Industry Week: voluntary standards on the campaign trail
From November 27 to December 3, 2023, the public authorities are organizing Industry Week, a series of events designed to boost the attractiveness of French industrial trades, innovations and know-how. At a time when industry, like other sectors, is calling for the administrative burden to be lightened (as witnessed by the “simplification meetings” recently launched by Bercy), AFNOR disentangles the true from the false and teaches people about standards… Voluntary standards: standards, not the regulatory norms resulting from laws, decrees and directives.
In Les Echos (November 27, 2023 edition, available here , and in PDF here), a full page explains to manufacturers that the instructions for making the green transition already exist! Made by them and for them, voluntary standards are, in effect, tutorials for quantifying greenhouse gas emissions, organizing a biodiversity inventory, setting up a circular economy project, managing water stress, knowing which strings to pull to define a product as “repairable”, and so on.
Ismail Lina
” Our job is to create the foundations of trust,” explains Lina Ismail, Head of Development and Innovation for the Environment and Social Responsibility Department at AFNOR. Also worth bearing in mind: the famous ISO 14001, which provides guidelines for deploying an environmental management system (a certifiable standard), and the future Triple E standard (for “European Environmental Excellence”) provided for in the recently adopted Green Industry law, and expected by early 2024 with a system of equivalence with other benchmarks of good ecological practice.
Coincidentally, Industry Week telescopes with the start of COP 28, where the urgent need to decarbonize the economy will be reiterated. Note that two AFNOR events for industry are referenced in the ministerial program in France: one on brain-machine interfaces on November 28; the other on specialty metals and minerals on December 7.
Two questions for … Bruno Costes, Chairman of the Comité de coordination et de pilotage de la normalisation and AFNOR director on behalf of Airbus.
“Standards give us a head start
Portrait ©AFNOR/DR
As a seasoned industrialist, why do you see voluntary standards as an opportunity for companies?
I often remind those around me of the difference between regulations, which are mandatory, and standardization, which is voluntary and designed by and for industry. Over and above the need to harmonize practices, and the confidence that companies want to generate by choosing these standards, it is in our interest to develop and adopt French and European standards that correspond to our industrial needs and know-how, so as not to be subject to standards issued by external third parties, and to strengthen our competitiveness. Europe must be sovereign in setting its own standards.
In your opinion, is voluntary standardization just a matter for large industrial groups?
Our French manufacturers all have a role to play, whatever their size. Involvement in standardization certainly represents an investment (particularly in terms of time), which SMEs often consider to be out of their reach. In my opinion, this is a mistake: this investment will quickly be outweighed by the benefits to the SME/SMI of making its own approaches visible, in order to better penetrate markets and give users confidence. Deciding to standardize is a strategic choice. Don’t suffer other people’s choices, and be one step ahead.
