31 Jan. 2006

NATO's Standardization Agency broadens cooperation On 31 January, following intense cooperation at expert level, the NATO Standardization Agency (NSA) and GS1, a leading international standardization organisation, signed an agreement formalizing and broadening their cooperation. This cooperation focuses in particular on supply chain standards and technologies. Mutual benefits The Technical Cooperation Agreement, which is similar to agreements that the NSA has with other organisations, will allow the Agency to contribute to proposed draft GS1 specifications, and allow in turn GS1 to contribute to the standardization activities of the NATO standardization community. Specifically, the agreement paves the way for exchanges of documents and information, direct participation in relevant working groups of both standardization organisations, written contributions on proposed draft specifications and standards, and exchange of experts. The NSA has similar agreements with the European Committee for Standardisation, the American National Standards Institute, the European Telecommunication Standards Institute, the Society of Automotive Engineers, and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation and the American Society for Testing and Measurement, signed in 2004 and 2005.