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Text reproduced, with kind permission, from:
ISO-BULLETIN, June 2001 (COMMENT)

Written by: Raymond Schonfeld
Advises private-sector and government clients globally on TBT issues



What standardization can do to help the WTO.

Ross Wraight's recommendation (ISO Bulletin, May 2001) for a more inclusive relationship between ISO and other standards bodies is welcome. It is worth underlining the potential benefits to global trade liberalization, and specifically to the World Trade Organization process, of rapid new initiatives of this kind. 

New initiatives are needed because, in its treatment of international standardization, the WTO Technical Barriers to Trade process is stuck. Six years and two triennial reviews after completion of the Uruguay Round, it is no nearer to resolving the argument about whose international standards should be acceptable in technical regulations, under the TBT Agreement. The debate - epitomized by the disagreement between the European Union and the USA - has become debilitating and the endless position papers tedious. The frustration of a senior Asian observer sums it up: "It is disappointing, and the only enjoyment comes from watching the Americans and the Europeans fighting each other."

The European Union and the USA each advocate standardization models which have great strengths and successes to their credit. Neither is perfect. The rest of the world repeatedly indicates that it wants to use the best of both.

So why the battle? Let us assume the only flattering explanation: that each side is fighting to retain what it believes to be the optimum standardization model.

Even under that hypothesis, both sides make a fundamental error. They look at the debate as win-lose, assuming that a win-win result, in which both models are integrated into a dynamic new global structure, is impossible. Intellectual stone-walling has replaced action.

This will never get us anywhere.

All countries, but particularly in the developing world, need to know whose standards will be acceptable in technical regulations.

To make progress, the WTO needs support from the standardization world. It has neither the resources nor the skills, inside its unwieldy TBT Committee composed largely of non-specialists in standardization, to change things alone.

That is where ISO should come in. If there is a global body which offers proven competence in both standardization and win-win progress for the developed and developing world alike, it is ISO. To capitalize on the opportunity, ISO needs only to accept the additional mission of the top facilitator of the use of standards in the WTO model, without changing any of its core activities.

ISO must find new ways of harnessing the strengths of diverse standardization bodies, of which the US protagonists are only the most vocal. There is no case for national favouritism towards the USA. The issue is global and multi-sectoral: how to build a system big enough to integrate increasingly diverse standardization activities into a global structure which is practical, consistent with WTO principles and which ensures fair representation for all WTO members. Participants in such a system will secure a permanent role in international standardization.

Once those principles are accepted, programmes and structures can follow. One example of an immediate, practical proposal: to develop an operational system, under an umbrella of patronage or accreditation through ISO, which will allow a greater variety of standards bodies to prove that, if applied in regulation, their standards are neither discriminatory nor unnecessary under WTO rules. Regulators have to be involved in that, but nothing prevents ISO sharing the initiative. What is needed is a commitment, on all sides, to constructive change and constructive action.

Text reproduced, with kind permission, from:
ISO-BULLETIN, May 2001 (COMMENT)

Written by: 

Ross Wraight
Chief executive of Standards Australia International,
Vice President Technical Chairman of ISO Technical Management board



ISO - what we need to do next.

The ISO family has achieved much since I joined it in 1996. The organization in Geneva has improved its efficiency by doing most of its work electronically and introducing major reforms in standards writing processes, including business planning for each Technical Committee, electronic balloting, and cancelling stalled projects.

I believe the relationships with IEC have never been better and there is an improvement in the ISO/CEN arrangements.

It has been a very busy and constructive period. One of our major challenges is improving the inclusiveness of our organization by adding as members, additional organizations and interested parties. I have a strong inclusive bias. While ISO does not have an exclusive one, I believe we need to actively pursue the involvement of more interested parties so that they can contribute formally to the process of International Standards development. 

We know, for example, that there are several US Standards Development Organizations that write extremely good standards that are accepted and used all over the world. I believe ISO should accredit organizations such as these, which are technical leaders in their field to write ISO standards.

Industry is keen to have a more direct voice in ISO and we should work to actively include them to our mutual benefit, with the positive result of economic and social benefits. Further, there are other industries that are not using ISO to the full, such as the health and accounting industries, and we need to work to include them also. Governments, too, should have a more direct voice, perhaps via the World Trade Organization (WTO).

