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| Standardization: a critical Factor in development |
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As anyone can infer from the name, our Institute of Standardization & Industrial Research of Iran (ISIRI), was primarily established to deal with industrial issues. Because of the prevailing conditions of the times the Institute compiled a set of standards based on the standards already devised by the more advanced nations, intending to carry out industrial research towards national standards, as the needs presented themselves. Later, the question of compliance of products with these standards was raised. Gradually, the scope of activities of the Institute widened and an increasing number of products became subject to compulsory standards, ultimately reaching as many as 400. Now, ISIRI is the body in charge of developing, compiling and publishing standards and checking the compliance of products with these standards. After the imposed war with Iraq, during the period the late Mr Sadat was the head of the Institute, it was revived and largely developed both in terms of activities and facilities, and it moved towards becoming an independent institution. During the same period the new law on the Institute, its powers, domains of activities, exact duties… was compiled and was, at the time, very progressive, but because of the past structure of the Institute and because of the nature of the law governing the Institute, the ratification of the new law encountered difficulties. According to the new law the Institute’s powers would extend to cover imports and exports and standardization of services, areas far beyond the simple domain of industry. In practice, the law faced a serious contradiction. But, to explore the reason behind this contradiction we have to find answers to two relatively simple questions: 1) is the duty of the Institute simply writing up of standards or the broader field of standardization and 2) if the Institute is one of standardization, is it capable and equipped to perform such an immense task? All over the world we either have institutes that only write standards in cooperation with the industry, such as the German DIN, or large standardization entities such as the BSI of the UK. The former only compile standards, the second compile standards and have some responsibilities in applying them in the industry as well, i.e. they see to it that the standards are complied with. The process of standardization begins with the assessment of the needs for standards; then comes writing the necessary standards; and finally assessing the compliance of goods and services with these standards. For instance a need may be felt in a country to standardize boilers. A specialized committee is formed and the relevant standards are compiled. Then, in practice, inspectors are assigned to check the boilers for compliance with the standards. A few years later it may be felt necessary to revise and upgrade the standards to meet the new technology. Of course it is always the standards on health and safety that have first priority and are most important. Considering the foregoing points and the rules and regulations on the Institute and the later amendments made in them, it becomes clear that our ISIRI is a full standardization body in almost every sector of activity in the country, the only exception being medical and healthcare activities which are supervised by the Ministry of Health; and safety in construction which lies in the hands of the Ministry of Housing. But can ISIRI handle all the work it is supposed to? Well, as far as physical facilities are concerned it does face certain shortcomings. But ISIRI has about 2000 employees and most of its labs have been upgraded in the recent years so there should no problem in these respects if the responsibility of ISIRI were limited to writing up standards and performing lab tests. The problem lies with its second responsibility, which is the assessment of the compliance of products and services with the standards. This is an important issue because compiling standards is easy nowadays as there are standards already set by various countries and by international bodies. But in its second responsibility, to be effective ISIRI must be fully independent and this is stipulated in the 2nd principle of the law governing it. However, the law does not stipulate how in practice it can be independent. Since the days of Montesquieu, the renowned French thinker, most countries have been run by three powers or bodies: executive, judiciary and legislative. Now, our ISIRI has to act at times as a legislative body and, at times an executive body. It is a legislative body when it sets rules on standards and measures; it is executive when it controls the compliance of actual products and services with these standards. Yet again, it often acts as a reference body as its labs are reference bodies for quality control and assessment. Here we are leaving alone the question of “who controls the performance of these labs?” When a standard is set it becomes law so here the Institute is acting as a legislative organ; but controlling and checking its observance is an executive, at times judiciary, action. But we know that legislative, executive and judiciary bodies should be separate and should act independently of each other. ISIRI has been given the task of standardizing products, services and even management. It is also in charge of raising quality standards towards expansion of exports. These are important duties that give a special position to this institution. Yet another duty of ISIRI is to make our national and technical standards compatible with those of the entire world. This is a prerequisite of WTO for joining it; it demands that all countries of the world should use uniform standards. With all these duties to perform, ISIRI becomes an all-embracing entity that should control standards in many areas, yet the head of ISIRI is officially only a deputy to the Minister of Industries. Thus we find here a dilemma and in my opinion ISIRI must decide where it stands: is it simply a compiler of standards like DIN in which case it must leave the application and control of compliance to other bodies or is it a full standardizing body in which case it must realize that it is not primarily concerned with the industry and industrial products. It must stand higher and must oversee the performances in all the ministries and organizations, public or private, which power it is denied at present. So, one can clearly see that there is a contradiction here between the duties of ISIRI and its powers and authorities, a contradiction that has to be resolved if the Institute is to effectively carry out its duties not just within the territory of the Ministry of Industry but in all other ministries as well.  |
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