Working together for safe products: KAN and ANEC sign Letter of Intent

Adalbert von der Osten, Deputy Director of the KAN Secretariat, and Stephen Russell, Director-General of ANEC, sign the letter of intent . © KAN

On 22 May 2025, the Commission for Occupational Health and Safety and Standardization (KAN) and ANEC, the European consumer voice in standardization, signed a joint letter of intent.

As one of four organisations eligible for funding under Annex III of the Standardisation Regulation (EU) No. 1025/2012, ANEC represents the interests of consumers in standardisation. Dr Werner Daum, German member of the ANEC General Assembly and Chairman of the DIN Consumer Council, had presented ANEC at the KAN meeting in November 2023. Even then, it was clear that ANEC and KAN were pursuing the same goals in many areas.

KAN therefore welcomed closer networking and more intensive cooperation with ANEC. Since then, exchanges with ANEC have continued to deepen. In spring 2024, it was finally agreed to draw up a joint letter of intent.

With the signing of this letter, KAN and ANEC reaffirm their intention to cooperate more closely in future and propose the following activities:

  • Periodic exchange of views on European standardisation policy and relevant European legislation,
  • Addressing topics of common interest in European standardisation work and relevant European legislation,
  • Case-by-case exchanges on particular standardisation activities where the interests of both ANEC and KAN are key,
  • Discuss possible ways of mutually supporting consumer and occupational safety and health interests in national and European standardisation
  • Inviting DIN (with a focus on the DIN Consumer Council) and the German member of ANEC to join these discussions and/or activities on an ad hoc basis where this is believed to be in the common interest

Letter of Intent (pdf)
More information on ANEC