Update on the ASTM Standard Guide for Quality Assurance in Translation

CETRA’s President and CEO, Dr. Jiri Stejskal, who also serves as Chairman of the ASTM 43.03 Sub-Committee on Language Translation, conducted a meeting of the Sub-Committee in San Diego on October 26, 2012, in conjunction with the 53^rd Annual Conference of the American Translators Association. During the all-day meeting, two main points were discussed: a review of the existing ASTM F2575 – 06 Standard Guide for Quality Assurance in Translation and the establishment of a new standard which would serve as a basis for certification for language service companies. The ASTM F2575 Guide was published in 2006 and its purpose is to describe best practices for quality assurance in translation, rather than to provide a basis for certification. Currently there is no US standard to which translation service providers can be certified. Such standards exist in Europe and in Canada (EN 15038 and CGSB-131.10 respectively), and an ISO Draft International Standard 17100 is in the final stages of development, with an anticipated publishing date in 2013. The Sub-Committee agreed that it is important to maintain and further develop the ASTM F2575 Guide as it is used as a reference document in a variety of situations, including procurement efforts of the US Federal Government and Quality Management documentation for US companies certified to ISO 2001:2008, which includes CETRA. The Sub-Committee will work on the revision of the existing standard in 2013. In order to provide the US market with a standard that language companies can be certified to, the Sub-Committee evaluated a proposal presented at the meeting and recommended that a separate Sub-Committee be created to house the new proposal, which would be expanded to include language interpreting and related services.