4th meeting of the governing board of sarso held in...

October – December 2015

SARSO News 1 | P a g e

Newsletter of the South Asian Regional Standards Organization

4TH MEETING OF THE GOVERNING BOARD OF SARSO HELD IN DHAKA

The Fourth Meeting of the Governing Board (GB) of South Asian Regional Standards Organisation (SARSO) was held

in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 14-15 December 2015 under the Chairmanship of Mr. Sonam Phuntsho, Director-General,

Bhutan Standards Bureau. The Meeting was opened by Ms. Fathimath Najwa, Director (Social Affairs), SAARC

Secretariat, Kathmandu as the representative of Secretary General of SAARC. The GB Members from Afghanistan,

Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka were present in the meeting. Mr. Rahat Bin Zaman, Director,

SAARC & BIMSTEC, Government of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh, Mr. Thilak Wickremasinghe, Director, Sri

Lanka Accreditation Board and the Chairperson of SAARC Expert Group on Accreditation (SEGA) and Mr. Dennis

Chew, Regional Director, IEC-APRC also attended the meeting.

The meeting proceeded with the presentation on the status and activities of SARSO by Dr. Syed Humayun Kabir,

Director General. The meeting deliberated and gave recommendations on matters related to Administrative and

Financial matters put forward by SARSO Secretariat and reviewed the progress of implementation of the Third

Meeting of GB of SARSO held in Dhaka, 19-20 December 2014. Mr. R.K. Jha, Bureau of Indian Standards and the

Chairperson of the Technical Management Board presented the Report of the Third Technical Management Board

Meeting held in Dhaka, 12 December 2105 and Mr. Thilak Wickremasinghe, Director, Sri Lanka Accreditation Board

and the Chairperson of SEGA made a presentation on the Report of the Fourth Meeting of SEGA held in Colombo,

18-19 November 2015. The Secretariat presented the Report of the Fourth SAARC-PTB Coordination Meeting on

Metrology held in Colombo, 28-29 October 2015. The meeting approved SARSO’s budget for the year 2016. To

conclude the meeting, Mr. L. N Senaweera, Director General Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI), Sri Lanka

proposed the vote of thanks.

http://www.mofa.gov.bd/mofa-officers/mr-rahat-bin-zaman



3RD MEETING OF THE TECHNICAL MANAGEMENT BOARD (TMB) OF SARSO HELD IN DHAKA

The Third Meeting of the Technical Management Board (TMB) of SARSO was held in the Conference Room of the Secretariat of SARSO, Dhaka, Bangladesh on 12 December 2015 under the Chairmanship of Mr. R. K. Jha, Scientist F, Head, Chemical Department, Bureau of Indian Standards, India. The Meeting was opened by Ms. Najwa Fathimath, Director (Social Affairs), SAARC Secretariat, Kathmandu on behalf of Secretary-General of SAARC. The TMB Members from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka were present in the meeting. Mr. Dennis Chew, Regional Director, APRC-IEC also attended the meeting.

The meeting reviewed the Report of the Second Meeting of the TMB of SARSO and held discussion on the finalization of the draft SARSO Directives Part I & II. The meeting also considered the format for New Work Item Proposal (NWIP) as proposed by the SARSO Secretariat and approved the format of NWIP with some amendments. The report of the status of each Sectoral Technical Committees (STC) was also reported during the meeting. The meeting discussed the matter of formal appointment of chairperson of each STC for the tenure of three years and finalized the meeting calendar of STCs of SARSO for the year 2016. Dr. L. N. Senawera, Director General, Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI) presented the vote of thanks.

