For Immediate Release: July 15, 2020
ICC-ES Applauds U.S.-Mexico Canada Agreement, Offers Conformity Assessment Service in All Three Countries
Manufacturers will benefit from more private sector options for product evaluation
Brea, Calif. – Effective July 1, the United States-Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA), negotiated to replace NAFTA, officially entered into force. ICC Evaluation Service (ICC-ES) certifies products in all three USMCA markets and will continue to offer evaluation services in North America under the agreement.
The new Agreement is beneficial for North American workers and businesses by creating more balanced, reciprocal trade that supports economic growth. The standards, conformity assessment and Good Regulatory Practices chapters of USMCA include stronger language that will aid in future bilateral and multilateral trade agreements.
In the area of conformity assessment, where accreditation is and will continue to be a government function in both Canada and Mexico, manufacturers will have the option of using ICC-ES. ICC-ES is accredited by the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) and the ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB), Standards Council of Canada (SCC) and EMA for Mexico with relevant scopes in all three countries.
U.S.-based building products manufacturers and standards developers should be encouraged by this increased harmonization in the area of standards to seek opportunities to access the construction sectors in Canada and Mexico. ICC-ES is available to help streamline the process and provide a one-stop-shop for testing, listing and evaluation service.
About ICC Evaluation Service
The ICC Evaluation Service (ICC-ES), a member of the Code Council family of solutions, is a nonprofit, limited liability company that does technical evaluations of building products, components, methods and materials. ICC-ES evaluation reports, building product listings and plumbing, mechanical, fuel gas and solar thermal product listings provide evidence that products and systems meet requirements of codes and technical standards.
About the International Code Council
The International Code Council is a nonprofit association that provides a wide range of building safety solutions including product evaluation, accreditation, certification, codification and training. It develops model codes and standards used worldwide to construct safe, sustainable, affordable and resilient structures.