NBSIR 74-550

Report to AID on an NBS/AID

Workshop on Standardization and

Measurement Services in

Industrializing Economies

Michael B. McNeil

Office of International Relations

National Bureau of Standards

Washington, D. C. 20234

Held May 11 - 24, 1974

The Workshop was conducted as a part of the program under the US/NBS Agency for International Development PASA TA (CE) 5-71.

Prepared for Agency for International Development

Department of State

Washington, D. C. 20523

NBSiR 74-550

REPORT TO AID ON AN NBS/AID

WORKSHOP ON STANDARDIZATION AND

MEASUREMENT SERVICES IN INDUSTRIALIZING ECONOMIES

Michael B. McNeil

Office of International Relations

National Bureau of Standards

Washington, D. C. 20234

Held May 11 - 24, 1974

The Workshop was conducted as a part of the program under the US/NBS/Agency for International Development PASA TA (CE) 5-71.

Prepared for Agency for International Development

Department of State Washington, D. C. 20523

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. Frederick B. Dent. Secretary

NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS. Richard W. Roberts, Director

FOREWORD

The staff of the Office of International Relations of

the National Bureau of Standards desire to thank the Agency

for International Development for making this Workshop possible, and to thank those persons at NBS and elsewhere who

so freely gave of their time and knowledge to make it a success

.

iil
iv
NBS/AID WORKSHOP ON STANDARDIZATION AND

MEASUREMENT SERVICES IN INDUSTRIALIZING ECONOMIES

Group Photograph Taken at NBS Gaithersburg Laboratories

Left to Right:

Mr. H. S. Pelser, Chief, Office of International Relations,

U. S. National Bureau of Standards

Dr. Werner Y. F. Ning, Director, National Bureau of Standards,

Republic of China

Mr. S. I. Ogunmodede, Superintendent of Weights and Measures,

Nigeria

Dr. M. B. McNeil, Assistant to the Chief, Office of International Relations, U.S. National Bureau of Standards

Ing. Orlando Donoso T. , Director General, General Directorate

of Standards and Technology, Bolivia

Mr. Princewill M. Kanu, Head of Laboratory Services, Nigerian

Standards Organization, Nigeria

Mr. Nguyen Huu Do, Director, National Standards Institute,

Vietnam

Ing. Jaime H. Redin G. , Chief, Quality Control Department,

Ecuadorian Institute for Standardization, Ecuador

Mrs. Angeles Mortera, Chief, Technical Division, Bureau of

Standards, Philippines

Dr. E. L. Brady, Assiciate Director for Information Programs,

U.S. National Bureau of Standards

Mr. Park, Jae Man, Director of Weights and Measures, Republic

of Korea

Not pictured:

Ing. Humberto Rodriguez E. , Chief, Quality Control Department,

General Directorate of Industry, Honduras

V
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Pag

ueview of \.'orkshop , ]_

Program of \Jorkshop 5

"The Program of the ;<ational Standards Institute in Vietnam" -

.Ir. ^[^uyen Huu iJo, j^irector of i-.Gsearch and Testing,

National Standards Institute, Vietnam 14

"Standardization and Economic Jevelopment" - br. VJerner Y. F. Ning,

Director, IJational Bureau of Standards, Republic of China . . 19

"Standardization and Measurements: Its Role and Problems in tlie

Philippines" - llrs. A. J. Mortera, Chief, Teclinical Division,

Bureau of Standards, Philippines 38

"i>ational Standards in Korea" - .ir. Jae .lan Park, Director,

Department of VJeights and Measures, National Industrial

Standards iiesearch Institute, Republic of Korea 42

"Standardization and .leasurement - 'ilie I'igerian Experience" -

-Ir. Princewill II. rCanu, Head of Laboratory Services,

Nigerian Standards Organization, Federal iiiriistry of

Industries, liigeria 47

"l.'eights and Measures Adm.inistration - The I^igerian Experience" -

Mr. S. I. Ogunmodede, Superintendent of l.ei;;;hts and Measures,

^'eights and Measures Division, Federal iiinistry of Trade,

lageria 31

"Message" - -Ir. L. C. Verrian, Kecired director, Indian Standards

Institution, India 57

Special L'orlcshop discourse: "Uliat Do "..'e ILnov: /ibout Plar.ninr"-

Dr. A. V.aterston, Professor of Lconomics, The /vr.^.erican

University, i.'ashington, J.C 58

Appendix I - Biodata on Participants • . 83

Appendix II - Full Titles and Mailing' Addresses of Participants .85

vi
Review of Workshop

i'or several years, the U.S. Agency for International Development and

the National Bureau of Standards have had a cooperative prograw

designed to facilitate the industrialization of various countries by

helping them to develop a measurement and standards infrastructure.

On the part of AID, this is handled through the Office of Science and

Technology and, on the part of iJBS, by the Office of International

Relations.

Tliis program of cooperation contains several elements; two of the most

important are the measurement surveys and the workshops.

NBS, under AID sponsorship, acts to help industrializing countries

improve their standardization and measurement services by making

surveys of their requirements for such services in selected countries;

these surveys are generally carried out by a team of experts both from

ivIBS and from other industrializing countries which face problems

similar to those believed to exist in the country surveyed. Also, JBS

invites representatives of standardization and measurement

organizations in industrializing countries to attend workshops held in

the iffiS facilities at Gaithersburg, Maryland, and at other prominent

U.S. standards and measurement services laboratories in which these

visitors see what NBS does for the United States and how it interacts

with other governmental agencies and with various elements in the

private sector.

This report covers the third of these workshops j held May 11 -24,

1974. The participants from abroad were:

xir. Nguyen Huu Do

Director, Industrial Research and Testing Center

National Standards Institute

Vietnam

Ing. Orlando Donoso T.

General Director of Standards and Technology

Ministry of Industry and Commerce

Bolivia

Mr. Princewill il. Kanu

Head of Laboratory Services

Nigerian Standards Organization

Nigeria

1
Ilrs. Anj^eles J. ilortera

Chief, Technical Jivision

Bureau of Standards

Philippines

Ur. VJerner Y. F. Ninp

Director, National Bureau of Standards

Republic of China

tlr. Jae ilan Park

Director of Vjei^hts and Measures

National Industrial Standards Research Institute

Korea

'Ir. S. I. Ogunmodede

Superintendent of VJeights and Measures

Ministry of Trade

Nigeria

Inc. J. Redin G.

Chief, Quality Control Department

Kcuadorean Institute of Standardization

Ecuador

Ing. Hunberto Rodriguez L,

Chief, Quality Control Department

General Directorate of Industry

Honduras

Fuller information on the participants is contained in Appendix I; their mailing addresses are given in Appendix II,

The original aims of the Workshop were set out in ABS Report 10583

entitled "Ltilization of the Industrial Technology Capability of the

National Bureau of Standards" from which the following statement is

taken: "Although developing countries may differ significantly from

each other in their individual aspirations with respect to industrial

development, many of the problems tney face in establishing an effective infrastructure of measurement technology and standardization

for production and quality control are similar." As a result,

standardization experts in most of these countries are interested in

sharing their experiences and in learning from each other. During

this VJorkshop, as during the previous similar Workshops, it soon became apparent that a source of major benefit to many of the

participants was the opportunity to interact with persons from other

industrializing countries having similar problems.
Four distinct aspects of national administration of standards are of

special interest to participants:

a. Maintenance of national standards of measurement

compatible with SI, and transference of these standards to local institutions.

b. Field surveillance of weights and measures in the

market place.

c. Procedures for the development of standards, including standards of safety, consumer protectiong building

codes, etc., as well as compatibility standards for

such things as pipe threads.

d. Inspection and quality control of production (sampling,

tolerances, control charts).

Ivliereas the emphasis of the first Workshop had been on the prospective

"Surveys" "of standardization capabilities in the countries involved,

only one country represented this year is scheduled for a Survey in

the immediate future, and the emphasis this year, as in the second

Worlcshop in 1973, was much more on the communication to participants

of useful information about NBS and related institutions.

The Workshop was successful in its objectives of acquainting the

participants not only with NBS and its functions and relations with

other government agencies, V7ith the various private standards

institutions, and with the business community, but also with the

complexities of voluntary and mandatory standards in a highly

industrialized economy and the possibilities for international

transfer of standards and measurement information. The participants

also came to know one another and many NBS staff members on a personal

basis

.

Each participant was asked to describe measurement and standards

activities in his own country. These were quite interesting and

provided some lively discussions, much of which centered about the

interplay between voluntary and compulsory standards.

The Tempo Division of General Electric Corporation contributed a team

of speakers to this Workshop. On Monday evening (May 13) Mr. Edward

Flynn and his colleagues gave a very extensive presentation on the

General Electric Company and its involvement in both U, S. and

international standards activities, supplemented by remarks on the

functioning of the U.S. voluntary-standards system and its interface

with the Federal regulatory agencies.

3
On Tuesday evening (May 14), Dr. George Ilanning spoke to the group on

the activities of the Bat telle Memorial Laboratories, a leading notfor-profit research laboratory; later in the program the Workshop

participants visited Bat telle 's laboratories in Columbus, Ohio.

On VJednesday evening (May 15), Dr. Albert Waterston of i\merican

University, a renowned economist and long-time consultant to

organizations in many nations on development planning, shared with the

Workshop participants the fruits of his scholarship and experience;

the text of his talk is published in this Report.

Thursday evening (May 16) and Friday afternoon (May 17), the

participants benefitted from lectures by Mr. Fred Dunn on the

functioning of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and by Dr. B. M.

Gutterman on the Food and Drug Administration. For many developing

countries, standards for agricultural products are of great

importance, and the addition of these presentations to the program was regarded as of great interest by the participants.

The week of May 20 - 24 was used for laboratory visits away from

Gaithersburg and (except for the May 24 visit to the WBS Boulder,

Colorado Laboratories) at nongovernmental institutions. Visits to the

Martin ilarietta Laboratories, the Electrical Testing Laboratories, the

American National Standards Institute, Battelle Memorial Laboratories,

and Underwriters' Laboratories, A brief visit to the campus of Ohio

State University was also included.

The purpose of this program was to permit the Workshop participants to

get an overview of the role of independent standards organizations,

testing laboratories, and industrial and independent research

organizations, as well as universities, in the standards and

measurement system of the United States, and to permit the

participants to make potentially useful contacts in such organizations.

4
PROGRAM

NBS/AIU Workshop on Standardization and

Measurement Services in Industrializing Economies

May 11-24, 1974

Saturday

l-Iay 11 A.M.

Lunch

P.M.

Check-in Holiday Inn, Gaithersburg,

Maryland

Cosmos Club

Tour of Museum of History and Technology,

Smithsonian Institution

Sunday

May 12

Evening

Tour of Washington

Barbecue

Presentation on AID/OST Activities by

Mr. J. C. Fry

Monday

May 13 A.M. Greeting by Dr. R. W. Roberts, Director,

and NBS Overview by Dr. E. L. Brady,

Associate Director for Information Programs

Introduction by Mr. H. S. Peiser, Chief,

Office of International Relations

Lunch

P.M.

Plenary Session: Reports by Participants

National Technical Information Service,

Mr. W. Knox, Director

Program of the Office of Engineering and

Inform.ation Processing Standards:

Introduction W, E. Andrus,

Program Manager

Standards Development

in the U.S. C. B. Phucas

5
Evening

Tuesday

May 14 A.M.

P.M.

Evening

Wednesday

May 15 A.M.

Lunch

NBS Voluntary

Standards Program J. A. Koenig

Standards Library and

Contribution to AID

Program W. J. Slattery

Product Certification &

Laboratory Accreditation T. R. Young

International

Standardization W. E, Andrus

International Organization

of Legal Metrology (OIML) D. E. Edgerly

Wrap Up W, E. Andrus

Discussion

Working Dinner, invited speakers from Tempo

Division, General Electric Corporation:

Mr. Edward Flynn et al.

Activities of the Institute for Computer

Sciences and Technology, Mr. E. J. Istvan,

Associate Director for Teleprocessing

Fire Technology, Dr. J. W. Lyons,

Director, Fire Programs

Visit to D.C. Weights and Measures Department,

Washington, D.C. Contact: Mr. Kenneth Hayden

Working Dinner, Invited Speaker from

Bat telle tfemorial Institute:

Dr. George Manning

Weights and Measures Activities at NBS,

Mr. H. F. Wollin, Chief, Office of Weights

and Measures, and members of his staff

Measurement Assurance, Mr. J. M. Cameron,

Chief, Office of Measurement Services

Promotion of Invention and Innovation,

Mr. J. Rabinow, Chief, Office of Invention

and Innovation

6
P.M. NBS Optical Physics Activities,

Dr. Karl Kessler, Chief, Optical Physics

Division

NBS Electricity Division Activities,

Mrs. Bernadine Dunfee, Electricity Division

Evening Working Dinner, Speaker: Dr. A. Waterston,

Professor of Economics, Arierican University

Thursday

May 16 A.M. Product Evaluation Technology,

Dr. M. R. Meyerson, Chief, Product

Evaluation Technology Division

Activities of the Center for Building

Technology, Mr. C. Raley, Coordinator

of International Affairs, CBT

P.M. Standard Reference Materials,

Dr. H. T. Yolken, Deputy Chief,

Office of Standard Reference Materials

Systens Analysis, Mr. J. C. Flannagan,

Acting Deputy Chief, Technical Analysis

Division

NBS Information Programs, Dr. E. L. Brady,

Associate Director for Information Programs

Evening

Friday

May 17 A.M.

Working Dinner, Speaker: Mr, Fred Dunn,

Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable

Division, Agricultural Marketing Service,

U.S. Department of Agriculture

Plenary Session (continued).

Participants

leports by

Activities of the American Society for

Testing and Materials, Mr. Al Sadler,

Assistant to the Deputy Managing Director,

ASTM

P.M. Food Standards and Methodology Development,

Mr. B. M. Gutterman, Assistant Director,

Office of Technology, Bureau of Foods,

U.S. Food and Drug Administration

7
Materials ileference Laboratories,

Mr. J. il. Disc, Head, I'laterials Reference

Laboratories Section

Director's Reception and Dinner,

Host: Dr. R. W. Roberts, Director, NBS

8
Tour Conducted by Mr. H. S, Peiser,

Chief, Office of International Relations, NBS,

and Mrs. Mary Depuy, Government Services, Inc.

Monday

May 20 A.M. Travel to Martin Marietta Laboratories

Baltimore, Maryland

Host:

Dr. David Goldheim

Introduction to I-IML ~ A. Westwood

Failure Analysis Using Scanning

Electron Microscopy (SEM) -

J. Venables

Electromechanical Machining (EMM) -

R. Latanision

Technical Services - Corrosion -

J. Green

Copper Hydrometallurgy - N, Levy

Alnor Water Model - H. Obremski

Chemomechanical Effects -

A. Westwood

P.M. Cement Technical Center -

E. Hurley

Travel to New York City

Night Edison Hotel, New York, N. Y.

Host in New York:

The International Center in New York, Inc.

