ASTM International Standards

The Technical Foundations of Capacity Building

Over a Century of Proven Success www.astm.org

ASTM INTERNATIONAL:

SUPPORTS users,

manufacturers, consumers,

governments, researchers

and laboratories in

emerging economies

worldwide through its

capacity building programs.

ADOPTED and applied

globally, ASTM standards

result in the development

and production of more

reliable products, greater

global market access and

improved quality of life.

DEVELOPS and

provides technical

standards that are used by

industries and governments

the world over.

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Spotlight:The Board of Engineering of Trinidad and Tobago’s Small Building Code deals with the design and construction of residential buildings and incorporates provisions to deal with

hurricane and earthquake threats. For this code to be effective, it must be supported by a regime of standards in the construction industry. In order to address the needs of the industry, the Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards

launched construction standards using ASTM standards as their basis. Using the normal process of standardization and given the existing resources, this project would have taken approximately five years in Trinidad and Tobago. With today’s technological advances, in five year’s time these standards may have become obsolete or may have needed to be revised almost immediately. But by working with ASTM International, these documents were developed and available for use in a much shorter period of time — in approximately 18 months.

We are benefiting greatly from the services ASTM provides. Information sharing is critical for us to keep abreast of technical developments. The option to adopt ASTM standards allows for fast tracking of standards projects. Those of our customers who require ASTM standards are assured of current documents as we receive current information.

Romana Marunda, Manager-Standards Development & Information, Standards Association of Zimbabwe (SAZ) on the benefits of the partnership between ASTM International and SAZ.

Emerging EconomiesA Resource for

ASTM International

ASTM INTERNATIONAL, organized in 1898,

is one of the world’s largest international standards

developing organizations. ASTM International

standards are being referenced, adopted and

used as the basis of national standards all over

the world. ASTM International helps emerging

economies improve national standards for raw

materials, components and products that serve as

the basic technical infrastructure for successful

economies and enhance health, safety and

environmental protection.

Facts & FiguresTrinidad and Tobago uses ASTM building standards to improve construction integrity in the following areas: • Clay block • Concrete• Electrical cable • Paint• Plywood• Portland cement • PVC pipe• Residential security • Roofing • Steel

ASTM—A Path to Success

• 1st Open House for the Americas and Caribbean

• Memorandum of Understanding program is launched

2001

• Intensive training on nuclear energy for South Korea and on steel for Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago

2011

• ASTM adds consultants in Canada and Belgium

2013

• Standards Expert Program begins

• 3rd Open House for Middle East, North Africa and South Asia

2005

• 2nd Open House for Asia Pacific region

2003

• Intensive training on plastics with India

2009

2010

• To date, 750 participants in 50 virtual meetings

• 507 participants in 32 technical assistance training courses

2012

• Attachment of staff from Botswana, S. Africa and S. Korea

• Intensive Training on concrete for Latin America

2008

• Coordinated training programs held with China, Ecuador, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Qatar

• Technical Assistance Program begins

• 4th Open House for Sub-Saharan Africa

2007

2006

• China Office opens

2002

• 14 MOUs signed in first year of program

2004

• ASTM adds a consultant in Mexico

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Our MOU with ASTM International has opened the way for technical experts from Qatar to participate freely as full voting members in ASTM standards development committees, in addition to facilitating the work of our national committees in specific fields. We are now able to adopt and use ASTM standards as reference documents in the development of Qatari standards.

Eng. Nawaf Al-Mana, Director of Standards and Metrology at Qatar General Organization for Standards and Metrology (QS)

ASTM – Providing

Reliable Tools

Spotlight:When Doosan Heavy Industries in South Korea needed to specify components for a new desalination plant in the United

Arab Emirates, it required POSCO Steel Co. of South Korea to meet ASTM Steel Specification A240. Through its work on ASTM International Committee A01 on Steel, Stainless Steel and Related Alloys, POSCO introduced a

revision to add a new corrosion-resistant stainless steel grade to ASTM A240. Within one year, the resulting approval allowed POSCO’s specialty steel to be specified and fulfill the requirements for the anticipated UAE contract. The successful revision is expected to result in $15 million dollars of new business for POSCO.

Gulf States Training Program/Doha, Qatar/2012

TradeA Resource for

ASTM INTERNATIONAL standards

are the cornerstones of a liberalized trading

system. Used successfully as the basis for

technical regulations and developed according

to principles recommended by the WTO

Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade,

they increase efficiency, improve quality

and transfer technology from developed to

developing countries.

