The Standards Alliance works with regional standards bodies and national governments to support standard harmonization and global expert information sharing to support good regulatory practices and safer products for citizens.
Project: Support U.S. leadership in Standards for Critical and Emerging Technologies
Implementer: American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
Background
This project strengthens U.S. leadership in global standards for Critical and Emerging Technologies (CET) by building capacity in strategic regions and enabling local experts to participate in CET standards activities.
It promotes the U.S. private sector-led approach to international standards development and supports professionals from allied, under-represented countries through training and participation support.
The Challenge:
The international standards system faces potential pressure from unilateral approaches that may reduce openness, transparency, and broad stakeholder participation. In Africa, Asia, and Latin America,
this project ensures that the U.S private sector plays a key role in the development of CET standards, with the aim of facilitating U.S exports. It also addresses regional
capacity gaps in standards development and implementation, helping countries prepare for digital transformation and emerging technology.
Our Work:
Leading U.S.-based SDOs such INCITS and others, as well as industry CET experts, will contribute their technical knowledge and experience to design training materials, conduct workshops, host exchange visitor programs, and provide mentorship to participants from the target regions.
Where we work:
Africa, Asia, and Latin America
Project: Support for African Organization for Standardisation
Implementer: Personal Care Products Council (PCPC) and African Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO)
The Challenge:
In Africa, the regulatory frameworks for cosmetics and personal care products are not harmonized. Most countries that regulate these products in West, North, and South Africa do so based on a regulation that is horizontal. In East Africa, standards are prescriptive and specific to product types. These standards must be constantly updated and, as a result, are consistently behind technological innovation. Accordingly, many innovative products cannot be marketed in East Africa while local industry cannot innovate outside the limits of the standard. The incompatibility of the different frameworks creates significant issues in intra-African trade of cosmetics and personal care products. As such, a new standard for cosmetics that is aligned with global best regulatory practices should be developed and international expert opinion provided to help Africa develop the standard.
Our Work:
In this project, a webinar series will be conducted to support ARSO's efforts to establish a harmonized African standard for cosmetics and the personal care sectors. Webinars will cover a specific component of existing international standards and regulations, as well as the principles underpinning them, and hone in on a case study of a best practice standard for cosmetics and personal care products. Webinars for interested ARSO member stakeholders will feature presentations by industry and government experts from the U.S., EU, GCC, and Africa.
Where we work:
ARSO Member Countries:
Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Sudan, South Sudan, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe
Additional Resources:
