ITC Standards Map is focus of workshop for U.S. Government experts

Specialists from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), USAID and the U.S. General Services Administration have a better understanding of standards issues thanks to an ITC workshop highlighting the centre's Standards Map.

The 29 November interactive course, Voluntary Standards in Agriculture, Manufacturing, and Trade: ITC’s Trade for Sustainable Development (T4SD) “Standards Map”, included a discussion of standards-related issues and a question-and-answer session. Joe Wozniak, T4SD program manager at ITC, demonstrated the web-based Standards Map tool, which centralizes data on standards requirements, verification and certification.

The two-hour workshop helped participants better grasp the key differences between private and public standards and detailed their effects and limitations. It also showed how the Standards Map can provide information in the context of U.S. government programs and operations.

Jennifer Riddell, science and technology policy fellow at the EPA thanked Mr. Wozniak for his demonstration and noted how the attendees had direct connections to U.S. government activities around standards, and that his presentation provided ‘an important connection for them to make in terms of understanding available tools for their work.'

ITC's T4SD, which focuses on voluntary or so-called private standards, provides access to comprehensive information on non-governmental voluntary standards and aims to increase opportunities for sustainable production and trade. It addresses these challenges by collecting, organizing and disseminating information on standards initiatives and related topics.