ASTM and CEN expand their technical cooperation agreement

CEN, the European Committee for Standardization, and ASTM International have agreed to extend and expand a Technical Cooperation Agreement from 2019 in order to broaden and facilitate global dialogue and coordination in specific standardization areas of mutual interest. 

CEN is recognized by the European Union (EU) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) as one of the official European Standardization Organizations responsible for developing standards at European level. These standards set out specifications and procedures in relation to a wide range of materials, processes, products and services. The members of CEN are the National Standards Bodies of 34 European countries. The European Standards (ENs) and other standardization deliverables adopted by CEN are accepted and recognized in all of these countries.

The updated agreement affirms and reinvigorates a framework agreed in 2019 for technical cooperation and information exchange between the two standardization organizations, thus facilitating dialogue and convergence on the technical requirements and related attributes of standards development, and preventing duplication of efforts, for the benefit of their respective stakeholders.

By extending and expanding this important agreement, ASTM International and CEN reaffirm their commitment to a series of practical actions to implement their cooperation, specifically in the technical areas of common interest between ASTM and CEN:

• Explore opportunities to collaborate within their respective standards development processes;
• Facilitate technical standardization dialogue between their technical bodies;
• Share information on their standards development activities and emerging technologies, trends, or regulatory drivers of mutual interest for the benefit of the stakeholders.

In advancing their cooperation, ASTM International and CEN are extending and expanding their pilot program to include the following identified technical groups of common interest. 

For CEN

CEN/TC 249 ‘Plastics’, whose Secretariat is held by the Belgian Bureau for Standardization (NBN);

CEN/TC 19 ‘Gaseous and liquid fuels, lubricants and related products of petroleum, synthetic and biological origin’, whose Secretariat is held by the Nederlands Normalisatie-instituut (NEN);

CEN/TC 411 ‘Bio-based products’, whose Secretariat is held by the Nederlands Normalisatie-instituut (NEN);

CEN/TC 366 ‘Materials obtained from End-of-Life Tyres (ELT)’ whose Secretariat is held by the Ente Nazionale Italiano di Unificazione (UNI);

For ASTM

ASTM Committee D02 on “Petroleum Products, Liquid Fuels, and Lubricants”, for specific activities of mutual interest;

ASTM sub- Committee D20.95 on “Recycled Plastics”;

ASTM sub-Committee D20.96 on “Environmentally Degradable Plastics and Biobased Products”;

ASTM Committee D36 on “Recovered Carbon Black” and D11 on “Rubber and Rubber-like materials”, with a focus on tyres and rubber products that can be recovered carbon black.