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01 October 2002

More on British and French standards organizations

While most people are probably aware of the American National Standards Institute, the U.S. accreditation organization for American standards, what about those in other countries? Two European standards organizations are the British Standards Institution (BSI) and the Association Français de Normalisation (AFNOR).

The BSI staff and external experts together create government- and industry-supported standards. Through committees representing key interests, BSI program managers coordinate the work efforts of experts to make sure publications reflect developments in business and consumer interests-and are delivered on time. The Standards Policy and Strategy committee sets British standards policies, and strategy committees across eight sectors authorize, schedule, and prioritize the standards programs to represent U.K. interests at regional, national, and international levels.

AFNOR is a service organization promoting competitiveness and influence of the French standards system in Europe and the global economy. It offers a set of services in four areas: standards development, publishing and distribution, consulting, and certification. AFNOR helps industry develop standards and recommended practices to meet the needs of strategic and commercial development by giving them access to the standardization process and accompanying services. Their publications help industry participants access standards and regulatory information on new technologies. They also provide advisory services designed to help industry implement standards and comply with certification.