Mr, John N. McCormick, Executive Director

Mrs. Pat Droste, Chairman

Visitors Committee

9
Tuesday

Jlay 21 A.M. Electrical Testing Laboratories

Lunch

P.M.

Wednesday

ilay 22 A.M.

P. 11.

Evening

Thursday

May 23 A.M.

Lunch

Hosts:

Mr. Charles Hyer

Mr. Don Schrum

Presentations on electrical testing by

staff members of Electrical Testing

Laboratories, Inc.

Electrical Testing Laboratories

American National Standards Institute

Host

Mr. Claude Bums

Presentations on voluntary standardization

procedures by ANSI staff

Free

Travel to Columbus, Ohio

Battelle Memorial Laboratories

Visits to laboratories and pilot plant

facilities at Battelle Memorial

Laboratories

Cocktails and Dinner as Guests of

Battelle Memorial Institute

After-dinner speech. Overview of Battelle

Memorial Institute, Dr. Sunderman of

Battelle Memorial Laboratories

Travel to Chicago

Host

International Visitors Center of Chicago

Ms. Lorraine Schneider, Program Director

Visit to Museum of Science and Industry

Museum

10
P.M. Underwriters Laboratorie^s

Northbrooks Illinois

Hosts:

Mr. Robert van Brunt

, Mr* Dennis J. Liston > ,

Visit testing facilities of Underwriters'

• tv-; : Laboratories

Evening Travel to Boulder, Colorado

11
Visit to NBS Boulder Laboratories

Host: Dr. L. Y. Beers

Friday

May 24 A.M. Welcome and Overview,

Mr. R. D. Harrington

Laser Measurement of Gravity and of the

Distance to the Moon,

Dr. J. E. Faller

Applications of Lunar Distance Data to

the Understanding of Tectonic and Earthquake

Mechanisms

,

Dr. P. L. Bender

Atomic Frequency Standards,

Mr. R. E. Beehler

International Time Coordination and Clock

Systems

,

Mr. R. E. Beehler

P.M. Executive Session

Cryogenics Overview,

Mr. A. F. Schmidt

Cryoelectronics

,

Dr. Robert A. Kamper

Cryogenic Flowloop,

Mr. James A. Brennan

Dr. Michael C. Jones

Electromagnetics Overview,

Dr. H. M. Altschuler

Information Services,

Mr. Wilbur J. Anson

12
Pyroelectric Detectors,

Dr. Robert J. Phelan

Evening Farewell Dinner

Host: Dr. Bascomb Birmingham

IBS Deputy Director for

Boulder Laboratory

13
Mr, Nguyen Huu Do

Director of Research and Testing

National Standards Institute

Saigon, Vietnam

I^S/AID Workshop

on Standardization and Measurement

Services in Industrializing Economies

National Bureau of Standards

Monday, liay 13, 1974

THE PROGRAM OF THE NATIONAL STANDARDS INSTITUTE IN VIETNAM

First of all, I would like to convey my gratitude to the National

Bureau of Standards and the Agency for International Development for

giving me a chance to participate in this professional forum, and also

my sincere appreciation to you all who are interested in us.

By way of remarking on the achievements of the Vietnamese

Standardization Program in 1973, let me first brief you about our economic background,

1. BACKGROUND; VIETNAMESE ECONOMY 1973

Following the cease-fire agreement signed in January 1973 the

Vietnamese economy has entered a new era, that of reconstruction and

development.

One of the economic development program's immediate objectives is to

foster projects aiming at import substitution and export expansion to

equalize the foreign-trade balance. This task requires in parallel

increases in industrial investment with improvements in production

facilities and techniques to upgrade products' quality.

The Government of Vietnam has established or consolidated a number of

Institutions critical for investment promotion such as the National

14
Economic Development Fund, the Industrial Development Bankj and the

Investment and Services Center. In the area of production and quality

improvement, the Government of Vietnam has authorized the

transformation of the National Standards Institute from a Directorate

of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry into an autonomous public

Agency, endowed with legal status in order that it may have sufficient

means to serve industry more efficiently.

2. NATIONAL STANDARDS INSTITUTE'S ACTIVITIES IN 1973

Against this economic background, the National Standards Institute

(NSI) has tried its best and achieved a number of encouraging results.

These achievements can be summarized as follows:

2.1 Establishment of National Standards

The Vietnamese industry in its development urgently requires many

standards in every field. To gradually satisfy these demands, NSI has

collaborated closely with other public and private agencies such as Export Promotion Center, Directorate General of Agriculture, and the

Confederation of Craft and Industry of Vietnam to establish annual

standardization programs.

In addition, to assure practicability, standards are formulated,

deliberated upon, and approved with the cooperation and agreement of

different parties with opposing interests, such as the sectors of

production, of commerce and consumption, of science and technology,

and of public agencies.

In 1973, NSI has given priority for standards on export products:

25 project standards were completed, among which 9 on foodstuffs were

promulgated.

As of December 31, 1973, the total riUmbcr cf prctnulgated Ratior>al

standards amounts to 94 distributed as follows:

. Ilechanical Engineering 19

. Electrical Engineering 13

. Chemical Products 13

. Fibrous materials (fabrics, yarns, papers) 22

. Foodstuffs 12

. Agriculture and marine products 6

. Miscellaneous __9

Total 94

15
2.2 Products Testing

2.2.1 Laboratory Construction

At the beginning, the Government's contributions were very

limited, especially for an activity whose objectives are not yet

clearly understood, and whose usefulness can only be seen in the long

range.

Therefore, with a budget of 14 million Vietnamese piasters

($US 28,000) received from various public and private agencies, NSI

has completed the construction of the laboratory in Bien-Hoa

Industrial Park. The Government granted approximately of 7 million

Vietnamese piasters ($US 14,000) at the last stage (Dec. 1972) to

complete the construction work.

The USAID financed testing equipment was installed and

calibrated from February to October 1973 with the assistance of two

American experts who also trained IISI's technicians to operate and

maintain these instruments.

2.2.2 Testing Equipment

To economize in this beginning period, NSI has ordered only

basic and versatile instruments. l\/hen the laboratory has operated for some time and has acquired experience, NSI will procure more sophisticated equipment to build up its testing capability.

2.2.3 Testing Services

Since the completion of its laboratory in November 1973, NSI

has provided testing services to industry. The products tested by

NSI's laboratory include: soap, sodium silicate, electrolytes,

industrial sodium chloride, fish sauce, electric cables, bicycle

frames, etc.

With its existing facilities, NSI expects a big advance of

its testing program in 1974.

2.2.4 National Conference of Laboratories in Vietnam

The nation in its development needs an adequate industrial

and commercial testing system. Except for some medical laboratories,

Vietnam has not yet a private laboratory network to provide testing

services. Meanwhile, the NSI's testing capability is too limited for

products of every kind. In search of solutions for this problem, NSI

will pursue two objectives. It will encourage and assist every

industrial sector to establish its own laboratory to meet its needs.

16
In the same tine, NSI will proceed to coordinate into one system the

existing laboratories in Vietnam for mutual support in providing

testing services to industry.

In 1973, IJSI has completed a survey on the facilities of the

existing laboratories in Saigon and suburban area. The survey showed

that most of the laboratories wish to join in the National Conference

of Laboratories in Vietnam. With the collaboration of the Chemical

Engineering College, the Testing Center of the Directorate General of

Customs, and the Nutrition Laboratory of the Ministry of Health, NSI

is proceeding with the necessary procedures for the formation of such

a conference,

2.3 Inspection for Export

One of the factors that have hindered the Vietnamese products is

their low and non-homogeneous quality. Inspecting the commodities

prior to export is the most efficient way to raise buyers' confidence

and the products' prestige in the world market.

In 1973, in order to formulate a Regulation on report inspection,

NSI gathered all information concerning export inspection systems

successfully carried out in developing countries such as Taiwan, Iran,

and Korea. A Regulation has been drafted and is presently consulted

widely among related agencies. It will be submitted to the Government

in the 2nd term of 1974 for promulgation. In compliance with this

Regulation the Government will designate in priority order export

products subject to inspection, TTie designation of products to be

inspe'cted is based on factors such as export amount, product prestige,

inspection facilities, etc.

2.4 Certification Marks

Certification marks are expedient to encourage quality improvement. In 1973 NSI has completed the draft of the Regulation for a certification marking scheme and is planning to submit it to the

Government for promulgation in the second semester of 1974 after

consultation with related agencies.

2.5 Support to the Industry

In 1973, NSI has directly solved for the Vietnamese Industry a number of technical problems relative to use of local raxv materials,

bettering of production techniques, and quality improvement.

The following industries are among those having received NSI's

technical assistance: electric cables, steel wires, rubber products,

fish sauce, detergents, and fish meal.

17
3. CQNCLUS ION

What I have outlined above are the major accomplishments achieved by

the NSI in 1973 under what, I feel, must be the most difficult circumstances. Difficulties are due to limited budget, skilled man-power

shortage and also the lack of the in-depth know-how on standardization

and measurement technology.

The promotion of standardization and measurement services is a long

and tedious undertaking, taxing heavily both the Government of Vietnam

and each individual citizen. Moreover, the NSI has to carry out the

task in very adverse circumstances. However, with our o\^ effort and

with eventual cooperation from friendly nations, I wish to conclude ray remarks with a note of optimism for the future for the Vietnamese

Standardization Project.

18
Dr. Werner Y. F. Ning

Director

National Bureau of Standards

Ministry of Economic Affairs

Republic of China

NBS/AID Workshop

on Standardization and Measurement

Services in Industrializing Economies

National Bureau of Standards

Friday, May 17, 1974

STAITOARDIZATION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

I. Foreword

The policy of the Republic of China since 1949 when the Government

moved to Taiwan has always been aimed at constructing Taiwan as a model province for the reconstruction of China Mainland when recovered.

During this period, the Government has taken numerous innovative measures such as the fair election system, 9-year compulsory education,

the improvement of social welfare, the employment of labor resources,

the establishment of laborer's insurance and medical care system, the

development of export processing zones, the expansion of international

trade and the enforcement of land-to-the- tiller policy etc.* All these

*The Republic of China has carried out one of the world's most suc- cessful land reform programs on Taiwan. Countries in Asia, Africa

and Latin America send land reform personnel to Taiwan seminars to

study the program and observe the results. In the first stage,

which began in 1949, farm rents were reduced from an average of 50 per

cent to a maximum of 37.5 per cent of the main crop. In the second

stage, which began in 1951, public lands were sold to tenant farmers at

reasonable prices to be paid in 20 installments over a period of 10

years. The last stage, called land-to-the-tiller , got under way in

1953. Holdings of landlords were limited to 7.2 acres. The government

bought up privately owned farmlands in excess of this figure and sold

them to tenant farmers, who paid in 20 semiannual installments. Landlords were fairly compensated in crop bonds and stock in four government corporations which then came under private management. Former

absentee landholders became entrepreneurs.

19
efforts have had results which can be illustrated by the facts and

statistical analysis. It is especially important in the field of

economic development. The successive terms of A-year long range

economic development plans have brought the country a marvelous

progress. In 1972, the 5th term of economic development plan is now

in progress. Meanwhile, this year the Government launches a giant

movement—the 9 construction projects which include construction of a 375-kilometer down island freeway, construction of the Taichung Harbor

(the annual volume of goods handled will reach twelve million tons),

construction of 82.3-kilometer cross-island railway, construction of a steel plant with a capacity of six million tons of annual steel

product, construction of Kaohsiung shipyard which will increase the

maximum shipbuilding capacity to approximately seven hundred thousand

tons, augmentation of the petrochemical industry, construction of a naphtha cracking unit by phases, elimination of the old type railroad

locomotives, electrification of the railway (1,000 kilometers),

expansion of Su-ao Harbor and increase of shipping capacity to more

than 6 million tons, and construction of an international airport at

Taoyuan for the landing of jumbo airplanes. All of the projects won

full support from the people of our country. Fruitful achievements

are expected,

Tlie facts I have just introduced are the current status of the

Republic of China, The subject I am going to present to you is the

relations of "Standardization and Economic Development" which will

help us understand: How does standardization promote economic

development? How did standardization cope with the progress of our long range economic development plans in the past and what was the

result? Wliat role will standardization play in future economic

development? .

11.^ Metrology, Standards, Trademarks and Patents

No matter how the economic structure changes, human beings will never

get away from the scope of metrology, standards, trademarks and

patents. Before I touch the subject of the close relations of

"Standardization and Economic Development", I would like to discuss

briefly the four mentioned operations. To look through historical

changes, economic relations came into existence among people in the

time of the change from primitive conditions to modern society. The

first to come was trading. Metrology is the only means for the

arbitration of our trade. Complications in trade have gradually

developed a great number of metrological units. In the meantime,

owing to the change from the agricultural economic structure to the

industrial economic structure, length and mass units alone could not

satisfy the actual requirements. Therefore, various metrological

units required by the industrial economy were derived from basic units

such as temperature, electric current, luminous intensity and time.

20
These units include pressure, volume, velocity, viscosity, and

density. Tlie increase of trading ensues from the progress of

industry. So complicated metrological units appear. As industry

becomes more precise, metrological units will be more accurate.

The human brain can no longer use only the existing metrological

methods to carry out the complicated research of space science and the

work must be done by computers. In other words, in order to obtain an ideal objective for scientific and economic development, the

metrological units must be more accurate than ever before. It may

also be said in this way: if there were no such precise metrological

facilities as exist today, we would never have been able to conquer

space.

As we all know mass production can reduce the cost of production and

the only way to carry out mass production is to conduct

standardization of production which can also control the quality of

the product. The initial phase of standardization is firstly the

product standardization, then raw material standardization, tool

standardization, labor standardization, operational standardization

and procedural standardization. This is also called industrial

standardization.

Industry is not the only element of the economic structure. It

comprises everything such a^^ people, time, things, land, and even

space. Therefore, the scope of standardization can no longer be

limited only to the industrial standardization. It must cover standardization of labor employment, standardization of resources

exploitation, standardization of effective use of land,

standardization of enterprise management, etc. In other v7ords,

everything that the human being touches should be standardized. Only

by doing so can the requirements of modern life be satisfied and the

future complicated economic structure be coped with. When we talk

about standardization today, we must not forget the establishmeiit of new concepts of standardization.

As I mentioned minutes ago, the metrology concept was created in the

beginning of trading among people. In the meantime, the commodity

marking concept developed when people began to establish their good

will. This mark is called a trademark which also serves as a means of

advertising and quality guarantee to the consumer by the seller. It

has been developed as a basis of trust which can never be dispensed

with in the domestic and international trade.

With the growth of industry, the so called big and small enterprises

were created. The big enterprises conduct incessant research and

development with their immense financial power so as to protect their

products on the market. Under such heavy pressure, the small

21
enterprises also exert strenuous efforts for survival by means of

surprising methods such as search for new products and invention of new processes. This type of struggle for survival among enterprises

makes patent protection important.

From the facts mentioned above, we will surely know that metrology,

standardization, trademarks, and patents are the keystone of the

current economic structure and they are closely linked with each

other

.

