Responsibilities

The management of the standards work of the IEC is delegated by Council to the Standardization Management Board, which may take any action it considers necessary to ensure the proper and expeditious operation of the standards work.

The Standardization Management Board (SMB) is responsible for the management of the IEC’s standards work including the creation, dissolution and approval of scopes of the IEC technical committees, the timeliness of standards production and liaisons with other international organizations. The SMB is a decision-making body and comprises a chairman, the IEC General Secretary and 15 members and alternates, representing their National Committees, elected by Council. The 15 members comprise 6 permanent members which are: US, GB, FR, DE, JP, IT, and 9 other members elected for 3 years (3 being elected each year).

The SMB normally meets three times a year and it reports all its decisions to the Council Board and to all National Committees.

To facilitate management of the technical work, the Standardization Management Board has set up a number of advisory bodies that coordinate the technical work of the TCs, and Sector Boards responsible for ensuring market input on priorities for the technical work and evaluating new areas of work. The SMB is also responsible for the appointment of secretariats and chairmen of TCs.