ASTM International President James A. Thomas was invited to present at the World Trade Organization's Technical Barriers to Trade Committee Special Meeting on Information Exchange in Geneva, Switzerland in 2010.

In a presentation titled “Embracing Transparency and WTO Principles for International Standardization: ASTM International's Global Approach to Standards Development,” Thomas discussed ASTM's globally recognized efforts to embrace transparency and openness in standards development and to promote a broader acceptance and use of a range of international standards based on criteria such as the WTO principles.

Thomas described how ASTM's standards development process is designed in accordance with WTO principles and allows individuals and governments from anywhere in the world to participate directly as equals in an open and consensus-based manner.  “Our process results in the development of international standards grounded in technical quality and relevance, but blind to national boundaries as evidenced by over 5,000 citations to ASTM standards through adoption or citation in regulation by 100 countries in every region of the world,” said Thomas.

Originally founded in 1898, ASTM International is a globally recognized standards development organization with individual members from over 135 WTO member countries. To enable deeper global collaboration, ASTM currently has 69 standards cooperation agreements in place with national standards bodies and regional organizations in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe. ASTM standards are used in research and development, product testing and quality systems. They are often a critical component of the information infrastructure that guides design, manufacturing and trade in the global economy.

“ASTM looks forward to continued collaboration with stakeholders from around the world so that we can respond to new challenges and opportunities created by advanced technologies of tomorrow,” concluded Thomas.

To discuss ASTM's global policy and stakeholder outreach efforts, please contact Jeff Grove ASTM International (phone: +1-202-223-8505; jgrove@astm.org).

ASTM International welcomes and encourages participation in the development of its standards. For more information on becoming an ASTM member, visit www.astm.org/JOIN.

ASTM PR Contact: Barbara Schindler, Phone: 610-832-9603; bschindl@astm.org

Release #8601