While much of the efforts of IIAR’s International Committee in the past few years have been focused on Latin America, the committee recently began activities to develop contacts and influence in India

Several countries will be represented at this year’s IIAR conference, including Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Malaysia, Spain, Australia, Nicaragua and Germany, and Yesenia Rivera Rector, IIAR International Director, recently returned from a trip to India, where she met with officials and industry representatives.

The Regional Vice-Chair of the International Committee, Mr. Samir Shah, has been working for some time with several organizations within the country in order to increase awareness of IIAR’s vision and mission.

Shah has met several times with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the country’s across-the-board regulatory body that sets standards for the country, to assist and advise India’s refrigeration industry and regulators. Through him, IIAR is working to get India to adopt IIAR standards as their basis for setting the country’s refrigeration standards, Rector said.

Rector visited India in late January to meet with BIS representatives, industry professionals and government leaders to discuss this prospect and establish relationships. Her trip is another step in a process that she said is expected to be methodical and slow-moving. “The trip to India was successful,” Rector said.

Like most countries, Indian officials are wary of foreign influence. Building relationships with key leaders has been a critical part of the process and these, she said, are starting to yield results. Shah, who lives in India and who is a member of IIAR’s Board of Directors, has been working with establishing key partnerships with several organizations in the country, including BIS.

“As of now, there aren’t established standards and regulations for [India] to ensure safety. The idea is that as they become more acquainted with IIAR and our work, they’ll adopt safer working practices – practices that have been proven to work in the United States and other countries.”

-Yesenia Rivera Rector, IIAR International Director

The BIS is creating the Indian standard applicable for the industry. “Right now. it is under review. This Indian standard for the refrigeration industry is based on IIAR’s Standard for Safe Design of Ammonia Refrigeration Systems, ANSI / IIAR 2,” she said. “The idea is more standards will come from this process and they will start looking at other IIAR standards to improve safety in their refrigeration systems.”

This is a very important step for India’s refrigeration industry, Rector said. “As of now, there aren’t established standards and regulations for the country to ensure safety. The idea is that as they become more acquainted with IIAR and our work, they’ll adopt safer work ing practices – practices that have been proven to work in the United States and other countries.”

While that would be a tremendous step forward for India’s industry, Rector said she believes that it will also be beneficial for the global refrigeration industry as a whole. Economies are so globalized, and trade so interconnected that when something happens – good or bad – in any particular country, reverberations are felt through global supply chains. By helping developing industries to standardize their practices, Rector said IIAR is helping secure the industry for everyone.

dards, India can significantly reduce its carbon footprint. According to research conducted by the Global Carbon Project, in 2018 India was the world’s third-leading producer of greenhouse gas emissions. Rector said by taking steps to make its refrigeration industry more sustainable with natural refrigerants, India can begin to move in the right direction.

During the visit, Shah and Rector also met with the PHD Chamber, which is primarily an educational association. “They are going to do several educational sessions during 2020 and want IIAR to partner,” she said. “I think there is a not only a need for education but also a thirst for it throughout the industry.”

Also during her visit, Shah and Rector met with Rajendra Mittal, President of All India Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Association (AIACRA) in order to reaffirm the partnership with IIAR in working towards a safer and prosperous industry. IIAR will have a dedicated column in AIACRA’s quarterly newsletter

Safety is the primary goal – both globally and locally. For the first time, India will have a proven set of guidelines by which to operate that will ensure systems are installed and maintained using best practices. These guidelines have proven to be effective, she said, and she’s confident they will help India’s refrigeration industry thrive.

Rector said one of the main challenges and opportunities in India is the language. “India has different languages depending on the region, but overall the majority is Hindi. There may be a reason to explore IIAR to start putting some communication and translations into Hindi to reach the target audience,” she said, adding that while design engineers and company owners communicate capably in English, operators and the people working the day-to-day systems are more fluent in Hindi.

Going forward, Rector said it is important to increase IIAR’s visibility and availability in the Indian market. “They are looking for American companies that are members of IIAR to invest and grow the industry. I think it is a great opportunity overall if we have the same practices and safety standards that American companies currently use and understand to ensure a sustainable industry,” she said.

“By providing advocacy, education and standards, the global community benefits from having safe, reliable and efficient refrigeration systems,” she said. “This, in turn, benefits the industry by promoting sustainable processes, commerce and a unified language to ensure that the industry not only grows, but thrives, benefiting all.”

-Yesenia Rivera Rector, IIAR International Director

Through Shah, IIAR has been an active participant in several Cold Chain shows in India in order to promote IIAR memberships and increase IIAR’s visibility. To help increase visibility, IIAR needs to focus on grassroots communications and participate in local and regional training events to awareness of IIAR as an educational leader for the industry, Rector said. “At the same time, we will concentrate working with BIS on the design and safety standards, so the designers are held to a higher standard,” she said.

Meanwhile, on another continent, IIAR is working closely with its members in Latin America to increase awareness and education of IIAR standards and safe work practices. “Last year, in 2019, IIAR had several International Seminars of which the main ones were in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Guadalajara, Mexico,” she said.

Costa Rica has adopted ANSI IIAR Standards, specifically 2, 4 and 8, as voluntary national standards. “Also, we started working with the Argentinian government and in Colombia, via our MOU Partner ACAIRE, to develop the national standards for the industry, based on IIAR standards,” she added.

In 2020, there will be three international seminars in Latin America: Medellín, Colombia, July 9-10; Lima, Peru, Aug. 4-5; and Guayaquil, Ecuador Nov. 18-19. “The purpose of these seminars is to provide education on the IIAR standards and safe work practices,” Rector said. “Finally, in Costa Rica, we will host, along with our MOU Partner CIEMI, the first Academy of Natural Refrigerants Certificate Course in Spanish on April 20-21.”

sh on April 20-21.” IIAR’s mission is to create a better world through the safe and sustainable use of natural refrigerants. “By providing advocacy, education and standards, the global community benefits from having safe, reliable and efficient refrigeration systems,” she said. “This, in turn, benefits the industry by promoting sustainable processes, commerce and a unified language to ensure that the industry not only grows, but thrives, benefiting all.”