ASTM Promotes Quality in Latin America

ASTM International, one of the world’s largest international standards developing organizations, is forging additional alliances in Latin America that will help foster greater quality in the paint and coatings industry within the region.

In its latest consensus-building effort, ASTM has signed a memo of understanding with Mexico’s national standards board, Dirección General de Normas (DGN). This MOU adds a key player in the region to the existing ASTM cooperation network of 30 other national standards organizations.

Indeed, “ASTM has encouraged Colombia to adopt 23 ASTM standards related to coatings and paints over the past decade, while Costa Rica has adopted 31 and Peru has adopted 17,” according to Maria Isabel Barrios, ASTM’s Representante Cooperación Global América Latina, in Lima.

Similarly, “In Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Peru and Uruguay, they have consulted or used ASTM standards for coatings and paintings as a basis for national regulations,” Barrios said.

Mexico Steps Up ASTM Cooperation

Now Mexico will work more closely with ASTM to research and formulate standards, and will train technicians in the adoption of the norms.

“Working together, ASTM, DGN, and developers of technical requirements in Mexico will be even better able to support innovation, competitiveness, sustainability, and climate resilience, through standards that reflect technical quality, market relevance, and suitability to the task at hand,” said Kathie Morgan, the president of ASTM International, in a recent statement. “The opportunity to help foster innovation, promote safety and support economic growth in North America is a great opportunity for all of us.”

Within the regional standards universe, apart from Mexico, ASTM now has formal MOUs in place with Peru’s National Institute for Quality (INACAL, formerly INDECOPI), Bolivia’s Intituo de Normalization y Calidad (IBNORCA), and with Columbia’s Instituto Colombiano de Normas Technicas y Certificacion (ICONTEC).

These partners will take the lead in raising standards in the industry, across multiple national borders. These standards can range from the performance behavior of a paint chip under certain conditions to the performance of a paint brush.

Broad Standards Efforts

Cooperating standards organizations can participate in the ASTM committee that covers the paint and coatings market: Technical Committee D01 – Paint and Related Coatings, Materials, and Applications.

ASTM International seeks to promulgate standards that “support public health and safety, consumer confidence, trade and the overall quality of life,” the organization said.

“Today, over 12,000 ASTM standards are used around the world to improve product quality, enhance health and safety, strengthen market access and trade, and build consumer confidence,” the group said. “Our leadership in international standards development is driven by the contributions of our members: more than 30,000 of the world’s top technical experts and business professionals representing 140 countries,” it said.

Among a dozen recent standards updates that are germane to the paint and coatings industry, ASTM has published the following:
— ASTM D5588-97(2021) Standard Test Method for Determination of the Microbial Condition of Paint, Paint Raw Materials, and Plant Areas, last updated: Nov. 24, 2021. This test method covers a procedure for the determination of the microbial condition (contamination or sterility) of raw materials used in the manufacture of paint, and the microbial condition of paint and paint manufacturing areas.
— ASTM D5590-17(2021) Standard Test Method for Determining the Resistance of Paint Films and Related Coatings to Fungal Defacement by Accelerated Four-Week Agar Plate Assay, last updated Nov. 25, 2021. This test method covers an accelerated method for determining the relative resistance of two or more paints or coating films to fungal growth.
— ASTM E1645-20a Standard Practice for Preparation of Dried Paint Samples by Hotplate or Microwave Digestion for Subsequent Lead Analysis, last updated Oct 05, 2021. This practice covers the sample preparation procedures for paint samples that are collected during the assessment, management or control of lead hazards.

Training Spreads Standards Adoption

Apart from standards setting, ASTM also offers extensive training for cooperation agencies.

“ASTM offers certification and declaration through our subsidiary, the Safety Equipment Institute, as well as technical training programs and proficiency testing,” the group said.

Since 2018, 90 ASTM courses related to coatings standards have been given in countries such as Bolivia, Chile, Peru and Spain. These were basically targeted to inspectors, Barrios noted.

In Mexico, ASTM currently has almost 200 members from Mexico participating in technical committees, as well as 45 companies participating in its Proficiency Testing Programs initiative, the group said. ASTM also has more than 350 student members in Mexico, encompassing 15 university campuses.

ASTM Peru Focuses on Regional Work

ASTM’s world headquarters are located in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, and satellite offices are located in in Belgium, Canada, China, Peru and Washington, D.C. In Lima, Peru, ASTM’s regional headquarters, work is ongoing to improve standards.

ASTM signed an MOU a decade ago with Peru’s Instituto Nacional de Defensa de la Competencia (Indecopi) and with Protección de la Propiedad Intelectual, and today more than 250 individuals from Peru participate on one or more of ASTM’s 141 technical standards developing committees.

INDECOPI works “to promote fair and honest competition in the Peruvian economy and to protect consumers’ rights and intellectual property like trademarks, copyrights and patents,” the group said.

Services within INDECOPI include the National Accreditation System, the Citizen Service and the National Metrology System, which is responsible for protecting and maintaining Peruvian national standards.

Regional ASTM Standards Network Grows

The new MOU with Mexico expands the regional ASTM network, establishing Mexico as a center for all phases of standards work. The other standards organizations in Latin America now working with ASTM include:
— Antigua And Barbuda: Antigua and Barbuda Bureau of Standards (ABBS); Bahamas: Bahamas Bureau of Standards and Quality (BBSQ);
— Barbados: Barbados National Standards Institution (BNSI);
— Belize: Belize Bureau of Standards (BBS);
— Bolivia: Instituto Boliviano de Normalización y Calidad (IBNORCA);
— Caribbean region: CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (CROSQ);
— Chile: Instituto Nacional de Normalización (INN);
— Colombia: Instituto Colombiano de Normas Técnicas y Certificación (ICONTEC);
— Costa Rica: Instituto de Normas Técnicas de Costa Rica (INTECO);
— Dominica: Dominica Bureau of Standards (DBOS);
— Dominican Republic: Instituto Dominicano para la Calidad (INDOCAL);— Ecuador: Servicio Ecuatoriano de Normalización (INEN);
— El Salvador: Organismo Salvadoreño de Normalización (OSN);
— Grenada: Grenada Bureau of Standards (GDBS);
— Guatemala: Comisión Guatemalteca de Normas (COGUANOR);
— Guyana: Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS);
— Haiti: Bureau Haitien de Normalisation (BHN);
— Honduras: Organismo Hondureño de Normalización (OHN);
— Jamaica: Bureau of Standards Jamaica (BSJ);
— Montserrat: Montserrat Trade Directorate (MALHE);
— Nicaragua: Ministerio de Fomento, Industria y Comercio (MIFIC);
— Panama: Dirección General de Normas y Tecnología Industrial (DGNTI);
— Paraguay: Instituto Nacional de Tecnología, Normalización y Metrología (INTN);
— Peru: Instituto Nacional de Calidad (INACAL);
— St. Kitts and Nevis: St. Kitts and Nevis Bureau of Standards (SKNBS);
— St. Lucia: Saint Lucia Bureau of Standards (SLBS);
— St. Vincent And The Grenadines: St. Vincent and the Grenandines Bureau of Standard (SVGBS);
— Suriname: Surinaams Standaarden Bureau (SSB);
— Trinidad And Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards (TTBS); and
— Uruguay: Instituto Uruguayo de Normas Técnicas (UNIT).