Belgium
General
Information & Brief Economic Summary
Standards
Government
Contacts in Belgium
US Contacts in
Belgium
Belgium
Government Contacts
Trade
Associations and Other Key Contacts
Trade Event
Schedule
General Information & Brief
Economic Summary
Belgium’s population of approximately 10.3 million people is heavily reliant on trade. The country boasts tremendous infrastructure and is regarded as an ideal hub for transit and distribution. The cosmopolitan and international nature of Belgium also makes it an ideal European test market for American products and services. The Belgian market is small enough that a huge European-wide commitment to a new product is not necessary, yet it is diverse and competitive enough that it offers a representative sample of potential European and multinational competitors. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Belgium’s GDP in 2006 grew by 2.9% over the previous year (to $367.8 billion), whereas the Euro area grew by 2.6%. In 2007, it grew by 2.6% (to $438.5 billion), exactly the same rate as for the overall European Union (EU) area. In 2006, imports of goods and services grew by 3.0% and Belgium became the 11th largest trading partner of the U.S., accounting for $21.3 billion of U.S. exports (up 14% from 2005). Belgium’s exports to the U.S. grew by 4.7% in 2007; imports from the U.S. grew by 5.6%. The capital, Brussels, is home to the headquarters of the EU and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), as well as hundreds of international institutions, associations and multinational corporations.
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Standards
EU standards setting is a process based on consensus initiated by industry or mandated by the European Commission and carried out by independent standards bodies, acting at the national, European or international level. There is strong encouragement for non-governmental organizations, such as environmental and consumer groups, to actively participate in European standardization.
Many standards in the EU are adopted from international standards bodies such as the International Standards Organization (ISO). The drafting of specific EU standards is handled by three European standards organizations:
CENELEC, European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization
http://www.cenelec.org/Cenelec/Homepage.htm
ETSI, European Telecommunications Standards Institute
http://www.etsi.org/
CEN, European Committee for Standardization, handling all other standards
http://www.cen.eu/cenorm/homepage.htm
Standards are created or modified by experts in Technical Committees or Working Groups. The members of CEN and CENELEC are the national standards bodies of the Member States, which have "mirror committees" that monitor and participate in ongoing European standardization. CEN and CENELEC standards are sold by the individual Member States standards bodies. ETSI is different in that it allows direct participation in its technical committees from non-EU companies that have interests in Europe and gives away its individual standards at no charge on its website. In addition to the three standards developing organizations, the European Commission plays an important role in standardization through its funding of the participation in the standardization process of small- and medium-sized companies and non-governmental organizations, such as environmental and consumer groups.
The Commission also provides money to the standards bodies when it mandates standards development to the European Standards Organization for harmonized standards that will be linked to EU technical Regulations. In the last year, the Commission began listing their mandates on line and they can be seen at http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/standards_policy/mandates/index.htm. All the EU harmonized standards, which provide the basis for CE marking, can be found on http://www.newapproach.org/.
The Belgian Institute for Standardization (IBN), a non-profit organization dependent on the Ministry of Economic Affairs, is responsible for the development of standards in Belgium. It represents Belgium as a member of the Comité Européen de Normalisation (CEN) and of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). In addition, the Belgian Electro-technical Committee develops standards in the electro-technical (i.e. electric and electronic) field. It sits on the European Committee for Electro-technical Standardization (CENELEC) and the International Electro-technical Commission (IEC).
Contact information in the United States:
National Institute of Standards and Certification
Contacts: Joanne Overman or Maureen Breitenberg
Tel: (301) 975-2000
Fax: (301) 975-7128
Contact information in Belgium:
Belgian Standards Institute
Avenue de la Braban++onne, 29
1000 Brussels
Mr. P Croon, Director
Tel: 32/2/734-9205
Fax: 32/2/733-4264
The following is a list of useful Web sites:
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Government
Contacts in Belgium
US Government Contacts:
U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service Personnel:
Ms. Camille Sailer, Commercial Counselor
Ms. Angela Dawkins, Commercial Attache
EMB/FCS
PSC 82 Box 002
APO AE 09710
Tel: +32/2 508-24-25
Fax: +32/2 512-66-53
Website: http://www.buyusa.gov/belgium/en/
U.S. Trade and Investment Center
asbl/nzw
Avenue des Arts, 46,
B-1000 Brussels, Belgium
Tel: 32/2/502-6261
Fax: 32/2/502-6077
Economic Section:
Ms. Terri Robl, Economic Counselor
EMB/ECON PSC 82 Box 002
APO AE 09710
Tel: +32/2 508-24-48
Fax: +32/2 513-53-33
Website: http://www.usembassy.be
American Chambers of Commerce:
Ms. Jo Ann Broger, General Manager
American Chamber of Commerce in Belgium
Avenue des Arts, 50, Box 5
1000 Brussels
Tel: +32/2 513-67-70
Fax: +32/2 513-35-90
Website: http://www.amcham.be
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U.S. Government
Contacts:
Foreign Commercial Service Belgium:
Mr. Paul J. Kullman Counselor for Commercial Affairs
www.buyusa.gov/belgium
Mrs. Heidi Pichler-Schubert Commercial Attaché
Mr. Ira Bel Tel: +32 2 508 2434
Information/Communications Technology
Services
Aerospace/Defense
NATO procurement
Ms. Danny Dumon Tel: +32 2 508 2888
Medical/Pharmaceutical
Safety/Security
Energy and Power Generation
Security equipment and services
Mrs. Brigitte de Stexhe Tel: +32 2 508 2454
Travel and Tourism
Textile and Apparel
Books, Media, Paper and Allied products
Seafood
Mr. Stephane Croigny Tel: +32 2 508 2456
Automotive
Franchising
Environmental Technologies
General Industrial Equipment
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