G/TBT/GEN/164  
 
14 May 2014  
(14-2972) Page: 1/6  
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
 IEC ACTIVITIES IN DEVELOPING AND INDUSTRIALIZING COUNTRIES  
(OCTOBER 2013 – MARCH 2014) 
This document contains information provided by the IEC (International Electrotechnical 
Commission) at the TBT Committee meeting of 19-20 March 2014 under Agenda Item 5 (Update 
by Observers).  
_______________ 
  This report to the WTO Technical Barriers to Trade Committee highlights the activities of the IEC, 
its Members, Affiliates and Regional Centres related to increasing the participation of developing 
and industrializing countries in IEC International Standardization and Conformity Assessment activities. 
 
1  SUPPORT TO IEC MEMBERS  
1.1  IEC Regional Centre for Latin America 
1.1.  The IEC-LARC (IEC Latin America Regional Centre), located in São Paulo, Brazil, is the focal 
point for the IEC in Latin America, helping to promote awareness of the IEC in the region, to increase the use of IEC International Standa rds and Conformity Assessment Systems and to 
enhance participation and membership of countries in the region.  
1.2  Electrical Installations Semi nar – Mexico, 13-14 November 2013  
1.2.  Attended by stakeholders and experts from Mexico, the objective was to update the 
information on IEC activities related to electrical installations and low-voltage installations 
accessories, including energy efficiency and renewable energy conformity assessment aspects. 
Mexican experts reported on their experience us ing and working with IEC International Standards 
and their interest in further participating in future challenges.  
1.3  Meetings with industrial sector stakeholders – Chile, 20-21 November 2013  
1.3.  Chile is using IEC International Standards fo r national adoptions and for regulatory processes 
at national level. The meetings were aimed at improving Chile’s participation in the IEC technical work and Conformity Assessment Systems. In turn, this facilitates the technical work developed by 
Chile’s mirror technical committees. 
1.4  Latin America Smart Grid Forum – Brazil, 16-28 November 2013  1.4.  For the last 4 years, IEC has participated in  this forum, regularly updating the audience on 
IEC smart grids and smart cities activities. To complement this information, IEC also presented the 
IEC Smart Grid Standards Mapping Tool, a dynamic IT tool that allows experts to have all the information on IEC International Standards related to their area in one place. 
1.5  Support to IEC National Committees in Latin America 
1.5.  In November 2013, IEC visited several IEC Member National Committees in Latin America: 
Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico. In  those countries where the use and adoption of G/TBT/GEN/164 
 
