ABOUT THE MALAYSIAN ASSOCIATION OF STANDARDS USERS
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The Malaysian Association of Standards Users or Standards Users was established in Sept 30, 2004. The organization was established as a non-profit organisation to represent users and consumer interests in standards development. It was set up with the endorsement and s
upport from the Department of Standards Malaysia (JSM), the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations – FOMCA and Era Consumer Malaysia (ERA). We serve many stakeholders (namely: consumers, research institutions, industry and relevant government agencies in Malaysia and the Asia Pacific region) with interest in standards, safety, social responsibility and sustainable development. Our work with standards and accreditation bodies in Malaysia and the Asia Pacific Island region is guided by good standardization practices and WTO TBT agreement. Our approach is tailor-made to suit the stakeholders' needs and includes developing suitable and effective education materials, training materials, workshops, round table discussions, surveys, studies, comparative testing, position papers and memorandum. Our expertise is extended to developing and least developing countries in the Asia and the Pacific Island region such as Southeast Asia and South Asia. We have worked with countries like Fiji, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Annual capacity building workshops are opened to NSBs or similar bodies in developing countries for participation. Our latest effort has been the development of safety incidents information sharing portal with APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) developing economies. Developing countries which were involved in this project are Chile, Peru, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia. Standards Users is no stranger in the ISO Consumer Policy Committee or ISO COPOLCO which advises the ISO Council and Technical Management Board on standardization and accreditation activities which have impact on consumers and the general public. A couple of such activities lead to the development of the ISO 26000:2010, the ISO 10393:2013 and 10377:2013: standards on social responsibility, product recall and product safety respectively. Representatives of Standards Users play key roles in ISO COPOLCO such as co-convenor of the Working Group on Product Safety and Convenor of the Working Group revising the ISO / IEC Guide 46 on Comparative Testing. Standards Users was appointed by the Department of Standards Malaysia (STANDARDS MALAYSIA) as the secretary of the ISO TC 240 secretariat from 2008 to 2013 - until the ISO 10393:2013 was published. In 2014, Standards Users through the nomination by the Department of Standards Malaysia was appointed chair of the ISO Consumer Policy Committee for the period of 2014 to 2015. ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS:
PROMOTE COMPLIANCE WITH SAFETY STANDARDS FOR CONSUMER PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
Promote compliance (where possible voluntary compliance) with of safety standards for consumer products and services in Malaysia and in developing countries. Promote harmonization of safety standards and compliance with these standards. Comparative testing is among the approaches taken to justify and promote compliance with safety standards. MAKING TRADING OF SAFE CONSUMER PRODUCTS AND SERVICES EASIER
Promote participation of interested balance stakeholders in standards and conformity assessment to ensure that unrepresented groups have opportunity to influence deliverables in International, regional and national standards and conformity assessment activities. This supports in making standards more market relevant, promoting safer and better products and services reach intended users faster and thus making trade simpler. ADVANCE EDUCATION IN STANDARDISATION
Standards Users seeks to improve awareness on the importance of standards and conformity assessment among its stakeholders in Malaysia and developing countries in the Asia Pacific region. Developing world class and relevant education materials by engaging with relevant stakeholders and their target group are among the approaches used to advance education in standardization. BECOME REGIONAL RESOURCE CENTRE FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY BASED ON ISO 26000:2010
Standards Users seeks to improve understanding and the application of ISO 26000:2010 recommendations for SR in Malaysia and among developing countries. Training and development of reference materials are among the efforts undertaken to provide this support. The following are the main activities undertaken by Standards Users in order to achieve its goals:
Capacity Building
Development of supporting and reference materials and tools
Research and Comparative Testing
Advocacy
Awareness and promotion sessions
The activity areas are all interdependent and are quite often carried out simultaneously. Each of the activity provides input or produce outcomes which are useful to other activities. For example comparative testing outcomes have on many occasions lead to better regulatory control of product safety such as ban on BPA in baby feeding bottles, control of used cooking oil, inclusion of ceramic tableware in the regulations for food packaging and so on. Capacity building exercises also lead to development of relevant publications and tools – or even help identify need for research or comparative testing. Key activity has always been sharing of information and to make the information easily accessible to stakeholders. The availability of such information is promoted widely among interested stakeholders.
