AFNOR General Meeting 2021: collective action pays off
On Monday June 28, 2021, the General Meeting of the AFNOR association was held in Saint-Denis, under the chairmanship of Marc Ventre. To mark the occasion, the association released its Business and CSR Report 2020. The barrier mask initiative was welcomed.
With 1,480 member companies as of December 31, 2020, and ninety-four years of experience in the service of economic players, the AFNOR association held its General Meeting 2021 on June 28 in Paris, under the chairmanship of Marc Ventre, re-elected last year. The moral report presented and approved shows a resilient balance sheet, in the context of the health crisis linked to the covid-19 pandemic: in 2020, the AFNOR association recorded a positive net result of €0.1 million, on sales of €63 million. The financial results for the year 2020, for the association and its subsidiaries, are set out in the Activity and Social Responsibility Report published on this occasion, which can be leafed through here in French and English.
In terms of corporate governance, two directors were reappointed to the AFNOR Board in the corporate category (Hervé Barthelemy for Air Liquide, represented by Hervé Barthelemy, and Michelin, represented by Bertrand de Labareyre,, also appointed treasurer) and the arrival of four new members (Giovanni David for Airbus (represented by Giovanni David), La Poste (represented by Muriel Barneoud), Orange (represented by Claire Chauvin) and finally the Gustave-Eiffel University, represented by Jean-Bernard Kovarik).
French standardization strategy: concrete results
As a forum for all players in the French economy, standardization takes the pulse of major technological and societal trends. As such, it is at the forefront of identifying topics that lend themselves to new voluntary standards. These topics have already begun to permeate standards work, as part of the three axes of the French standardization strategy published in 2019: combating climate disruption, controlled digitization, a more inclusive society.
One example of this is the work on biodiversity entrusted to AFNOR by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) on behalf of France.
biodiversity
. Among the standards and normative documents published in 2020, we should of course mention
AFNOR SPEC S76-001 on barrier masks
developed in record time and published at the very appropriate time for the Covid-19 pandemic. But also the
NF ISO/TS 26030
on CSR guidelines applied to the food chain, or the
AFNOR SPEC X50-001
on signage for public bathing areas and aquatic and nautical activities. Note the start of work on the future NF B01-001 standard on blockchain, and the ongoing development of the future
ISO 23662
on vegan and vegetarian products.
Standards diplomacy: France at the forefront
Finally, AFNOR members were able to appreciate AFNOR’s performance, on behalf of France, in terms of taking on responsibilities on the European and international standards scene. The 2021 edition of the international standardization barometer shows a2nd place on the European scene (CEN-CENELEC) behind Germany and a3rd place on the international scene (ISO-IEC) behind Germany and the United States, neck-and-neck with China, Japan and the United Kingdom. France holds 10.5% of the secretariats of ISO committees and subcommittees, such as the one on biocidal and antimicrobial surfaces (TC 330), and 12% at the IEC.
AFNOR/DR