SARSO CELEBRATES THE ‘WORLD STANDARDS DAY 2015’

The South Asian Regional Standards Organization (SARSO), on the occasion of World Standards Day 2015 organized an Interactive Session with the Embassies/High Commissions of SAARC Member States in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Her Excellency, Mrs. Pema Choden, Ambassador of Bhutan, Mr. S.M Anisul Haque, Director General, SAARC & BIMSTEC,

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh, Deputy High Commission of Pakistan, Second High Commission of India and Director General, BSTI were present on this occasion. Mr. S.M Anisul Haque, Director General, SAARC & BIMSTEC, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Peoples Republic of Bangladesh in his introductory address highlighted the importance of SARSO and its role towards harmonization of standards and appreciated SARSO for putting its efforts on many activities. He expressed

the role of SARSO in boosting regional and global trade and recommended SARSO to prioritize import/export products and develop a roadmap.



SARSO OBSERVES THE ‘SAARC CHARTER DAY 2015’

The SARSO, to express its solidarity observed the SAARC Charter Day on 8th December 2015 at its Secretariat. The

Honorable Minister, Ministry of Industries, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Mr. Amir Hossain

Amu, MP graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. The respected Secretary, Ministry of Industries, Mr. Md.

Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan ndc attended the function as a Special Guest. Dignitaries from the SAARC Member

States Embassies/Consulates offices in Dhaka, senior government officials and representatives from the private

organizations in Dhaka also attended the function. SARSO also published a supplement in the Financial Express

newspaper to mark the occasion.



SIGNING OF THE HEADQUARTERS AGREEMENT The Headquarters Agreement was signed between the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and the South Asian Regional Standards Organization (SARSO) on 1st November 2015.

The Agreement is intended to provide an overall framework for the functioning and operation of SARSO and as the ‘Center of Excellence’ in its field of activity and for regulating the relation between SARSO and the host country. The objective of the agreement is to facilitate the work of SARSO as envisaged in its approved project documents and constitutive instruments, to allow all concerned including official of SARSO to discharge the responsibilities efficiently and in good faith and regulate all matters directly connected to or incidental.

TRAINING WORKSHOP ON ‘SARSO DIRECTIVES PART I & II’ HELD IN DHAKA

As per the recommendation of the workshop on development of collaboration roadmap between SARSO and PTB held on 25-26 August 2015, SARSO with the technical and financial assistance from PTB-Germany organized 3 day regional training workshop from 9-11 December 2015 aimed at clarifying the directives of SARSO. The expected results of the workshop included:

Gained a better understanding and clarification of the Directive Part I: Procedure for the Technical work and Directive Part II: Rules for the structure and drafting of SAARC Standards;

Awareness on the two SARSO directives have been created;

International good practices on regional standardization have been shared;

Representatives from the National Standard Bodies of SAARC Member States, experts from PTB, Ms. Siglinde Kaiser (DIN-Germany), Mr. Dennis Chew, Regional Director (APRC-IEC) and Mrs. Bindu Mehta (BIS, India) participated in the workshop.



‘4TH SAARC–PTB COORDINATION MEETING ON REGIONAL COOPERATION IN METROLOGY’ HELD IN COLOMBO, SRI LANKA

The Fourth SAARC – PTB Coordination Meeting on Regional Cooperation in Metrology was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka and the meeting was organized by SAARC – PTB Coordination Meeting on Regional Cooperation in

Metrology (MUSSD), Colombo, Sri Lanka, 28 - 29 October 2015 with the financial and technical assistance of PTB-Germany. The coordination meeting had two main objectives: First, to provide a forum for a mutual update on developments in scientific metrology on national and regional level and for a discussion of the progress made since the last coordination meeting in June 2014. Second, it

aimed to review, adapt and update the activities and coordination mechanisms in metrology for the coming project year. The meeting was inaugurated by the Honorable Secretary, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Sri Lanka, Mr. T. M. K. B Tenakoon. The delegates present included Additional Secretary, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Mrs. Malkanthi Ekanayaka, Mr. K. Premasiri Kumara, Director Measurement Standards and Services Department, Ms. L Savithri, Director, Economic, Trade and Finance, SAARC Secretariat, Mr. Daniel Bohme, PTB Coordinator, Mr. Ulrich Diekmann and Dr. VT Chitnis, PTB Consultants. The delegates from the National Metrology Institutes of the Member States participated in the meeting. The meeting deliberated and set country wise capacity building targets and future activities and also discussed future regional cooperation opportunities and defined project activities for 2015-2017. The meeting concluded with a visit to MUSSD Metrology laboratory.

