We will discuss the governing meetings in this column. Many IEC meetings are collocated. A General Meeting is a collocated event of both governing bodies and some technical meetings that is held annually. The United States is actively considering hosting the 1998 General Meeting. The burden of hosting meetings is rotated and shared by a number of countries over time.
All delegates are responsible for their own transportation, meals, and hotel costs.
The Council is the governing body of the IEC, and the Committee of Action is its technical arm. Typically, a member country of IEC would send its president or head of the national committee as its chief delegate to the Council. Council business might consist of admission of new member countries, discussion of financial matters, election of IEC officers, and approval of documents for general use. The Council also receives reports from committees on conformity assessment for safety and quality and on general policy. The General Policy Committee has recently focused on how IEC can develop standards that the market wants.