HL Deb 24 November 1982 vol 436 cc964-5WA

"The United Kingdom Government and the British Standards Institution (BSI) make the following Memorandum of Understanding which records their joint commitment to enhance, strengthen and maintain the national standards system in the United Kingdom and their intentions in this regard. This Memorandum recognises that BSI is the national standards authority operating under a consolidated Royal Charter and Bye-laws granted in 1981 and confirms the status of British Standards as agreed national technical criteria developed and used to serve the public interest. It takes account of the status of British Standards under the provisions of the Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1976 and also recognises that the formulation of British Standards, through the BSI Committee structure, depends on voluntary participation. By established practice, standardisation in certain specialised areas (for example, food and medicinal products administration) generally lies outside the British Standards system and, where it does, it is outside the scope of this Memorandum.

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