TOPIC THREE

1. TOPIC THREE TRUTH OR FICTION? • IEC IS EUROCENTRIC. • BLOCK VOTING IS RAMPANT IN IEC. • ONE VOTE/ONE NATIONAL COMMITTEE IS HURTING THE US. • SMB WILL TELL TCs/SCs WHICH TECHNICAL CHOICES ARE BETTER. • DELAYS IN THE PROCESS ARE CAUSED BY THE REQUIREMENT FOR FRENCH TRANSLATION. • IEC 5 YEAR RULE FOR COMPLETING A STANDARD INHIBITS DEVELOPMENT. • US ADOPTS VERY FEW IEC STANDARDS. • OTHER ISSUES. Mr. James E Matthews, III Mr. Robert A. Williams Mr. Frank K. Kitzantides Mr. Jack Sheldon Mr. Charles T. Zegers

2. IEC IS EUROCENTRIC Some say IEC is US Centric • Highest number of Experts (982) • Highest number of TC/SC Secretariats (29) • 3rd Highest number of TC/SC Chairmen (23) • Highest number of Conveners (169) • 2nd highest NWIPs Approved (14) IEC Current Membership • 51 Full Voting Members • 14 Associate Members • 69 Affiliates CENELEC MEMBERSHIP 28 Plus 8 Affiliates

3. BLOCK VOTING IS RAMPANT IN IEC What is Block Voting? A group of ISO Member Bodies or IEC National Committees, usually on a regional basis, voting or taking exactly the same positions for the purpose of defeating the positions of other voting countries to achieve a regional advantage. IEC and the USNC have investigated this subject and have basically come to the conclusion that there is no statistical evidence of widespread European or non-European bloc voting. Block voting is not considered to be a generalized phenomenon but one that may occur on a case-by-case basis. US delegates to IEC meetings should be vigilant to this possibility and report any evidence of its occurrence to their Technical Advisory Groups and to their contacts at ANSI and the USNC/IEC.

4. ONE VOTE/ONE NATIONAL COMMITTEE IS HURTING THE US What is Weighted Voting? CEN/CENELEC voting policy dictates that where a vote is found to be necessary, a simple majority of those voting is required. In addition, there are four cases where, in addition to the requirement for a simple majority, the votes cast by the members shall be accorded specific weightings. These are: • formal approval of EN (European Standard and HD (Harmonization Document); • formal approval of TS (Technical Specification); • any initiation of a work item to become an EN or TS within a CEN TC; • approval of B-deviations (for HDs only). The assessment shall be made by the CEN/CENELEC body responsible in each case, which shall allocate weightings. ISO and IEC operate on the basis of one vote per ISO member body or IEC National Committee. The IEC Statutes and Rules of Procedure state this policy as follows, “Each Full Member National Committee shall have one vote in all bodies of the Commission.”

5. ONE VOTE/ONE NATIONAL COMMITTEE IS HURTING THE US - Cont’d Some US contacts have expressed the belief that Weighted Voting should be implemented in ISO and IEC and that, if it were, the US would realize a much more equitable voting status vis-à-vis the rest of the world than is the current case with the system of “one country/one vote.” Both ISO and IEC, and also ANSI and the USNC/IEC have examined this allegation on several occasions and have found little evidence to suggest that weighted voting would significantly change the voting outcome in the specific cases examined. Here too, on a case-by-case basis, weighted voting may change the outcome in a particular case but this experience cannot be generalized across the entire spectrum. Also: • It is unlikely that developing countries would support. • The annual dues that ANSI and the USNC/IEC currently pays to both ISO and IEC would invariably be increased dramatically. • If appropriately implemented the IEC Global Relevance Policy might make this discussion a moot point.

6. SMB WILL TELL TCS/SCS WHICH TECHNICAL CHOICES ARE BETTER SMB Terms of Reference (Article 10 – IEC Statutes and Rules of Procedures) The Council, through the Council Board, delegates to the Standardization Management Board (SMB) the management of the standards work of the Commission. Technical Committee and Subcommittees (Article 11) The standards work of the Commission shall be carried out through technical committees and subcommittees, composed of representatives of the Full Member National Committees, each dealing with a particular subject.

7. DELAYS IN THE PROCESS ARE CAUSED BY THE REQUIREMENT FOR FRENCH TRANSLATION ISO/IEC Directives Supplement – Procedures Specific to IEC Annex M – Preparation of French versions of documents

8. IEC 5 YEAR RULE FOR COMPLETING A STANDARD INHIBITS DEVELOPMENT The SMB, at its 123 meeting held in June 2005, accepted a recommendation from the SMB ad hoc Group 17 on Development stages of standards, to decide on a case-by case basis to keep projects older than 5 years in the TC/SCs programs of work based on evidence that progress is imminent rather than automatically returning all 5 years projects to the Preliminary Stage.

9. IEC 5 YEAR RULE FOR COMPLETING A STANDARD INHIBITS DEVELOPMENT – Cont’d Table 1 – Project stages and associated documents The following time limits may be used as guidance when establishing target dates (following approval of the work item): • Available of working draft (if not supplied with the proposal): 6 months • Availability of committee draft: 12 months • Availability of enquiry draft: 24 months • Availability of approval draft: 33 months • Availability of published standard: 36 months

10. US ADOPTS VERY FEW IEC STANDARDS In accordance with the IEC Materplan 2000 Implementation Plan approved by the Council Board (CB/150/R, 2001-01-23), the Central Office has set up a worldwide reference database of IEC standards adoptions and deviations. The objective is to provide the market with greater transparency regarding the use of IEC standards in the various member countries. It will help industry identify, for any given IEC standard, the degree of adoption in each of the member countries, and in those cases where there exists a national deviation, the specific contents of the deviation. (AC/6/205) Formal Adoption versus Use in the US

11. OTHER ISSUES