work on Internet via ASME web-based tool –International Interest Review Group Allows any national regulatory agency worldwide accepting BPV Code as a means of meeting their regulatory requirements to appoint a representative to participate in BPV Code development

15 Slide 15 Expected Outcomes First to market with high quality and globally relevant standards Maintain ASME conformity assessment marks as the marks for international trade Minimize legal exposure for ASME