The prerequisite for the promotion of standardization is the

establishment of metrological units standards. So someone says that

the metrological unit standard is the standard of standards. I think

it is absolutely correct to say so. To take my country as an example,

we established the National Weights and Measures Bureau early in 1908.

Its purpose was to unify the national weights and measures and to

promote the metric system. Again in 1947 the Industrial Standards

Committee was ordered to combine with the National Weights and

Measures Bureau and formed the National Bureau of Standards of today.

This reorganization fully demonstrates the close relations between

metrology and standards.

The promotion of the trademark and patent system is also closely

related with metrology and standardization in their actual

performance. So our Government placed the four closely related

operations under one unit—-the National Bureau of Standards. In the

view of promoting economic development as a v/hole, this reorganization

is considred as a brilliant success.

III. Change and Standardization in the Chinese Economic Structure

Now I would like to discuss with you the relation of the Chinese

economic structure to change and standardization. The Republic of

China as you know is an agrarian nation with a history of several

thousand years. Until World War I, industry was gradually emphasized

by the people. After World War I our policy was that the agriculture

assisted in the establishment of industry. This type of structure has

continued until the end of World War II. During this period, the

promotion of standardization mainly stressed on agricultural

commodities such as cotton (CNS 83), tea (CNS 179), raw silk (CNS 87),

rhubarb (CNS 85), nutgall (CNS 86), bristle (CNS 84), etc. The

standards operations were the establishment and promotion of basic

standards such as the trimmed sizes of writing and printing paper (CNS

5), engineering drawings (CNS 3), tolerance and fitting (CNS 4),

transmission equipment (CNS 27), and preferred number (CNS 1).

Furthermore, standards were also established for the basic and simple

tools such as morse taper gauge with flat head (CNS 129), morse taper

gauge without flat head (CNS 130), metric taper gauge with flat head

22
(CNS 127), metric taper gauge without flat head (CNS 128), single

headed wrench (CNS 133), socket-headed wrench (CNS 139), screw driver

(CNS 144). and pin and washer (CNS 163 to 178). As to the machines,

only testing standards were established. The metal standards such as copper, lead, zinc and nickel were also established. The above

mentioned activities of standards establishment represent the initial

stage of standardization in China.

After the seizure of Mainland China by the Communists, the Government

of the Republic of China moved to Taiwan. Based on the existing

foundation of the agriculture and light industry in Taiwan, the

Government prepared plans for the development of our economy. At

first enforcement measures were placed equally on the promotion of

agricultural production, processed agricultural commodity production

and industrial production. Our standardization operations emphasized

processed agricultural products such as canned pineapple (CNS 822),

canned mandarin orange (CNS 2341), canned fish (CNS 1219), canned meat

(CNS 1128), canned mushrooms (CNS 1250), etc. In the industrial field

such standards were established as deformed steel bar for concrete

reinforcement (CNS 560), inspection standard of electric lamps for

general lighting usage (CNS 298), desk fan (CNS 547), wire code (CNS

31), roofing asbestos-cement slates (general) (CNS 31), compound

fertilizer (CNS 3076), solid caustic soda (CNS 43), liquid caustic

soda (CNS 430), cane sugar (CNS 206), tires for bicycles (CNS 736),

inspection standard of sports shoes (canvas high tops), V-belt (CNS

745), inspection standard for cotton yarn (CNS 702), inspection

standard for cotton fabrics (unfinished) (CNS 819), coke for blast

furnaces (CNS 1007), and timber (CNS 444); standards were also

established for the good of daily necessity such as toilet soap (CNS

594), LTonosodium glutamate (CNS 297), dental paste (CNS 439), etc. In

general, priority for establishment of standards was given to those

goods produced in Taiwan which possessed good value for export.

Coordination Xi/ith the related governmental agencies such as the Bureau

of Commodity Inspection and Quarantine and Board of Foreign Trade was

also made so as to step up the promotion of standardization.

In 1953 the Government of the Republic of China started the successive

4-year long range economic development plans. In order to support the

plans, various standards were established aggressively in advance. In

1972, the 5th tern of 4-year economic development plans v;as completed.

Five 4-year economic development plans have transformed the Chinese

economic structure from agriculture-assisting-in- industry to industryassisting-in-agriculture. It can also be said that through 20 years

of efforts, the Republic of China is now striding toward an industrial

era. In 1951 industrial products occupied only 18% of the Net

Domestic Product (NDP), while in 1973 this figure rose to 38%. At the

present time the population engaged in the industrial production is

1/4 of the total population in Taiwan. In 1952, the agriculture's

23
share was 36% of the Net Domestic Product; in 1973 it was only 16%,

From this, Gentlemen, you can clearly understand the changing of the

Chinese economic structure.

Now, I would like to present you a brief analysis and review on the

results of the 5th term of economic development plan (from 1968 to

1972) and the achievements gained from the standardization work.

In the first place, I will make a consolidated analysis of the

economic growth in Taiwan. The following ctiart with the statistical

figures is from 1968 to 1972 (the end of the 5th term of 4-year

economic development plan) for your reference.

Population G.N. P. Per capita

income

Agricultural

production

Industrial

production

Transportation

& communications

(lOOO pers) Percentage Percentage Percentage Percentage Percentage Percentage

Year increase increase increase Increase increase increase

per year per year per year per year per year per year

1968

1969

1970

1971

1972

13,650 2.7

U.335 2.5

U,676 2.4

14,995 2.2

15,289 2.0

9.3

8.7

11.2

11.5"

12.9

5.2

5.2

8.9

8.8

8.1

6.1

1.0

6.0

2.1

1.9

21.0

18.1

17.6

21.0

26.6

17.8

14.

16.1

18.9

13.0

Source: Industry of Free China Vol. 4, No. 1, P. 52, 1973

From the statistics mentioned above you may see some special features

as follows

a. The growth rate of population was decreased in a slow and

steady pace.

b. Gross national product increased rapidly. To compare the

results of the 5th term (1972) of economic development plan with those

of the Ath term (1968), the annual increase in rate of increase is 3.6

percentage points.

c. To compare the per capita income of 1972 with that of 1968,

the annual rate of increase gained 2.9 percentage points. During the

last 3 years of the 5th term of economic development plan the increase

was essentially steady. It shows the economic development plan

resulted in the increase of per capita income at a steady rate. It

also presents an evidence of the heightening of people's living

standard and social stability. The statistics made available in 1972
pointed out that in Taiwan one in every 3.06 families has a record

player; one in every 1.57 families, a TV set; one in every 2.8b

farailies, a refrigerator; one in every 7.02 families, a washing

machine; and one in every 3.02 families, a motor cycle. All the

figures mentioned above give evidence for the increase of per capita

income.

d. On the contrary, the agricultural production was unsteady and

slightly reduced. This proves the point I mentioned before that the

economic structure of the Republic of China has been changing to a state of industrial economy. The increase of industrial production is

good evidence of this.

e. The chart shows a big increase of industrial production.

(The increase includes, of course, processed agricultural products)

which also means that a great number of agricultural laborers were

transferred to the industrial production.

Taiwan is a small island (35,961 square kilometers). Since

international trade is very important to the island economy, I would

like to analyze the status of our exports from 1968 to 1972.

Unit: million dollars

Industrial Products Processed agricultural

products

Agricultural

products

Total value

of export

Year

$

Portion of

total

export %

$

Portion of

total

export %

$

Portion of

total

export %

1968 539.4 68.3 161.5 20.5 88.3 11.2 789.2

1969 776.4 74.0 174.5 16.6 98.5 9.4 1.049.4

1970 1,147.2 80.3 189.6 13.3 91.5 6.4 1.428.3

1971 1,670.

6

81.0 225.8 11.0 164.0 8.0 2,060.4

1972 2,498.9 83.1 292.4 9.7 215.4 7.2 2,996.7

Source: Foreign Trade Development of the Republic of China in recent years

(1968-1972), 8 (1973).

The above chart shows: (1) The industrial products fraction of

exports increased by 14.8 percentage points in 1972 from that of 1968,

while processed agricultural products and the agricultural products

fell slightly in a steady rate. (2) The total value of export has

increased continuously.

25
The chart gives a good evidence that the economic structure of the

Republic of China is entering into an era of industrial economy fron,

that of an agricultural economy. According to the uiaterials I collected, I would like to point out several reasons for your

reference

a. The increase and stability of per capita income and the good

social order constitute a good environment for investment by the

foreign business community.

b. The continuing development of export processing zones results

in the increase of industrial production, job opportunities, and good

incomes, so as to draw manpower from agricultural fields to industrial

production.

c. Owing to the improvement of the quality of the industrial

products, good will has been established in the international market.

d. Other factors such as the low cost of electricity and the

developraent of transportation are also reasons for industry booming.

Let us now look into the four important economic factors: metrology,

standards, trademarks, and patents. First of all, will you please see

the following charts:

1) Number of metrological instruments tested aiid calibrated: The

statistics include only tests and calibrations made of precision instruments. The weights and measures instrumeiits used on the market

are not listed herein. (In the Republic of China we have established

the provincial and municipal inspection offices in charge of the

promotion for metric system and test and calibration of weights and

measures instruments used on the roarket.)

Year Number of Instruments Total (1968 to 1972)

1968 21.766

1969 36,210

1970 24,671

1971 27,093

1972 31,568 141,308

Source: Report of NBS' Operation (1968-1972), 11 (1973).

26
2) iiur.iber of Ijational Standards established in the past years

(including number revised)

Year Number of

National Standards Total (1968-1972)

1968

1 QAQ

1970

1971

1972

189

333

270

544 1,547

Source: ibid. 9.

3) Number of classified products granted use of Certification

Marks

Year

Number of

Applications Total (1968-1972)

1968

1969

1970

1971

1972

97

61

60

49

72 339

Source: Ibid. 10.

4) Statistics on the Application for Patents (we have three

different kinds of patents which are Patents of Invention, Utility

Model, and Industrial Design):

Year

Number of

Applications Total (1968-1972

1968

1969

1970

1971

1972

2,283

2,879

4,218

4,640

4,457 18,477

I Source: Ibid. 12. Approximately 44% granted.
5) Number of Tradeiaarks registered

Year Number of Total (1968-1972)

1968 4,188

' , 1969 5,288

1970 5,771

1971 5,138

1972 5,278 25,663

Source: Ibid. 13.

Now, I will make a brief analysis of the charts mentioned above:

1) It is obvious that the statistics show that our operations are increased in keeping abreast with our economic development.

2) The number of standards established in 1970 and 1971 is

reduced; this was caused by the two translocations of the Bureau. You

can see that after the translocations, the figures are increased,

3) Chart 5 shows that the number of trademark registration and

patent applications 'is not steady; this was caused by our withdrawal

from the U.N. and severance of diplomatic ties with Japan and Canada.

Nov/ is is restored to normal.

4) The certification mark is the best means to safeguard

consumers and promote standardization. From this year we accepted the

authorization from the Standards Association of Australia to conduct

pre-license inspection and routine inspection on the "AS" Mark goods

to be made in our country. It means that in this field we are starting international cooperation.

To compare the economic growth and the total value of foreign trade

with the increase of metrology, standards, trademark and patent

operations, should not we say that the said four operations are a barometer of the economic development? We also formulated a metrology

and standards development plan by years:

a) Metrology: From 1969 to 1972 the number of calibration and

test equipment was increased as follows:

. "7 r,, 28
Equipment of Weights and Measures

Nomenclature

1, Standards gauge blocks,

AA class

Description

PTW Model 103 pes

Accuracy

+ 0.0Q005 mm

2. Standard gasoline meter

for capacity

3. Apparatus for wet type

standard gas meter

4. 1 Kg. precision

balance

5. Water triple-point cell

6. Sulphur point boiler

7. Antimony point furnace

8. Gold, silver, copper

point furnace

9. Precision bridge for

temperature measuring

10. Precision reading

thermometer

Measuring Range: 4,9L-5.1L + 5 ml

9.6.L-10.4L + 10 ml

19L-21L + 20 ml

Measuring Range: 2L-33.3L 0. IM"^/ 11-5-11^ /H

Capacity: 1000 g

Sensitivity: 1 mg

Measuring Range:

-182.97°C-630.5°C

Measuring Range:

-60°C-200°C

+ 1 mg

+0.01°C

444. 6°

C

630. 5*^0

106 3° C, 960° C,

1083° C

+ 0.002%

+ o.orc

11. Low temperature examining bath

12. Thermoregulating oil

bath

13. Standard ia>10 system

thermometer examination

bath

" 0°C- -100° C

" 100°C-300°C

300°C-650°C

+ 0.02°C

+ 0.02°C

+ 0.02°C

14, Thermocouple resistance

thermometer tester

15. Optical pyrometer

examination equipment

" 630.5°C-1063°C + 2°C

" 900°C-2000°C + 7°C

29
16. Standard Pt. thermoresistance

II -183PC-630.5°C + 0.01°C

17, Pressure gauge tester II 0-1500 nunlle 0-10 Kg/ci/

0-20 Kg/cir , 50-800 Kg/cm

1 mm Hg

0.05 Kg/cm

0.1 Kg/cftf

10 Kg/cm^

2

2

18 Standard cell 1.01863V (2(PC) + 0.003%

19. Precision DC

potentiometer

II -0.0000005V

-2.11105V

0.01%+0.2V

-0.0005%+lOV

20. Apparatus for viscosity

measurement

0-13(f C

20cst-8000cst

+ 0005^

C

+ 0.01%

b) Standardization: The standards technical committees were

increased from 14 to 23 (there are Civil Engineering and Architecture,

Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electronic

Engineering, Automotive and Aircraft Engineering, Railway Engineering,

Shipbuilding, Ferrous Materials and Metallurgy, Non- Ferrous Materials

and Metallurgy, Nuclear Engineering, Chemical Industry, Textile

Industry, Mining, Agriculture, Foods, V7ood Industry, Pulp and Paper

Industry, Ceramic Industry, Domestic Wares, Industrial Safety, Quality

Control, Packing and Packaging, and Miscellaneous.) and members of the

committee were also increased from 530 to 1,170. They all are experts

and scholars of the Republic of China.

c) Trademarks and Patents: The establishment of a complete

reference materials system was stressed.

d) Collection of standards information: The collection of

standards reference materials from various countries and ISO contains

87,407 items.

e) Education: The text books used in most of the schools use the

metric system. Only a very small portion still use both metric system

and British system. We also add standards in the curriculum of our junior colleges and vocational schools.

Now I would like to explain to you from another point of view and see whether or not standardization can promote economic development. The

following facts will answer this question:

1) The Bureau of Commodity Inspection and Quarantine of the

Ministry of Economic Affairs based on the "Law of Commodity

Inspection" enforces the "Rules of Practice" of the said law, which

30
prescribes that inspection of the import and export goods is conducted

in accordance with national standards.

2) Hie Ministry of Economic Affairs promulgated the "Dairy

Regulations" which contain all the national standards of dairy

products.

3) The Department of Agriculture and Forestry of Taiwan Province

formed the "Pvules of Practice" for the "Law of Feed Management" which

provides clearly that feed be examined according to the national

standards

.

A) The safety agencies also made regulations in accordance with

the national standards in order to maintain safety such as the safety

code for liquefied petroleum gas (CNS 1332), for portable

extinguishers (CNS 441), etc.