If we don't try to include these organizations in our work, then they will go elsewhere. A lack of universal support and involvement in ISO will create the risk of it losing its status as the preferred international organization for standards development.

Let's look back from the future and imagine the potential for this great organization! 

Consider this: ISO now has representation in its Governance structures from industry and governments (maybe the WTO is that representative). Many major regional and standards development organizations are accredited to write ISO standards. ISO has regional marketing and promotional strategies that are delivering results. The preferred International Standards organization for the accounting and health industries is ISO. The developing economies now account for half of all standards secretariats. ISO is the major distributor of e-learning for developing countries. Several National Standards Bodies have merged, resulting in lowered costs and improved efficiency and service delivery. 

These may seem to be grand ideas, but we need to see them as ways of meeting the market needs for better and more comprehensive services. ISO, like all organizations, does not have a permanent mandate. We have to continually earn our right to this market. But one thing is certain - we cannot rest on our laurels. We need to find creative ways to be more inclusive if we are to grow and develop. However difficult some may think the realization of this vision is, the beauty of these ideas lies in their benefits to the global community.

Text reproduced, with kind permission, from:
ISO-BULLETIN, March 2001 (COMMENT)

Written by: Dr. Nils Ringstedt
Chairman, COPOLCO



The need for International Standards for services has been identified - now we need solutions.

Standardization is the process used when provisions for common and repeated use of a product or process are established. A standard is, as we all know, the composite result of the approval of all interests concerned - not least the consumer. The fact is that standards concern services as well as products.

Various services have experienced enormous growth in recent years. In fact, inadequate services have become one of the main causes of consumer complaints, and are therefore the object of consumer concerns. One way to help dissatisfied consumers is to extend standardization to include services.

The need for international standards for services was identified by ISO/COPOLCO (the ISO Committee for Consumer Policy) at its workshop in Beijing 1995. Since then, COPOLCO has followed the development of the service sector, and noted various types of services where standards are needed to facilitate life for consumers. ISO, in collaboration with the WTO (World Trade Organization), held four regional seminars in 1998 on services in Singapore (Hotels, Tourism, Exhibition Management), Argentina (Banking and Tourism), USA (Engineering Consultancy) and France (Business and Consumer Services) to determine those areas where standards were most in demand.

COPOLCO's Group on Priorities has noted that with the increasing globalization of trade, consumers may be unable to purchase or use a service in another country without subscribing to fundamentally different conditions of consumer protection. The group takes the view that consumers are justified in expecting safe services, information on services, good complaint handling/customer services, and after-sales services of various kinds, among other requirements. More specifically, the growth in cross-border tourism has resulted in considerable growth in consumer complaints due - partly -to different expectations as to what "quality standards" and systems implies. Problems can be substantially reduced by the provision of comprehensive, comparable and transparent information. Making available such information on the various aspects of services is thus crucial.

Financial and banking services are big issues where standards can support existing legislation. Of interest, too, is to identify horizontal, generic elements in standards regarding services - elements that may be used when drafting standards in various service areas. COPOLCO at its forthcoming workshop on services in Oslo in May 2001 will discuss these areas with a view to suggesting solutions to ISO for consideration.

Why is it important that standards for services be international? The globalization we all see taking place - in trade, communications, technology, etc. - makes it really necessary in future to think internationally, as opposed to thinking in regional and national terms. Global standards can have a direct impact on the market, society and on prosperity. Widespread adoption of International Standards in the field of services would mean that suppliers could base the development of their activity on specifications that have worldwide acceptance. This would be to the advantage of both consumers and businesses.

The use of International Standards to harmonize services will provide opportunities to promote the liberalization of the services sector. At the same time it will help ensure that we attain the levels of consumer protection we have a right to expect. Consumer requirements as regards services must be identified and taken into account when drafting International Standards.

ISO standards for services will become in the future, I sincerely hope, ever more important instruments in increased consumer protection. However, as consumers are important stakeholders in international standardization, they must be invited to participate in standardization work. And, finally, it is - of course - crucial that good standards for services be applied when they reach the market!

