2011 COPANT General Assembly sees strong show of U.S. leadership.
Press Release Summary:
Pan American Standards Commission (COPANT) held its annual General Assembly from May 12-13, 2011 in Santiago, Chile. Joining 17 other COPANT members in attendance, ANSI vice president Gary W. Kushnier led 21-member U.S. delegation representing public and private sector standardization organizations. ANSI president and CEO S. Joe Bhatia was elected to his second 2-year term as COPANT VP, and ANSI was elected to COPANT Board of Directors.
Original Press Release:
Strong Show of U.S. Leadership at 2011 COPANT General Assembly in Chile
ANSI's Joe Bhatia re-elected as vice president; ANSI joins Board of Directors
The Pan American Standards Commission (COPANT) held its annual General Assembly on May, 12-13, 2011, in Santiago, Chile. American National Standards Institute (ANSI) vice president Gary W. Kushnier led a 21-member U.S. delegation representing both public and private sector standardization organizations, joining 17 other COPANT members in attendance. The Assembly was hosted by the Instituto Nacional de Normalización (INN), Chile's national standards body.
During the meeting, ANSI president and CEO S. Joe Bhatia was elected to his second two-year term as COPANT vice president. COPANT President Sergio Toro of Chile was also re-elected for a final, two-year term, and a new treasurer was elected, Osvaldo Petroni of IRAM (Argentina). ANSI was elected to the COPANT Board of Directors, along with ABNT (Brazil) and ICONTEC (Colombia), NC (Cuba), and COPANIT (Panama).
Among a number of resolutions adopted at the Assembly, the 2011-2015 COPANT Strategic Plan was approved. The Strategic Plan focuses on defining a regional agenda to promote the standardization, training, and conformity assessment interests of the COPANT member countries in the American hemisphere. Of particular note is the objective to modernize the organization and more effectively help member countries develop themselves through increased communication, participation, and collaboration.
In conjunction with the Assembly, on May 11 the INN hosted an International Seminar on the Challenges of Energy Management. As part of a lineup of presentations on issues of energy demand and economic development for COPANT member countries, Rob Steele, general secretary of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), spoke on "Sustainable Energy: Sustainable Business." Jim Matthews, vice president of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), discussed "IEC Vision and Its Activities on Energy." And Jim Olshefsky, director of external relations, ASTM International, gave a presentation on "Defining the Attributes for Energy Efficiency and Sustainability."
The 2012 COPANT General Assembly will be held in Fortaleza, Brazil. Further information will be announced as it becomes available.
For more information, contact Jessica Hychalk, ANSI manager, international policy, regional and bilateral programs, at intl@ansi.org.
