SPPD. Our Ref: SPPD/Guidelines 01 Oct 2014

Transcription

1 SPPD Our Ref: SPPD/Guidelines 01 Oct 2014 Sub: Guidelines for Foreign Deputation of BIS Officers and Non-BIS Delegates under Own Funding or under the scheme of National System for Standardization Strengthening Standardization at National and International level / BIS Funds This has reference to the subject mentioned above and our note of even number IR&TISD/Guidelines dated 20 August 2014 enclosing a copy of the above-mentioned guidelines (Foreign Delegation/ Aug 2014). 2. The above guidelines have now been revised. Please find enclosed the revised guidelines approved by DG (Foreign Delegation/ September 2014). 3. All Foreign Delegation Proposals for International Technical Committee Work of Standardization Activity may kindly be processed as per the revised guidelines with immediate effect. -s/d- (Varghese Joy) Standards, Policy & Planning Department Scientist G & DDG (Standardization) -s/d- Scientist F & Head (ITSD) with a request to kindly arrange to upload on intranet. 1

2 Guidelines for Foreign Deputation of BIS Officers and Non-BIS Delegates under Own Funding or under the scheme of National System for Standardization - Strengthening Standardization at National and International level /BIS Funds SCOPE 1. This document provides the guidelines for nominating Officers working in BIS and non-bis delegates (under own funding as well as plan funds) for foreign deputations in relation to international technical committee work of standardization activity. PURPOSE 2. The guidelines aim at bringing in transparency, clarity and uniformity in the selection process of officers working in BIS and non-bis delegates for foreign deputation and processing of such cases. TYPES OF OVERSEAS PARTICIPATION 3. Foreign deputations can be broadly categorized into the following: A. ISO & IEC meetings ISO/IEC Policy committees, namely, ISO Council, General Assembly, REMCO, TMB, ISO DEVCO, IEC Council, IEC Council Board, SMB, CAB IECQ, IECEE, IECEX Management Committees, etc. (ii) ISO Committee on Conformity Assessment (CASCO) (iii) ISO Committee on Consumer Policy (COPOLCO) (iv) Meetings of Technical Committees / Sub-committees / Working Groups/ Maintenance Teams, Project Committees of ISO/ IEC where BIS is a P/Omember of the concerned TC/SC of ISO/IEC and there also exists a National Mirror Committee on the subject in BIS. B. Multilateral and Bilateral co-operation programmes with individual countries including meetings related to SAARC, PASC and other such regional standardization bodies. C. WTO and related activities D. Training including workshops, seminars, conference, etc. on subjects concerning standardization, trade facilitation etc. E. Any other overseas travel not covered above but considered important for BIS in connection with standardization activity. 2

3 HANDLING OF DELEGATION PROPOSALS 4. The delegation proposals shall be initiated by the departments as indicated below: i) A, B, C, D and E of Para 3 Concerned Technical Department ii) A(ii) of Para 3 CMD(MCM) iii) A(iii) of Para 3 i-care iv) A(iv) of Para 3 Concerned Technical Department 5. The proposals for delegations under (iv) of Para 4 shall be processed as per the guidelines detailed hereunder. The proposals for other delegations shall be dealt with as per the existing guidelines/separate guidelines to be issued on the matter. CLASSIFICATION OF DELEGATES 6. The delegates for attending the international committee meetings mentioned at A (iv) of Para 3 shall be classified as follows: i) Delegation consisting of only non-bis delegates who agree to attend meetings under own funding (without financial assistance from BIS). ii) Delegation consisting of only non-bis delegates whose parent organization is not in a position to bear the travel expenses and thus wish to avail financial assistance from BIS. iii) Delegation consisting of only BIS delegates. iv) Composite delegation comprising any combination of delegates under categories, (ii) and (iii) above. EXTENT OF ASSISTANCE TO NON-BIS DELEGATES 7. The non-bis delegates may be given any one of the following assistance from BIS: (a) Full Funding: Return (to and fro) economy class air ticket by the shortest/direct route. (ii) Visa fee. (iii) Accommodation and per diem charges shall be as per the provisions applicable to the delegate in his/her organization at present or at the time of retirement (in case of retired persons), but not higher than that of BIS officials in the rank of Scientist F. Note: It is expected that local transport shall be arranged by the delegate from his parent organization. 3

