National standards Bodies are advised to participate in international, regional and sub-regional standards development activities.  Through membership, countries can contribute to and influence the standards that are most important to their economies and receive early warning of forthcoming standards.

Implementation of international standards brings significant advantages to all countries:

In addition to the above benefits, by participating in the development of International Standards, developing countries can realize others, such as the opportunity to:

At the International level, the major international standards organizations are ISO, IEC and ITU. In the context of the WTO/SPS agreement. The specific organizations of OIE, IPPC, and Codex Alimentarius Commission are also important.

Rwanda Bureau of Standards is a corresponding member of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). A correspondent member is usually an organization in a country which does not yet have a fully-developed national standards activity. Correspondent members do not take an active part in the technical and policy development work, but are entitled to be kept fully informed about the work of interest to them.

RBS is also a corresponding member of International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML), and is again participating in the International Electro-technical Commission (IEC) Affiliate Country rogramme, which is a free programme for developing countries that aims at encouraging them to take an active part in the preparation of international standards.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Rwanda Bureau of Standards and ASTM International has been signed to strengthen the relationship between them in order to enhance their support for the needs of the people of the Rwanda, continue growth of the economy of Rwanda and aid in the development of Rwanda’s Standards for health, safety and environment.  

For more information on these international standards Organizations you can visit the website below: 

www.iso.org
www.iec.ch
www.codexalimentarius.net
www.astm.org

Regional and Sub-Regional  

Different regional structures have been established and are invaluable in providing a platform for addressing the needs of the countries in the region. In addition regional groups enable neighbouring countries that often share the same language, similar climates and produce similar products, to share experiences and access to infrastructure, enabling them to benefit from shared resources.

In Africa there are many structures such as; the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the East African Community (EAC), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), etc.   

Rwanda is member of COMESA of EAC since 2004 and in 2007 joined the EAC. Country members of these two groups have recognized the importance of standardization, quality assurance, metrology and testing in the enhancement of the standard of living, reduction of unnecessary variety of products, the promotion of trade and investment, consumer protection, the enhancement of   savings in public and private purchasing improved productivity, the facilitation of information exchange, the promotion of health as well as the protection of life, property and environment, therefore agreed to apply a common policy for the standardization, the beginning of which is the development and publication of harmonized standards for EAC and COMESA.