DIN and the Federal Government
In 1975 DIN signed an agreement with the Federal Republic of Germany in which DIN is recognized as the sole national standards organization for Germany.
In 1975 DIN signed an agreement with the Federal Republic of Germany in which DIN is obliged to
• consider the public interest in the preparation of standards,
• ensure that the standards can be referenced as documents which describe technical requirements, in legislation, in matters affecting public administration, and in legal relations, and
• contribute to international understanding in the field of standardization.
and the Federal Government undertakes to
• recognize DIN as the competent standards organization for Germany and as the national standards body representing Germany in non-governmental international standards organizations, and
• apply DIN standards in its administrative departments, when issuing invitations to tender or placing orders, and to use its influence to ensure that other public authorities placing contracts do the same (where this does not conflict with international obligations).
Download the English translation of the Standards Agreement here (pdf).
In 2005 a colloquium was held celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the Standards Agreement. The speeches held there offer various perspectives on this special public-private partnership: Colloquium.
Another special partnership between DIN and the Federal government is discussed in Innovation through norms and standards (INS) which describes the numerous ways in which standardization supports innovative technologies by helping translate them into marketable solutions.
The successful public-partner partnership between DIN and the German Federal government has served as a model at the European level (agreement between the European standards organizations CEN, CENELEC and ETSI and the European Union) and internationally (agreement between the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the United Nations).