IEC

MoU between the IEC and the OIML

The OIML and the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) have concluded an agreement, in the form of a “Memorandum of Understanding” (MoU), covering the relationship between the two organizations in matters of technical cooperation, conformity assessment and the development and application of standards.

The MoU was signed during a special ceremony that took place in Prague, on 13 October 2011, as part of the 46th CIML Meeting. Signing the MoU were Mr Pierre de Ruvo on behalf of the former Secretary General and CEO of the IEC, Mr Aharon Amit, who could not be present and Mr Peter Mason, CIML President. Mr De Ruvo is the Executive Secretary of the IECEE, IEC’s conformity assessment system for electrotechnical equipment.

Mr De Ruvo also represented the IEC in the working group that drafted the MoU. The OIML representatives on that group were Dr Roman Schwartz, CIML Vice-President, and Mr Ian Dunmil and Mr Willem Kool of the BIML.

The text of the MoU was reviewed by the members of CIML Presidential Council and discussed at their meeting in March 2011. The Presidential Council agreed with the text, but felt that the following clarifications should be provided to the OIML community:

• Note 1. In this MoU the term ‘jointly developed publications’ refers to the result of a process whereby the two organizations cooperate in the development of technical requirements or guidance documents, for instance in a joint working group, while each of the organizations publish separate, but equivalent publications, following their own adoption procedures. This should not be confused with a ‘joint publication’ which is to be understood as one publication, published by two (or more) organizations.
• Note 2. The term ‘equivalent’ in this MoU refers to the situation where the application of the provisions of either the IEC publication, or the OIML publication on the same topic leads to the same result, although the (relevant parts of) both publications may not be identical.

The text of the MoU was then submitted to the CIML for approval. With Resolution no. 10 of its 46th Meeting (11-14 October 2011), the CIML approved the MoU and instructed the BIML to commence the drawing up of a joint OIML-IEC work program. Some of the elements of such a work program have already been identified by the working group that drafted the MoU and include:

• Joint press release on the signature of the MoU.
• Cross-reference list of relevant OIML and IEC Technical Committees.
• List of OIML experts appointed to participate in IEC TCs/SCs.
• List of IEC/IEC conformity assessment experts appointed to participate in OIML TCs/SCs.
• IECEE participation in OIML CTT (conformity to type) seminar.
• OIML participation in IECEE PTP (proficiency testing program) workshop.

Signing of the new IEC-OIML MoU in Prague, 13 October 2011.
Left: Mr Pierre de Ruvo on behalf of the Secretary General and CEO of the IEC
Right: Mr Peter Mason, CIML President

2018 Renewal of the MoU

On 10 October 2018 at the 53rd CIML Meeting, held in Hamburg, Germany, a renewed MoU was signed by Mr Frans Vreeswijk (General Secretary and CEO of the IEC) and Dr Roman Schwartz (CIML President).

The renewed MoU contains a number of editorial updates to align it with the latest standards development and conformity assessment activities of both organizations, most notably to include the IECRE conformity assessment system and the OIML Certification System (OIML-CS). In addition, some Articles have been deleted and there has been some minor regrouping and reordering of the Articles.

The renewed MoU also contains a number of new or updated Articles aimed at improving cooperation between the two organizations:

• each organization will extend a standing invitation to the other to attend and report to their respective annual meetings;
• the two organizations may agree to explore opportunities to jointly develop and/or operate conformity assessment system(s), and in this respect the two organizations shall endeavour to find and initiate situations for cooperation, such as pilot projects;
• there is recognition of the intellectual property (IP) generated by both organizations, and the use and acknowledgement of each organization’s IP; and
• the Liaison Officers of each organization shall be responsible for drawing up a joint work program.

Download the renewed MoU as a PDF file:

Signing of the renewed IEC-OIML MoU in Hamburg, 10 October 2018.
Left: Dr Roman Schwartz (CIML President)
Right: Mr Frans Vreeswijk (General Secretary and CEO of the IEC)

Photo:  PTB, October 2018