Enhancement of the participation of developing countries and economies in transition in international standardization was the theme of the international workshop held on Tuesday and its results will be discussed under agenda item 9, so I will keep my remarks short in this report.

　

I should not fail, however, to report that Dr. Eicher always considered it of utmost importance for ISO that special attention be given to the needs of our developing country members, and that an assistance programme be put in place to help them progressively develop an infrastructure with a view to a full participation in the ISO work of relevance to their economies. I wish to express the hope that this policy will be maintained, as it is so necessary in view of the ongoing globalization.

　

It is a fact of life that most of the standards-makers in our technical committees are coming from industrialized countries such as USA, Japan and the European Union, but, as our Vice-President (technical management) has noted in some of his speeches, it is essential for the standards-takers from other parts of the world to participate as much as possible in the technical work of relevance to their national economy. Let me quote one of his statements: "It is also true that we and our developing economy cousins benefit enormously from the global availability and participation in standards development. Our experts stay at the leading edge of where the powerhouses are up to so it's vital to be there".

　

As I see it, it is essential that the cooperation systems under development, allow all standard-takers to participate in the standardization process, at least to check that the work done by the standards-makers meets their requirements. The scarce resources of the standards-takers should be used in priority to secure effective participation of their countries' experts in those committees standardizing the products, commodities or services that are essential to their economies. This would bring more benefit to those countries than investing in supporting administrative activities.

　

I am convinced that developing country economies could draw the same advantages from the ISO system as the middle-sized economies of the industrialized countries if they could find ways and means to use some of their resources for encouraging experts from their national professional associations to participate in ISO's work.

　

Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for giving your kind attention to my assessment of the shape ISO is in for selected parts of our operations. As we progress through the items on our agenda, we will have an opportunity to say more about the state of ISO's business in other areas.

　

After 16 years of office, the late Secretary-General, Dr. Lawrence D. Eicher, leaves ISO as a prospering Organization, well equipped to meet the challenges ahead. The ISO members are grateful to him for his outstanding leadership during his term of office. During the interim period, we are continuing to implement the existing policies

　

and to develop operations at the high level that Dr. Eicher brought them to. The new Secretary-General will take office in a Central Secretariat recognized, I think, for the quality of its services to the ISO community and will take the lead of the ISO Organization recognized as a leading international standardization organization with an extended country base.

　

At the operational level, the new Secretary-General will be able to count on well-established procedures for the technical work, following a well-respected due process for preparing International Standards based on international consensus with written national confirmation at each stage. The challenge will be to extend participation in the process as, for too many standards, the number of member countries exercising their right of vote and comment is still below 30 % of the member bodies. Too many "standards-takers" are abstaining, opening the door to criticism that our standards are not really International Standards as the level of member abstention is too high.

　

Another challenge of the core process of preparing standards is to ensure, with the help of the Technical Management Board, the market relevance of the ISO programme for the preparation of standards. Some of the older committees have to be encouraged to strengthen their contacts with the strategic top management of their profession/industry and maybe, in some cases, to renew them to ensure that the work they are doing does not concern obsolete technologies.

　

Relations with some regional standards developing organizations will require a lot of attention to avoid the development of an inter-regional divide and, in particular, of a transatlantic divide that would be detrimental to all of us. The analysis of the results of the Vienna Agreement and of the pilot projects with the US SDOs will have to be carefully carried out with an objective of cooperation rather than competition.

　

At the global level, the challenge will be to further develop cooperation with IEC and ITU-T to make the World Standards Cooperation (WSC) a recognized and respected umbrella organization.

　

The computerization of the international standardization system is progressing well

　

considering the natural difficulty of introducing new methods of work in relation to possibilities offered by the new technologies. However, managing the fast changes in this area will remain a recurring challenge for the preparation of standards, as well as for their delivery and related commercial operations.

　

With regard to the delivery of standards, computerization has drastic consequences and requires an adjustment of our commercial policies, which can no longer be based on purely geographical criteria.

　

The broad market acceptance of the ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 series of standards has been one of the factors bringing correspondingly broad market recognition of ISO and with it the challenge of avoiding mendacious publicity that undermines ISO's image and integrity. Abuse of the ISO trademark over the Internet is increasingly recurring, primarily in the areas of certification/registration, consultancy and training related to quality management and environmental management systems.

　

Finally, I would mention the challenge of enhancing developing country participation in international standardization, which is a major item at this General Assembly.

　

To meet the challenges ahead, the new Secretary-General will find an excellent staff at the Central Secretariat and a sound financial situation as the Treasurer will report.

　

I would not like to end my report without expressing special thanks to the whole staff of the Central Secretariat. It is the commitment of all our staff, and in particular the managers, to satisfying the customer that has allowed us to maintain, including during this interim period, the quality of service to our members and to cope with the many daily problems, both big and small. Achieving customer satisfaction is required by our certification to ISO 9001: 2000 but I am glad to be able to report that it is in fact being implemented.

　

I have also to add a special thank you to the elected ISO Officers: President, Vice-Presidents and Treasurer, who provided very useful guidance and undertook so many actions to enhance the efficiency and recognition of the Organization on a voluntary basis.

　

My final words will be those of Larry Eicher in Sydney:

　

Dear Friends, I am ever more confident that ISO will continue to gain in strength and relevance to the world.

　

Thank you for your kind attention.