Earth Protectors interviews the first Egyptian Arab to head the ISO

Hama Al-Earth interviews the first Egyptian Arab to head the ISO organization

Egypt enjoys a global leadership position in the field of quality standardization, and this superiority was culminated in the election of a distinguished Egyptian as President of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO); Therefore, the protectors of the earth are talking to Dr. Khaled Sufi. The first Egyptian Arab to head the ISO organization, he presents his vision about the impact of this achievement in pushing Egypt towards greater global leadership, while deepening the Egyptian steps in the field of sustainable development, as a form of supporting the Egyptian industry within the framework of “Egypt Vision 2030”... So to the lines of the dialogue.

First of all, we congratulate you on your presidency of the Board of Directors of the International Organization for Standardization ISO, as you are the first Egyptian Arab to head this global position! Now, how do you view your new position, and what is the expected return on Egyptian global leadership?

The ISO organization has a history extending back to the year 1947, and its members are 172 countries, of which 112 countries attended the last elections, and these elections were in Colombia, where our fiercest competitor was from Argentina, which was - in terms of logic - closer to winning; Because the elections are held in a Latin American country, Egypt has good relations with the Arab Organization for Standardization (AIDSMO) and the African Organization for Standardization (ARSO) and their members, and the Standards and Metrology Institute for Islamic Countries.

We then had to ensure that all these votes were in our favor, and this was not enough either; Because the number of elected countries was - as I mentioned previously - 112, and those on our side were about 45 countries. Therefore, we must build constructive interaction with all of them.

As for the election campaign, we prepared for it more than a month before it began, and we succeeded in holding meetings. Let us present our future plans to the members of the African Organization and the Arab Organization, and we try to benefit from this in supporting the Arab countries that are members of the ISO Organization. Our electoral group included the UAE, South Africa, and Israel. That is why we agreed that the votes of the African side would go to the Arab countries, and the votes of the latter would go to the state of South Africa. Egypt won 63 votes out of 112, with a wide margin over our fiercest competitor. Argentina.

The question here is: Who are the members of the ISO organization? The ISO Board of Directors consists of 20 countries, including five permanent countries. The remaining 15 are divided into three groups, including five non-permanent members. As for Egypt, it is a member of the third group, which has a three-year term and will end next year, when we must enter elections again.

This is where the idea came from, that is, through our presence on the organization’s board of directors for two years, where we were able to see things clearly, in addition to the fact that we have very strong qualifications and capabilities, and we have a group of activities that helped us a lot in running for the office and interacting with the event. However, the challenge was intense; There are 30 presidents who headed the ISO organization, and they were all from European countries, except for one president from the African continent, who was unlucky. Because he took office in the year of Corona!

Earlier this year, you participated in developing an implementation framework for a project to promote circular economy practices in the value chain of single-use plastics; How do you evaluate the role of this step in supporting Egyptian environmental practices?

The whole world is talking these days about sustainability. The European Union is issuing legislation on CBAM, and countries will follow suit. It is a path we have begun since COP27, which was held in Sharm El-Sheikh in 2022, where our first step was to link our 9,000 specifications with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and all of this is the basis of “Egypt Vision 2030.” Therefore, we focused on community and climate protection specifications, such as plastic specifications, building rubble reuse specifications, and green economy and environmental protection specifications.

After that, we obtained accreditation from the National Accreditation Council stating that we had become a verification and accreditation body for carbon footprint certificates, and we created a new model for calculating the authority’s carbon footprint rates. Thus, we will be the first government entity to calculate its carbon footprint. To see where we are on the world map, and what activities can reduce our carbon footprint.

One of the things that helped us was the joining of the Quality Institute to the Authority. This joining makes us expand a lot, and helps us do our part in accrediting and verifying carbon certificates. We have registered the Authority with the Financial Supervision; So that we can trade these certificates in the voluntary carbon market, which was issued by the Financial Supervision Authority approximately three months ago.

Among the Egyptian efforts in the field of food industries is the establishment of the Egyptian Codex Alimentarius Committee (Codex); Tell us about the most important features of the work of this committee?

There is an international codex and a corresponding Egyptian codex, and we also have what is called a point of contact between the international codex and the Egyptian codex, and through this point of contact we can see what is happening at the international level, and in this way we benefit from the appropriate specifications, or we adjust our standards with these international specifications, through the Egyptian Codex Alimentarius Committee present in the Authority with the efforts of its members who are of very large stature, and leaders at the highest level of Experience.

How do you view strategies for supporting Egyptian industry in global markets, and what are the determinants and specifications that must be followed to bring Egyptian exports to the highest competitive rates?

No one can produce a sound product and export it unless he adheres to Egyptian specifications, which are specifications that are closely compatible with international specifications. To help us achieve this performance, we have activated conformity systems, which are required systems and are useful in determining the extent to which the product conforms to the specifications. This is through quality management, the quality mark, consignment certificates, basic model certificates, and other certificates.

These certificates have international status; Because our quality management is accredited in accordance with ISO (1765), and this means that the certificate issued by the authority is internationally recognized. If the applicant for accreditation conducted the tests in a laboratory accredited in accordance with ISO 1725 - all of our work conforms to international standards by 90% according to ISO 1725 - and he was sure of the results - in addition to obtaining a certificate stating that the product conforms to the specifications - then in this case he can enter any Market.