Text reproduced, with kind permission, from:
ISO-BULLETIN, February 2001 (COMMENT)

Written by: Mike Smith,
Director, Standards, ISO Central Secretariat



ISO copyright and the use of ISO terminology

It is often stated that definition and agreement on terminology is the first step in any standardization process, and this is particularly true in international standardization. If different anglophone experts are using different terms for the same concept, non-anglophone experts are very quickly going to become confused, and in the worst case will find themselves unable to contribute to the standardization process. It is therefore not too surprising that most ISO technical committees establish very early in their existence a working group or subcommittee to standardize the vocabulary that will be used in the standards they develop, and it is similarly not surprising to find that there is a considerable number of vocabulary standards in the total ISO collection.

Of course, such standards then become indispensable to anyone using the other standards developed by the particular committee concerned so that they can fully understand what particular terms mean in that particular context. Moreover, such users often wish to reproduce the terms and definitions in their own technical product documentation - and thereby comes the problem: the terms and definitions are covered by ISO's copyright. There are often repeated stories that, in order to avoid copyright infringement, some users slightly modify the terms and definitions, but that defeats the object of the original intent to standardize the vocabulary.

In order to permit use of the standardized terms and definitions therefore, the ISO Council has approved a special copyright statement to be included in vocabulary standards which will allow the terms and definitions to be reproduced in particular circumstances. "The reproduction of the terms and definitions is permitted in teaching manuals, instruction booklets, technical publications and journals for strictly educational or implementation purposes," runs the ISO Council statement. "The conditions for such reproduction are: that no modifications are made to the terms and definitions; that such reproduction is not permitted for dictionaries or similar publications offered for sale; and that this International Standard is referenced as a source document."

This means in effect, that for most non-commercial uses in the educational and technical arenas, ISO terms and definitions can be used without infringing ISO copyright, permitting greater diffusion of harmonized terminology - whence an increase in mutual understanding and a reduction in "talking at cross-purposes". Taken a step further, it is to be hoped that the overlaps, semi-overlaps, inaccuracies, ambiguities and contradictions in technical terminologies between different fields and different technical committees will gradually be eliminated by the use of consistent vocabularies across the board.

In future, one can reasonably expect that this will be extended to other types of standards, for example those standardizing codes (country and currency codes), data elements, graphical symbols and warning signs, etc.

Until someone comes up with a new model for financing the standardization system, ISO and many of its members are going to continue to rely in part on income from sales and copyright royalties to complete their operating budgets. This new Council decision will however permit greater use of ISO's standardized vocabularies and, as is often stated, a good standard is one that is used! 
urpose, and I hope that each one of you will join the effort, together and in harmony to reach our goals.

Text reproduced, with kind permission, from:
ISO-BULLETIN, January 2001 (COMMENT)

Written by: Dr. Mario Gilberto Cortopassi,
ISO President



Standardization as a strategic necessity to penetrate markets

LARGE segments of the international economy have "gone global", following the rapid development of world trade, and c-commerce has spread as quickly as the evolution of information technology Since these trends are affecting the balance of trade, standard of living and well-being of people in more and more countries, technical standards are needed more than ever before, to facilitate exchange for all of those who choose to take up tile opportunities and challenges of tile global marketplace. With the convergence of commercial, cultural and technical interchange any country that is riot able to use tile universal language of international standards will find it difficult to position itself for success in the future.

The global village will not accept that tariff and quota trade barriers are replaced by technical barriers. It is therefore the duty of those involved in standardisation, everywhere in the world, to use standards for their real purpose: to facilitate the international exchange of goods and services; to pro mote quality productivity, efficiency and reliability at all levels of industry and trade for the ultimate benefit of consumers and to help protect health, safety and the environment for people in all societies.

Recognised quality at a competitive price has become the target in today's economy. To enter new markets to attract and keep their customers, the providers of goods and services have to consider quality and productivity as strategic necessities. Standardisation, metrology, testing, conformity assessment and certification are among the key instruments they can use to reach their objectives. Not knowing the importance of these skills, and not applying their principles, may bring about significant setbacks arid losses in countries that remain unaware. In this area, as well, truly international standards can provide the basis for conformity assessment and certifications recognised throughout the world. The ultimate goal is surely to arrive at one standard, one conformity assessment procedure and one certification, recognised by all.

