Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on  SIRIM Industry Standards (SIS) ?

1. What is SIRIM Industry Standards?
   

   SIRIM Industry Standards (SIS)’s development intends to assist organisations in providing quick solution to address their immediate problems, become more efficient and improve their performance. The development of SIS can also help them to gain competitive edge from other competitors, boost productivity, minimise costs and maximise profits. Industry Standards are important as the standards outline the minimum requirements needed to achieve a sustainable quality in an organisation.

2. Where can I buy SIRIM Industry Standards?
   
   SIRIM Industry Standards are available for purchase at  Sales Counter, Block 1, SIRIM Complex  or through SIRIM Standards Store  website.
   
   

   Contact Person :	Mrs Shamsidar Lokman/Mrs Nurul Saiyidah Abd Rahim
   Tel :	+6-03-5544-6111 / 6142
   Fax :	+6-03-5544-6114
   Email :	standards@sirim.my

3. What are the categories of SIRIM Industry Standards ?
   
   At SIRIM Standards Store, you can find a broad range of standards types with various purposes, specifically developed to suit your business needs.
   
   

   Types	Description
   SIRIM Industry	A standard which is developed/funded using SIRIM's fund or external funding. Consensus is developed by a representation of interested sectors who intend to use the standard. e.g. SIRIM 1:2014, Garis panduan kebersihan tandas masjid dan surau
   Organisation / Association Standards	Standard developed with consensus among a number of companies within an association or professional society, e.g trade association that comprise many different petroleum companies or products. e.g. SIRIM/DVS 1-1:2012, Traceability of Edible-Birdnest (EBN) products: Part 1 – Requirements e.g. SIRIM/UPM 1:2016, General principles and criteria on sustainable development
   ECO Labelling Document (ECO)	Document developed to support the implementation of labelling of the environmental-friendly products or services in Malaysia. e.g. ECO 1:2016, Eco-labelling criteria for degradable and compostable plastic packaging materials
   Product Category Rules (PCR)	Document developed to support the implementation of SIRIM Carbon Footprint (CFP) Labelling Scheme, a form of Type III environmental declaration scheme. e.g. SIRIM CFP 1:2014, Product category rules - Carbon footprint - Terms and definitions.

    

4. How SIRIM Industry Standards benefits us ?
   

   As standards help creating a safer, healthier and more convenient life for people, organisations and entrepreneurs around the globe, standards enable a wider communication and trade while promoting efficient usage of resources. All businesses, regardless of size and type, benefit so much from standards in terms of technological provision, economic as well as societal enhancement from all walks of life. For businesses, standards ensure manufacturers/suppliers develop and offer products and services in a more efficient, safer and cleaner manner. These encourage healthy competition, global market access through good management practice, in line with the values standards uphold such as:

   • cost-effective and time efficient;
   • commercially practical;
   • credible; and
   • safe.
   Companies can use standards to win customers’ confidence and hence, derive win-win advantage. When companies view improvements as investment for the future, they are then more willing to accept new technologies and innovations, hence improving on the standards. This would lead to enhancement of company’s reputation and branding.
   

   For regulators, standards serve as a basis in product requirement regulations. For manufacturers, standards minimise wasteful material or labour, hence, reduce manufacturing cost.

   For innovators of new technologies, standards provide support for innovation from original concept through to market. Standards on aspects like terminology, compatibility and safety speed up the dissemination of innovations and their development into manufacturable and marketable products.
   
   For governments, standards provide the technological and scientific bases supporting health, safety and environmental legislation, and conformity assessment.
   
   For trade officials, standards facilitate trade between countries and make it fairer. The existence of divergent national or regional standards can create technical barriers to trade. Standards are the technical means by which political trade agreements can be put into practice. Harmonisation of standards helps to eliminate barriers to trade.
   For consumers, conformity of products and services standards provides assurance in terms of:
   
   
   • quality and reliability;
   • protection of safety and health;
   • compatibility between products;
   • consistency in the delivery of services;
   • choice of goods and services;
   • transparency in product information;
   • fair competition, hence lower prices for consumers;
   • suitability of products for vulnerable populations (children, the elderly);
   • environmental protection.

    

5. SIRIM Industry Standards and Copyright ?
   
   Whether intentionally or unknowingly, a significant number of standards users are breaking copyright laws by reproducing and/or redistributing standards. Violation of copyright results in lost revenue for the organisations which develop and distribute standards. It also jeopardises the standards by putting them at risk of tampering and/or inadvertent modifications.
   
   Therefore, protection of copyright is fundamental to the sustainability of the standardisation system.
   
   Department of Standards Malaysia reserves ownership over the copyright of published Malaysian Standards.