What also benefits us is the existence of exchange relationships between us and international standardization organizations, which helps us know their requirements and implement them. Therefore, it was necessary for the Department of Chemistry to join us with its very large laboratories in the chemical field, as well as in the field of spinning, weaving, and the food field. Then, God willing, we will be able to create integration between our laboratories and the laboratories of international standardization organizations. Hence, we expand the umbrella of our accreditations, and provide product owners and manufacturers with a fast and cheap service, which increases export rates at a low cost.

According to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. (2677) of 2024, the central administration for organic, inorganic and hazardous materials testing laboratories became part of the Egyptian Standards and Quality Authority, in addition to merging the National Institute for Quality with the authority–So what The objectives of this decision, and to what extent is it compatible with the objectives of “Egypt Vision 2030”?

This vision - in fact - is the vision of His Excellency Lieutenant General Kamel Al-Wazir, who visited the Authority and saw that we need a large, strong entity capable of carrying out its tasks quickly, efficiently and effectively, especially since the training center in the Authority trains about 7,000 trainees; We saw the joining of other entities as a great benefit and opportunity for the Authority, such as the joining of the National Quality Institute, which would help in tripling the number of trainees, and we could then spread awareness among people about quality and its concept. Because quality is a real key to export, import, trade and industry. That is, the worker must master his work.

We will expand our training activities at the level of individuals, companies and academies, something we are currently working on well. Therefore, we receive many requests to join from many parties. As for the chemistry laboratories, we will work to integrate our activities and expand more and more, and this will benefit us greatly because the chemistry laboratories have many branches in Alexandria, Assiut, and Suez, and in cooperation with our branch in 6th of October. All of this will be harnessed to serve manufacturers and exporters, and will become a very large umbrella under the Ministry of Industry, starting with proper awareness, which will also be in accordance with international quality standards, because we have an accredited center in accordance with the ISO (21001) specification for quality education. Until the stage of testing the final product in an approved place according to international specifications, we can provide the applicant with a certificate of conformity stating that his product is sound and has all international accreditations, just like any international product.

(ISO) has become a well-known brand among the peoples of the world. What are its most important guiding principles for achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) globally, and the extent to which these principles contribute to enhancing the economic, social and environmental aspects?

The role of the ISO organization is that it is at the head of the major international institutions responsible for issuing international standards, which are the specifications that countries of the world adhere to, whether by amending them completely or by making some modifications. For example, it issued a series of ISO specifications for the environment, starting from (14000), and other specifications that can open a door to excellence, and it can also open another path! If the manufacturer does not adhere to the European Union’s CBAM legislation - for example - he will not be able to export his good or product; Therefore, manufacturers and producers must fall under the global umbrella that includes 174 countries in a globally recognized organization. Hence, Egypt’s presence at the head of an organization of this size has many benefits.

What about the benefits of ISO at the individual level? That is, what can quality standards provide to the average person?

It means quality (God loves that if one of you does a job he does it well), and from here we believe that Egypt can be like the major developed countries, and it can be like Japan if we follow quality standards, which are standards based on simple matters and a global framework that everyone must adhere to, which is what we can express with the phrase “Think scientifically” or thinking in a scientific way, which is a way that helps us make decisions based on science. Every decision made on a 90% or 99% scientific basis is correct.

So, all specifications must be followed, paying attention to the principle of continuous improvement, and there are many examples that confirm the importance of this improvement, such as Kodak and Motorola, and other companies that were closed irreversibly; Because they didn't care about continuous improvement. All of this makes me confirm that we have rare competencies that no two agree upon, and we have infrastructure and capabilities in all fields, and we are only left with two principles: The first: science, and the other: continuous improvement.

ISO works - in particular - to support the health care sector and frame it with environmental operating and occupational safety standards. What are the most important standards governing this vital sector?

ISO specifications cover all fields, from sustainability, through business, to education and health, the most important of which are the health sector specifications, especially its specification for occupational safety and health (45001). In fact, we will find that ISO has a set of world-leading specifications. The organization has issued about 30,000 specifications, and as for the best specifications in ISO, we will find the (9001) specification on how to establish a management system based on quality.

Specification (9001) is a very important specification if applied properly. However, it is not sufficient. A biscuit factory - for example - cannot be satisfied with this specification, but rather - considering that its business code is related to food - it must obtain specification (22000) for the food safety management system. It may be said that here in Egypt we issue Specification (9001), and this is true. We - the Authority - issue Specification (9001) and above, but what concerns me is that the laboratory be accredited with Specification (1725). Because it is a laboratory that issues measurements and tests; So that the producer or manufacturer can obtain the accreditation for Specification (1765), and this is what is important. Many people think that obtaining the 9001 specification is the end of the matter. Therefore, we must ask here: What is the nature of the service or product? A product related to energy, for example, must be issued with another specification, which is (50001). All of these specifications are the most important and best ISO specifications in the world, and for this reason the so-called “integrated management system” was created.

The IMS system can help a large factory - for example - to issue a specification to ensure the safety of its employees, which is Specification (45001), and if it wants to provide them with nutritional meals, Specification (22001) will help it to do so. In order to ensure that none of his employees are poisoned; All of this is in addition to the real application, which is the focus of work in ISO.

Hence, the dimensions of the Egyptian role in promoting global standardization standards and adopting sustainable development strategies became clear in this dialogue, based on the fact that quality and innovation in all fields are an urgent necessity. To ensure a sustainable future. In conclusion,Protectors of the Earth is honored to have Dr. Khaled Sofi, “President of the ISO Organization” - the great international Egyptian scientific authority - join its staff of writers.