PROJ10159 Standards Partnership

Descriptions

This is a prior information notice (PIN) only: Publication and a call for competition will be conducted once the scope of work is fully defined and approved the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is seeking a supplier or consortia with world-leading expertise and experience in standards and development to implement part of standards partnership, a new global initiative to support developing countries to use and meet standards and regulations for trade. Inability to meet the requirements of importing markets can result in significant costs for developing country exporters and producers. Despite these challenges, standards and technical regulations play a vital role in facilitating trade, by helping ensure that goods and services meet important safety, health, environmental and consumer expectations. The ability to use and comply with these measures, along with the effectiveness of the broader national quality infrastructure system (standards, metrology, conformity assessment and accreditation institutions), are crucial factors in determining exporters’ ability to enter global value chains. The standards partnership will aim to increase institutional capacity to improve skills and quality infrastructure within developing countries to effectively use standards and regulations for trade. The partnership will also increase awareness/compliance at exporter level, including more firms taking advantage of the UK’s new preferential trade arrangements. The programme will also aim to decrease disruption to agri-food value chains and increased engagement in international standards development by developing countries.