- 2 - 
 
  IEC International Standards is increasing, the meetings were an opportunity to explain how IEC's 
publications distribution works and ge t feedback on IEC tools and services. 
1.6  IEC Asia-Pacific Regional Centre 1.6.  The IEC-APRC (IEC Asia-Pacific Regional Centre), located in Singapore, has a twofold 
mission: to promote awareness of the IEC in the region, increase the use of IEC International 
Standards and enhance participation of all countries in the region in the Commission's work; and to provide additional staff support to IEC Technical Committees and Subcommittees in the same 
way the IEC Central Office does at present.  
1.7  Outreach in China – 5-11 November 2013 1.7.  In collaboration with IEC TISS (Technical Information Services and Support) and IEC-APRC, 
the IEC Chinese National Committee organized seminars in Beijing, Jinan and Guangzhou to 
promote awareness of the IEC, its Conformity As sessment Systems, training to experts on the 
IEC's processes and procedures for standards development. The seminar in Beijing targeted stakeholders from Zhongguancun, China’s Silicon Valley, while the ones in Jinan and Guangzhou 
attracted both industry and government bodies  from the Shandong and Guangdong province 
respectively. Collectively, over 550 people attended the event.  
1.8  9th Asian Electronics Forum 2013 –Tianjin, China, 13-16 November 2013 
1.8.  The IEC-APRC Regional Director participated  at the AEF (Asian Electronics Forum) to promote 
awareness of the IEC to the associations of the el ectronic sector in Asia, with the objective of 
encouraging the use of IEC International Stan dards and Conformity Assessment Systems as a 
means to help market access. Hosted by the CECC (China Electronics Chamber of Commerce), the 
9th AEF 2013 saw over 250 participants from China and other Asian economies. The objectives of 
the AEF include fostering free trade and closer economic ties by establishing more information exchange and alerting members on new policies on import, tax, standards and technology and 
environmental/ecological legislations that may affect trade. 
1.9  ACCSQ JSC EEE Meeting – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 19-21 November 2013 1.9.  The IEC-APRC continues its close collaboration with the regulators of electrical and electronic 
equipment in Southeast Asia through its part icipation at the ACCSQ JSC EEE (Association of 
Southeast Asian Nations Consultative Committee for Standards and Quality Joint Sectoral Committee for Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Meeting. The objective is to encourage the use of IEC International Standards and CA (Conformit y Assessment) Systems in the region. The former 
IECEE (IEC System of Conformity Assessment Schemes for Electrotechnical Equipment and 
Components) Executive Secretary also attended the meeting and, apart from sharing on the latest 
developments in the IECEE, he also shared on the new IEC ACAS (Affiliate Conformity Assessment 
Status) which aims to actively engage IEC Affiliate countries through learning modules, Affiliate 
resource database, levels of participation in IE C CA Systems, regional events and webinars.   
1.10  Regional Seminar on Energy Efficien cy – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 18 November 
2013 
1.10.  Back to back with the ACCSQ JSC EEE M eeting, IEC-APRC and JISC (Japanese Industrial 
Standards Committee) organized a regional seminar to promote IEC’s participation in energy efficiency of household appliances and office equipment. Apart from standards, the seminar also 
focused on the IECEE as the preferred system fo r conformity assessment of safety and energy 
efficiency of electrical and electronic equipmen t. Over 60 delegates from Cambodia, Indonesia, 
Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore,  Thailand and Vietnam attended the seminar, 
with about one half from regulatory bodies and the other half from industry. Supported by 
Standards Malaysia, the IEC Malaysian National Committee and the Energy Commission, the seminar was organized under the theme Standards for Green Society, as part of a series of annual 
regional seminars held since 2011.  
 G/TBT/GEN/164 
 
