DIN – German Institute for Standardization
Deutsches Institut für Normung e.V. (German Institute for Standardization – DIN) is a nonprofit organization that has been developing, drafting and publishing standards for the last century. DIN works with the German government and is the only national standardization organization. It therefore represents German interests in European and international standardization organizations around the world. The Deutsche Institut für Normung includes the shareholdings DIN CERTCO Gesellschaft für Konformitätsbewertung mbH – the certification body of DIN and the TÜV Rhineland Group – and DQS GmbH Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Zertifizierung von Qualitätssicherungssystemen, the German Society for the Certification of Quality Assurance Systems. This means that institutions that issue certifications verifying compliance with product standards, processes and management systems as set out in the standards for companies and institutions are also directly part of DIN.
Standards are documents that specify requirements for products, services and/or processes for the public good. For the development of standards, various stakeholders meet, such as manufacturers, vendors, consumers, businesses, universities, research institutions, government agencies and other institutions in trade and industry, business, and academe. Their formulation is carried out by committees at DIN, at the CEN/CENELEC European standardization organizations, and/or at the ISO/IEC international standards organizations, in accordance with defined principles, process and design rules, so that the resulting standards are a product of national, European and international standardization work. The content of the DIN standards is reviewed every 5 years at the latest. Standards make global trade possible, promote innovation, protect society and the environment, and also safeguard the transfer, utilization and sustainability of products, processes and innovations.
Beyond this, the German Standardization Institute (DIN) is integrated in several research projects at both national and European level, e.g. in projects like Horizon 2020 – the European Union’s framework program to promote research and innovation. Here, DIN’s role includes providing consultation. DIN gets involved in projects as early as the research project application stage, ensuring that norms and standards are given due consideration. In the process, the effective economic exploitation of their results is becoming more and more of a priority.
DIN standards also play a major role for the Mabanaft group. For example, products traded by Mabanaft, Petronord, OIL! Tankstellen and other group companies are classified according to DIN, European and global standards. Some of our companies trade and work according to certified management systems and defined standards and also take a participative role in developing or revising norms and standards.
Status: December 2015
All information subject to change. Errors and omissions excepted.