5) Tlie Ministry of National uefense uses some 500 national

standards as a basis for procuring common goods on the market,

6) The Tax Bureau of Ministry of Finance prescribes in the

"Regulation for Tax Exemption of Goods" in accordance with the

national standard for fruit vegetable juices and beverages (CNS 2377)

.

These are only some examples. Most of the government enterprises or private businesses use the national standards as a basis for their

performance. Owing to the nationwide adoption of national standards,

the whole economic development was able to make great strides forward

in the past years,

IV, Reviewing the Past and Looking Forward to the Future:

I have, based on the 5th term of 4-year economic development plan,

analyzed in detail on the contribution of standardization to the

economic development. In this paragraph I will, based on the 6th term

of 4-year (1973-1976) economic development plan, present to you a brief study so as to help you understand whether or not the standards

will be able to meet the future requirements and where they should be

strengthened?

Let us look first at the estimates of the 6th term of economic

development:

31
1) Estimates on the per capita income:

k - Year

Annual Rate of

ropuxaLXon xncrease

Annual Rate of Per

Capita income xncrease (%)

1973-. 2.0 7.9

2.0 7.3

' 1975 2.0 7.0

1976 2.0 6.7

Source: Information on Economics (Published by Ministry of Economic

Affairs, Republic of China) No. 1 & No. 6, 1973.

(In 1972 the per capita income was $372.00 and in 1973 $467.00.)

2) Estimates on Gross National Product Increase:

, Year Annual Rate of Increase (%)

1973 10.0

, 1974 9.7

1975 ft 9.3

1976 9.0

Source: 6th term of 4-year Economic Development Plan of the

Republic of China, (Jan. 1, 1973)

3) Estimates on the Changing of Export Structure (1973-1976):

Item Average Annual Rate of Increase (%)

Agriculture 1.5

Food Processing 0.5

Manufacture 14.7

Other Services 17.7

Source: Ibid.

32
4) Estimates of the Increase in Various Fields:

Item Average Annual Rate of Increase

~— 1 1 Agriculture 4.1

Industry 13.1

Mineral 3.7

Manufacture 14.2

Heavy Industry 17.7

Other Manufactures 9.6 . Construction 8.6

Electricity and Other Public Works 12.1 . Transportation and Communications 9.5

Other Sei-vices 8.2

Source: Ibid. 50.

Ily purpose is by use of charts of the rate of average annual increase

to explore the possibility of the 6th term of our economic development

plan. The main points for the study of this economic development plan

can be consolidated as follows:

1) Agriculture: It stresses tlie heightening of productivity of

the land, especially on fruits, meat, eggs, milk, fish and raw material for industrial use.

Besides, the development of specialized industrial zones and the

improvement of production and sales system are also listed as important.

2) Industry: Emphasis is placed on petrocheLiical industry and

electronic industry. The petrochemical industry includes: polyvinyl

chloride resin (CNS 1295), polyethylene resin (CKS 2939). paraphthalic methyl ester (CNS being drafted), styrene (CMS 3637), acrylic

nitrile (CIJS being drafted), synthetic rubber (CIIS being drafted),

aldehyde (CIJS being drafted), octanol (CNS being drafted), acetate

esters (CIJS being drafted), and polypropylene (CNS being drafted).

The electronic industry stresses electronic parts and components (48

national standards were established and 16 are being drafted). Heavy
industry is emphasized in the shipbuilding industry (18 national

standards were established), steel refining industry (78 national

standards were established and 11 are being drafted) and precision

industry (49 national standards were established),

5) Transportation and Communications: Emphasis is placed on the

railroad electrification, container transportation, mechanization of

loading and unloading, construction of a do\m island free\;ay,

expansion of harbors, rehabilitation of the international airport and

construction of a local satellite earth station.

>, 4) Others: Development of man power, expansion of export

processing zones, establishment of a specialized industrial zone,

reclamation and use of tidal land, preservation of water and land

development of husbandry.

5) Owing to the change of our economic structure, people swarmed

into the big cities, creating many problems. So we established

national standards for instant food (CNS 3456), frozen food (Ck'S 1450,

1451), prefabricated houses (CNS being drafted), and travel safety and

pollutions (CKS being drafted)

.

According to the present status, the direction of our standardization

must be adjusted. Therefore, in addition to establishing standards

for industrial products and agricultural products, we are accelerating

the drafting of many other standards such as standards for

transportation facilities, communications facilities, labor resources,

and land utilization. In 1973 the following plans were made:

1) Scientific and technological cooperation was made with the

Taiwan Power Company and the Chinese Petroleum Corporation. Tests and

calibration on electrical equipment and instruments and the

establishment of electromagnetic measuring standards and viscosity

measuring standards have been carried out. Discussions were held on

the drafting of national standards concerned.

2) A 5-to-lO-year metrology development plan was made. The use

of the following instruments will be increased:

a. Interferometer for absolute measurement of precision block

gauge

llax. measurable: 250 mm

IJo. of block gauge: 9 pes

Measuring accuracy: + 0.01 il- + 0.04

34
b. Remote controlled precision balance for standard weight

calibration equipment

1 Kg, capacity, 1 microgram readability

c. Flow meter testing apparatus

d. Standard humidifier

In the meantime, we also, in cooperation with the organizations

concerned, try to improve our electromagnetic measuring standards so

as to meet the requirements of electronic industry development. This

will include

a. Basic electrical standards;

b. Other DC and LF quantities as relevant to radio science and

technology, including the calibration of radio devices;

c. Laser power and energy.

3) Standards: In order to meet the requirement of the broad

scope of standardization, we have never stopped recruiting menbers for

standards technical committees. The objective of this year is to

reach to 1,200 members in total. The establishment of standards in

the future will stress shipbuilding, steel refining, petroleum

products, water pollution, air pollution and noise control.

In the future we will use every possible means to collect the newest

international standards materials,

4) Trademarks: We will conduct a nationwide check on existing

trademarks so as to protect decent businessmen and safeguard the

consumers,

5) Patents: We will try to simplify the procedures of

application and shorten the pendency examination so as to allow the

patented invention to be manufactured in an early date and infuge the

economic development with new blood.

V, Conclusion

Accelerating economic development with the effective assistance of

standardization, metrology, trademarks, and a patent system is always

our basic principle which serves as a basis for the preparation of our long range standardization, metrology, trademark and patent system

promotion plan. Therefore, in the fulfillment of this plan, we need more personnel, financial and material support, and we have planned to

augment our existing organization and recruit more experts. We will

35
also coordinate with other scientific and technological organizations

concerned to establish a perfect standardization metrology, trademark,

and patent system promotion network so as to establish a strong nation

with wealthy people according to our principles, of the people, by the

people and for the people.
Appendix: 1. Procedure to establishment of the Chinese National

Standards

The procedure for establishment of Chinese National Standards is

divided into eight steps:

Ministry of

8 Economic Affairs

Standards Council

Promulgation

Approval

6 Technical Committees Re-examination

Subcommittees of

Technical Committee Examination

Members of Technical

Committees, Concerned

Factories, Governmental

Agencies, Universities

or Societies

Circulated for

1 Comments

Experts, Societies

j

Universities & Factories

Technical

Committees

National

Bureau of

Standards

Draft

Standards

National Bureau

of Standards

Study of

Recommendations

Governmental Agencies

Factories

Firms

Scientific Societies

Consumers

Recommendations

on Standards

The adoption of the National Standards by both producers and consumers

has been increasing year by year. The total number of National Standards

promulgated, from 1949 until June 1973, is 3,433, and the revised standards is 1,592.

37
Mrs, Angeles J, Mortera

Chief, Technical Division

Bureau of Standards

Department of Comraerce and Industry

Manila, Philippines

NBS/AID Workshop

on Standardization and Measurement

Services in Industrializing Economies

National Bureau of Standards

Monday, May 13, 1974

STANDARDIZATION AND MEASUREMENT

ITS ROLE A1^T> PROBLEilS IN THE PHILIPPINES

It is my great privilege to be accorded this opportunity of

participating in the 1974 NBS/AID Workshop on Standardization and

Measurement Services in Industrializing Economies and to present the

role and problems of standardization and measurements in my country,

I would like to take this occasion to express my sincerest thanks and

gratitude to the U.S. National Bureau of Standards and the Agency for

International Development for my country's participation in this

important event.

The Philippine Bureau of Standards had not, until recently, taken up

standardization of measurements, though in standards covering

dimensional requirements, measurements and tolerances on them have

been suitably specified. As measurements include other quantities

like temperature, pressure, etc. it can be said that these

measurements are also covered similar to dimensional requirements.

Last year in the month of May the President of the Republic of the

Philippines, considering the developments in the world in respect to

metric measurements which had a direct effect on the external trade of

the Philippines and also considering the diverse measurements that

existed in the Philippines, including the metric system, decreed that

the country shall use only the metric system of weights and measures

and the change to that system shall be completed by January 1, 1975.

38
The metric system logically should be called System Internationale

(SI) which most countries in the world have accepted and, with the U

changing over to the system, it could be said that nearly 95% of the

world's population will have adopted metric system. Standardization

therefore, has to be international in character and we have already

some international documents. Notwithstanding the international

progress, we in the Philippines had to formulate National Standards

which have recently been approved by the Metric System Board. This

includes, of course, adapted international standards on definitions

SI Terms, rules for style and usage of the SI System and conversion

factors.

Allow me to enumerate here our metric system standards:

1. Definitions of terms in SI System

2. Rules for Style and Usage of the International System

(SI) and other related units.

3. Conversion Factors and Tables

4. Commercial Metric Length Measures (non-flexible type)

5. Commercial Metric Steel Tape Measures (winding type)

6. Metric Scales for General Purposes

7. Metric Steel Scales for Engineers

8. I'tetric, Woven Yarn and Glass Fiber Tape Measures

9. Metric Surveying Chains

10. Commercial Metric Weights (Classes)

Part I - Trader's Weights (Masses)

Part II - Bullion Weights (Masses)

Part III - Carat Weights (Masses)

11. Commercial Metric Capacity Measures

12. I4edicine Glasses

13. Dispensing Measures for Pharmaceutical Purposes

14. Kitchen Measuring Spoons and Measures

15. Calibrating Measure for Liquids

16. Graduated Measuring Cylinders

17. Method of Test for the Accuracy of a Dispensing Pump

It would be of special interest for you to note that our Conversion

Factors and Tables include, for historical and reference purposes,

Philippine units such as:

Weight - Picul for Sugar (63.25 kg)

Cavan for rice (50 kg)

Sack for rice (56 kg)

Sack for unmilled rice (44 kg)

Quintal for tobacco (50 kg gross)

39
Length

Volume

Vara (83.6 cm)

Ganta (3 litres)

We had for lumber measurements a unit called board-foot which I understand is also used in the USA. In quest of a suitable new unit to

replace board-foot, our Technical Committee in Weights and Measures

agreed on "board-metre" with dimensions Im x Ira x lOnun instead of the

converted dimensions for a board-foot. The new unit is 1/lOU of a cubic metre and 4 times the volume of a board-foot. It would thus be

very 'metric' in measurement and at the same time, being a good

multiple of a board-foot, give a concept and feel to the user to help

calculate the quantities and cost of lumber.

Measurement, though primarily the concern of our National Institute of

Science and Technology (NIST) is also a problem with the Bureau of

Standards and other similar bodies. We have planned to become a member of the International Bureau of Weights and lieasures (BlPli) and

International Organization for Legal Metrology (OINL) . We have agreed

to entrust to our NIST National Prototypes of Length and Mass together

with their measuring equipment and reasonable associated metrology.

On the advice of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures

(BIPH) we have agreed to have the metre prototypes in special steel,

nickel plated. As regards prototypes of the kilogram and other

masses, we may procure, again under advice from BIPM, a stainless

steel set (except milligram series which could be in platinum). If a prototype kilogram made in platinum-iridium were to be available, our country might use it. We have also planned to equip our National

Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) with electrical, frequency,

temperature, luminous intensity, pressure, and plane angle standards,

while time standards will be maintained by the Philippine Atmospheric,

Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) . we have

not yet organized a separate Coiranercial Weights and Measures

Department but a proposal to entrust this work to the Philippine

Bureau of Standards is being examined by our Government. We have

already planned that our Weights and Measures Department should have

reference, secondary and working standards of length and mass, and

secondary and inspector standards for liquid capacities, together with

measuring instruments and supporting metrology.

Estimates on the cost of memberships, prototypes and various other

standards, indicate an expenditure of about 1.5 million US dollars but

we anticipate that the cost may go over 2 million US dollars

ultimately.

As our experience is limited we need help and guidance from other

countries having long experience. Assistance is needed and may be in

the form of available literature, scientific papers and documents,

training for our engineers and technicians, and information on

40
suppliers of equipment. We have approached UNIDO for financial

assistance.

In spite of the problems of finance, lack of trained personnel, etc.,

the Philippines would like to step forward and keep pace v/ith other

countries.

41
Mr, Jae Man Park

Director

Departmant of Weights and Measures

National Industrial Standards Research Institute

Republic of Korea

WBS/AID Workshop

on Standardization and Measurement

Services in Industrializing Economies

National Bureau of Standards

Monday, May 13, 1974

NATIONAL STANDARDS IN KOREA

First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to express my

heartfelt appreciation to Dr. Roberts and his staff as well as members

of the AID, particularly for their kindness in inviting me to this

important occasion. It is a real pleasure for me to introduce the

Standardization and Measurement Services in Korea to all the

distinguished participants at this meeting.

In Korea, industrialization has made a smooth progress following the

initiation of the Five Year Economic Development Plan in 1962, During

the period of the first Five Year Economic Plan, 1962 - 1966, the

Korean economy grew at an annual rate of 8.3%, It grew at an annual

rate of 11,4% during the second Five Year Plan, which began in 1967

and ended in 1971, During the periods of the third Five Year Plan and

the projected fourth Five Year Plan, which will begin in 1977 and end

in 1981, emphasis will be placed particularly on heavy and chemical

industries. Most of the groundxi/ork for them is expected to be

completed during those periods and national per capita income is

expected to reach $1,000 by 1980.

The Korean economy has been suffering from the worldwide trend of

economic stagflation caused by the recent oil crisis and lack of

42
natural resources. However, we are confident that we can overcome

this situation through our utmost efforts and close economic ties with

friendly nations.

Nowadays, industrialization has two basically conflicting facets. One

is a traditional concept of fair competition with neighbors to achieve

better living standards and the other is a newly developed idea that a nation is a component of the spaceship called "The Earth,"

The concept of "National Standards," which is the cornerstone for industrialization, is too broad and its meaning is not clear.

Therefore, I would like to clarify it in my own version by putting it

into two main aspects; soft-surface standards and hard-core standards.

Standards specification, standard practice and technological codes,

etc, could be included in the group of the soft-surface standards

while the measurement standards could be categorized as hard-core

standards.