Facts & Figures• More than 50% of ASTM

standards are distributed outside the United States.

• 80% of global commodity trade is impacted by standards.

• ASTM has more than 75 agreements with the national standards bodies in emerging economies worldwide.

• There are more than 6,000 citations of ASTM International standards adopted, referenced, or used as the basis of national standards from 110 ASTM tech-nical committees in 75 nations.

South Korean members from POSCO Steel and Korea TestingCertification (KTC) meet with A01 Steel, Stainless Steel andRelated Alloys Chairman Gerald Cobb / Atlanta, Georgia / 2009

ASTM International

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Spotlight: Since 2004, when ASTM International experts were invited to attend a construction industry event to discuss state-of-the-art concrete technology described in ASTM standards, more than 200 engineers from Latin America have participated in ASTM’s cement and concrete technical committees. In addition, six “Online Centers” have been established in the region. Online Centers provide instantaneous electronic access to published ASTM standards.

Active participation through ASTM’s electronic tools, as well as regularly held webinars and Web conferences, have lead to better understanding of the origin of the standards and accelerated local adoption.

ASTM – People Learn Here

Intensive Training Program co-sponsored by Federacion Iberoamericana del Hormigon on Cement / Concrete / Atlanta, Georgia / 2012

Virtual Meeting / Muscat Oman / 2010

Intensive Training Program on Nuclear Energy / South Korea Government and Industry / 2011

Technical TrainingA Resource for

ASTM INTERNATIONAL provides a wide

range of capacity building interventions to help

reduce poverty, accelerate economic growth,

and provide better services to the citizens of

emerging economies. Training on the use and

application of high-quality, market-relevant

ASTM International standards contributes

to capacity building by transferring technical

knowledge through firmly established test

methods and specifications.

Facts & FiguresIn a three-year span ASTM International has hosted:• More than 30 international

training courses covering a variety of subjects

• More than 55 Virtual Meetings, with over 960 participants from over 65 countries

• More than 40 Delegations from 15 countries

(Left to right) Pablo J. Benia, Director of UNIT; Manuel Lascarro, with ASOCRETO and a former member of the ASTM Board of Directors; Eduardo Alvarez Mazza, President of UNIT; and Morgan Martinez, President of Con-crexur / Montevideo, Uruguay / 2009

Video Conference on Biofuels / Lima, Peru, and ASTM Headquarters / 2008

ASTM International

Through this intensive training course

provided by ASTM International, I gained

knowledge of the relationship between

ASTM standards and the nuclear industry.

Mr. Gook-Ju Ihm, Korea Testing Laboratory, a participant of a 2011 Intensive Training Program in the U.S. focusing on nuclear energy. Eight South Korean experts spent time at ASTM headquarters, visted agencies in Washington, D.C., attended ASTM committee week meetings, and made site visits to private companies during the 18 day co-sponsored program.

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SpotlightAn ASTM International standard, E2392/E2392M, Guide for Design of Earthen Wall Building Systems, from ASTM Committee E60 on Sustainability, was recently updated in an effort led by the Ecological Building Network. Its founder, Bruce King, who said, “A number of great engineers around the world have worked out how to build seismically safe earthen buildings, really for the first time in history, and it seemed the best way to get that knowledge out was to develop and publish a recognized standard.”

ASTM standards recognize earth as a measurable building material. Therefore, organizations concerned with rebuilding can now share standards and best practices with builders in places such as Haiti, where earth is a more practical choice than concrete, for example.

Success through StandardsA Resource for

ASTM INTERNATIONAL standards play

an important role as facilitators of a healthy

and sustainable environment. The impact of

these efforts is felt in cleaner air and water; eco-

friendly homes and office buildings; enhanced

waste management and recycling programs;

safer consumer products and sports equipment;

improved medical devices and health records;

and many other areas.

Facts & FiguresASTM has standards for:• Air Quality• Child Safety• Consumer Products • Fire Safety• Fuel Quality• Manufacture of

Pharmaceutical Products• Medical and Surgical

Devices• Sustainability in Construction• Water Quality• Textiles

ASTM—Facilitating Health, Safety and Quality

ASTM International

Technical Assistance Training on Cement in Lima, Peru, 2012Ms. Margaret Lungu, ASTM Standards Expert Program alumna from the Zambia Bureau of Standards, presented the Zambian perspective on the benefits of ASTM’s MoU Program at the Southern African Development Community Cooperation in Standardization / Gaborone, Botswana / 2011

IMAGE COURTESY OF WWW.RAMMED-EARTH.INFO

With the help of ASTM

International standards,

we are able to harmonize

Pakistan Standards with

international standards. As

a result of this, we remove

non-tariff barriers and

facilitate Pakistani export of

cement all over the world.

