EIGHTH MEETING OF SADCSTAN, HELD AT MAPUTO, MOZAMBIQUE ON 4 MAY 2005
The Eighth Meeting of SADCSTAN was recently held in Maputo, Mozambique on 4 May 2005. Ms Marobela of Botswana chaired the meeting, which was attended by delegations from 13 SADC member states, as well as observers from PIESA, PTB and UNIDO. Some highlights from the meeting were as follows:Ms Maureen Mutasa, Zimbabwe, presented a brief report on the activities of the Task Team for the year under review. Following the approval of the Basic Rules for the operation of SADCSTAN by SADC Secretariat, members agreed to implement them accordingly and therefore the Task Team was disbanded.
The new Executive Committee was elected, comprising:
- Ms Maureen Mutasa, Zimbabwe, as Chair
- Ms Gabriela Da Silva, Mozambique, as Vice Chair
- Mr Abdulrahamani Napinda, Botswana, Outgoing Chair, as Member
- Mr Tlhako Mokhoro, Lesotho, as Additional Member.Dr Geoff Visser was nominated to represent SADCSTAN on the SADCAS Interim Council.
SADCSTAN noted the country reports that were circulated and the presentations made by representatives from each member state.
The Regional Coordinator tabled a progress report on SADCSTAN projects for harmonisation. Despite difficulties encountered by non-English speaking countries in commenting on SADCSTAN projects, SADCSTAN harmonised another 41 standards projects: a remarkable achievement. New projects were noted, and new projects allocated to the Technical Committees.
The meeting was informed of the status of projects funded by the PTB and South Africa (DTI (SADCSTAN Secretariat)), and the progress of the EU project proposal.
The meeting noted the report back by the Regional Coordinator on the 13 th ARSO General Assembly, the re-engineering of ARSO, and the organization's revised constitution. Another report was given of the 25 th ISO General Assembly.
Ms Maureen Mutasa, Chair of ISO DEVCO, gave a report on the developments in the organization, and encouraged SADCSTAN members to participate actively in ISO DEVCO activities.
A presentation was given on the EU model for the harmonisation of standards.