The Russian Federal Agency on Technical Regulating and Metrology (GOST R) will host the 36th ISO General Assembly in St. Petersburg, Russia, from 16 to 21 September 2013. GOST R President Grigory Elkin explains why the Agency is organizing this year’s Assembly and how Russia’s commitment to International Standards as a global solution is stronger than ever.

A new standard providing guidelines for consumer product safety is about to have a significant and positive effect on suppliers, products and consumers. ISO 10377:2013, Consumer product safety -“ Guidelines for suppliers, provides suppliers, such as designers and retailers, with practical guidelines on how to assess and manage risk to supply safe products to the consumer.

You pour really hot water into a glass recipient and it explodes. You plug in your phone and a faulty wire causes a fire. Errors during the manufacturing process or differences in regulations can result in products that need to be taken off the market or risk endangering consumers. As more and more goods produced elsewhere find their way to local shelves, it is important that countries can harmonize procedures and share recall information in order to protect consumers everywhere.