World Standards Day, since 1970 is celebrated internationally each year on October 14th. The day honours the efforts of the thousands of experts who develop voluntary standards within standards development organisations such as the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
October 14 was specifically chosen to mark the date, in 1946, when delegates from 25 countries first gathered in London and decided to create an international organisation focused on facilitating standardisation.
Around the globe, various activities are chosen by national bodies to commemorate the date. The Pakistan Standards & Quality Control Authority (PSQCA), Pakistan's national standards body, celebrates World Standards Day together with the international community. The PSQCA publishes special supplements on World Standards Day, as well as hosts events or plans other initiatives on this date to promote quality consciousness and awareness about the requirements and impact of standards on our lives.
The aim of World Standards Day is to raise awareness among regulators, industry and consumers as to the importance of standardisation to the global economy. Each year, ISO determines a theme based on a current aspect of standardisation. The world is facing a critical challenge as increasing greenhouse gas emissions are raising the earth's average temperature. As a result, dramatic climate change is forecast and global scientific opinion predicts enormous developmental, economic, social and environmental stresses on our planet. The theme for this World Standards Day 2009 aptly addresses this issue through the slogan "Tackling climate changes through standards".
To tackle the problem at hand - the climatic changes- is a Herculean task for any nation to deal in isolation. The enormity of it demands collective efforts requiring a portfolio of adaptation and mitigation actions to reduce the risks of climate change. International standards are tools to address this challenge and the three global organisations- ISO, IEC, & ITU, are co-ordinating their work to ensure that government, business and society are provided with the necessary tools to help combat global climate change and to support the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by increasing energy efficiency, while facilitating sustainable development.
In Pakistan, the PSQCA is full member of the ISO and IEC having access to the body of knowledge created under the umbrella of these organisations. As a matter of fact, it is great window of opportunity to be member of this august community and utilise the knowledge and adopt it as per local requirements.
PSQCA being a National Standards Body plays proactive role to protect not only the consumer's rights but is forerunner in facilitating the industrial sector to compete in the global market on the basis of standard products and services as well. The authority, a statutory body established through legislation in 1996, provides one window services for standardisation, quality control and other technical services to promote quality culture in the country through its different organs-Standards Development Centre (SDC), Quality Control Centre (QCC) and Technical Services Centre (TSC).
In last one year, PSQCA has achieved milestones for improving its capacity that will definitely benefit the industry in Pakistan. In this respect it has signed Memorandum of Understanding with the internationally recognised US based standards institution American Society for Testing of Materials (ASTM), whose standards are generally relied upon throughout the world. Besides it has inked mouse with US national body American National Standards institute (ANSI) and national standards body of Germany- DIN- as a result of which our industrial sector can benefit from the latest standards of both the leading countries in the field of MSTQ.
On this World Standards Day PSQCA commits itself to 'ENSURING GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS' for local industry and channel all the available resources, upgrading its infrastructure and adding value to its human resources. In its role as central authority in the field of MSTQ, the PSQCA is conscious of its responsibility to protect not only consumers' safety but is ready to educate industrial sector in the spheres of standards, testing, and conformity assessment to compete in the global market under WTO regime. Likewise, it is in the lead to co-ordinate with different agencies in their work to ensure that all the stake holders are sensitised towards combating global climate change and be a cohort in executing government's policy of increasing energy efficiency, while facilitating sustainable development.
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