5.2.5. Major Regional Players

A regional standards body is technically international, but its standards relate only to one region of the world. These bodies typically comprise countries in Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America. (See list of organizations by region at http://www.wssn.net/WSSN/listings/links_regional.html (www) (en))

European Standardizing Bodies

Europe is currently the most highly developed region for standardization. In Europe, there are a number of parallel standardizing bodies that develop European-specific standards and a European common position for the international forum. For example:

The European Committee for Standardization/ Comité européen de normalisation (CEN) is the European counterpart of ISO.

Access the CEN Web site (www) (en)

The European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization/Comité Européen de Normalisation Electrotechnique (CENELEC) is the European counterpart of IEC.

Access the CENELEC Web site (www) (en)

The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) is the European counterpart of ITU.

Access the ETSI Web site (www) (en)

Some regional organizations, such as CENELEC, ETSI and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's Standardization Agency, are also field-specific. The NATO Standardization Agency standardizes terms and definitions of military significance for use within NATO and in its Agreed Documents. The Agency works through specialist committees made up of working groups which standardize specialized terms and definitions in English and French to promote mutual understanding among NATO nations. The electronic version of their glossary is updated annually and is publicly available through the Internet at http://www.nato.int/docu/stanag/aap006/aap6.htm (www).

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