Services Standards: Defining the Core Consumer Elements ... - ANEC

Services Standards
The proposed ruling does not cover technical standards; however, the idea
behind the rule could easily be extended to all those service providers who
claim to have performed their services in compliance with various technical
standards. It has to be recalled, however, that such a reference makes sense
only if the technical standards lay down clear-cut rules and do not contain only
cloudy wording.
II.
Current practices in standardisation of tourism services
The same set of core consumer elements are now used to review the already
existing technical standards in the field of tourism services.
1. Scope, education and skills
The standards under analysis here are quite heterogeneous.
EN ISO 13809 on travel agencies and tour operators provides for definitions of
tourism services. This has to be understood in the proper sense. The standard
does not lay down requirements on what a traveller might be entitled to expect if
he books a package tour, sales promotion tour, city break or boat trip. The
standard does not even contain a pattern for different services. It is just a list of
definitions, which is not fully compatible with the relevant EC law, that is
Directive 90/314/EEC 400 , or which reiterates the very narrow definition of the EC
legislator.
AFNOR AC X 35-501 requirements on package tourism & the disabled lays
down much more detailed standards on the equipment and services to be
provided but does not deal with contract making at any stage.
EN 14804 on language study tours covers more or less the whole spectrum of
issues being studied here. The comprehensive set of EN standards on
recreational diving services have to be divided into EN 14467 on recreational
diving services, which constitutes some sort of “umbrella” standard, and the
respective EN 14413-1-2 401 and 14153-1-2-3 402 which lay down a detailed set of
rules on the particular requirements imposed on the staff and the equipment
according to the sort of diving.
400 OJ L 158, 23.6.1990, 59.
401 EN 14413-1 Recreational diving services – Safety related minimum requirements of the
training of scuba instructors – Part 1: level 1, 14413-2 Part 2 Level 2.
402 EN 144153-1 Recreation diving services – safety related minimum requirements for the
training and of recreational scuba divers – Part 1: Level 1 – Supervised divers and EN
1453-2 Part 2 Level 2 – Autonomous Diver.
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