We call the first class written standards. It was initiated in Korea

by the promulgation of the Industrial Standardization Law in September

1961. The purpose of this law was to enforce standardization of

products as part of a national system. Since then, standardization of

industrial products has increased rapidly. As of the end of February

1974, the number of Korean Industrial Standards (basically

recommendation standards) reached 3,558 items, which is a relatively

great number considering the short history of the national

standardization. Such a rapid growth in the number of national

industrial standards in such a short period of time is considered to

have been largely dependent upon the industrial standards of the

advanced and industrialized countries.

As of the end of February 1974, on the other hand, a total of only 272

factories are authorized as the Korean Standards Factories, which

entitles them to use K,S. mark on their own products to prove the

quality under the Standard Marking System. This represents a small

portion of the entire Korean industry, but this is attributable to the

fact that a great portion of the Korean industry and the management of

their products have not yet been fully modernized. The government has

strongly recommended that the private industries apply standardization

to their products in order to raise the interests of the manufacturers

and consumers. In spite of such positive actions taken by the

government, the number of factories producing standardized products is

still small due to lack of understanding of standardization and

quality control. Therefore, we are now placing much more emphasis on

the quality control of industrial products.

43
The Korean Industrial Standards are being gradually used in purchases

of goods by government agencies, in project plans, and in regulations

governing export inspections and safety controls. Therefore, it can

safely be said that the Korean Industrial Standards have left the

stage of importation from advanced countries and entered the stage of

maturity at which they can be assimilated as Korea's own industrial

standards ready for implementation.

Now, let me turn to measurement standards. Korea is one of the

countries which have had their own traditional weights and measures

system. This old system has been mainly used for the test and

inspection of general measuring devices. However, due to the rapid

growth of modern industries, Korea also has begun to recognize the

necessity for establishing national measurement standards in order to ensure accuracy and precision and for their dissemination.

In the spring of 1973, the government made a survey on 839 local

industries, universities and research institutes with a view to

preparing for further development of measurement standards works. The

survey was conducted in the form of written inquiries; only 11.2% of

the inquiries were answered.

It was revealed by the survey that around 66% of measuring equipment

accuracy was reported by responders, but those who did periodical

calibration of their measuring devices accounted only for 12%. Of the

12%, most of periodical calibration was made due to enforcement by law

so that the instance of voluntary calibration by the users is much

lower.

The survey also revealed a very interesting fact that a number of

factories which needed measuring equipment of low accuracy were

equipped with rather high-accuracy devices. This implies that

emphasis is placed upon meeting the requirements of the law while

practical quality control is neglected.

It was also revealed that the accuracy of some equipment, for

instance, standard cells possessed by the inspection (or testing)

agencies for electric equipment, was not closely controlled.

All these factors indicate that there is an urgent need to establish

and supply National Iieasurement Standards which would be a foundation

for industrializing Korea as soon as possible.

In January 1973, the Korean Government established the Industrial

Advancement Administration (lAA) as the central administrative agency

to systematically enforce fundamental requirements for

industrialization. In addition, it also established the National

Industrial Standards research Institute (NISRI) , merging the former

44
Bureau of Weights and Measures and the former Industrial Research

Institute into one agency, as an organ subordinate to the lAA,

Accordingly, the NISRI now assumes the task of laboratory testing,

analysis, and research and development of industrial products,

inspection and calibration of weighing and measuring devices (as it

previously did) , as well as the new task of establishing and supplying

national measurement standards.

I am now working in the field of National Standards in Korea and I would like to express my personal views from the standpoint that

National Standards are a prerequisite to and an important stimulant

for the industrialization of developing countries.

It may not be difficult for the developing countries to imitate and

nominally introduce the national standards of the advanced countries;

however, it is a difficult task for them to put them into practical

use and adapt them to local conditions. First, the developing

countries lack social overhead capital such as scientific and

technical basic data. Second, since this work is not a profitable

business but a work of public interest, it should be conducted

directly by the government. However, it is difficult for the

government to obtain qualified personnel for its survey and research

institutes because of unpopular conditions and low wages.

These two problems cause the difficulties which the developing

countries must undergo in the course of their modernization and they

can be solved only by the government by giving top priority to this

work. To convince the government policy makers to do so, however, is

another problem, even with statistical data and other justif icatioiis.

I present this problem to you with the hope that some of you might

have good suggestions since we all share the same problems.

Nevertheless, the advanced countries could contribute greatly to the

measurement standards work of the developing countries by providing

mobile calibration service teams to make tours in such countries.

Finally, the most basic and urgent thing for international

standardization is the language. Language is a great obstacle to

communication among the world people. V.'e should try to solve this

problem by a new idea which is entirely different from that of

Esperanto previously used. Fortunately, I think today's highly

developed knowledge industry and information processing technology can help this project.

It is my opinion that if internationally unified codes were adopted to

describe human thoughts and concepts of the objects, the knov;ledge and

45
technology of the developed country could be transferred to the

developing country very easily. It would not only eliminate the

current language barrier but also become a means of sharing the same destiny as passengers aboard the spaceship called "The Earth."

It may sound like a fanciful idea, but I would like to say that it is

not just a dream but a possibility which could become a reality if we

only tried, and, when realized, could contribute greatly to our standardization work.

Thank you.

46
Mr. Princewill M. Kanu

Head of Laboratory Services

Nigerian Standards Organization

Federal Ilinistry of Industries

Lagos, Nigeria

NBS/AID Workshop

on Standardization and Measurement

Services in Industrializing Economies

National Bureau of Standards

Monday, May 13, 1974

STANDARDIZATION AND MEASUReiEOT - THE NIGERIiU^ EXPERIENCE

In recent times few developing countries have shown great interest in

the subjects of Standardization and Measurement. This is not

surprising in realization of the strong wind of economic change

blowing through many of these countries. Most of these changes have

had direct bearing on the economic development plans of the countries

concerned. The increased tempo of industrialization has, for example,

been observable. This has, of course, been taken as an indication of

sound economic development planning. Moreover, there has been

noticeable, increased consciousness of the impact of standardization

in both national and international trade, particularly the latter.

Furthermore, as the economies of these developing countries are agriculture-oriented and their main sources of revenue are largely

dependent on their exported raw materials, and the amount derivable is

again dependent on the quality levels of these raw materials, it is

understandable why developing nations should treat these subjects with

the utmost sense of urgency that they deserve.

The twentieth century approach to standardization has shed more light

on the scientific understanding of it. In effect, this has opened up more vistas of opportunity not only for the developed nations but also

posed challenges to the newer nations, which must do everything

possible to comprehend the subjects in their ramifications and utilize

the knowledge to improve the lot of their people.

The emergence of measurement as a science and its importance on the

socio-economic life of nations, particularly the industrializing ones,

cannot be overemphasized. It is fitting, therefore, that both

subjects should be treated together.

47
Nigerian Standards Organization (IISO )

The i.Jigerian experience in standardization is rooted in Decree No, 56

of January 1970, which established tlie u'igerian Standards Organization

as an integral part of the Federal .linistry of Industries and it

started to function as of that date. Its functions are, among others,

to standardize methods and products in industries throughout i-Iigeria

and to ensure compliance with Government policy on standardization; it

acts also as the storehouse for reference standards for calibration of measures and measuring instruments as well as carrying out

investigations into raw materials.

Tlie Decree also established the Nigerian Standards Council, members of

v/hich are drawn from a broad spectrum of the economy embracing the

private and public sectors. It is the governing body of the Standards

Organization. The Council is vested with the power to establish

Nigerian Industrial Standards as well as to award Certification ilarks

to manufacturers whose products comply with the established standards

The first and present Director of the Organization is Mr. D. 0. Ogun

who has worked strenuously with his limited staff to make the

Organization what it is today.

Commencing with a big vacuum in qualified staff and faced with public

demands for improvement of locally manufactured products at the same

time, the Organization, apart from quickly establishing standards in

priority areas of the economy, carried out vigorous quality control

inspections of industries in the country, recommending ii .provenents in

process methods and in the quality levels of products. It has so far

set up an appreciable number of standards and specifications in such

areas as safety natcnes, paraffin wax candles, food and drinks,

mechanical and electrical prouucts, textiles and building

construction.

lo ensure compliance with these standards, a certification marking

system has been established and it is hoped that this will serve as an

impetus to high quality products.

Tlie promotion of metrication as an important aid to tiie country's

ability to compete in international trade was riy-htly recognized by

the nation's economic planners. To this end, the Nigerian Standards

Organization was ciiarged witli the task of preparing the ground for the

effective change over from t'ue imperial to the metric system. The

metric system, though recognized as the more practicable and con- venient system of measurement, the standard metric system knovm as the

SI (Systeme International des Unites) has been adopted. This change

over, though considered premature by some people, is being pursued in

accordance with Government policy on industrif^lization. Because of

48
the myriad problems liindering effective change over in some of the

heavily industrialized nations, it was thought necessary to metricate

before the country became more heavily industrialized. The chanr;e over is a gradual process and it is expected that the exercise will be

completed by 1977.

Until the promulgation of the Decree establishing the Nigerian

Standards Organization, t?ie Weights and ileasurcs Division of the

former ilinistry of Commerce and Industry had functioned as the only

enforcement agency. With the splitting up of the Ministry into two

separate llinistries, with the Weights and Measures under the Federal

Ministry of Trade and the Nigerian Standards Organization under the

Federal Ministry of Industries, a superficial ambiguity in functions

seemed to have been created in the minds of some people. But the

Decree is clear on the functions of the Standards Organization in

respect to metrology. It vests in the Nigerian Standards Organization

the power to set up standards in metrology and to maintain reference

standards. This implies that standards in use in the country will

derive from the Nigerian Standards Organization,

It is incontrovertibly true that the backbone of any Standards

Organization is a good standards laboratory, if test and measureraent

results are to be meaningful. Lack of such laboratories, in many

developing countries, due to a number of factors such as inadequate

financial resources, bad planning and limited manpower resources,

often militate against the attainment of some national economic goals.

Although the uigerian Standards Organization does not have sucii a laboratory at this time, it has, fortunately, become conscious of the

necessity for setting one up in the very near future. For its present

activities, however, it does not operate a full-fledged standards

laboratory and often works in association with Universities as well as other institutions' laboratories; but the testing facilities thus used

have often been found inadequate.

Tlie purchase of reference standards from otlier national bodies presupposes tlie existence in the laboratory of essential factors

necessary for their effective utilization. Such factors as laboratory

design and environmental controls (temperature, humidity, vibration

and many others) become of great importance.

Associated with inadequate laboratories are also shortages of staff

and training facilities. Shortage of personnel with the requisite

Qualifications has been one of the major problems confronting the

organization; because of the large number of experts required in the

various areas in v/hich the organization is interested, raoid expansion

has been slowed dov/n. It is in this regard that the U,S,A, with its

accumulated experience and advanced state of science and technology is

expected to offer invaluable assistance by providing facilities for

49
trainin,", through its inany agencies and organizations so that the task

of technology transfer will be made easier. It is hoped that the

present opportunity offered by the NBS/AID will continue and v/ill be

exploited eventually to the mutual benefit of all parties concerned.

I am very p;rateful to all who have, directly or indirectly, made it

possible for me, and indeed for iiigeria, to have this opportunity to

participate.

Tiiank you.

iiVr.- 'j \ ri

50
Mr, S. I, Ogunmodede

Superintendent of Weights and Measures

Weights and Measures Division

Federal Ministry of Trade

Ikeja, Nigeria

NBS/AID Workshop

on Standardization and Measurement

Services in Industrializing Economies

National Bureau of Standards

Monday, May 13, 1974

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES ADMINISTRATION - THE NIGERIM EXPERIENCE

HISTORICAL NOTE ;

Looked at from the point of view of its indispensable role in the

developing economy of Nigeria rather than its set-up and effectiveness

our Weights and Measures Administration is one of the fev; unobjectionable vestiges of our Colonial heritage. The British

influence which was strongly evident in the exclusively Imperial

System of Weights and Measures of the 1917-1962 era was watered down

by the permissive use of the metric system in the following decade.

With the coming into force of the proposed Weights and Measures Decree

1974, Nigeria goes a step further by aligning itself with the Metric

World. This of course has generated a number of problems, some of

which will be highlighted in these opening remarks.

The maiden Weights and Measures legislation in Nigeria, namely, the

Weights and Measures Ordinance dated 9th of August 1917 was apparently

a simplified version of the United Kingdom Weights and Measures Act

1878 as amended by the Weights and Measures Acts of 1889 and 1904. It

is interesting to note that despite the passing in the U.K. in 1897 of

the Weights and Measures (Metric System) Act which permitted the use

of the l-Ietrlc System of Weights in that country, the 1917 Ordinance

was uncompromising on the exclusive use of the Imperial System in

Nigeria, the strong trade links between the two countries

notwithstanding.

51
For various reasons, the 1917 Ordinance did not serve the purpose for

which it was enacted and the much needed metrological uniformity

within the country and the unification with the outside world remained

elusive. Firstly, there was lack of personnel. The Ordinance was operated by the Inspector General of Police who was the ex-officio

Inspector of Weights and Measures, assisted by his Police Officers of

the rank of Sergeant-Major and above as Deputy Inspectors,

Unfortunately, "at no time was it possible for the Police to bestow on these duties the attention enjoined by law," not even by 1954 when

their staff establishment was increased to provide for full-time

devotion to Weights and Measures inspection. The increasing

commitment of the Police in conventional Police duties continued to

make their proper enforcement of the Ordinance impossible.

Secondly, if the commitment of the Police in other directions choked

the enforcement of the Ordinance, their lack of basic training in

Weighing and Measuring practice and legal metrology finally killed it.

The reasons which the architects of the Ordinance had for not

prescribing a basic professional qualification for the enforcement

officers would not be entered into here. Let it suffice that, while

the U.K. Weights and Measures Act 1904 made the BOT Certificate a prerequisite to their Inspectors' appointment and enhanced the

administration in the U.K., lack of stipulated basic qualification to

operate the 1917 Ordinance in Nigeria virtually made it remain a dead

letter.

Thirdly, the Act was limited in scope. No regulations were made under

the Act to prescribe tolerances for our Reference and Testing

Standards—and it was against those that traders' and other equipment

were verified.

POST INDEPENDENCE ERA;

The substantial increase in the number of Police Officers in 1954 was

as a result of the growing public awareness to the importance of

Weights and ifeasures administration in the country. In that year,

adverse reports were received from abroad of short\i;eight export

produce and claims for compensation made against the Central Marketing

Board, This, among other things led to the repeal of the 1917

Ordinance, the promulgation of the Weights and Measures Act 1962 and

the establishment of an Inspectorate which was to be staffed v/ith

professionally qualified personnel,

Nigeria became independent in 1960, and in 1962 the new Weights and

Measures Act was promulgated, which, together with the Independence

52
Constitution prepared the way for a virile Weights and Measures

administration. The Act with the Weights and Measures Regulations

1965 streamlined requirements for the qualification of Inspectors and

testing procedures along the lines of International practice while the

Constitution classified Weights and Measures administration as an item

within the Exclusive Legislative List. All Inspectors in Nigeria were

therefore henceforth to be officers of the Federal Ministry of

Commerce and Industry with only one Superintendent as head of the

service. The arrangement was a welcome departure from the U.K. set-up

which has always been based on local government administration with

the Department of Trade and Industry only giving necessary guidance.

