This is chapter 1 of the Accreditation: Where standards, conformity and quality meet orientation module. A transcript of the video follows below.
Accreditation: Where standards, conformity and quality meet
Chapter 1: What are standards?
The Standards Council of Canada (or SCC) is a federal crown corporation reporting to parliament through the Minister of Science, Innovation and Economic Development. Established in 1970 by the Standards Council of Canada Act, SCC’s mandate is to promote efficient and effective voluntary standardization in Canada, where standardization is not expressly provided for by law.
SCC enhances Canada's competitiveness and well-being and improves Canadians’ quality of life by leading Canada's standardization network, and by facilitating the development and use of standards and accreditation services.
Standards are guidelines that establish accepted practices, technical requirements, and terminologies for diverse fields.
In your pursuit of access to global markets, any discrepancies & variations in product requirements and technical regulations that exist from one country to another will take on great significance. The adherence to international standards plays an important role in reducing any such trade barriers.
Around the globe, active participation in standardization and accreditation has been shown to yield significant cost savings and competitive benefits for the organizations involved.