- 3 - 
 
  1.11  Symposium on Electrical and Mechanic al Safety and Energy Efficiency – Hong 
Kong, China, 20-21 January 2014 
1.11.  The symposium is an annual event organize d in Hong Kong by the EMSD (Electrical and 
Mechanical Services Department), the regulatory body in Hong Kong overseeing power generation 
and grid, electrical installations and safety of rail way, electrical and electronic equipment, amongst 
others. Its objective is to provide a platform for sharing with engineers on key issues relating to electrical, gas, mechanical, and railways safety  and the efficient use of energy. The IEC-APRC 
Regional Director shared on the role of IEC International Standards and Conformity Assessment 
Systems as tools to help ensure safe products in the market. Over 300 engineers from government bodies, utilities, academia, etc. attended the event in the Hong Kong Science Park. 
1.12  IECEx International Conference – Ku ala Lumpur, Malaysia, 19-20 February 2014 
1.12.  The conference was a huge success and attracted 312 delegates from 24 countries across 
Asia, Africa, Europe and North America. It was offi cially opened by the Malaysian Deputy Minister 
for Science, Technology and Innovation who said that the IECEx (IEC System for Certification to 
Standards Relating to Equipment for Use in Explosive Atmospheres) reduces testing and 
certification cost by eliminating or significantly reducing multiple testing or assessments. The many questions raised at the conference illustrated th e strong interests on the IECEx System and IEC 
Technical Committee 31 on equipment for explosive atmospheres. It was organized by the IEC, 
IECEx, the Department of Standards Malaysia and the IEC Malaysian National Committee in conjunction with the UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe). It was evident from the huge attendance and active participatio n of attendees that the IECEx System is used 
throughout industry as a mechanism to verify compliance with international safety standards. 
2  IEC AFFILIATE COUNTRY PROGRAMME 2.1.  The IEC Affiliate Country Programme is aimed at developing countries that do not yet have 
the necessary infrastructure and technical expertise to participate in IEC activities as a Member. 
Participants join the Programme free of charge on invitation by the IEC General Secretary. 
2.2.  Since our last report, 2 Affiliate countries have established a NEC (National Electrotechnical 
Committee): Cameroon and Dominica. Both counties have participated in the IEC Affiliate Country 
Programme for 9 years but have yet to declare a national adoption of an IEC International Standard. The NEC infrastructure should now enable their stakeholders from the electrotechnical sector to participate more actively in the process of adoption and benefit from what the IEC can 
offer, in particular, the IEC Affiliate Plus Stat us and IEC ACAS (Affiliate Conformity Assessment 
Status). The IEC hopes they will follow in the f ootsteps of Afghanistan, Côte D’Ivoire, Ethiopia, 
Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda and Zimbabwe that have reported additional adoptions over the last 6 
months. The IEC Affiliate Secretariat is also please d to report that contact has been re-established 
with Fiji and will now follow up to enhance their participation. 
2.1  IEC Affiliate Forum in New Delhi, India  
2.3.  Twenty-nine delegates from 18 countries – IEC Affiliates and IEC Members – attended the 
annual IEC Affiliate Forum held during the 77th IEC General Meeting in New Delhi, India, 21-25 
October 2013. The forum began with a presentati on by the IEC Affiliate Leader, who provided 
some context for the introduction of the IEC Affiliate Country Programme’s new Mentoring and 
ACAS initiatives before going into further detail about how Affiliate countries could take part and 
b e n e f i t .  I t  w a s  f o l l o w e d  b y  a  p r e s e n t a t i o n  b y  t h e  N E C  S e c r e t a r y  o f  E t h i o p i a  o n  r e c e n t  developments and progress made in the country. Pr esentations were also delivered by the IEC on 
the topic of its Mentoring Programme and on IT to ols to support the work done by experts in the 
IEC community. The floor was then given to the NEC Secretary of Rwanda and the NC (National 
Committee) Secretary of Austria who was representing the first mentoring partnership established 
in September 2013 following the launch of the Mentoring Programme in June 2013. 
2.4.  Following the presentations and discussions,  the group broke into two regional sessions on 
Africa and Asia with the IEC Affiliate Leader chairing the regional session on Asia-Pacific, and the IEC Coordinator for Africa chairing the regional session on Africa. G/TBT/GEN/164 
 
