Events

 
 
 

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin meets with Secretary-General of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) Rob Steele

 
 
 

Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:

Vladimir Putin: Mr Secretary-General, I'm happy to welcome you here. We are very pleased to have this opportunity to continue our dialogue. The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) is an important body providing rules for regulating trade in different sectors of the economy, industries and high-tech spheres.

ISO employs more than 500 of our compatriots in different jobs. We intend to work actively with you to develop new technical regulations. This is very important. Today we are using about 40% of international regulations and are planning to increase this level to 60%. This work is not easy. It requires time, special effort and adequate resources, but this is the intention of our government and a demand of the times and our business community.

It is very important that Mr Alyoshin (Boris Alyoshin, ISO president), a Russian representative, occupies one of the leading positions. I'm convinced that his experience and knowledge will play a positive role in the organisation's development.

We are grateful to you for your decision to hold an ISO meeting in Russia in 2013. I'd like to assure you that the federal government and the municipal authorities of St Petersburg will do everything to ensure that the meeting is organised and held at the highest level.

Rob Steele (via interpreter): Mr Prime Minister, I'd like to thank you for finding the time to meet me today and for displaying an interest in the organisation that I head. As you know, the ISO has 162 members representing various countries.

All in all, the ISO has created 18,600 standards encompassing all spheres of life – the economy, environmental protection and the sustainable development of society.

We are all essentially guided by standards in our daily life. One of our standards, for instance, determines the size of a credit card. Other standards define currency codes or standardisation of containers and cargo shipments.

This week we are going to publish a new standard on energy efficiency that will apply to 60% of the world's energy consumption. Eurostat has made an enormous contribution to the development of this standard.

Our standards are used throughout the world. One of them determines the efficiency of the management system. It makes it possible to make management more effective and to issue relevant certificates.

Last November we published a standard on social responsibility that is based on international definitions. Different global organisations helped to develop it, among them representatives of the International Labour Organisation. I understand you made a speech at its meeting today.

Standards are primarily pragmatic. If we look at the importance of standards at the national level we see what a tremendous influence they are exerting on economic growth and the sustainable use of natural resources.

Адрес страницы в сети интернет: http://archive.government.ru/eng/docs/15603/