In May 2018 Standards Australia and Standards New Zealand, which operates as a business unit of the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), agreed to implement a 12 month pilot where the commissioning fees for joint Standards development projects for the Identical (IDT) Adoption of ISO and IEC Standards would be waived.

Due to the benefits realised and the positive feedback received from stakeholders during this pilot, Standards Australia and Standards New Zealand subsequently agreed to extend this pilot for a further 12 months.

In July 2020 Standards Australia and Standards New Zealand agreed to operationalise this pilot into a business as usual practice.

The key objectives of this agreement are to continue the harmonisation of Standards in Australia and New Zealand, encourage joint Australia/New Zealand Standards Adoptions of International Standards for the mutual benefit of both economies, and introduce a more streamlined process to enable faster delivery.

In practical terms, this means that if Australian and New Zealand stakeholders support the joint adoption of an ISO or IEC Standard, the work can progress promptly.

For more information on the current joint Standards development process and the requirement for stakeholders to fund the development of joint Standards, refer to the Joint Australian and New Zealand Standards Fact Sheet.

To find out more about developing joint Standards and you are in:

• Australia – please contact mail@standards.org.au
• New Zealand – please contact joints@standards.govt.nz

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