Advancing Standards A Roadmap for Sri Lanka’s Standards Development Process

Steve Sidney

In today’s dynamic global landscape, adherence to robust standards plays a key role in ensuring product quality, fostering cross-border trade, and safeguarding public health and safety. 
Recognizing the significance of standards development, UNIOD, under the Delegation of the European Union to Sri Lanka and the Maldives funded BESPA-FOOD project, invited Steve Sidney, a renowned expert on international standards development, to share his insights 
and expertise.
In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mirror, Sidney delves into the multifaceted realm of standards development, shedding light on its importance, challenges, and the potential for leveraging emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI). 
He went on to underscore the importance of proactive collaboration between public and private stakeholders. 
His recommendations offer a roadmap for Sri Lanka to elevate its standards ecosystem on par with international benchmarks, paving the way for sustainable growth and prosperity. 
Following are the excerpts of the interview:

Why are standards important? And more specifically why are international standards important?

There are many reasons why standards are developed and are extremely useful in modern economies. Firstly, there are standards which are of a technical nature and ensure that the quality of items produced meets a certain standard and can be relied on from whatever their source. These standards are also used to establish health and safety limits and ensure that the public can rely on products and services claiming to meet these criteria.
Another type of standard is one which is known as a “Quality Management Standard” and in this case the goal is to enable organisations to meet requirements as to how the organisation conducts its business and is often used to ensure that internal company-wide processes are adopted and carried out in a similar fashion, also adding and enhancing the overall reputation of the organisation which adheres.

Have you had a chance to review or interact with the Sri Lanka’s Standard Institution and understand the challenges of standards development in Sri Lanka?

Yes indeed, I not only conducted a training session which consisted of three days, I also had the opportunity of meeting the Director General of SLSI and her senior staff. This certainly provided me with the context of the situation at the Standards body. Like similar institutions, one of the key issues is getting the various bodies with which they interact with, to fully understand the purpose of the standards process as well as the fact that the enforcement of the regulations around CA, is largely the responsibility of the various regulators in a particular member state. The fact is that SLSI, as far I could ascertain, has very little regulatory powers, but many stakeholders as well as the public are of the opinion that this is a SLSI responsibility. This is certainly problematic and needs to be addressed.

What good practices can Sri Lanka adopt from its peers in the region? Are there any good examples to follow?

Possibly the biggest issue that would improve the situation, as far as I could see, is that Sri Lanka needs to firstly, establish a clear mandate for what is and what isn’t a SLSI responsibility and of course provide suitable financing for the staff required to provide the services in the standards area. One aspect that perhaps could be considered is further separation of the commercial services that SLSI provide.

Would I be correct in saying that standards are continuously evolving, in line with the changes in our environment, new scientific findings etc.

Yes, absolutely. Key areas that are being evaluated and looked at are the “Circular Economy”; Artificial Intelligence”, “Carbon Taxing” etc. These amongst others are being looked at very carefully. They will all require existing standards to be reviewed and updated and, in some cases, new ones will be needed. This will mean that countries and standards institutions will need to be flexible and proactive in helping to supply solutions that will improve trade and improve the health and safety of its citizens.

How can public and private stakeholders collaborate in standard development?

In any environment, the experts in a particular field of endeavour often come from a wide variety of sources and this is no different in Sri Lanka. Having a wide network is vital if the benefits of these resources are to be tapped into. I would suggest that any standards institution and SLSI is no different, needs to cultivate and nurture these relationships and in order to maximise the contribution that they can make in helping to develop standards, especially for new technologies and endeavours.

What role can consumers play in making sure that good quality and safety standards are in place for consumer health and welfare?

I believe that the most significant aspect in which consumers can contribute is provide standards developers with an “on the ground” view as to how standards impact their day-to-day lives, both good and bad. The impact that standards have on consumers is often neglected and possibly better communications and making use of social media in a constructive manner could play a very useful role and one that standards bodies could use to take account of the needs of consumers.  A simple example is if the product mark on a bottle of water refers to the plastic that was used and the consumer believes that it refers to the quality of the water or vice versa, means that we have missed the opportunity of using the standard for its intended purpose and consulting the consumer might well prevent this from occurring.

Do you see AI playing a role in the standards development and adoption process?

I believe that we are only at the very beginning of the use of AI in all aspects of daily life and its use in standards is no different. Although we have not yet seen the adoption of AI in standards work to any great degree yet, I have no doubt that it won’t be long before we see the emergence of it and whilst the development of standards is by its very nature a slow one, I am sure that the use of AI will become apparent and perhaps lead to providing an opportunity for the speed that it takes for standards to be produced to be improved dramatically.

Anything else you would like to add? 

No, except to thank all of those with whom I had the opportunity of interacting with for their friendship and active participation in the time that I spent in Sri Lanka. I hope that my visit was beneficial and hope to return at some stage in 
the future.

Sidney met with the Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI) and the Sri Lanka Accreditation Board (SLAB), two key institutions that play a critical role in the area of Conformity Assessment (CA) and underpin the trade and health and safety of any economy. 
Sidney also conducted a number of training sessions for SLSI staff. 
Commenting on the experience he said: “The training sessions which went a long way towards dispelling some preconceived ideas that seemed to be prevalent. It was also extremely satisfying to see the response that I had and the number of very good questions that were asked.”