Carlos Rodríguez to become new leader of the Affiliate Country Programme

The Costa Rican expert underlines the importance of including consumers in the standardization process.

Carlos Rodríguez Affiliate Country Programme Leader

On 1 September, IEC General Secretary Ronnie Amit nominated the new Affiliate Country Programme leader.

Carlos E. Rodríguez, who today teaches at the University of Costa Rica, first obtained his degree in Public Administration there and then went on to study Public Policy Administration at the Getulio Vargas Foundation of Brazil. Since 1996 he has been INTECO (Instituto Nacional de Normalization de Costa Rica) Executive Director and, among other positions he also holds, is on the Board of Directors of the Ente Costarricense de Acreditación, the official Costa Rican accreditation body.

In the light of this nomination, Rodríguez agreed to outline some of the issues which have illustrated his past and which, he feels, are important factors for industrializing and developing countries in their quest to participate in international standardization.

In 2003 Rodríguez was the first Central American to be made President of COPANT (Pan American Standards Commission), a position that he maintained until 2005. He has been the leader of various development projects, and plans to use experience gained from one programme that he worked on during that tenure and apply its principles to the Affiliate Country Programme. This approach to multilateral, international thinking dominates much of his networking and communicating skills that he exercises and puts into practice today.

Project on competitiveness
For example, INTECO set up a competitiveness project for small and medium sized enterprises in Central America. It aimed at increasing the participation of certain developing countries in the process of standardization. As a result, it not only produced a number of regional standards, but also helped harmonize national standards across the region.

The experience gained from this project is being extended to seven countries in all: Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama and the Dominican Republic.

Of these countries, some have already joined the Affiliate Country Programme and others have been invited to do so.

Include the consumer
Throughout much of his career Rodríguez has been involved in standardization in various forms and instrumental in developing numerous regulatory studies and projects. While he was President of COPANT, Consumers International approached him to sign an agreement that would guarantee that consumers would be able to participate in standardization work within COPANT member countries.

It was during the course of the first discussions in Buenos Aires that Rodríguez became aware that national standardization bodies (NSBs) that are members of COPANT did not generally tend to include representatives of consumer associations in their committees. It is a practice he has instigated in his own country.

This experience, he says, has remained uppermost in his mind and guided much of his later work, since it forced him to realize the importance of including the consumer voice in standardization. “Indeed,” he underlines, “there are not many independent consumer associations in Costa Rica. It makes the system less than efficient. Quality culture is very much behind the times and the consumer needs training and encouragement in this direction.” He says that “this is even more relevant when it concerns developing countries, particularly in the context of the increasing worldwide trade that involves electric and electronic products.”

The role of the Affiliate Country Programme is, according to Rodríguez, vitally important for industrializing and developing countries. It enables them to get involved in an international team and develop national standards that will provide them with the means to trade more freely at a time when, often, they have few financial resources.

Costa Rica as example for participation
He is fully committed to encouraging other countries, very much as he has done in Costa Rica, not only to benefit from the advantages and support the Affiliate Country Programme offers, but also contribute to and participate in preparing standards. He truly believes that “setting up and applying national standards, developed in the global context of the IEC, will remove technical barriers, encourage and provide access to international markets and improve commerce throughout the world.”

The IEC Affiliate Country Programme leader who is an individual, not a country, is nominated by the IEC General Secretary to act as their collective voice with the IEC governing bodies. He or she has the right to attend IEC Council, Standardization Management Board and Conformity Assessment Board meetings held during the General Meeting.

The Affiliate Country Secretariat, based in IEC Central Office, supports the Affiliate Country Programme leader in submitting comments or proposals from Affiliates to the relevant IEC technical committees and during the standardization process; identifying issues in the work of the IEC relevant to newly industrializing countries; seeking a common position for Affiliates and communicating this position to the relevant technical or management committees.