With the acceleration of technological and economic change, productivity has become a concern not only for trade and industry but also for ISO itself. We have had to respond to market-driven requirements, update our means of production, and use computer applications and IT systems to speed up standards development. The means are now available for the thousands of people involved in ISO's technical activities to work in "virtual mode" and exchange documents electronically. Fully implementing these changes will not only reduce costs, increase efficiency and speed up the work, but also bring greater transparency and interactive participation.

These changes cannot be fully implemented, however, unless we all agree. The ISO Council, the ISO Officers and the Central Secretariat need strong support from all the ISO members, so that the technical commit tees, subcommittees and working groups can meet international expectations and further strengthen the Organisation's position in the world today. Working in synergy with other international organisations, including those involved in the Forum on Standards Actions in the Global Market (SGM Forum), ISO can play its role in the global marketplace and help to extend prosperity to all nations. I have made a commitment to serve this purpose, and I hope that each one of you will join the effort, together and in harmony to reach our goals.

Tekst overgenomen met toestemming van:
ISO-BULLETIN, September 1999 (Briefings)

Business plans of ISO technical committees
Now the public can help to shape ISO standards

ISO is offering both the general public and special interest groups an opportunity to influence the direction of the hundreds of International Standards developed each year which affect so many aspects of our daily lives, usually without us being aware of them.

ISO is opening the business plans which will be guiding the standards' development work of its technical committees to public scrutiny and comment by posting them on the Web: http://www.iso.ch/bp

So far, draft business plans of 10 technical committees covering standardization in the following areas are available for consultation: health care, dentistry, fire safety, nuclear energy, textiles, mechanical engineering, caravans and cutlery.

As the business plans of ISO's 188 technical committees become available between now and the end of the year, anyone will be able to consult them and provide comments and input by e-mail to the committee secretariats.

ISO and International Standards

ISO has published more than 12700 International Standards. Its work programme ranges from standards for traditional activities, such as agriculture and construction, through mechanical engineering, manufacturing and medical devices, to the newest information technology developments, such as the digital coding of audio-visual signals for multimedia applications.

ISO standards are developed by technical committees comprising experts from the industrial, technical and business sectors which have asked for the standards, and which subsequently put them to use. These experts may be joined by others with relevant knowledge, such as representatives of government agencies, testing laboratories, consumer associations, environmentalists, and so on.

The experts participate as national delegations, chosen by the ISO national member institute for the country concerned. These delegations are required to represent not just the views of the organizations in which their participating experts work, but of national stakeholders as a whole. According to ISO rules, the member institute is expected to take account of the views of the range of parties interested in the standard under development and to present a consolidated, national consensus position to the technical committee. In addition, there is, in many countries, a public review process of ISO draft standards in order to prepare the national position on them.

Despite these measures to make the development process of standards transparent and to obtain input from parties with a direct interest, members of the general public and certain stakeholder groups - such as consumer associations - do not make sufficient use of the existing channels.

The function of business plans

Therefore, ISO is seizing the opportunity created by a combination of the introduction of business plans and the possibilities offered by information and communication technologies (ICT) to allow individuals and stakeholder groups with reduced resources to know what is going on within ISO and to comment or provide input.

Putting the business plans of ISO's technical committees on the Web is also intended to encourage more input from the business, industrial and governmental users of ISO standards who will be able to comment directly to the experts developing standards for their sectors.

ISO launched the business plan programme to ensure a seamless fit between the standards it develops and the standards needed by the market, as well as to avoid wasting resources by developing standards for which there is little requirement.

The business plans will analyse condition and trends in the market sector served by the technical committee and will be required explicitly to link work programmes and sector needs. This exercise is expected to generate clear priorities for which standards are needed, the target dates for their completion and what resources are needed to do the job

Identifying priorities, resources and benefits is important to the ISO system because the major part of the cost of developing standards is borne by the sector that want the standards.

