Recently, I have been hearing various slanders and slanders about the Standards Institute and its work, with the main claim - which is not related to reality - being its contribution, so to speak, to the cost of living in Israel.
It is desirable that the general public know the facts about the Standards Institute, its operation and function.
It is said that the Standards Institute writes original standards that make imports difficult and constitute a barrier.
The legislator determined that the standards will be developed by standardization committees that consist of government representatives, manufacturers, importers, consumers, engineers and academics. The employees of the Standards Institute are not members of the standardization committees and do not set the standards. The role of the employees of the Standards Institute is to coordinate the work of the standardization committee, The main purpose of which is to locate relevant material that mainly includes foreign regulations suitable for adoption, regulations and laws in developed countries, translations, legal advice, etc.
Another slander is that the institute publishes original standards that burden the cost of living.
But in the last three years not even one original product standard has been published.
Today there are very few binding original standards, and even these are currently being examined by the standards committees for the adoption of a foreign standard that will replace the original standard.
It is important to note that Israel, like other countries in the world, sometimes has special conditions that cause there to be a demand for unique standards.
This is, for example, the case with the standards for measuring devices. It is important to note that the institute helps innovative Israeli companies to participate and even lead the writing of new original standards in the international standardization organizations, such as ISO, and in other standardization organizations, such as all the countries in the world, which also have standardization institutes.
Another slander is that the institute is responsible for the high housing prices.
But the truth is that what affects the prices are the land prices.
The tests for compliance with the standard required for construction cost only a few thousand shekels.
Similar tests, by the way, are performed in all developed countries in the world, and Israel is no different in this regard.
What about cosmetics, toiletries, pharmaceuticals, food products and fruits and vegetables, which are also expensive in Israel?
Well, the Standards Institute does not check these products at all.
There is no connection between the tests of the Standards Institute and the cost of living in Israel.
Today, most products imported to Israel are not required to be tested for compliance with the standard at all.
Moreover, even those who do have to - it is possible to present for them test certificates from laboratories abroad attesting to compliance with a European standard or another foreign standard or an Israeli standard, in which case no additional compliance test will be required in Israel. Also, importers always have the option of performing the The tests are indeed required in additional laboratories in Israel and not only in the Standards Institute.
So who slanders and why?
As in any other case, it is about interests.
In our case, it is likely that the slanderers belong to those who are obliged to provide an explanation or to those who are responsible for the cost of living, and are trying to deflect the fire from themselves.
Israel, like all the member states of the United Nations, has a national standards institute which is a gatekeeper for the public who cares about its safety against products that are dangerous to use.
Anyone who slanders the Institute's activities may indirectly harm the security and safety of the public.
were we wrong
We will fix it!
If you found an error in the article, we would appreciate it if you shared it with us
