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What's in the next issue:
July 2008

Main Focus

Sports and leisure

As fans around the world get ready to support their favourite teams in the Olympics, Euro Cup and other sporting events, and excited tourists pack for their next holiday adventure, International Standards are at work behind the scenes to ensure the safety, quality and performance of these experiences.

The spirit of these friendly competitions is in a way, no different from that of standardization, which aims to bring countries together to build consensus and facilitate international interactions and transactions.

Indeed, International Standards play an enabling role in the fields of sports and leisure: whether by providing common terminology or measurement standards, as with the International System of Units (SI), or through the application of specific standards as for diving, or simply through the building standards that ensure the stability of the infrastructure of sports and leisure events.

With ISO standards we can feel confident when using sporting equipment or engaging in leisure activities in different parts of the world, that internationally agreed requirements for performance, quality and safety are in place.

In the next issue of ISO Focus we explore some of the latest standards that are making their mark in the fields of sports and leisure. From the new standards for trapeze used in sailing which keep sportsmen attached to their boats, to those for overboard man prevention and recovery; from the life jackets that might save us from drowning, to the standards for treadmills and rowing machines at the gym.

The next issue looks at the new fields where ISO is heading to address current market needs (as for adventure tourism), as well as other areas where ISO is making a difference (as with ISO environmental standards in golf fields).

The next issue will also provide us the highlights of the ISO Committee on consumer policy (COPOLCO) plenary, which marks the committee’s 30^th anniversary. The event which took place in May 2008 was preceded by a workshop focused on the topical subject of energy. Learn all about the outcome of this meeting in the next issue of ISO Focus.

Guest View

As the world’s attention turns to the Beijing Olympics, ISO Focus also turns to China in an exclusive interview with Mrs. Chen Li Fen, General Manager of Jiangsu Sunshine, a leading textile Chinese company. In the interview, Mrs. Chen Li Fen discusses the importance of International Standards for accessing international markets and assuring quality, as well as for promoting technological performance and innovation.

With an annual production of 3 million sets of high-grade garments, their own brand names, and a yearly capacity of superfine worsted fabric of 35 million meters, Jiangsu Sunshine claims to be the world’s largest wool fabric mill and high-end clothing production base. “We believe that the International Standards will be of increasing importance with the further globalization of world economy,” she says.

In the interview, Mrs. Chen Li Fen tells us about the interest of Jiangsu Sunshine in the ISO committee developing standards on textiles. Jiangsu Sunshine also values the guidance that International Standards provide, and Mrs. Chen Li Fen explains how the company uses standards for accessing markets and driving their business.