4 (b) Part Funding: Return (to and fro) economy class air ticket only by the shortest/direct route. (c) Part Funding for alternate visits: Return (to and fro) economy class air ticket on alternate visit for a delegate by the shortest/direct route. APPROVING AUTHORITY FOR DELEGATION PROPOSALS 8. Head (Technical Department) shall be the approving authority for non-bis delegates under own funding under of Para 6 subject to the condition that the criteria for the selection/approval of the delegation is as described in Para 11. In case of any deviation the matter shall be put up for approval of Chief (Standardization). 9. For non-bis delegates under Plan Fund and BIS Officials (under (ii), (iii) and (iv) of Para 6) DG shall be the approving authority. In case of a composite delegation consisting of non-bis delegates under own funding and delegation under plan funds (iv of para 6), the information with respect to the approvals given by the Head (Technical Department) shall be made available to the screening committee only to enable the screening committee to take a considered view on the size of the delegation under plan funds and for no other purpose. PROCESSING OF DELEGATION PROPOSALS 10. As soon as the meeting date is announced/invitation for attending any International committee meeting is received, the concerned Member Secretary shall examine the need to participate in such a meeting. Normally Indian delegation shall be sent only for the meetings where India is a P member. (ii) Participation should normally be considered where India has sent approval / approval with comments / disapproval on ISO documents. Wherever agenda has only documents with abstained voting, participation shall be discouraged. (iii) (iv) In case of disapproval of ISO documents, the size of the delegation may be larger so as to make the India s point more effectively. Once a decision is taken that India should be represented in the International Committee meeting, the Member Secretary of the concerned Sectional Committee 4

5 shall circulate the Meeting notice/ draft Agenda to National Mirror Committee/ Sectional Committee members, as applicable, along with a status of India s contribution on the documents/balloting and seek options whether they wish to participate in the meeting. The Member Secretary shall examine the positive responses so received and put up to Sectional Committee for taking a decision. (v) (vi) (vii) Sectional Committee may identify suitable delegates from amongst the committee members who will be presenting India s view point. Sectional committee may also consider the participation of BIS officer(s) / Member Secretary based on the importance of the subject, total size of the Indian delegation comprising of non- BIS delegates, likely contribution from BIS officer(s) etc. The Sectional Committee/ Chairman (Sectional Committee) will also approve the stand to be taken by the Indian delegation participating in the meeting regarding India s view point on agenda items. The recommendation regarding participation of any delegate shall be made by the concerned Sectional Committee based on the criteria for selection of delegates as indicated in Para 11 below. CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF DELEGATES (OTHER THAN BIS) 11. The following conditions shall apply for selection of non-bis delegates under own funds: (ii) (iii) (iv) Should be member of the technical committee ( DC / SC / NMC / Sub Committee / Panel); Have made effective contribution regarding the subject/meeting for which the delegate is nominated; Should score at least Marginal Contribution when evaluated as per the Evaluation Matrix used for rating of Technical Committee Members. Not more than one member shall be nominated from the same organization, unless adequately justified. 12. The following additional conditions shall apply for selection of non-bis delegates under plan funds (over and above the conditions in 11 above): (ii) (iii) (iv) Should score at least Significant Contribution when evaluated as per the Evaluation Matrix used for rating of Technical Committee Members. Adequate justification for participation in the meeting. Assistance from Plan funds shall not be available for attending Committee meetings where BIS has O membership. Should have obtained an undertaking from a suitable administrative authority in the parent organization to the effect that they are not in a position to bear the travel expenses and thus wish to avail financial assistance from BIS. 5