Shahzad Afzal, Ph.D., deputy director general, Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority in Lahore, Pakistan

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• Provision of standards as a resource — A collection of ASTM International’s standards is provided to each MoU signatory at no cost as a resource for their own standards development.

• The Standards Expert Program (SEP) — a key benefit offered to MOU signatories. Each year, ASTM hosts up to three standards experts for a one-month period at ASTM headquarters. During their stay, the experts learn about ASTM International and its operations, technical committees and virtual tools. The experts travel to an ASTM committee week to attend technical meetings and visit other related organizations. For each SEP, a key sector is identified for focused training.

• Technical Visitor Program — open to staff or technical committee members of ASTM’s MoU partners. It en-ables an expert to conduct research at ASTM headquar-ters on standards that support an industry sector in the participant’s home nation. The application process is competitive; ASTM partially funds this program.

• Staff Attachments — Staff of MoU partners may work and accomplish tasks within various ASTM departments, attend technical committee meetings and visit related organizations to gain knowledge of ASTM, its functions in industry and the US standardization system.

This is the most effective MOU among those that STAMEQ has signed. The MOU with ASTM International has contributed to creating international trade opportunities in general.

Nguyen Mai Sinh, Senior Officer of the International Cooperation Department Vietnam Directorate for Standards and Quality.

MOU Program

ASTM INTERNATIONAL’s Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) program,

initiated in 2001, promotes communication between ASTM International and

national standards bodies worldwide, fostering awareness of the standardization

systems of all parties involved. The program also facilitates the development of national

standards that will aid each country’s health, safety, environmental and economic

conditions. These agreements help avoid duplication of effort where possible and

mutually promote standards development activities.

ASTM—Assisting

Emerging Economies

We consider the MOU with ASTM a valuable tool because ASTM is recognized internationally and some of its more than 12,000 standards have been used as the basis for policy development in Guatemala in the areas of building materials, hydrocarbons and plastics.

Abel Francisco Cruz Calderón, Deputy Minister of Investment and President of COGUANOR, the national standards body of Guatemala

The staff attachment was a great experience. I learned the ASTM standards business model, and observed the synergy between the divisions, especially standards development and sales.

Sazi Zangqa,South Africa Bureau of Standards, (SABS)

James Thomas, President, ASTM International, and Chey Scovell of PNG, shake on MOU, 2012

ASTM International

MOU signatory nations are shown in orange

ST.LUCIA

COSTA RICA

SINGAPORE

TAIWAN

• Ability to influence standards — As a benefit of the MoU program, technical experts from any of the countries can participate at no charge as full voting members in ASTM standards development process.

Benefits of the MOU Program

Formalizing our relationship with ASTM, a globally recognized leader in standards, will improve our use and application of technical standards, which underpin secure and stabilized growth and ensure the health and safety of our people and environment.

Chey Scovell, Deputy Chair, National Institute of Standards and Industrial Technology, Papua New Guinea

January 2013 Over a Century of Proven Successwww.astm.org

ASTM International was founded in 1898.HeadquartersTeresa CendrowskaVice President, Global CooperationPhone: +1 610-832-9718tcendrow@astm.org

Washington OfficeJeffrey GroveVice President, Global Policy and Industry AffairsPhone: +1-202-223-8505jgrove@astm.org

China OfficeLiu FeiSuite EF09, East Tower, Twin TowersB-12 Jianguomenwai AvenueChaoyang District, Beijing, PRC 100022Phone: +86-10-5109-6033fliu@astm.org

Mexico ConsultantLuis F. Ordóñezc/o Efiterm SA de CVPolancoCalderon de la Barca #358-302Mexico CP 11550Phone: +52-55-8589-9832astmmexico@astm.org

ABOUT ASTM INTERNATIONAL

ASTM International is a globally recognized leader in the development and delivery of international voluntary consensus standards. Today, some 12,000 ASTM standards are used around the world to improve product quality, enhance safety, facilitate market access and trade, and build consumer confidence.

More than 30,000 individuals from 140 countries work in ASTM’s open and transparent process to develop test methods, specifications, guides, and practices that support industries and governments worldwide.

High-quality, market-relevant ASTM standards, developed in accordance with the guiding principles of the World Trade Organization, foster health, safety and the overall quality of life everywhere.