Example: The Standards Malaysia Story

Malaysia started developing its QIS in the 1960s as it moved from an agricultural to an industrial economy and the government established the Standards Institution of Malaysia (SIM) in 1966. SIM developed national standards and established facilities for product testing and certification. In 1975 SIM was merged with the National Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research (NISIR) as the Standards and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia (SIRIM), creating synergy between standardisation and technological development to support economic development.

In 1993 SIRIM was authorized to undertake commercial operations through the formation of joint ventures or wholly owned subsidiaries, which it did for conformity assessment. The SIRIM Council of 24 members was replaced with a smaller SIRIM Board of 13 members of which six were from the public sector and seven from the private sector. The new Board structure facilitated greater accountability and efficiency and further strengthened the linkages between SIRIM and industry.

In 1996, the SIRIM Act 1975 was replaced by the Standards of Malaysia Act 1996. SIRIM was corporatized and the Department of Standards Malaysia was establishment as a new agency within the Government. Corporatised SIRIM undertakes metrology, inspection, testing and certification activities over and above its research and development work. With these developments, conformity assessment became totally commercialised/privatised in Malaysia although some of it owned by government.