Government agrees that BSI will continue membership of European standards bodies

The CBI and other business groups and trade associations called on the government to support the British Standards Institution's (BSI's) continued participation in the European standards bodies CEN and CENELEC post-Brexit.

Thanks to this joint effort, the BSI now has more ammunition to ensure its seat at the table.

The CBI supported the BSI in both our report The room where it happens and in a joint letter with BCC, EEF and other trade associations to Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Greg Clark MP. The CBI pledged its support because, as detailed in The room where it happens, "...the BSI is a world-leader in developing standards, it has a robust record in encouraging CEN and CENELEC to take up British designed standards as pan-European. As UK industry has both designed and often already adopted these standards, this directly influences market access conditions for products on a multinational scale."

Greg Clark replied in June 2018, in which he confirmed that the government would not change its established approach to the use of voluntary standards to support trade. This gives the BSI the ammunition needed to support continued membership of CEN and CENELEC.

The BSI called out the work of the CBI and other associations in lobbying for this support:

"This success also comes from the high level of stakeholder commitment to BSI's position through key representative organizations like EEF, the CBI and the British Chambers of Commerce, as well as through professional institutions, consumer organizations and standards users."