The national standards body of Russia signed an historic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with ASTM International on April 4. The agreement was signed by Grigory I. Elkin, head of the Russian Federal Agency on Technical Regulating and Metrology (GOST R), and James A. Thomas, president, ASTM International, during a meeting between the two executives at the Russian Federal Agency’s headquarters in Moscow.

The goals of the MOU are to “remove technical barriers in economic and trade relations, create greater efficiency in the development of standards, deliver greater quality products, provide environmental and labor safety, and recognize the mutual benefits to be derived from cooperation in the field of standardization.”

Through the MOU, the Russian Federation joins 47 other countries that have also signed MOUs with ASTM international. The MOU provides the Russian Federation access to the full collection of ASTM’s 12,000 standards. ASTM standards are an important source of technological know-how to advance manufacturing productivity and product quality that will bolster the capability for Russia to export and compete in global markets.

The MOU also allows technical experts from Russian industry and scientific enterprises to influence the technical content of ASTM International standards that are important to Russia’s economy through direct free participation in the ASTM standards development process.

For more information, visit www.astm.org.