‘4TH MEETING OF SAARC EXPERT GROUP ON ACCREDITATION (SEGA)’ HELD IN COLOMBO, SRI LANKA

The Fourth Meeting of SAARC Expert Group on Accreditation (SEGA) was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka on 18-19 November 2015 in accordance with the Terms of Reference of SEGA with the financial and technical assistance of

PTB, Germany. The Meeting was inaugurated by Honorable Minister, Ministry of Science, Technology and Research, Government of Sri Lanka, Mr. Susil Premajayantha. In the inauguration ceremony, Mr. Namal Rajapaksha, Chairman of Sri Lanka Accreditation Board for Conformity Assessment, Ms. L. Savithri, Director, ETF, SAARC Secretariat and Mr. Indu Bikram Joshi, Director, SARSO Secretariat also addressed the meeting. The meeting began with a brief presentation by

SARSO on its functioning and current status. The delegates from Member States briefly updated the latest developments on Accreditation activities followed by a presentation by Dr. Christian Starz, Project Coordinator,



INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

BANGLADESH ACCREDITATION BOARD (BAB) VISITS SARSO

Technical Cooperation in Asia, PTB-Germany. Mr. Shafquat Haider, spokesperson of Working Group on Quality Infrastructure of SAARC-TPN briefed about Trade Promotion Network (TPN) of SAARC. The meeting reviewed the progress in the implementation of recommendations contained in the report of the Third Meeting of SEGA held in Lahore, 2-3 September 2014 and also the implementation of recommendations contained in the report of the Second Review and Planning Meeting of SEGA held in New Delhi, 24-25 March 2015. As recommended by Second Meeting of SEGA, the Meeting discussed the Terms of Reference of SEGA and made the necessary revision. The Meeting also discussed the draft proposal by Nepal on formation of SAARC Accreditation Cooperation for upgrading cooperation in the field of accreditation and NABCB, India agreed to develop concept note on SAARC Accreditation Cooperation. The Meeting as recommended by the Second Meeting of SEGA, held discussion on amendments on the Multilateral Arrangement on Recognition of Conformity Assessment (MARCA). Discussions were held on development of SAARC Proficiency Testing (PT) Strategy and Certified Reference Materials (CRM) and agreed on the SEGA action plan 2016. Mr. Nasirul Islam, Deputy Director, Bangladesh Accreditation Board, Government of Bangladesh delivered the vote of thanks. The SEGA Meeting was followed by an awareness seminar on 20 November 2015. Mr. Md. Abu Abdullah, Director General and officials from the Bangladesh Accreditation Board (BAB) visited SARSO to observe the ongoing activities of SARSO on 19 October 2015. SARSO and BAB had an interactive discussion on possible coordination and cooperation in future. SARSO officials also made a visit to BAB office on 02 December 2015. A Cooperation Agreement has been finalized between SARSO and the International Electrotechncial Commission (IEC). SARSO has received a signed copy of the agreement and is in the process of getting approval from Member States. Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan and India have given consent to the agreement. A Cooperation Agreement has also been finalized between SARSO and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). SARSO has received the final copy of the agreement and is in the process of getting approval from Member States. Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal have given consent to the agreement. The ISO Council has decided to recognize SARSO as the regional standards organization for the South Asian region as per the Council Resolution 24/2015.



NEWS ON THE WORKING GROUP QUALITY INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE SAARC

TRADE INFORMATION PORTAL

Introduction of the WG QI

One of the thematic working groups of SAARC-TPN is the Working Group on Quality Infrastructure (WG QI).

Quality infrastructure (QI) can be understood as the totality of the institutional framework (public or private)

required for establishing and implementing standardization, metrology and accreditation - as well as conformity

assessment services. The latter comprise inspection, testing, and certification of products and systems. QI provides

evidence that products and services meet defined requirements. These requirements might either be imposed by the

authorities (in technical regulations and sanitary and phytosanitary measures) or demanded by the marketplace.

