Standardization News

ASTM International staff met with a delegation from Iraq that was participating in the Commercial Attaché Training of Trainers Program, in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 5, 2013. The program, organized by the Commercial Law Development Program of the U.S. Department of Commerce, was aimed at developing the capacity of Iraqi officials in trade and investment.

Through this program, CLDP aims to support the Ministry of Trade's efforts to foster foreign trade and attract investment by offering practical and transferable knowledge, thereby contributing to both present and future efforts to reinvigorate Iraq's economy. Much of the discussion during the meeting focused on ASTM's standards development process and its role as an international standards developer.

ASTM signed a memorandum of understanding with the Iraqi Central Organization for Standardization and Quality Control in 2005, and more than 75 ASTM International standards have been either referenced or used as the basis of national standards in Iraq.

Officials from the Department of Foreign Economic Relations in Iraq's Ministry of Trade met with ASTM staff member James Olshefsky (fifth from left) during a recent training program in Washington, D.C.