Second Annual Working Group Meeting of the German Mexican Dialogue on Quality Infrastructure
Mexico
On October 10, the Second Annual Working Group Meeting of the German-Mexican Dialogue on Quality Infrastructure was held in León, Guanajuato, Mexico, where the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) and the Mexican Ministry of Economics (Secretaría de Economía, SE) signed the work plan for 2019/2020 and agreed on their further cooperation in the areas of standardization, accreditation and conformity assessment as well as product safety and market surveillance. The Working Group meeting took place against the background of the industrial fair „Industrial Transformation Mexico” from 9-11 October, the first industrial fair organized by Hannover Fairs Mexico, a subsidiary of Deutsche Messe, in the country, and which brings the Hannover Messe, the most important global industrial fair, from Germany to Mexico.
The Annual Working Group Meeting was co-chaired by Stefan Schnorr, Director-General for Digital and Innovation Policy from BMWi and Dr. Ernesto Acevedo Fernández, Vice Minister for Industry and Commerce from SE who was accompanied by Alfonso Guati Rojo, Director-General of the General Bureau of Standardization (DGN) and Leonardo Alvarez, Director-General of Innovation, Services and Internal Commerce. Furthermore, we had the pleasure to enjoy the presence of two deputy Attorneys of the Federal Consumer Protection Agency (PROFECO). The Annual Working Group Meeting count with the participation of over 60 high-level representatives of the German and Mexican private sector and important QI institutions from both countries such as the Mexican National Centre for Metrology CENAM, the Mexican Accreditation Entity EMA, the Mexican Federal Consumer Protection Agency PROFECO, and the German Commission for Electrical Engineering Electronics Information Technology DKE.
At the beginning Alfonso Guati Rojo, Director General (DGN) presented to all the participants the latest discussion about the new law on quality Infrastructure which will replace the current law on Metrology and Standardization (LFMN). It is aimed to generate further international alignment and to provide a system of more agility in order to provide better support for the industry.
Also, Volkmar Stein (BMWi) and Yves Leboucher (DKE) shared with the participants the current discussion in Germany especially on the background of Quality Infrastructure (QI) and industrie 4.0.
After reviewing the current project lines and the progress of those, new topics where presented. Among the topics discussed and presented by the participants were the surveillance of compliance with standards, information security, the harmonization of personal data protection standards, the harmonization of standards in the Mexican rail transport public service, standardization, certification and technical regulation of electromobility, and the acceptance of the CEP-certificate in Mexico.
Vice Minister Dr. Acevedo emphasized the importance of the bilateral dialogue and mutual exchange for the Mexican Quality Infrastructure system and consumer protection. Mr. Schnorr added that the active participation of both Mexican and German stakeholders in the Annual Meeting demonstrated the strong interest in the Dialogue and the advantages it offers, but also that there are still many issues to be tackled and resolved.
The working Group Meeting finalized with the signing of the bilateral Work Plan for 2019/2020 by Vice Minister Dr. Acevedo and Director-General Mr. Schnorr.
In the afternoon of the same day, both, Vice Minister Dr. Acevedo and Director-General Mr. Schnorr co-shared a Workshop on the importance and interface of QI and Industrie 4.0.
Yves Leboucher, how thanks to DKE, participated at the several events in Mexico presented to the representative of Industry and QI Institutions the work of the German Standardization Council Industrie 4.0 and its relevance for the German Plattform i4.0. Mr. Leboucher underlined the importance of QI for a successful implementation of Industrie 4.0 in a globally connected world.
Afterword’s Mr. Rene Carranza, General Manager of electrical Metrology at the National Metrology Institute (CENAM), presented the current work of CENAM in the field of Industrie 4.0 and digitalization of QI and the challenges Mexico is facing on that matter, for example the provision of 5G services which for the industry is crucial.
The about 40 participants from industry and QI-Institutions underlined the high relevance of the linkages between QI and I4.0 and the bilateral dialogue.