A major international standardization event will take place in Houston April 2-3, as ASTM International, ASME International and the American Petroleum Institute (API) will join with representatives of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) and officials from the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade to conduct a workshop addressing common issues and challenges of standardization, certification and conformity assessment. The venue for this important workshop event will be the Royal Senesta Hotel in downtown Houston, Texas. Other participating parties will include the Russian Federal Institute of Technical Regulating and Metrology (Rosstandard), ANSI, NIST and the U.S.-Russia Chamber of Commerce.

The workshop has been six years in the making, following a highly successful initial workshop event co-sponsored by ASTM and RSPP back in 2008 in Orlando, Fla. During that time, there has been a much greater understanding and acceptance of U.S. standardization and related programs in the Russian Federation, to include an increased participation of Russian Technical experts in the standards development processes with the above-mentioned organizations. Likewise, U.S.-based companies doing business in Russia have benefited from this improved understanding and business climate between the United States and Russia.

“U.S. and Russian industry, especially in the petroleum, petrochem and energy space, share a number of the same issues and questions as to which standards and programs to follow in order to make their products and services more attractive to global markets” says John Pace, vice president of publications and marketing, ASTM International. “A better understanding of the differences of the U.S., European and International systems, including the various means of adoptions, official translations and equivalencies, can only help eliminate a lot of confusion and ambiguity that industry faces in addressing U.S. and Russian markets.”

More than 900 ASTM standards have been either adopted or referenced in new and revised GOST-R standards as Russia continues to transition from its previous system of mandatory standards to newly updated regulations and voluntary standards. Likewise, the involvement of ASME and API in this workshop is also critical as both these organizations play a key role in both standards and other training and conformity assessment programs in the oil and gas areas. 

ASME is the developer of the Boiler/Pressure Vessel Code, the globally accepted code establishing rules of safety — relating only to pressure integrity — and governing the design, fabrication and inspection of boilers and pressure vessels. ASME also conducts several conformity assessment programs that enhance the BPVC and its other code and standards offerings.

The American Petroleum Institute is the only national trade association that represents all aspects of America’s oil and natural gas industry, however its reach into international markets with its standards and programs continues to expand in recognition and acceptance. Like ASME, API not only produces a number of standards addressing oil and gas exploration, production, refining, safety and a number of other areas, but also conducts a number of certification programs.

The initial day of the workshop will provide a greater focus on “pure” standards issues. Top level executives from the above mentioned organizations including James A. Thomas, president of ASTM;  Gregory Elkin, head of the Russian Federal Institute of Technical Regulating and Metrology; Andrey Lotsmanov of RSPP; and John Modine, vice president, Global Industry Services at API (and others), will address workshop participants with key points facing their respective organizations in supporting industry and the evolving global demands and challenges.

The second day of the workshop will place a heavier emphasis on the various certification and conformity assessment programs and include a number of panel discussions from industry experts representing such firms as TMK, IHI E&C Corp., Exxon and others.

Other key topics discussed in the workshop will be WTO issues and the supportive efforts of NIST, ANSI and the U.S.-Russia Chamber of Commerce in promoting a greater understanding and business cooperation between U.S. and Russian organizations in the various energy business sectors.

Registration and participation in the conference is open to all interested parties. For more information, please contact Daria Westerfield, executive director, U.S. Russia Chamber of Commerce (d.westerfield@usrussiacc.org); or Jim S. Thomas, assistant vice president, sales and marketing, ASTM International (jsthomas@astm.org).

March 17, 2014