- 4 - 
 
  2.2  IEC Workshop for Industri alizing Countries on solar photovoltaic energy standards 
2.5.  During its 77th General Meeting, the IEC brought together 50 participants representing 25 
countries, IEC Members and IEC Affiliates, to atte nd a workshop on solar photovoltaic energy 
standards for developing countries. Following a we lcome address by the IEC Affiliate Leader, the 
panel of speakers included three experts from IEC Technical Committee 82/Joint Working Group 1 
and a guest speaker from IRENA (International Renewable Energy Agency). Issues raised included the challenge of electrifying remote villages in Bhutan due to the rugged landscape and promoting 
rural electrification in general, the harmonization of standards and grid synchronization, to name 
but a few. 
2.3  IEC’s visit to Bhutan 2.6.  On a request from the IEC Affiliate Leader, Phuntsho Wangdi, Director of the BSB (Bhutan 
Standards Bureau), the IEC held a workshop for BS B’s stakeholders and provided some training to 
the members of the newly established NEC. It was the opportunity for IEC representatives to meet 
with the Bhutanese electricity regulatory author ities, the renewable energy department and the 
Minister of Economic Affairs. During the workshop, the IEC focused on rural electrification and 
renewable energy as well as its conformity assessment activities. The IEC addressed participants from the electrotechnical sector, including governmental agencies, rural electrification 
programmes, renewable energy programmes, certification, regulators and representatives from 
the Bhutanese telecoms as well as from the Minist ry of Economic Affairs. The IEC’s visit included 
Punatsangchhu-I which is presently the largest hydroelectric project (1 200 MW) undertaken by the Royal Government of Bhutan and the Go vernment of India. The other successfully 
implemented hydroelectric projects are Chukha  (336 MW), Kurichu (60 MW) and Tala (1 020 MW) 
as a result of previous collaboration between the two countries. The IEC discussed with the NEC 
Secretary on how to involve this sector in the NEC activities and to encourage the use of IEC 
International Standards for the project. For Bhut an, the objective is now to declare additional 
adoptions and be granted IEC Affiliate Plus Status. 
2.4  Access to IEC International Standards for adoption 
Since our last report, 15 IEC Affiliate countries have received free of charge IEC International 
Standards to consider for adoption: Afghanistan, Bhutan, Costa Rica, Côte D'Ivoire, Dominican Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Rwanda, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania and Uruguay. 
3  REGIONAL COLLABORATION 
3.1  Africa Smart Grid Forum 2014 3.1.  To facilitate the exchange of information on smart grid, CIE, the Ivoirian power utility, 
CODINORM, the national standards body, AFSEC (African Electrotechnical Standardization 
Commission) and APUA (Association of Power Utilities of Africa) are organizing the first international smart grid forum for Africa to be held 14-16 May 2014 in Abidjan, Côte D’Ivoire. The 
event will be held in collaboration and partnership with the IEC, CENELEC (European Committee 
for Electrotechnical Standardization), DKE, the IEC German National Committee, SGCC (State Grid Corporation of China), KATS (Korean Agency for Technology and Standards) and AFREC/AU (African Energy Commission of the African Union) . Participants will share their experience on: 
a. Technological shift towards smart grids; 
b. Evolution of regulations and standards inherent to smart grids; 
c. Issues and profits from producer to consumer; 
d. Performance of the public smart grids for electricity distribution; 
e. Solutions provided by enterprises and suppliers. G/TBT/GEN/164 
 
