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The Consumer and Standards
(From a publication - Your voice matters - of the International Standards Organisation)
- Have your ever wondered why you can use your bank card anywhere in the world?
- Or been thankful that the dashboard symbols in the car you have hired in another country are the same as your own car at home?
- Or that you can watch video footage delivered via the Web on any of the different computers you have access to?
- Or noticed that your baby's toy has no sharp edges?
It is because they comply with technical specifications which have been codified into voluntary agreements, called standards.
In today's increasingly global manufacturing and trading environment, consumers expect to benefit from a wider choice of goods and services, lower prices and more information. They want the purchases they make to be of quality, easy to use, safe and friendly to the environment.
Standards are one vital tool for reaching these objectives … because they are developed within an open process that provides the opportunity for all stakeholders, including consumers, to express their views and to have those views considered.
This is a key principle of consensus-based standardization within bodies responsible for standardization (in our country the South African Bureau of Standards), for it ensures the fairness and effectiveness of the standards … and confidence in their use.
Standards are an integral element of consumer protection, as they often underpin national legislation and certification schemes.
Through a transparent and consensual development process, standards improve products and services by enhancing:
- Quality and reliability
- Protection of safety and health
- Compatibility between products
- Consistency in the delivery of services
- Greater choice of goods and services
- Transparent product information
- Lower costs and greater competition, hence lower prices for consumers
- Suitability of products for vulnerable populations (children, the elderly)
- Environmental protection
What are standards?
Standards are agreements containing technical specifications or other precise criteria to be used consistently as rules, guidelines, or definitions of characteristics, to ensure that materials, products, processes and services are fit for their purpose. When such agreements are international, they become 'International Standards'.
For example, the format of the credit cards, phone cards, and machine-readable cards that have become commonplace is derived from an ISO International Standard. Because manufacturers throughout the world apply the same standard, these cards can be used everywhere.
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