New IEC member

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia joined the IEC as an Associate Member in January 2005, bringing total membership to 64. Commenting on the move, IEC General Secretary Aharon Amit said: “I speak on behalf of the entire IEC community when I say that we are happy to welcome the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia as part of this organization and we look forward to their contribution in technical committee work. I am also very pleased to see the Affiliate Country Programme fulfilling its promise of being a springboard to IEC membership and to fuller participation in international electrotechnical standardization.”

Following Kazakhstan in October 2004, this is the second country to move from participation in the Affiliate Country Programme to membership in the IEC.

Contact details for the new member are:
Mrs. Ana Novkovska
Secretary, IEC National Committee of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Standardization Institute of the Republic of Macedonia
Vasil Glavinov bb, blok 10 – mezanin
MK – 1000 Skopje
Telephone: +389 2 329 89 44
Telefax: +389 2 329 89 45

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, whose capital is Skopje, is located between Serbia and Montenegro to the north, Greece to the south, Bulgaria to the east and Albania to the west and has a population of slightly more than 2 million. It produces agricultural products such as rice, tobacco, wheat, corn, millet, cotton, and sesame. Its principal industries are mining (coal, metallic chromium, lead, zinc, ferronickel), textiles, wood products, food processing and steel. In 2001 (latest year for available figures) the country produced 6.4 billion kWh of electricity and imported an additional 100 million kWh.

There are two forms of active participation in the IEC's work. Full Membership allows countries to participate fully in international standardization activities. Full Members are National Committees each having equal voting rights. Associate Membership allows for limited participation of countries with limited resources. Associate members may contribute to the work of up to 4 technical committees and subcommittees and attend IEC General Meetings, especially Council.

(February 2005)

IEC revises statutes in response to members' requests

As practices evolve over time, so the basic governing documents for the IEC – the Statutes and Rules of Procedure – occasionally need to be revised to reflect these changes. In January 2005, IEC members gave a favourable vote to changing the IEC Statutes to cover certain aspects pertaining to the management bodies: elections, terms of office and alternates.

In the past the Conformity Assessment Board (CAB) chairman was elected by the CAB and this election was endorsed by IEC Council, which consists of all members of the IEC. Now, the CAB chairman is elected directly by Council, as is the Standardization Management Board chairman. In addition, procedures for electing members of the SMB and the CAB have now been harmonized for greater efficiency and clarity and the terms of office of all Council Board, CAB and SMB members are now three years. In the past, some were six-year terms.

In response to a request by National Committees (NCs) to maintain on the SMB and the CAB a steady level of expertise and knowledge about the technical work and conformity assessment activities of the IEC, alternates are now to be appointed by NCs. Moreover, they can be re-appointed indefinitely so long as the relevant NC still has a member on the body to which the re-appointment is being made: SMB or CAB.

The IEC Statutes were last revised in 2004. Information pertaining to the IEC Statutes and other similar material can be found on the web site in the “About the IEC” menu, starting with “Mission and objectives”.

(February 2005)

Co-operation agreement with Mercosur

A co-operation agreement between the IEC and MERCOSUR’s standardization arm, the Asociación MERCOSUR de Normalización (AMN), came into effect on 31 January 2005. The agreement was entered into by the IEC General Secretary Aharon Amit and the Executive Secretary of MERCOSUR AMN, Lilian Martinez de Alonso, the Director General of the Instituto Nacional de Technologia Y Normalizacion (INTN) of Paraguay .

The agreement’s principal objective is the implementation of IEC International Standards as regional standards among the MERCOSUR member countries, and to increase the awareness of the IEC and its standardization activities among non-IEC member countries in the region. MERCOSUR currently comprises IEC members Argentina and Brazil, and IEC Affiliates, Paraguay and Uruguay. The regional body was set up in 1991 following a joint Argentine/Brazilian initiative to make trade easier and boost economic development in the region. It is expected that Bolivia and Chile will join MERCOSUR in the future.

Commenting on the agreement, IEC General Secretary Aharon Amit said: “Regional organizations, like MERCOSUR, are important partners for the IEC in helping to bring the benefits of International Standards to people everywhere. The IEC looks forward to working with MERCOSUR to achieve shared objectives for the region.”

MERCOSUR is the Mercado Común del Sur or “Southern Common Market”. Its standardization arm – AMN – identifies International Standards as being the main source for its regional standards and made the co-operation agreement with the IEC a top priority.

The IEC has similar such agreements with CANENA (Council for Harmonization of Electrotechnical Standards of the Nations of the Americas ), COPANT (Comisión Panamericana des Normas Técnicas or Pan American Standards Commission), and EASC (Euro-Asian Interstate Council for Standardization, Metrology and Certification).

(February 2005)

IEC-CO staff helps tsunami victims

A spirit of compassion seems to have united the world since news broke of the tsunami disaster that hit the Indian Ocean on 26 December 2004. In January, in response to a message from the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Medical Unit, the IEC Central Office gathered more than 20 boxes of dried goods and medical supplies to send them on a flight leaving Geneva for Sri Lanka on 16 January.

According to IEC General Secretary Aharon Amit, “Central Office staff saw an opportunity to help and responded in a very positive way to the human suffering seen in the countries affected by the catastrophe. Speaking for all members of Central Office, if this can help to make even a single day less difficult for a single victim, then we’ll have achieved something worthwhile.”

The General Secretary also sent a note to those National Committees touched directly by the disaster, expressing on behalf of IEC management and the entire IEC community, its most sincere condolences to the people affected.

Food supplies sent by Central Office included non-perishables such as rice, flour, sugar, lentils, powdered milk, soup, tea, tuna fish, etc. In addition, there were also blankets, soaps, toiletries, aspirin, candles, sterile compress and water purification tablets.