Nepal gets full ISO membership

KATHMANDU , SEP 27 -
 
Nepal has received full membership of the International Organisation for Standardisation ( ISO ). With this, Nepal can now issue ISO certifications like the ISO 26000 and ISO 14000, which are issued to companies on safety measures of consumer goods and road, respectively.

According to the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology (NBSM), the 36th general assembly of the ISO held from September 16-21 in St Petersburg, Russia, approved Nepal’s membership. Nepal was a correspondent member previously.

NBSM Director General Ram Aadhar Sah said Nepal’s new status in ISO will come into effect from January 1, 2014. He said the full ISO membership has paved the way for the country to formulate standards as guided by the ISO and issue the certifications. “Domestic companies should not rush to foreign agencies to get international certification from now on,” said Sah.

With the full ISO membership, Nepal can participate actively in the preparation of specifications and standardisation activities at the international level. Besides, the country will also have voting right in such activities. It can use the ISO logo and issue standards to interested companies.

Previously, NBSM had been issuing only the ISO 9001, a certification for quality management system after receiving approval from the National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies, India. Sah said they can now explore other areas too from among 20,000 ISO standards.

Of the 162 member countries, 114 are full members, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Bhutan and Afghanistan are other Saarc states which are correspondent members.

Nepal had received the correspondent member status about two decades ago. According to the NBSM, they have formulated 950 standards in compliance to the ISO so far. Out of these, over 200 standards have been implemented, while 12 have been made mandatory for products like paints, edibles, gas cylinder and regulators.

Krishna Gyawali, secretary at the Ministry of Industry, said the full ISO membership would help monitor effectively the quality export items, local production and imported goods. “Although, it would increase financial obligation, it could help the country maintain quality of products in the long run,” he said.

According to the NBSM, the country will have to pay an additional Rs 2.6 million for the renewal of the membership.

Although the ISO certification is expected to benefit the country, consumer right activists said lack of harmonisation of the certification in compliance with the domestic legal provisions could hamper effective implementation of the ISO .

Jyoti Baniya, general secretary of the Consumers’ Welfare Protection Forum, said the government has to first focus on amending the Standardisation Act, Accreditation Act and Anti-dumping Act. “Without amending these Acts, the implementation of the ISO certification may not help maintain quality properly,” he said.

Source: The Kathmandu Post