On August 21, representatives from global standards organization ASTM International and Standards New Zealand, a division of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, signed a Memorandum of Understanding that will lead to a closer working relationship between ASTM and Standards NZ. The MoU was signed by Katharine Morgan, president, ASTM International, and Carmen Mak, national manager, Standards New Zealand, and promotes information exchange on topics of mutual interest while supporting Standards NZ’s review and consideration of ASTM standards for reference or adoption as solutions for New Zealand’s industry and regulation concerns.

The MoU signing happened during an hour-long virtual session. Following introductions from Morgan and Mak, Teresa Cendrowska, ASTM’s vice president of global cooperation, reviewed the provisions of the MoU. Jeff Grove, ASTM’s vice president of global policy, cooperation and communications then opened a conversation on areas of common business and technical interests between ASTM International and Standards NZ. Speakers form both companies continued the conversation by touching on common ground shared between each including several aspects of energy like electric vehicle chargers, energy efficiency, biomass boilers and New Zealand’s hydrogen program, as well as ASTM’s technical programs for aviation, cannabis and additive manufacturing.

Following the formal signing, the session closed with a discussion on next steps for periodic discussions and collaboration opportunities.