- 5 - 
 
  3.2.  The forum will help African experts and ma nagers to build their capacities regarding smart 
grids. This capacity building will be particularly  important in view of developing a strategy for 
A f r i c a n  c o u n t r i e s  t o  b e c o m e  e m e r g i n g  e c o n o m i e s .  I t  w i l l  a l s o  g i v e  s u p p l i e r s  t h e  o p p o r t u n i t y  t o  exhibit their equipment and share their solutions. 
3.3.  The conference will be held in English an d French. For information and registration, please 
contact: secretariat@afsec-africa.org . 
3.2  COPANT General Assembly 2014 
3.4.  The IEC will again be taking part in the COPANT, the Pan American Standards Commission, 
General Assembly to be held in Havana, Cuba, 20-24 April 2014. Workshops on conformity assessment and the IEC Young Professionals Programme will be on the agenda following their implementation during last year’s COPANT General Assembly. 
3.3  PARTNERSHIP WITH UN AGENCIES 
3.5.  IEC presented its work at the UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) 
Working Party 6 annual meeting, held in Geneva, 18 20 November 2013. It was the occasion for 
IEC General Secretary to address the participants on standards and regulatory frameworks and to 
emphasize that IECEx, the IEC System for Certification to Standards Relating to Equipment for Use in Explosive Atmospheres, has been endorsed by UNECE as the international model for safety 
regulation in Ex areas. On 19-20 February 2014, IECEx and UNECE held an international 
conference in Kuala Lumpur with the collaboration of the Department of Standards Malaysia. 
3.6.  Under the terms of its partnership with the UN SE4ALL (Sustainable Energy For All) initiative, 
IEC took part in IRENA (International Renewabl e Energy Agency) 4th General Assembly in Abu 
Dhabi, UAE. It was the occasion to attend the GREIN (Global Renewable Energy Islands Network) 
resource assessment interest cluster. The IEC reiterated its invitation to small Pacific Islands to join free of charge the IEC Affiliate Country Pr ogramme giving free access to 200 IEC International 
Standards for adoption. The IEC is ready to collaborate more closely with IRENA to raise the 
awareness on existing international standards relating to wind, sun and marine energy prepared by its technical committees: IEC TC 82, IEC TC 88 and IEC TC 114 in particular.  
3.7.  Still within its SE4ALL partnership, the IEC took part in the Rural Energy Access conference 
organized by UN DESA (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs), in collaboration with UN-Energy, UNECA (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa) and UN SE4ALL in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 4-6 December 2013. The conference presented a Nexus 
Approach to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication and addressed over 250 
participants from 40 countries. The participants heard that grid access to electricity will only be feasible initially for some 20 % (150 M) of Africans who still don’t have access to electricity, while 
mini-grid systems will cater for some 30 % (275 M). Some 50 % (425 M) will have to rely on 
pico/stand-alone systems for many years. As such, systems will need to be the subject of appropriate standards and quality assurance for th em to be durable and reliable. One of the 18 
recommendations of the conference was that “Technical standards for energy service delivery and 
energy systems appropriate for rural areas be deve loped to ensure quality and efficiency”. This 
highlights the need for IEC commitment to support the SE4ALL initiative by facilitating access to sustainable energy standards for various stakeholders in developing countries. IEC is offering a 
package at a discount for qualifying practitioners from countries that are participating in the 
SE4ALL initiative. Six countries are not yet in the IEC Family and are encouraged to join the IEC Affiliate Country Programme free of charge to benefi t from the package. This will include access to 
various parts of the IEC Technical Specification 62257 series, including IEC TS 62257-9-5, a 
publication on a selection of stand-alone lighting kits for rural electrification, and also the IEC International Standards that are referred to in the series. 
4  IEC CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES  
4.1  ACAS 4.1.  Since our last report and the launch of the IEC ACAS (Affiliate Conformity Assessment 
Status) in August 2013, the IEC is pleased to report that 10 countries have now signed the ACAS G/TBT/GEN/164 
 
- 6 - 
 
  pledge: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Côte D’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, 
Ghana, Rwanda, Sudan, Uruguay and Zambia. Benefits of the IEC ACAS include: 
a. Regional awareness events; 
b. Documentation and guides on conformity assessment at the IEC; 
c. Webinars (upon request); 
d. Learning modules on IEC website and CD-ROMs (under development); 
e. A resource database (under development); 
f. Active participation in each IEC Conformity Assessment System, based on prerequisite 
training conditions. 
4.2  IECEx-AFSEC workshop 4.2.  Following the IEC’s visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in September 2013, the IEC 
will be organizing in partnership with AFSEC (African Electrotechnical Standardization Commission) 
an IECEx-AFSEC Workshop to be held in Lubumbashi, DRC, 8-9 September 2014, back to back with AFSEC General Assembly in Kinshasa, DRC, 10-12 September 2014. 
4.3  IEC’s visit to Myanmar 
In November 2013, the IEC met in Yangon, Myanma r with members of MSTRD (Myanmar Scientific 
and Technological Research Department) and the Directorate of Industrial Supervision and 
Inspection. On the agenda of the meeting were Myanmar’s participation in the IEC Affiliate Country 
Programme (Myanmar joined in 2007) and other areas that the IEC could assist with regarding its conformity assessment activities. Next steps for Myanmar include the establishment of their NEC (National Electrotechnical Committee) and to begin adopting IEC International Standards as 
national standards.  
 
__________