Our post independence era therefore saw a re-orientation of ideas

about practical commercial metrology.

The main Act, having sought a professional eligibility for the Weights

and Measures Inspectorate, it was left to the Weights and Measures

Regulations 1965 to name the Testamur of the British Institute of

Weights and Measures Administration as the minimum requisite

qualification for the lowest cadre of Inspectors. To pass the

Testamur, prospective candidates must undergo a 2-year training

programme in the training School in Lagos punctuated by brief periods

of attachment to qualified field Inspectors. Eligible Testamur

holders proceed to the United Kingdom under the U.K. Technical

Assistance Scheme for a further course of study which culminates in

the D.T.I. Certificate of Qualification.

In a country with a surface area of 913,075 square kilometres (356,670

square miles) with a population of 56,671,000,* a staff strength of up

to 111 Inspectors will be required to provide an Inspector per 500,000

of population. Unfortunately, the present training arrangement has

trickled out only 30 Inspectors who, for the performance of their dayto-day inspectional duties have the assistance of some 120 supporting

staff.

By 1970, the insufficiency of qualified officers to cope with

statutory responsibilities under the Weights and Measures law became

apparent and the need for a reorganized training programme evident.

The already bad situation was further worsened by the total abolition

in the U.K. of the Testamur Examination with effect from 1974. As said

earlier the Testamur is the statutory qualifying examination for Inspectors in Nigeria. As if this were not enough, a last straw was

added, namely, the split of the one-Part DTI Examination into 2 parts.

Part II not to be taken before a year after Part I.

The practical effect of these reorganizations in the U.K. is the

creation of a gap in the graduation of prospective Nigerian

Inspectors. For this to happen at a time when the country's Weights

and Measures Administration is expected to play a very important role

*1963 Census. Provisional figures for 1973 Census gave 79.6 m.

53
is most inopportune. Now the country is changing to the Metric System

of Weights and Measures; the Nigerian Standards Organization is being

called upon to formulate numerous new standards and specifications

based on the metric system while a newly formed Consumer Affairs

Council calls for a consumer protection service. Both home-made and

imported pre-packed goods are now to have more meaningful markings.

All these mean greater responsibility for the Weights and Measures

Inspectorate and call for a tremendous increase in the field

surveillance of Weights and Measures in the markets, shops, gazetted

produce markets, business premises and factories.

The change-over to the Metric System is of such vital importance in

the economy of the country that I feel I would not be doing justice to

it if I do not dilate a bit upon it. There is no gainsaying it that

the substitution of long-accustomed Imperial and traditional local

systems of Weights and Measures by a new Metric System in all spheres

of human endeavor could test a nation's intellect and resources. But,

like the changeover to the Right Hand Drive and the changeover to the

Decimal Currency, the difficulties of the metric changeover are being

successfully overcome in Nigeria.

When the Federal Military Government took the momentous decision in

1971 that Nigeria should "progressively abandon the use of the

Imperial System of Weights and Measures and other standards in the

country and change-over to the exclusive use of the Metric System",

every one was happy to join the bandwagon of Russia (1918), Japan

(1924), China (1929), India (1956), Iran (1952), and the East Africa

countries of Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda (19b9) among others which over

the last half century have adopted the Metric System. Besides the

universal recognition of the system to the extent of being obligatory

in over 125 countries and permissive in most of the rest of the world,

it is believed that a change was necessary in Nigeria if she "must

compete effectively in international business and if her

industrialization and education progress will not be impaired".

However, the queer position in Nigeria whereby the Standards

Organization is under the Federal Ministry of Industry and Weights and

Measures Division under the Ministry of Trade creates a dichotomy of

functions in respect of the implementation of the Metric Change-over

Programme. The Standards Organization on the one hand, has the

statutory responsibility for the change-over, draws up the change-over

programme, arranges for publicity materials, drafts and approves

industrial standards and awards certification marks. While the

Weights and Measures Division on the other hand, by virtue of being

the custodian of the Country's primary, secondary and other standards

of measurement and because it is armed with the necessary testing

equipment and personnel, bears the brunt of the implementation of the

changeover prograirane. It may be mentioned here that NSU Standards must

54
be traceable to the National Standards. The Division furthermore

carries out verifications and inspections of all converted and new metric equipment throughout the 12 states of the Federation, gives

lectures to traders, schools and associations, and carries out regular

and continuing checks on pre-packed goods. In short, the enforcement

of the Weights and Measures Decree including all provisions relating

to the field supervision of the Metric change-over is a function of

the Weights and Measures Inspectorate alone.

Happily, the necessary cooperation between NSO and Weights and

Measures is not wanting and considerable progress has been made. Many

sectors including the posts and telegraphs, petrol stations and oil

industry, pharmaceuticals. Customs and Excise, and sports have

completely metricated. Over 50% of manufacturing industries have also

metricated. The West African Examination Council will fully metricate

all examinations for schools and colleges by the end of this year.

Having now realized the scope of the responsibilities of the Weights

and Measures Administration and the constant extension of its

activities to newer fields, one sees that the main problem therefore

is how to train a sufficient number of Inspectors to meet the

Country's need. As Dr. Adegayo Adedeji, the Federal Commissioner for

Economic Development and Reconstruction said on the occasion of the

13th Independence Anniversary of Nigeria, "...there is no gainsaying

the fact that an efficient and highly productive public Service is a sine qua non for rapid economic development in any society,

particularly in one such as ours where government intervention is in

the increase. If our rate of development is not to be slowed down,

public services have to be provided efficiently and promptly."

The capacity to provide necessary and efficient staff to meet the

challenges of new or added responsibilities or both lies in the

formulation of a progressive training programme. It was therefore

with this in mind that the proposition to "grow our own trees" is felt

to be a sound one. It is hoped that with the assistance of the West

African Examination Council, local technical institutes or universities and experts in weights and measures from abroad, a local

examination and Examination Board will be established and a fresh

content of training determined.

It is at this juncture that I say that I hope that any experiences

gained at this well-timed workshop will be of immense benefit to me

and ray Country. During the workshop, I hope to see and know more of

the different aspects of Standardization, and in particular, during

the visit to D.C. Weights and Measures Department, Washington, D.C., a specimen of other similar institutions in this great country, I look

forward to acquainting myself with the general set-up of your Weights

and Measures Inspectorate; the operation of your consumer protection

55
service; your training and/or qualifying procedure for Inspectors;

niaintenance, and your upkeep and calibration of Standards and the

testing of more advanced packaging machines and bulk metering devices

These, coupled with interactions between participants from countries

with similar problems, presentations by Experts and guest speakers and

exchange of ideas on cooperation are expected to offer worthwhile

ideas on my training and other problems. This opportunity to attend

the 1974, NBS Workshop is therefore a fulfillment of a desire to

benefit from the expertise of your more advanced country on the one hand and the experiences of fellow participants on the other.

I am therefore most grateful to the NBS and AID for making this

workshop possible and for extending to me and my colleague their

invitation to learn about the wide but interesting subject of

Standardization and Measurement Services in economies akin to my

Country's.

Thank you.

56
MESSAGE

Dr. Lai C. Verman

Industrial Consultant

New Delhi - 110 014, India

It is always a welcome augury when advanced nations make a voluntary

effort to assist the not-so-advanced countries in their struggle for

advancement. For, it is only through mutual give and take at the

international level that man can hope to achieve the one world of

Wendell Wilkie's dream which we have all come to share.

The present Workshop is but another one of the thousands of examples

set by the USA in this direction. Many an advanced nation has

followed and is following in the American foot-steps. More recently

even some of the countries among the developing world are beginning to

make their individual experience and resources available for the

benefit of those sister countries which may not be quite in the forefront of progress. Examples of India and Iran in this connection are noteworthy.

This particular Workshop happens to be dealing with a field of work

which has been of particular and personal interest to me for more than

a quarter of a century. Standardization during this period has made

great advances. At one time, it was considered merely hand maiden to

engineering practice and to a much lesser extent to management.

Today, standardization has begun to pervade all fields of economy,

agriculture, education and even administration both in the public and

private sectors. Developments have indeed been so far-reaching that

standardization has come now to be widely recognized as a newly

developing independent discipline, with its own philosophy, theory and

practice. True, it has a multi-disciplinary base but there is a great

deal of its own identity and individuality, a good part of which has

already been developed but a greater part still remains to be

explored.

In this Workshop, you will have an excellent opportunity of being

introduced to this new and exciting discipline and its multifarious

aspects and to learn how it can help accelerate and facilitate the

development of your own respective countries. It is my hope that in

due course, you will yourself be able to make original and valuable

contributions to the advancement of the theory and practice of the new discipline which you have chosen to pursue as your life work.

With best wishes for every success in your endeavours.

57
Special VJorkshop Discourse

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT PLANNING?

Albert Waters ton

Professor of Economics

The American University

The phenomenal spread of national development planning since the end

of World War II has left few countries without some kind of plan or planning

organization. Before the War, only the Soviet Union planned its development

systematically. Although a few countries began to plan in an organized way

soon after the end of World War II, it was only within the last decade, and

especially in the second half of the decade, that the diffusion of development planning became worldwide. Today, the national plan appears to have

joined the national anthem and the national flag as a symbol of sovereignty

and modernity.

In Asia, every country but one has had a development plan. In Africa,

every nation has formulated a development plan. In Latin America, the

Alliance for Progress — whatever else it may have done — caused all Latin

American countries to establish or strengthen their planning machinery and

to give more attention to the need for development planning. In Europe,

almost every nation — the more advanced as well as the less advanced — plans

in one form or another. In fact, among the more industrialized nations of

58
the world, only the Federal Republic of Germany and the United States of

America have not taken steps to engage in national development planning.

In the face of the worldwide spread of development planning, it is

reasonable to ask what we know about planning and what we have learned from

experience. But if the considerable accumulation of planning literature is

examined, little will be found about the actual problems encountered by

countries which attempt to plan their development. Most writers on planning

have been primarily interested in the techniques for getting the highest

possible returns from the allocation of economic resources rather than in the

results actually obtained. They have thus been largely concerned with how

planning ought to be practiced rather than with how it is^ practiced.

Recently, a few studies have appeared which deal with problepis encountered in planning the development of individual countries. But none of these

studies has attempted a comparative analysis of the planning experience in

a sufficiently large number of countries which could, for example, support

valid generalizations about the kinds of planning which have been shpwn to

work well and the kinds which have not; the forms of planning organization

which have been found to be most effective for promoting development and

those which have not; planning pitfalls encountered in the formulation and

implementation of plans; whether, indeed, countries have been found to need

plans or central planning agencies to achieve and maintain high rates of

development.

59
THE STUDY

In an attempt to determine when, how and why planning has been successful

and unsuccessful, and to draw relevant lessons of wide applicability from the

experience of countries which have been more or less systematically planning

their development, a small group assembled, classifed and analyzed planning

data of coiintries throughout the world. The materials used came from published

and unpublished sources and covered well over 100 developed and less developed

countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas, including socialized as

well as mixed-economy countries.

With these data as the basic raw material, a comparative, empirical

study was completed and published by The Johns Hopkins Press as a 'book of

over 700 pages under the title Development Planning ; Lessons of Experience .

The 'Study is divided into two parts. The first part includes a description

and analysis of the planning process as revealed in the experience of the

countries under review. Considerable attention is given to problems of plan

formulation, but because problems of plan implementation have been found to

be the most intractable ones, the greatest emphasis is given to them. The

first part of the study lays the substantive foundation for the second part,

which contains an extensive discussion of the experience of countries in

establishing organizations and administrative procedures for preparing and

implementing development projects, sectoral programs, and regional and

national development plans.

60
Although theoretical and other points of view found in the literature

on planning are presented for each topic covered, the approach is essentially

inductive. As was to be expected, wide discrepancies between theory and

practice were frequently encountered, and this led to attempts to reconcile

the two. Sometimes, the resolution required proposals for changing practice,

but at other times it seemed more appropriate to recommend adjustments in

theory. The approach used can be illustrated by reference to two of the

study's findings: one with respect to the type ^of plan known as a "rolling

plan," the other with respect to the optimal duration of development plans.

A rolling plan maintains a plan period of constant length throughout its

life. For example, for a five-year plan, this may be accomplished by adding

a year at the expiration of each year of the plan period. In this way, the

five-year period is maintained as the plan rolls forward in time each year.

Most planning experts strongly advocate the use of a rolling plan because of

its many advantages, which include assurance of plan continuity and flexibility.

Yet the study disclosed that for cogent technical and political reasons, no

country has actually adopted the rolling plan technique. In this case, it was

possible to suggest ways in which practice could be brought into line with what

seemed to be sound theory.

In the case of the duration of plans, however, the reverse appeared to be

desirable. Most theorists have opted for medium-term plans of five to ten

61
years. But experience has clearly demonstrated that most less-developed

countries do not know how to plan effectively for a period of much more than

three years and many cannot plan for more than a year or two at a time. The

study therefore suggests that, in at least some countries, theory may have

to give way to the experience encountered in practice.

^'^^ " THE LESSONS OF EXPERIENCE

Learning From Other Countries

In the space available here, I should like to indicate some of the more

important lessons drawn from the planning experience of the countries included in the study. The results of the study indicate, firstly, that while

countries about to start planning their development can learn much from the

planning experience of other countries, few make effective use of this

experience. Partly, this is because the experience of other countries is not

always known; but mostly, it is because countries refuse to be guided by

the experience of other countries, since they consider their own political,

economic and social conditions to be unique.

Yet the study reveals that most countries not only encounter the same

planning problems, but make the same mistakes. Thus, they frequently confuse the mere formulation of a plan with planning, prepare plans with

surprisingly similar defects and fail to take adequate account of what can be

done, (and hence plan for less than is realistic in some sectors and more

than is realistic in others). They have their planners take on extraneous

tasks which divert them from planning, set up unsuitable planning machinery

in the wrong places, and so forth.

62
When, for example, the draff of the monograph, Planning in Morocco , already

mentioned, had been completed, a colleague in the World Bank who was about to write

on planning in Spain, borrowed it. He said that he realized that Morocco's

planning problems were likely to differ greatly from Spain's but that he only

wanted to see how the subject had been treated in the monograph. But he

telephoned soon after to say that all he had to do to adequately describe

Spanish planning problems was to substitute Spain wherever Morocco was mentioned

in the draft.

But while one lesson is that a country can learn much from the planning

experience of others, another teaches that there, are dangers in the uncritical

adoption by one country of the planning machinery and practices of another.

Here, limited experience can be worse than none. Thus, Singapore, an island

only 26 miles 'long with an unemployment problem, once invited a foreign

expert to help set up its planning organization. The expert's experience,

although long, was largely limited to India which, it need not be stressed, is

somewhat larger than Singapore and has perhaps more complex problems. The

expert's recommendations naturally drew on his Indian experience. In fact,

the planning organization he designed was so large that one might have been

led to suspect that he sought to solve Singapore's unemployment problem simply

by absorbing the unemployed into the planning organization!

