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LINKING PEOPLE, JOINING NATIONS
Not surprisingly, the guideline developed in the compromise proposal was not used
by IIWANBs because of the associated restrictions imposed on them through the prohibition
on the use of terms such as ‘international’ and the use of IIW’s logo on certificates. The
matter was raised again in the IIW IAB by several members in 2012 and the IAB agreed
to present a proposal to the IIW Board of Directors to revisit the decision made in 2009.
This proposal was made in consideration that other Member Societies were now offering
their own inspector certification programmes without geographical restriction in other IIW
Member Countries.
23
In light of this the IIW Board concluded that an Advisory Group was
needed and this was then set up in January 2013 with Dr Luca Costa (Italy) as convenor.
Numerous examples of Member Countries joining IIW primarily to
participate in the IIW IAB scheme became increasingly apparent following
its introduction in 2000. This, in turn, had a positive effect in discouraging
the development of potentially diverse national or regional schemes.
24
In
consideration of this there was a view by several of these members that an
IIW Authorised Training Body (ATB) wishing to run welding education or
training courses in a foreign country should be expected to first reach an
agreement with the local ANB, if one existed.
25
Another successful IIW IAB meeting, held at the IIW Annual Assembly,
Chennai, India, in 2011