6 13. The following types of non-bis delegates shall be entitled for availing financial assistance from BIS: (A) Full funding: (ii) Employees of the Govt. / Semi Govt. Bodies / PSUs. It is normally expected that the cost of any travel is borne by the concerned Govt. Dept./ Semi Govt. Body/ PSUs so that a comprehensive record/control over such travels are maintained. Request for BIS funding may be made only when travel costs cannot be met from the resources of the Ministry/Dept./PSU concerned. Such requests should be routed through the competent authority of such organizations. Eminent Scientific/ Technical/ Research Organizations/ Labs like NPL, ICMR, CSIR, ICAR etc. (conditions as above). (iii) Academic Institutions at Central and State level (conditions as above). (iv) Experts in personal capacity (B) Part funding/part Funding for alternate visits: Industry Associations Note: Whether to classify a delegate for part funding/ part funding for alternate visits shall be decided based on the importance of participation, technical contribution of the association, extent of amount being spent by the association on Standardization activities. In exceptional cases, industry association may also be given full funding. CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF BIS DELEGATES 14. The following conditions shall apply for selection of BIS Officers: i) Completion of three years of service in BIS ( preferable); ii) Clearance from vigilance and administrative angle; iii) Preferably more than one year service left (condition could be relaxed with appropriate justification); iv) Preferably dealing officer/ member secretary/ alternate officer/ HOD; v) Can make effective contribution. For the purpose of giving exposure and training in the work, junior officer(s) may also be considered. vi) Total number of visits in a financial year should normally not exceed four. 15. For participation in Technical Committee meetings formulating International Standards on Management Systems and for products covered under Mandatory Certification, an officer from Certification Department can also be considered for participation in such meetings. 6

7 APPROVAL OF DELEGATION WITH BIS FUNDING 16. The following provisions shall apply while processing delegations: i) In case more than one category of delegates (i.e. BIS official, non-bis delegate under own fund and/or non-bis delegate under plan fund) are proposed to be part of the delegation, a composite delegation proposal shall be put up giving the details of the full delegation. ii) The combined size of BIS and non-bis delegates under plan fund in a delegation shall generally not exceed three. The size of delegation could however increase if non-bis delegates are participating under own funding. iii) The proposals shall be submitted to Screening Committee (Standardization) as part of composite delegation or separately (as the case may be). iv) The recommendations of Screening Committee shall be sent to DG for consideration and approval. After the approval of DG, the concerned department/officer shall be informed of the decision along with the copy of approval. v) Member Secretary (Screening Committee) shall send letters to MEA and MHA (wherever required) seeking clearance, with a copy to the concerned BIS officer. vi) After receiving clearance from MEA and MHA (wherever required), Member Secretary (Screening Committee) shall issue the letter of approval of delegation to the BIS officer. APPROVAL OF TOUR PROGRAMMES FOR BIS DELEGATES 17. After the Screening Committee recommendations have been approved by DG BIS, final tour programme of officers for overseas visits shall be approved as follows: (ii) (iii) Head (Department) - Approving authority for the tour programmes of all the officers in the Department. Chief (Standardization) - Approving authority for the tour programmes of Department Heads. DG BIS - Approving authority for the tour programmes of Chief (Standardization). SUBMISSION OF REPORT 18. After completion of foreign deputation of BIS delegation, the BIS delegate shall submit the report within a week. Along with the report, a one page Executive Summary shall also be submitted. For a composite delegation having non-bis delegates, the concerned department shall ensure that the report is submitted within a month duly signed by all the members. 7

8 19. The report shall then be put up to DG through activity head. A copy of the report duly approved by DG shall be submitted to Member Secretary (Screening Committee) for records. The report shall highlight the following details: Contribution of Indian delegation and usefulness of the meeting. (ii) Any issues which need to be taken up subsequently. (iii) Any action points. GENERAL PROVISIONS 20. All proposals shall be processed well in advance, at least two months, unless the exigency, if any, is justified. 21. The proposal for participation in International Committee meetings shall be put up in a common file for each committee so that the earlier representations of BIS on the same committee/report of the earlier committee can also be seen. 22. The financial admissibility for BIS officers with respect to travelling allowance entitlements under plan funds/ BIS funds shall be regulated as per their existing entitlements. The rates of per diem allowance of BIS officers for the duration of the foreign deputation shall be regulated as per the BIS (Terms and Conditions of Service of Employees) Regulations. Any prevailing Government guidelines on the subject 'Expenditure Management - Economy measures and rationalization of expenditure' specifically made applicable in BIS to be followed while considering the foreign deputation of BIS officers. 23. The entitlements for delegations, for which approval is given by the Government, shall be in accordance with the approval received from the Government. 24. All foreign travels with funding from BIS (Plan funds/own funds) both by BIS officers as well as by non-bis delegates must be done by Air India or by an airline which is in pool partnership with Air India. Only in exceptional circumstances shall the tickets be booked by other airlines. 25. The request for booking of tickets should be sent in advance to the extent possible, so that the benefit for discount in fares is fully obtained. 26. The delegation, to the extent possible, should stay in a common place so as to work as a team and focus on the agenda. 8