CANENA (Council for Harmonization of Electrotechnical Standardization of the Nations of the Americas) was founded in 1992 to foster the harmonization of electrotechnical product Standards, conformity assessment test requirements, and electrical codes between all of the democracies of the Western Hemisphere.

The ultimate objective of CANENA is to have one Standard for a product for all of the Western Hemisphere, submit the product to a conformity assessment testing laboratory in one of the countries, and, upon successful completion of the testing, receive listings in all countries.

CANENA is not a Standards developing organization, i.e., it does not publish "CANENA" Standards." The intellectual property rights to harmonized Standards remain the property of each participating Standards development organization. CANENA provides a forum for harmonization discussions and, upon agreement, the draft harmonized Standards are then processed by the respective Standards developer in each country.

Extensive information about the activities of CANENA can be found on its website.

CANENA IEC Facilitation Flowchart.