Mission
The International Electrotechnical
Commission (IEC) is the leading global organization that prepares
and publishes international standards for all electrical, electronic
and related technologies. These serve as a basis for national standardization
and as references when drafting international tenders and contracts.
Through its members,
the IEC promotes international cooperation on all questions of electrotechnical
standardization and related matters, such as the assessment of conformity
to standards, in the fields of electricity, electronics and related
technologies.
The IEC charter embraces all electrotechnologies
including electronics, magnetics and electromagnetics, electroacoustics,
multimedia, telecommunication, and energy production and distribution,
as well as associated general disciplines such as terminology and
symbols, electromagnetic compatibility, measurement and performance,
dependability, design and development, safety and the environment.
Objectives
The Commission's objectives are to:
- meet the requirements of the global market efficiently
- ensure primacy and maximum world-wide use of
its standards and conformity assessment systems
- assess and improve the quality of products and
services covered by its standards
- establish the conditions for the interoperability
of complex systems
- increase the efficiency of industrial processes
- contribute to the improvement of human health
and safety
- contribute to the protection of the environment.
Standards
IEC's international standards
facilitate world trade by removing technical barriers to trade,
leading to new markets and economic growth. Put simply, a component
or system manufactured to IEC standards and manufactured in country
A can be sold and used in countries B through to Z.
IEC's standards are vital since they also represent
the core of the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Technical
Barriers to Trade (TBT), whose 100-plus central government members
explicitly recognize that international standards play a critical
role in improving industrial efficiency and developing world trade.
The number of standardization
bodies which have accepted the Code of Good Practice for the
Preparation, Adoption and Application of Standards presented in
Annex 3 to the WTO's TBT Agreement underlines the global importance
and reach of this accord.
IEC standards provide industry and users with the
framework for economies of design, greater product and service quality,
more inter-operability, and better production and delivery efficiency.
At the same time, IEC's standards also encourage an improved quality
of life by contributing to safety, human health and the protection
of the environment.
Conformity assessment
The IEC's multilateral conformity assessment systems,
based on its international standards, are truly global in concept
and practice, reducing trade barriers caused by different certification
criteria in various countries and helping industry to open up new
markets. Removing the significant delays and costs of multiple testing
and approval allows industry to be faster and cheaper to market
with its products.
As technology becomes more complex, users and consumers
are becoming more aware of their dependence on products whose design
and construction they may not understand. In this situation, reassurance
is needed that the product is reliable and will meet expectations
in terms of performance, safety, durability and other criteria.
How can the industrial user and the final consumer
be sure that the product they buy conforms to the criteria of an
IEC standard? The IEC's conformity assessment and product certification
systems exist to provide just this reassurance, and the regulatory
nature of some products now also sees recognition of the CA systems
amongst some government regulators.
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