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The Government would continue to encourage and promote the adoption of international standards, a spokesman for the Innovation and Technology Commission (ITC) said today (October 12) on the eve of World Standards Day 2007.
The World Standards Day is celebrated every year on October 14 by major international standards organisations, including the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and standards organisations in different places of the world.
The theme of the World Standards Day 2007 is "Standards and the Citizens: Contributing to Society". International standardisation has been in place for nearly 150 years. As mentioned in the joint message from the IEC President, ISO President and ITU Secretary-General, many aspects of the modern world are now heavily dependent on standards.
The work of IEC, ISO and ITU in developing international standards opens up markets, brings environmental protection, safety, security, health and access to information and knowledge, helps provide higher quality at lower costs by ensuring competition exists among vendors, and makes it easier for consumers to make an informed choice in their purchase processes.
"The Government encourages adoption of international standards and keeping up-to-date with requirements of prevailing standards. As standards can vastly expand the market for technological innovations, foster healthy commerce and give access to global markets, the Government is keen on promoting internationally accepted standards and conformity assessment services to underpin technological development and international trade, thus contributing to the well being of all citizens." the ITC spokesman said.
Relevant and prevailing international standards are incorporated into the Government's regulatory and procurement requirements where appropriate. One example is the Government's adoption of ISO 10646 as one of the acceptable coding standards for electronic communications in Chinese and English under the Electronic Transactions Ordinance as well as the promulgation of the interoperability standards to facilitate efficient information exchange between computer systems.
"To keep abreast of the latest development and to exchange information and views on international standardisation activities, ITC participates in major international and regional forums relating to standards and conformance issues including the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation Sub-Committee on Standards and Conformance, ISO and Pacific Area Standards Congress," the spokesman said.
Local businesses are encouraged to participate directly in the work of developing international standards at ISO and that the Product Standards Information Bureau (PSIB) of ITC nominates interested parties to participate in these work of ISO. PSIB also offers technical enquiry service, standards sales service and maintains a standards library. Further information is available at http://www.itc.gov.hk/en/quality/psis/about.htm.
ISO, IEC and ITU develop a diverse variety of international standards. ISO develops standards in almost all sectors of activities covering agriculture, construction, mechanical engineering, manufacturing, distribution, transport, medical devices, information and communication technologies, the environment, energy, quality management, conformity assessment and services. IEC prepares and publishes standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies, while ITU works on global cybersecurity and sets standards for the development of telecommunications networks and services.
Ends/Friday, October 12, 2007
Issued at HKT 12:37
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