What may happen when a less developed country adopts a more advanced

country's planning system has nowhere been revealed better than in Morocco.

Soon after independence, the Moroccans abstracted from the French government

structure its complex planning apparatus and transplanted it almost without

63
change in their own country. But the French system worked poorly because

Morocco was not equipped to make effective use of a planning system which

depended on a well-coordinated public administration operating under broadly

agreed and consistent directives. In less developed countries at the beginning

of their development, a much simpler system of planning than the French is

indicated. It would not be surprising, therefore, if some other countries

which have adopted the French planning system also find it unsuited to their

needs. For example, Tanzania has copied the French system, complete with

modernization commissions, in a country where a slight variation in rainfall

can make a major difference in output.

Recent successes of the French planning system have made it particularly

attractive to other countries. The French system of "indicative" planning,

involving the use of so-called "modernization" commissions which perform

important tasks in the course of plan preparation, is based on cartelized

industries, much of it nationalized, public investments which approximate half

of the total investment in the country, along with a nationalized credit

system and government controls over private industrial financing, a weak

trade union movement, a tradition of close cooperation between business and

government and a civil service of unusual competence. Few less developed

countries can lay claim to a similar set of circumstances.

Plans Versus Planning

There can be little question that planning has promoted development in

many countries. But even when the intangible values of planning are added to

the more tangible ones, postwar planning history reveals that there have been

many more failures than successes in the implementation of development plans.

64
Indeed, the record reveals that among developing nations with some kind of

market economy and a sizeable private sector, only one country —- Yugoslavia — appears to have fulfilled reasonable, plan targets over an extended period

of years. In the early 1960's, even Yugoslavia fell so short of attaining its

plan targets that it had to abandon its five-year plan.

By far the great majority of countries have failed to realize even modest

income and output targecs in their plans except for short periods. What is

even more disturbing, the situation seems to be worsening instead of improving

as countries continue to plan. Thus, in Asia, where countries have had more

experience with planning than those of any other region, the rates of growth

in the early 1960 's have fallen short not only of planned targets but also

the growth rates of the 1950' s. The situation is not very different in other

regions. In Africa and Latin America, few plan targets are achieved.

While most countries with development plans have not succeeded in

carrying them out, some countries without national development plans or national

planning agencies have been developing over extended periods far more rapidly

than most countries with them. For example, Mexico between 1940 and 1955

(and even until now, since in fact it has no plan to which the Government

adheres) maintained an annual average rate of growth of 5-6 percent. Israel,

which had no plan before 1961 and still does not have one which the Goverament

follows, has been able to maintain an even higher grovrth rate. Puerto Rico

":as become a showcase of development without benefit of a development plan,

vr.d among the more developed countries, Germany without plans has increased

income and output at least as rapidl^^ as France with plans.

65
It could be contended — as I do — that if these countries had had development plans they might have done even better. But of course, this is not the

same as saying that a development plan is necessary to ensure rapid growth

and it certainly is not a sufficient condition for development — as witness

the large number of countries with plans which are not developing at a

satisfactory rate. The fact is that a country can develop with or without a

plan. One might say that countries which grow rapidly without development

plans are nevertheless planning in the sense that they are guided by more or

less rational programs of action designed to achieve their development goals.

These programs of action may be coordinated through budgets for public investments and through a series of government policies more or less designed

to stimulate private investments along certain lines.

It is clear, therefore, that a development plan is not the same as

development planning. Those who equate the two — and they are many — confuse what should be — but frequently is not — a product of the planning

process for the process itself. Development planning as a process involves

the application of a rational system of choices among feasible courses of

investment and other development actions based on a consideration of economic

and social costs and benefits. Planning as a process is an indispensable

precondition for the formulation of effective development policies and

measures. A plan can play an important part in the planning process when it

.^_-;j-'-.es explicit the basis and rationale for planning policies and measures.

Bit if a plan is prepared before the process has begun in earnest or if it is

unable to generate the process, it is likely to have little significance for

development.

66
Importance of the Political Factor

Why are so few development plans carried out? Examination of the available

evidence makes it clear that in countries with development plans, lack of

adequate government support for the plans is the prime reason why most are

not implemented successfully. This lack of support manifests itself in many

ways, among which the failure to maintain the discipline implied in plans and

the failure to adopt appropriate policies and measures to implement them are

most important.

History demonstrates that where a country's government is reasonably

stable and its political leaders give development high priority, the country

generally develops even when there is no formal plan. Conversely, in the

absence of political stability, and firm and continuing government support,

development plans, no matter how well devised, have little chance of being

carried out successfully. The cardinal lesson to be learned from the planning

experience of developing countries is that sustained governmental commitment

is a sine qua non for development. Pakistan's planning experience, for

example, gives dramatic evidence of the overriding importance of government

support. Although the planners of Pakistan's First Five Year Plan produced

a development plan with targets well within the limits set by available

economic and financial resources, the Plan could not get very far without the

help of the Government. Given that support from a strong and stable leader3-ip, the Second Five Year Plan overfulfilled its main targets and

ectives

.

The experience has been similar in other periods and countries. In the

19th century, Japan, with fewer resources than Burma, China, India or Indonesia

67
(it had only skilled manpower and waterpower) , nevertheless became the most

industrialized country in Asia. In large part, this was made possible because of sustained effort supported by a determined government. In the 20th

century, the histories of such diverse countries as Mexico, Israel, Yugoslavia,

the U.S.S.R. and China (Mainland and Taiwan) give ample evidence of the

importance of firm and continuing support from a stable government for the

development of a country.

One hears much about the need to find ways and means to imbue the people

of this or that country with an understanding of their country's plan and to

evoke their desire to participate in the planning effort. But another problem precedes this one: How can political leaders be made to become more

deeply committed to the economic development of their countries? Political

leaders often give other matters higher priority than they give to development

and planning. Among these other matters are nationalism, internal politics,

defense, territorial expansion, the formation of international alliances or

power blocs, and short-run economic problems. It may be that at some time in

a country's history, one or more of these may be more important for a country's

immediate welfare or future than its development. But it must be recognized

that the relegation of development to a subordinate place in the scale of

values of a country's political leaders cannot help but depress development

efforts and, hence, the results of development planning.

.y' onomic Incentives

History reveals that until the political leadership of a nation becomes

deeply committed to development, the people are unlikely to show much interest

in national planning objectives. If a country's leaders make development one

68
of their central concerns, experience shows that the people can be interested.

But except temporarily, for example during or immediately after a war or other

catastrophe or upheaval, experience shows that people are unlikely to become

concerned with development objectives through appeals to their patriotism,

devotion to abstract ideals or altruism, or through panegyrics for accomplishments. Direct government controls over economic activity or threats of

imprisonment or other punishment are also generally ineffective.

The evidence teaches that the best long-run method of eliciting behavior

which conforms to planning objectives is to make it profitable for people to

act in ways required to achieve these objectives.. Where governments have replaced restrictive administrative controls by well devised and adequate

economic incentives, the results in accelerated economic activity have usually

been too clearly linked to the change in approach to be misunderstood. In

Pakistan, for example, government officials as well as competent outside

observers agree that administrative restraints seriously hampered industrial

growth during the First Plan period. They also agree in attributing the high

rate of industrial progress during the Second Plan period largely to the

reduction of government controls over imports and foreign exchange and the

introduction of a system of tax incentives and bonuses which encouraged businessmen to expand plant capacities and output. In Pakistan's agriculture, also,

the use of incentive prices played an important part in increasing production.

Yugoslavia has had extraordinary success in the use of economic incentives

in its socialized enterprises. Since the early 1950' s, when it replaced

centralized controls based on the Soviet model with decentralized management

of the economy, Yugoslavia has evolved a system of general economic incentives

69
based on appropriate tax, credit and price policies by which workers and enterprises are rewarded largely in accordance with their efficiency in increasing

quality and output. These incentives have proved to be so effective in raising

production that other Eastern European countries, notably Czechoslovakia, but

also Poland and Hungary and even the U.S.S.R. , are adopting major elements of

the Yugoslav system.

In contrast, many governments in countries with mixed economies persist

in relying on direct controls and administrative intervention in the private

sector in preference to incentives, often with depressive results for their

economies. India has frequently been cited as a country where government

controls exercise an inhibiting effect on development. There are also many

others in the same category. The problem therefore seems to be one of getting

the mixed-economy countries to adopt the system of economic incentives that

the socialized countries took over from the mixed economy countries.

Separation of Plan Formulation from Implementation

If, as indicated, the foremost reason why plans are not carried out is

political, the second most important reason is technical. From the technical

point of view, the failure to carry out plans is largely attributable to the

omission in most plans of adequate provision for their implementation. The

late Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, who as Chairman of the Indian

Planning Commission manifested an uncommon grasp of planning problems, once

pointedly remarked: "We in the Planning Commission and others concerned have

grown more experienced and more expert in planning. But the real question is

not planning, but implementing the Plan ... I fear we are not quite so

. 70
expert at implementation as at planning . . . " This statement is notable not

only because it recognizes — correctly I think — that the problems of plan

implementation are more difficult than those of plan formulation but also because it distinguishes — wrongly I believe — "planning" from "implementation."

The word "planning" is often used, as it was used by Prime Minister Nehru,

to refer to the formulation of plans, but not to their implementation. The

conceptual separation of "planning" from "implementation" is more than a

question of semantics: it is symbolic of an attitude which prevails widely

among planners. Nevertheless, experience shows that no-thing is more conducive

to bad planning than the separation of plan formulation from provision for

implementation. Planning cannot leave off where plan formulation ends and

action to execute a plan begins. Every target must be accompanied by policies

and measures which have been devised specifically to fulfill it —- otherwise

it becomes only a forecast or a projection.

Where plan formulation is viewed as an exclusive or isolated element

divorced in practice if not in theory from plan implementation, as it has in

fact been viewed in many countries, one finds that planners pay little attention

in their plans to the choice of means to be employed to achieve plan targets.

This is why most plans provide detailed information only about what is to be

achieved, but not about how to go about securing development objectives or

largets or about who should be responsible for carrying out the required tasks.

case of Nigeria's National Economic Plan for 1962-68 is illustrative of

the widely held belief that a plan comes first and that measures to implement

it can be postponed until after the plan has been accepted and put into effect.

71
Policy changes needed to achieve the, planned allocation of resources and to

implement targets were not included in the Plan; instead, they were left to be

initiated at a later time by the ministries concerned with the various programs.

Many planners consider that their job is finished when they have prepared

a plan and that it is up to others to work out the detailed policies and

measures needed to implement the plan. This attitude is reminiscent of the

solution to the World War I enemy submarine menace proposed by some forgotten

wit who suggested that the temperature of the Atlantic Ocean be raised to the

boiling point to make life for the submerged submarine crews unbearably hot.

In this instance, too, implementation was left to others.

The organic link between the targets in a plan and the policy and other

measures required to attain them is a concept which many planners and political

authorities find difficult to grasp. There is frequently a lack of understanding in developing countries that investment is not enough to insure growth;

that the adoption of appropriate policy, administrative and organizational

measures is frequently more important for accelerating the rate of growth than

increased investment.

Most plans are prepared in central planning agencies whose officials have

little authority to influence instruments of economic policy and administrative

measures formulated elsewhere. Consequently, one often finds countries where

tax, price, monetary and credit policies impede rather than help realize plan

objectives. For instance, in Pakistan, agricultural price policy discouraged

farmers from planting crops whose output the First Plan sought to. increase.

72
Planners, mostly trained as economists, are understandably more concerned

with the internal content and consistency of their plans which embody problems

of interest to economics, than in plan execution, which is largely an

administrative and political matter. When things go wrong, as they often do,

planners divide into two main groups: One tends to believe that better planning

depends on further improvements in imperfect planning techniques; they therefore busy themselves with more advanced model-building exercises (e.g.,

curvilinear instead of linear programming) , simulation and input-output technique, operations research, the theory of games, etc. The second group tends

to feel that the shortcomings in the planning process reflect inadequacies of

the administrative and political environment within which plans must be

implemented rather than deficiencies in planning technique. But whatever their

position, planners are little likely to concern themselves with the problems

of public administration and politics.

f Discounting Overambitious Plan Targets

Of course, a planner cannot do much about a government's administrative

inefficiency and its lack of political commitment or will to develop. But if

in preparing his plans he ignores these critical factors, which together constitute the main limitations on the ability of most less developed countries

to realize their economic possibilities, he ends up by separating his

activities and the plans he formulates from the real world outside a national

""lanning agency.

This is precisely what happens in most less developed countries. National

development plans in these countries are formulated on the basis of a country's

73
economic potentialities or its needs as determined by population growth and are

little related to the country's administrative capacity to carry out the plans

or to the government's will to implement them. In these countries, therefore,

plans are not so much blueprints as hortatory instruments of propaganda. It

can hardly be surprising, therefore, that most plan targets are never achieved.

Because the targets are fixed on the basis of what is possible or desirable

instead of what is likely, they usually are set so unrealistically high — not

in terms of economic potential or need, but in terms of administrative capacity

and political will to develop — that they never have much chance of being

fulfilled. For instance, in the case of Bolivia's Ten-Year Development Plan

for 1962-1971, the target for average annual increases of 9.2% in GNP in

the first five years of the plan period may have been economically possible,,

given available financial and other resources; but it was far beyoild the

country's administrative and political capacities. No wonder the plan was

quickly discarded as overambitious

.

If planners are to set realistic targets in their plans, they must somehow find means to measure quantitatively administrative inadequacy and the

lack of political will to develop for the purpose of "discounting" the overly

optimistic results obtained when plans are formulated solely on the basis of

economic potentiality. It may not be easy to obtain these measurements, but

it is not impossible. For example, it is possible to quantify the cost of

administrative inefficiency, in terms of money and time, on the basis of past

discrepancies between original estimates and actual performance for projects

and programs in different sectors. These data, which are available wherever

projects and programs have been carried out, can be used to adjust cost and

74
time of construction estimates furnished by sponsors of projects and programs

where their previous estimates have been shown to be overoptimistic . By deflating the estimates by a factor based on their past errors, such adjustments

can go a long way toward closing the gap between promise and performance.

Similarly, it is possible to quantify a country's political will to develop

if a government indicates, before a draft plan is prepared, what measures it

proposes to adopt on important policy matters which could accelerate the projected rate of growth. If planners set up for each major policy area (e.g. , in

taxation, credit, investment, money and incomes) feasible alternatives from

which political authorities can make a choice before a plan is drafted, planners

can determine the combined impact of these choices on the rate of growth, and

construct their plan accordingly. In the process of selecting the alternatives

which suit them most, political authorities will be supplying concrete and

specific information about the extent to which they are prepared to adopt policies

and other measures for furthering development which, collectively, can be said

to constitute a veritable measure of their "will to develop."

If the three basic elements which enter into the planning process — economic

potential, administrative capacity and political will to develop ~ are all

taken into account in plan formulation, plan targets are bound to be more in

line with a country's real capacity to achieve its economic potentialities.

