In a recent annual report, the Qatar General Organization for Standards and Metrology (QS) outlined the success of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) it signed with ASTM International in 2007. 

The Standards and Metrology Department, under the Qatar General Organization for Standards and Metrology (QS), prepares Qatar national standards and adopts international standards to be used as national standards for health, safety and the environment. The ASTM International MOU program is designed to encourage, increase and facilitate the participation of technical experts from around the world in the ASTM standards development process. 

This year, QS referenced 233 ASTM International standards in Qatar regulations. The referenced standards cover plastics, plastic piping systems and concrete and concrete aggregates. Several technical experts from Qatar participate on one or more of ASTM’s 142 standards development committees, and QS has participated in various ASTM technical training programs through the MOU program.

In late 2011, Sarah Naouri, manager, global cooperation, ASTM International, and Nick Ecart, director of sales, Europe and Middle East, ASTM, participated in a ASTM-QS sponsored program at the Ministry of Environment in Doha, Qatar. Naouri and Eckert presented information about the ASTM standardization process, the MOU program and access to ASTM standards. Attendees included representatives from the Qatar Ministry of Environment, Ashghal (Public Works Authority), Qatar Petroleum and Qatar Gas, among others.

This spring, Jabor Mohamed Al-Naimi, head of mechanical standards at QS, will participate in the ASTM Standards Expert Program, a key benefit offered to MOU signatories. Al-Naimi will travel to ASTM headquarters for one month to learn more about ASTM International and its operations, ASTM technical committees and ASTM’s virtual tools.

“Since the signing of the MOU in 2007 with ASTM International, cooperation and coordination has been in full swing,” says Eng. Nawaf Ibrahim Al-Hamad Al-Mana, director of standards and metrology, QS. “ASTM’s vast and resourceful collection of industry-leading standards and technical publications, as well as the tireless and sincere assistance of the ASTM Global Cooperation staff, have added a lot to QS’s standardization performance.”

Initiated in 2001, ASTM International's MOU program promotes communication between ASTM International and national standards bodies worldwide, fostering awareness of the standardization systems of all parties involved. The purpose of the program is to increase greater worldwide participation in the ASTM standards development process and facilitate the development of national standards that will aid health, safety, and environmental and economic conditions. More information on the MOU program can be found on the ASTM International Web site (www.astm.org/GLOBAL).

ASTM Staff Contact: Teresa Cendrowska, Phone: 610-832-9718; tcendrow@astm.org     

Release #9106