CEN and ASTM International Have Signed a Technical Cooperation Agreement

CEN, the European Committee for Standardization, and ASTM International signed a Technical Cooperation Agreement with the aim to facilitate global dialogue and coordination in specific standardization areas of mutual interest.

The Agreement establishes a framework for technical cooperation and information exchange between the two standardization organizations, thus facilitating dialogue and convergence on the technical requirements and related attributes of standards development, and preventing duplication of efforts, for the benefit of their respective stakeholders.

Through this important Agreement, ASTM International and CEN agree to a series of practical actions to implement their cooperation, specifically in those technical areas where there is common interest between ASTM International and CEN:

•     Explore opportunities to collaborate within their respective standards development process;

•    Facilitate technical standardization dialogue between their technical bodies;

•   Share information on their standards development activities and emerging technologies, trends, or regulatory drivers of mutual interest for the benefit of the stakeholders.

As a first step in their cooperation, ASTM International and CEN will establish a pilot with the involvement of the following identified technical groups of common interest.

For CEN:

• CEN/TC 411 ‘Bio-based products’, whose Secretariat is held by the Nederlands Normalisatie-instituut (NEN)

• CEN/TC 366 ‘Materials obtained from End-of-Life Tyres (ELT)’whose Secretariat is held by the Ente Nazionale Italiano di Unificazione (UNI)

For ASTM:

•  ASTM Committee D20 on “Plastics”, with a focus on Environmentally Degradable Plastics and Biobased Products

•   ASTM Committee D36 on “Recovered Carbon Black” with a focus on tyres and rubber products that can be recovered carbon black

Strengthening the international

standardization community  

The signature of the Agreement is in line with both ASTM International and CEN’s missions to pursue active roles in the international standardization community. Elena Santiago Cid, CEN’s Director General, commented: “The Agreement with ASTM is an example of our efforts to establish fruitful partnerships with fellow standards organizations to promote global market access for the European industry and stakeholders. This Agreement enable a focused cooperation in the development of standards to bring benefits to those players committed to fair competition in the global economy”.

Katharine E. Morgan, President of ASTM International, said: “CEN and ASTM International are two of the most relevant and robust standards organizations in the world.  Our Agreement promotes greater coherence and interoperability in today’s global market place and fosters deeper understanding and trust amongst leading technical experts that will lay the foundation for future cooperation”.

“I’m thrilled to see this new collaboration in key technical areas that support circular economy goals and global trade,” commented Taco van der Maten, marketing manager at Malvern Panalytical in the Netherlands, who is serving as ASTM International’s 2019 board chairman. “Our stakeholders stand to benefit from a deeper understanding of technical challenges and more common approaches to standards development – it’s exciting to see what can be accomplished.”