On Monday 28 June 2021, the AFNOR association’s General Assembly was held in Saint-Denis, chaired by Marc Ventre. On this occasion the association released its 2020 Activity and CSR Report. The initiative on face masks was cited as a praiseworthy example.

With 1,480 members as of 31 December 2020 and ninety-four years of experience serving the business community, AFNOR held its 2021 General Assembly on 28 June in Paris, chaired by Marc Ventre who was re-elected last year. The annual report, which was submitted and approved, showed resilient financial results against a background of the health crisis resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic: in 2020 the AFNOR association recorded a positive net result of €0.1 M, on a revenue of 63 million euros. The 2020 financial results, for the association and its subsidiaries, are included in the Activity and CSR Report published on this occasion and viewable here in English.

In the Governance section, we note the reappointment of two directors in the Companies category of AFNOR’s Board of Directors (Hervé Barthelemy for Air Liquide and Bertrand de Labareyre for Michelin, also appointed Treasurer) and the arrival of four new members (Giovanni David for Airbus, Muriel Barneoud for La Poste, Claire Chauvin for Orange and Jean-Bernard Kovarik for the Gustave-Eiffel University).

The French standardization strategy: concrete results

As a forum uniting all stakeholders in the French economy, standardization feels the pulse of major technological and societal trends. As such, those involved are ideally positioned to identify work items suited to new voluntary standards. These subject areas have already begun to permeate into standardization work in the framework of three major strands of the French standardization strategy published in 2019: climate change mitigation, controlled digitization and a more inclusive society.

This is demonstrated by the work items that the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has entrusted to AFNOR, representing France, on biodiversity. In the section on Standards and Standardization Documents released in 2020, it’s important to mention AFNOR SPEC S76-001 on barrier masks, highly relevant in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. But also NF ISO/TS 26030 giving guidance on using CSR in the food chain, and AFNOR SPEC X50-001 on signage for public swimming areas and water-based sport and leisure activities.  Also noteworthy is the commencement of work on developing the future NF B01-001 on Blockchain technology, by Blockchain professionals, and the ongoing development of the future standard ISO 23662 on food products for vegetarians or vegans.

Normative diplomacy: France at the forefront

Lastly, AFNOR’s members were able to assess AFNOR’s performance, on behalf of France, in terms of taking responsibility on the European and international regulatory scene. The 2021 edition of the international standardization survey shows France in second position in the European ranking (CEN-CENELEC) behind Germany, and in third position worldwide (ISO-IEC) behind Germany and the USA and shoulder to shoulder with China, Japan, and the United Kingdom. France holds 10.5% of committee/subcommittee secretariats with the ISO, for example the technical committee for surfaces with biocidal and antimicrobial properties (TC 330), and 12% with the IEC.