On 26 February, Scott Steedman Director of Standards, BSI attended the 12th UK-China Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) meeting in Birmingham, jointly chaired by Sajid Javid and the Chinese Minister of Commerce, Mr Gao Hucheng. The meeting which represented an official Government to Government dialogue between the UK and China, focused on furthering the economic and trade relationship between the two countries.
Scott Steedman, Director of Standards at BSI said: “As the UK’s National Standards Body, BSI plays a key role in harmonizing standards worldwide and in doing so encouraging international trade for the UK. Today’s meeting is an important step in our growing relationship with China, using standards to enable the sharing of global best practice and using standards as a common language to facilitate trade and investment.”
The meeting was the first formal meeting to launch the new UK-China Standards Cooperation Commission (SCC) jointly led by BSI and SAC (the Standardization Administration of China). The purpose of the commission is to coordinate UK and Chinese industry led standardization activity in key areas of joint strategic interest, to promote economic and technical cooperation, and to facilitate bilateral trade. A mutual recognition framework and the first 62 UK-China mutually recognized standards has been agreed. The first activities of the SCC will be to establish working groups of UK and Chinese standards experts in civil nuclear energy, smart cities and emerging technologies. The SCC will regularly report to the JETCO.
New TIL rig at centre of excellence in Hemel Hempstead
BSI has recently invested in a second TIL (Total Inward Leakage) rig at its laboratories in Hemel Hempstead. The purpose of the rig is to check the overall effectiveness of a range of respiratory protective masks and hoods - from dust masks for DIY, to masks used by fire-fighters.
This has enabled BSI to double its capacity for testing respiratory masks which will help to meet manufacturer’s timescales and capacity in the future. In addition, clients will be able to use the facilities for Research & Development work, whilst other testing work is carried out in the lab. This investment demonstrates BSI’s on-going commitment to growing its product certification business and supporting its clients.
BSI to speak at FSB Annual Conference
Several of BSI’s experts will be speaking at the FSB (Federation of Small Businesses) Annual Conference from 17 – 19 March in SECC, Glasgow.
Nigel McGimpsey, UK & Ireland Sales Director, Assurance, BSI will be explaining why to stand out and win, every business, regardless of its size, sector or location, must develop an approach to resilience that is right for it – underpinned by its values and defining its brand.
Toni Allen, UK Head of Client Propositions, BSI will be discussing how small businesses can support themselves to grow and become resilient in today’s challenging and competitive environment through certification.
Stephen Porter, Information Security and Business Continuity Management Systems Tutor, BSI will be asking organizations if they’re confident that they are doing all they can to reduce the risk of cyber-crime. And if not, how businesses can prepare for and mitigate against an attack.