The SAARC region has much to gain from a well-functioning QI. It helps to promote trade within the region and

outside, protects consumers and deepens regional integration.

The WG QI was formed in June 2010 at the annual Operations Committee Meeting (OCM) in Sri Lanka, with the

support of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, on behalf of the German

Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). From February 2015 onwards, the

Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) has taken over the role as a facilitator of the WG QI’s work. PTB is

Germany’s national metrology institute. Since more than 50 years PTB is engaged worldwide in technical

cooperation where it deals with all aspects of QI. Since 2013 PTB runs the project “Promoting Regional

Integration and Cooperation in the Area of Quality Infrastructure” on behalf of the BMZ. The support to the WG

QI has become part of a component of the project which targets raising awareness on QI especially within the

business communities of the SAARC region.

Recent activities

One of the key activities of the WG QI, besides QI awareness raising events, is conducting a series of seminars on

export quality management (EQM). The EQM seminars acquaint small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with

the important features of QI in areas, which are necessary to make them compliant. They also introduce the

participants into practical web-based tools which enable them to access information tailored to company needs (for

instance on standards in the company’s business field). The EQM seminar was developed by the International

Trade Centre (ITC) of the United Nations, as well as PTB. The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce

and Industries (FBCCI) organized the second batch of EQM seminars which were held in Chittagong (30th

September and 1st of October 2015) and in Dhaka (3

rd and 4

th of October 2015). During the seminars, the

Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) also provided insights into its tasks. The seminars received a

very positive feedback from the participants due to the relevance of the content and the quality of the

implementation. It has become clear that the EQM seminar has achieved a high degree of maturity and is ready for

dissemination on a wider scale (the EQM abstract “A bird’s eye view” can be downloaded from the PTB website

by following this link:

http://www.ptb.de/cms/fileadmin/internet/fachabteilungen/abteilung_q/q.5_technische_zusammenarbeit/q5_publik

ationen/010_Brochure/PTB_Info_EQM-Birds_Eye_EN.pdf).

Immediately following the seminar, the WG QI held its second meeting on the 5th and 6

th of October 2015 in

Dhaka. It developed a new work plan valid up to March 2017. The plan prioritizes a continuation of the awareness

raising events, the development of QI-related services of the member organizations of the working group and a

more intensified dissemination of the results of the WG QI. During its meeting, the WG QI also had the honour to

host a delegation of the South Asian Regional Standards Organisation (SARSO) for an introduction of the tasks

and activities of the working group. The meeting was followed by a visit to the premises of SARSO. SARSO

expressed its interest in staying current with the WG QI activities and in future collaborations, as and when

opportunities arise.



SECTORAL TECHNICAL COMMITTEE (STC) MEETINGS 2016

Sectoral

Technical

Committee

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Food and

Agricultural

Products

6th

Meeting

{CMB}

7th

Meeting

(BAN*)

Chemical and

Chemical

Products

3rd

Meeting

{PAK}

4th

Meeting

(IND)

Building

Material

4th

Meeting

{CMB}

5th

Meeting

(NEP*)

Electrical,

Electronics,

Telecom and IT

2nd Meeting

{AFG}

(PAK -

Alternate)

3rd

Meeting

(IND)

Jute, Textile

and Leather

5th

Meeting

{IND*}

6th

Meeting

{NEP}

Conformity

Assessment

1st

Meeting

(IND)

2nd

Meeting

(PAK)

* After Confirmation



South Asian Regional Standards Organization (SARSO)

Secretariat

116/A, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1208, Bangladesh

Tel: +88 02 8878130

Fax: +88 02 8878131

Website: www.sarso.org.bd

E-mail: [email protected] / [email protected]

Editorial Committee:

Director General

Dr. Syed Humayun Kabir

Director Indu Bikram Joshi

Deputy Director

Tashi Wangchuk

Khawja Gulam Mohiuddin

tel:+88%2002%208878130

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

4th meeting of the governing board of sarso held in...

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