These targets are likely to be lower than those which now are found in most

plans. But this may not be a bad thing since the lower targets would expose the

restrictive effects of administrative inefficiency and political inaction on

economic potential. Hopefully, this might lead governments to improve economic

75
policy and public administration. Even if it did not produce this result, it

would make possible a distribution of development resources more in line with

the practical possibilities for implementing a development plan. In this way,

the separation which now exists in most countries between plan formulation and

implementation would be reduced if not eliminated.

The Projects Problem

The current artificial separation between plan formulation and implementation

accounts for the failure of planners concentrating on the macro-economic,

aggregative or overall aspects of planning to recognize soon enough that the

basic weakness in most developing countries is not the lack of an elegantly

integrated comprehensive plan based on economic potentialities, but the inability to prepare sound projects, carry them out and operate them efficiently

after completion. In Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Guatemala, Morocco, Nigeria,

Pakistan and in many other countries, planners found after they had prepared

their plans that there were not enough projects available to carry out the

plans they had fashioned with great care. For example, after 18 months of work

on Bolivia's Ten-Year Plan, the planners found themselves in the embarrassing

position of conceding that "the principal deficiency that will be noted in the

formulation of the present Plan is the small number of specific investment

t^rojects ..." needed to execute it. Similar statements can be found in the

:ians of other countries.

Because it usually takes several years to identify and prepare good projects in the quantities needed to implement a plan, it is too late for planners

to become concerned about them after a plan has been prepared or even when it

76
is being formulated. If little has been done long before to start sector,

feasibility and engineering studies for projects, there is not much planners

can do when a plan is being formulated except to note the lack of projects

and programs needed to carry out their plans. This is why it does little good

to prepare a macro-economic plan with growth targets which promise much unless

pre-investment and investment studies are sufficiently advanced on the projects needed to give effect to the plan targets.

It is not very hard to devise a development plan for most countries in

the early stages of development. The sectors with the highest priority are

usually agriculture, transport and electric power. In some countries another

sector may be equally important. For example, in Saudi Arabia, Libya and

Venezuela it would be petroleum, in Liberia it would be iron ore. But in

almost every case, the basic sectors are few and easily recognizable. Experience with Iran's Second Seven-Year plan, as well as with others, suggests

that rule-of-thumb distribution of available resources among basic economic

sectors , when needs in every one of them greatly exceed available resources *

is unlikely to yield appreciably worse results than distribution determined

by careful and prolonged macro-economic calculations. As a rule, it is also

easy to select the highest priority projects in each sector because they are

generally well known. The problem in most countries is not so much to find

high priority projects in quantity as it is to prevent the dispersion of

available resources over too many projects.

Coordination of investment through the budget, although not as desirable

as through a plan, is often feasible. If a plan is considered desirable, it

does not have to be a comprehensive plan for six or ten years which may require
2 or 3 years to prepare; the evidence reveals that in most countries, a partial

plan covering the public sector for one, two or three years, which can be

prepared for most developing countries in a few months, will not only suffice

to get things going in the right direction, but will do so more rapidly than

a comprehensive plan. Any imbalance and waste which may result from partial

planning is likely to be more than outweighed by accelerated gains in output

and income. This is a lesson of experience in countries with long planning

histories. France, India, Pakistan, the U.S.S.R. and most other socialized

countries began with partial plans and the results obtained indicated that they

were justified in starting with partial planning. The preparation of a plan

is therefore not an unduly difficult problem.

Most less-developed countries run into great difficulties, not in formulating plans, but in preparing and carrying out projects and in trying to

operate them efficiently. In part, this is because planners are better versed

in the broader macro-economics of model building than they are in the microeconomics of project selection and preparation; in part, it is because operating

organizations in most less-developed countries do not know how to prepare

sound projects; and in part, it is because it takes much longer to prepare

many projects needed to implement an aggregative plan than to formulate even an

elaborate comprehensive plan. Thus, it may take five years merely to establish

whether there is enough water for a hydroelectric project at a given site. More

than three years have been spent in preparing a study of the route where the

Pan-American Highway will cross the rain forests on the borders of Panama and

Colombia. Preparation of important projects may take up to ten years.

But few projects are carefully worked out before construction begins. As

a result, many projects and programs are not carried out at reasonable cost and

78
in reasonable periods of time. Attempts to reduce the time spent in project

preparation frequently result in the choice of low-yield projects; substantially

increased costs and delayed construction because of unanticipated technical

or other problems; poor phasing of raw material, transport, staffing or other

requirements; failure to provide adequate financing; shoddy construction; and

inability to make full use of completed projects.

Few less developed countries are fully aware of the need for selecting

soundly conceived projects with potentially high yields, defining their scope

•with clarity, estimating their national currency and foreign exchange require- .

ments with a sufficient degree of accuracy, and laying down realistic schedules

for their execution; fewer yet have the administrative capacity and the

political will to cope with these needs and, especially, to carry out the

projects and programs in accordance with carefully developed programs of action.

CONCLUSIONS

Changing the Planning Mix

One reasonable conclusion to be drawn from experience, therefore, is that

it may be desirable to reverse the usual proportions of the planning mix in

most developing countries. Planners in these countries have almost invariably

concentrated on aggregative planning rather than on the proper preparation

and execution of projects. As indicated earlier, the empirical evidence suggests that countries with well-prepared projects coordinated by sound budgetary

procedures and controls can dispense with comprehensive plans, at least for

a time, and still maintain high rates of growth. Conversely, when well79
prepared projects coordinated by sound budgetary procedures and controls can

dispense with comprehensive plans, at least for a time, and still maintain

high rates of growth. Conversely, when well-prepared projects or sound

budgetary procedures are lacking, even a good aggregative plan is of little

value in bringing about a significant acceleration in the rate of development.

Since the proper preparation of good projects and effective budgetary controls thus appear to be indispensable to rapid development and a plan does

not, it is clear that improvements in project preparation and budgetary controls, where needed, are at least as urgent as the preparation of aggregative

plans.

It is obviously desirable for countries to prepare an aggregative plan,

as well as to improve project preparation and budgetary controls. But

governments in less developed countries have only limited ability to undertake

these tasks simultaneously. Experience shows that where governments try to

do all three at the same time, improved project preparation and execution,

as well as budgetary betterment, almost always give way to the preparation of

an aggregative plan.

Changing the Planning Sequence

These findings obviously have important bearings on the sequence with

which planning problems ought to be attacked in newly developing economies. If

the primary objective is improvement in the planning process rather than the

-eparation of a comprehensive plan, planners cannot start, as they frequently

10, with a series of theoretical abstractions of planning as it ought to be and

try to force them on an inhospitable environment where governments are

unstable, not genuinely committed to development or otherwise unready for

advanced planning. Instead, while not forgetting the long-run objectives that

80
theory teaches as desirable, they must atteiinpt to mold their plans to "things

as they are," at least at first. This implies that greater emphasis by given

to micro-economic aspects of planning, to sound policy formation and improved

organization for coordinating investment, rather than to the preparation of

neatly integrated macro-economic plans.

Improving Planning Organization

Since projects and sector programs, to be effectively executed, should

be prepared in operating agencies, organization of programming units in these

agencies should get much higher priority than they now have in many developing

countries, perhaps even higher than central planning agencies. Improved

budget offices may also be more important in- these countries than improved

central planning agencies.

Changing Technical Assistance

The findings in the study also have important implications for foreign

technical assistance. The type of technical assistance needed for preparing

technically and economically sound projects, and executing and operating them,

differs from the type of technical assistance needed for aggregative planning.

Aggregative planning largely requires the use of economists who have a modest

knowledge o~f agricultural and industrial technique; but project preparation

requires engineers, agronomists and other technicians who have acquired only

enough competence in economics to be able to accurately estimate the economic

costs and benefits of the projects they prepare.

Because the preparation, execution and operation of projects involves

many people in a government, it becomes imperative that foreign technical

81
assistance be largely made up of teachers rather than "doers." "Doers" can be

used for a few special purposes, but only teachers working "on the Job" with

groups of government employees actually engaged in project preparation and

execution can hope to train in a reasonable period the large numbers of workers

who must become involved in project preparation, execution and operation.

The shortage of foreign technical assistance in some countries has probably

been exaggerated. There is often a much greater shortage of officials who

know how to make effective use of technical assistance. Indeed, too often,

there appears to be an attempt on the part of some governments to substitute

foreign technical assistance for their lack of political will to develop.

Nonetheless, the overall scarcity of competent foreign technicians is real

enough to suggest that a basic reorganization in their use is indicated if more

effective use is to be made of them. But this opens an entirely new subject

which it would be well to let lie for now.

82
Appendix I

Biographical Data

Participants

NBS/AID Workshop on Standardization and Measurement

Services In Industrializing Economies

Ma/ 11-24, 1974

Do, Nguyen Huu

Mr. Do, bom November 30, 1936, in Hanoi, French Indo-China (presently

in North Vietnam), received the B.S. in Electrical Engineering at the

Vietnam College of Engineering, Saigon, Vietnam, in 1961. He is

presently Director of the Industrial Research and Testing Center of

the National Standards Institute of the Republic of Vietnam.

Donoso T., Orlando

Mr. Donoso, boim October 21, 1944, in La Paz, Bolivia, received the

Diploma in Engineering (Mechanical Engineering) from the Technlsche

Hochschule Stuttgart, Stuttgart, West Germany in 1966. He is

presently General Director of Standards and Technology of the Ministry

of Industry and Trade of Bolivia.

Kanu, Prlncevlll M.

Mr. Kanu, born September 26, 1930, in Umuahla, Nigeria, received the

B.S. in Chemistry from Kansas State University (Manhattan, Kansas,

U.S.A.) in 1959. He is presently Head of Laboratory Services of the

Nigerian Standards Organization.

Mortera, Angeles J.

Mrs. Mortera, born March 1, 1941, at Bulacan, Philippines, received

the B.S. in Chemical Engineering in 1966 from the University of the

Philippines, Manila, Philippines. She is presently Chief of the

Technical Division of the Bureau of Standards of the Philippines.

Nlng, Werner 7. F.

Dr. Nlng, born March 29, 1930, in Shantung, China, received the LL.B,

degree from the Taiwan Provincial College of Law (Taipei, Taiwan,

China) in 1960 and the J.S.D. degree from Johannes Gutenberg

University, Mainz, West Germany, in 1965. He is presently Director of

the National Bureau of Standards of the Ministry of Economic Affairs

83
of the Republic of China and Professor of Law at the National Chung

Hslng University, Taipei, Taiwan, China.

Ogunmodede, S. I.

Mr. Ogunmodede, born July 15, 1934, In Ikere-Ekltl, Nigeria, received

the LL.B. degree from the University of Lagos In 1970. He Is

presently the Superintendent of Weights and Measures of Nigeria.

Park, Jae Man

Mr, Park, bom August 27, 1925, In Pusan, Korea, received a B.S. In

Chemical Engineering from Seoul National University In 1952. He Is

presently Director of the Department of Weights and Measures of the

National industrial Standards Research Institute, Industrial

Advancement Administration, Seoul, Korea.

Redin G.. Jaime H.

Ing. Redln, bom May 27, 1943, In Quito, Ecuador, received the degree

of Chemical Engineer from the Escuela Polltechnlca Naclonal (EPT) In

Quito, Ecuador, In 1966. He Is presently Chief of the Quality Control

Department of the Instltuto Ecuatorlano de Normallzaclon (INEN) and

Professor of Statistics and Quality Control at EPT.

Rodriguez E., Humfaerto

Ing. Rodriguez, born August 28, 1947, at Catacamas, Honduras, received

the degree of Industrial Engineer from the Instltuto Tecnologlco de

Monterrey (Monterrey, Mexico) In 1973. He Is presently Chief of the

Quality Control Department of the Dlrecdon General de Industrlas,

Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

84
Appendix II

'

i Participants

HBS/AID Workshop on Standardization

and Measurement Services on Industrializing Economies

May n - 24, 1974

Mr. Nguyen Huu Do

Director

National Standards Institute

Bien-Hoa Industrial Park

Saigon, Vietnam

Ing. Orlando Donoso T.

General Director of Standards and Technology

Direccion General de Normas y Tecnologia

Ministeria de Industria y Comercio

Casilla 4430 ; La Paz, Bolivia

Mr. Princewill M. Kanu

Head of Laboratory Services

Nigerian Standards Organization

Federal Ministry of Industries

11, Kofo Abayomi Pv.oad. Victoria Island

Lagos, Nigeria

Mrs. Angeles Mortera

Chief, Technical Division

Bureau of Standards

Department of Commerce and Industry

P.O. Box 3719

Manila, Philippines

Dr. Werner Y. F. Ning

Director

National Bureau of Standards

Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Republic of China

61-1 Sung-Chiang Road

Taipei, Taiwan, China

Mr. S. I. Ogunmodede

Superintendent of Weights and Measures

Weights and Measures Division

Federal Ministry of Trade

P.M.B. 1088, Ikeja Airport

Ikeja, Nigeria

85
Mr. Park, Jae Man

Director of Weights and Measures

National Industrial Standards Research Institute

Industrial Advancement Administration

Ministry of Commerce and Industry

7eong Deung Po

Seoul, Korea

Ing. Jaime H. Redln G.

Chief, Quality Control Department

Institute Ecuatorlano de Normallzaclon

Casllla No. 3999

Quito, Ecuador

Ing. Uumberto Rodriguez E.

Chief, Quality Control Department

Dlrecdon General de Industrlas

Minis terlo de Economla

Tegucigalpa, Honduras

86
U.S. DEPT. OF COMM.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA

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1. IM hl.K A TION OK Kl I'OK 1 No. 2. Ciov 't At ( i- .s.s uin No.

3. K( I Ipu 111 ' , At t f.sioii Nil.

4. n ri.i- AMI si n 1 11 1.1 Report to AID on an NBS/AID Workshop on Standardization

and Measurement Services in Industrializing Economies

5. PuM It .11 loll 1 ).u I

6. Pi-r(orming Org.iii i /.ii ion ' oJ'

7. AUTHOR(S) 8. Performing Organ. Report No.

9. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME AND ADDRESS

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10. Projcct/Task/Work l;nu No. PASA TA (CE) 5-71

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12. Sponsoring Organization Name and Complete Address (Street, City, State, ZIP)

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15. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

16. ABSTRACT (A 200-word or less (actual summary of most significant information. If document includes a significant

bibliography or literature survey, mention it here.)

On May 11 - 24, 1974, a Workshop was held at the National Bureau of

Standards (Gaithersburg) , under the sponsorship of AID, whose object was to give standards officials of industrializing nations insight into

the standards and measurement systems in the United States and the role

of the National Bureau of Standards, so that these officials might con- sider what parts of the U.S. system might usefully be adapted to conditions

in their home countries. The report contains copies of speeches and

presentations by representatives of both the U.S. and the industrializing

nations, in addition to a general agenda of talks, presentations, and

tours of laboratories both of NBS and of other organizations.

17. KEY 'J'ORDS (six to twelve entries; alphabetical order; capitalize only the first letter of the first key word unless a proper name; separated by semicolons)

AID; Assistance; Economics; Foreign Relations; Industrializing Nations;

LDC's; Measurement Services; Standardization

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