The IEC in brief

I nt e r na t i o na l El e c t r o t e chni c a l Co mmi s s i o n
2
Mission
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is
the leading global organization that prepares and
publishes International Standards for all electrical,
electronic and related technologies. These serve as a
basis for national and regional standardization and
as references when drafting international tenders and
contracts.
The IEC embraces all electrotechnologies including
electronics, magnetics and electromagnetics,
electroacoustics, multimedia, telecommunication, and
energy production and distribution, as well as
associated general disciplines such as terminology
and symbols, electromagnetic compatibility,
measurement and performance, dependability, design
and development, safety and the environment.
National Committees
Through its members, the IEC promotes international
co-operation on all questions of electrotechnical
standardization and related matters, such as the
assessment of conformity to standards. Member
bodies of the IEC are National Committees or
NCs one per country. Each NC should be fully
representative of all interested parties in the area of
electrotechnology at national level. NCs are typically
comprised of representatives from:
manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, vendors;
governmental agencies (all levels);
professional societies, trade associations;
consumers, end-users;
standards developers.
NCs are constituted in different ways. Some are
public sector only, some are a combination of public
www.iec.ch
and private sector, and some are private sector only. In
this respect, the IEC does not specify how an NC
should be formed. It is up to the interested parties in
each country to decide how they will constitute
their NC.
Members and responsibilities
There are two membership categories: Full Members
and Associate Members. Full membership gives
countries the possibility of fully participating in
international standardization activities and the right to
vote on all matters (one country, one vote). Associate
membership allows for limited participation of countries
with limited resources. Associate members have
observer status and can participate in meetings.
They have limited voting rights.
On becoming a member of the IEC, each National
Committee (NC) agrees to open access and
balanced representation from all private and public
electrotechnical interests in its country. The whole
organization of the IEC is designed to ensure that the
NCs play a leading part in all decision-making
instances of the Commission. This enables the widest
degree of consensus on standardization work to be
reached at an international level. It is up to the NCs to
align their policies accordingly at the national level.
Industrializing countries and the IEC
The IEC Affiliate Country Programme is aimed at all
newly-industrializing countries around the world and
offers a means of participation in the IEC's work
and use of IEC standards. Participation in the
Affiliate Country Programme is not a form of IEC
membership.
The experience
3
Structure
The IEC's governing structure directs the two principal branches of IEC work: preparing International Standards
and other publications, and maintaining global systems for conformity assessment of components, products and
systems to IEC International Standards.
4
Technical Committees
A technical committee (TC) or subcommittee (SC)
prepares International Standards for a specific
area of electrotechnology. Examples include: TC 11
(Overhead lines), TC 36 (Insulators), TC 61 (Safety of
household and similar electrical appliances), TC 86 (Fibre
optics) and TC 105 (Fuel cells). TCs and SCs are made
up of:
a secretariat;
a chairman;
members (experts who are nominated by National
Committees).
All National Committees (NCs) are free to take part in the
work of any TC, either:
actively (participating members, or "P-members"),
with the obligation to vote on all draft documents that
lead up to the International Standards and to attend
meetings; or
as observers (observer members, or "O-members"),
with only the right to vote on Final Draft International
Standards (last stage before publication of the
International Standard).
Products
The products, or publications, that result from the work of
technical committees (TCs) and subcommittees (SCs) fall
into two broad categories.
Normative:
International Standard plus amendment(s)
Technical Specification
Publicly Available Specification (with or without
pre-standard option)
Industry Technical Agreement
Informative:
Technical Report
Technology Trend Assessment
Guide
The technology
5
Functioning
Participants at the national level feed their ideas and proposals for new standards to their National Committees
(NCs), who then bring these forward as new work projects. From there, IEC technical committees (TCs) and
subcommittees (SCs), which consist of experts from around the world, take up the work and transform the ideas
and proposals into International Standards and other types of publications.
6
Conformity Assessment
The IEC's multilateral conformity assessment
systems, which are the only truly global ones of their
kind, are based on its International Standards. Their
aim is to help reduce trade barriers caused by
different certification criteria in different countries.
Removing the significant delays and costs of multiple
testing and approval allows industry to be faster and
cheaper to market with its products.
The IEC operates three of these systems. Using
IEC International Standards for certification at the
national level ensures that a certified product has
been manufactured and type-tested to
well-established and rigorous criteria.
The end-user can be sure that the product meets
minimum (usually high) quality standards, and
need not be concerned with further testing or
evaluation of the product. The IEC's three
conformity assessment systems are:
IECEE: system for conformity testing and
certification of electrical equipment;
IECQ-CECC: approval and certification program for
electronic components;
IECEx: scheme for certification to standards for
electrical equipment for explosive atmospheres.
The global market
7
Photo Credits:
ABB, AENOR, Broadcast Hardware International, CSA International, EDN Europe,
Emerson Electric Co., Enditel, Epri, General Electric Company, JVC Company, NEMA,
Renesas, Siemens AG.
Copyright 2004 International Electrotechnical Commission. All rights reserved.
IEC Central Office, 3 rue de Varemb, PO Box 131, CH-1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland.
For further information about the IEC please contact your IEC National Committee. An up-to-date list
can be found on the IEC website (www.iec.ch). Alternatively, please feel free to contact the IEC at the
co-ordinates given below.
International Electrotechnical
Commission
P.O. Box 131
1211 Geneva 20
Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 919 0211
Fax: +41 22 919 0300
Email: inmail@iec.ch
Web: www.iec.ch
N
a
t
i
o
n
a
l

C
o
m
m
i
t
t
e
e

s
t
a
m
p

o
r

s
t
i
c
k
e
r

g
o
e
s

h
e
r
e
.
2004-02/ Ed.1