[Stoves] News (Uganda): Government official cautions on standards for cookstoves (aDALYs next?)

Crispin Pemberton-Pigott crispinpigott at outlook.com
Thu Sep 28 12:31:53 CDT 2017


Dear Nikhil

Just to remind readers, there are options beyond having or not having a national standard.

There can be an ISO standard that no one adopts.
There can be a national standard that is an adopted ISO standard.
There can be a national standard that is an edited version of an ISO standard (quite common).
There can be a national standard that is voluntary and not a law.
There can be a national standard that is a law, but only partly required, the rest being voluntary such as SANS 1906 in South Africa.
There can be a national standard that is a law and enforced such as SANS 1243 in South Africa (both apply to kerosene stoves).
There can be provincial standards such as those in Ontario for smoke emissions which are enforced.
There can be industry standards such as those common in China.
There can be municipal standards such as Montreal’s ban on wood fireplaces.
There can be trans-national standards such those in the EU.

Any standard can be applied (required) in part, not in entirety, depending on the whim of the Minister relevant.

Regards
Crispin




Dear Ron:

You wrote a few days ago that the ISO TC 285 work was not meant to imply any kind of enforcement.  Something like "enforcement" was a long way off.

To me, there is no "voluntary" standard at the national level. Either you have a standard or you don't. Voluntary ratings system like Energy Star in the US is complementary to appliance standards but not a standard in itself. Some standards may also be according to size/design - such as for refrigerators - and may be at the corporate average level (for passenger vehicles, say).

I will have to check on WTO rules. True, an ISO TC may propose a standard that national members may or may not adopt. However, it is in the very nature of WTO rules and ISO mandate that countries adopt product standards and enforce them in order to facilitate smooth international trade. Pertinent legal issues merit an investigation.

The story below suggests that Uganda is prepared to respond to the East Africa Global Alliance on Cookstoves for mandatory standards. Who knows, taxation of imported cookstoves may lead to a trade war with Trump.

I also wonder if Gold Standard and GACC would have to register aDALYs as a product with national standards agencies and if any standards can be applied to aDALYs.

Nikhil
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Gov't official cautions on standards for cookstoves<https://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1462509/gov-official-cautions-standards-cook-stoves>, New Vision, 27 September 2017

Wilson Wafula, the acting commissioner in the Ministry of Energy and Minerals Development, says "The standards should be enforced after the Uganda National Bureau of Standards has approved the product."

"The commissioner was backed by the regional representative of East Africa Global Alliance on Cook stoves, Daniel Wanjohi who said any cook stove must meet the mandatory standards.

Wanjohi enumerated benefits of standardization as growing the market, discourage open fire and product uptake will go up among others."





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