A fundamental aim is to demonstrate objectively the specific benefits which the work undertaken by each technical committee will bring to the business sector it serves. Such benefits may be economic (cost saving, shorter time to market, easier market access, lower sales prices), social (improved safety for workers), or societal (reduced environmental pollution, less waste of finite resources).

The business plans are intended to become a focus for ISO's relationship with its partners and users. By further improving the alignment of the standards that ISO develops with market needs, the business plan will help to ensure that ISO makes the best use of its resources - human, technological and financial.

Text reproduced, with kind permission, from:
ISO-BULLETIN, September 2000 (COMMENT)

Written by: Gene Hutchinson,
Chair DEVCO (ISO Committee for Developing Countries and Managing Director BOBS (Botswana)



IT helps us if you help it

FORMAL standardization is new to Botswana, but it seems to me somewhat easier to sell the need for international standardization and the concept that standards facilitate trade in Botswana in 2000 than it was in Trinidad and Tobago in 1974 when I began out there...

Botswana is an active member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and, while it is very large, travel from Botswana to its four immediate neighbours (Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe) is comparatively easy. Cellular phones with roaming capabilities, PCs with modems and access to the Internet (and e-commerce) and satellite television (all of which are available in Botswana) make the concepts of the global village and global competition, very, very relevant. In talking to the Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SME) sector, this ease of access helps them to recognize the validity of the statement that a local standard gives them a target market of only 1,36 million people. A SADC (regional) standard would increase that market to 195 million, while adopting an international standard would give a potential market of 6 billion people.

Botswana is faced with the task of catching up with the neighbouring countries that use standards and getting its far-flung population to become involved in standardization. We do not have the luxury of time to follow slavishly all the steps that the developed countries took to reach where they are now. We must skip many of those steps and go directly to the present, indeed to the future. Fortunately we live in a time when information technology (IT) can facilitate such a strategy.

The Botswana Bureau of Standards has embarked on a programme to make itself capable of receiving information from around the world (and across Botswana) in electronic form and responding in like manner. But if this programme is to be really successful then the national and international standardization communities must actively and consistently push for the use of IT in their proceedings, right down to the working group levels. We cannot receive, if nobody is sending, and to whom will we send if no one can receive? There is need for us all to rethink the way we work. The electronic distribution of papers and collection of comments imposes on us the need for discipline, to seriously consider the matters before we leave home, not read them in the plane on the way to the meeting, nor wait for a remark in the meeting to trigger a response. If a seven person international working group (or a national technical committee) uses e-mail for the distribution of papers and the collection of comments, what is the quorum for the meeting?

NetMeeting or similar software should be used for meetings so that members from different parts of the world can take part in the meetings in real-time, if not in person, and the meetings need sometimes to be scheduled at 09:00 hours Sydney, Australia time (or Pretoria, Seoul or Los Angeles time). Is there any technical impediment to ISO doing a web cast of its meetings, so that the staff of the NSB whose CEO goes off annually to the meetings in different parts of the world can share electronically in the event in real time? Why is it that the members from countries that can best afford to pay to attend meetings in far-off places, in fact spend the least amount to attend the meetings (because the meetings are held in nearby countries)? If it costs twice as much for you to attend meetings, should they not be held in your neck of the woods more often than once in a blue moon? I look forward to the time when one of my staff can sit at her desk and, with the help of a committee member in Francistown or Harare contribute to a meeting in Seattle, Washington.

Text reproduced, with kind permission, from:
ISO-BULLETIN, August 2000 (COMMENT)

Written by: Georg Hongler, Secretary General CEN (European Committe for Standardization)



Regional Standardization - The European approach has much to be said for it

The Comment by Linda Lusby, Chair of the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) in the May ISO Bulletin was fair, but prompts a number of points that I would like to bring out. I say this because when we are asked to speak to other regional standards bodies or when they visit us we feel that there is a vital dimension that is not always understood, or which is tacitly ignored.

The point is quite simply that in Europe, regional standardization “the most successful example” according to Mrs. Lusby, takes place within a legal framework (Directive 1998/34/EC) that governs the behavior of those making technical regulations and those making standards, requiring notification of proposed new work and transparency.

This Directive, which was first adopted in 1983, also formally sets out the relationship between those who will initiate legislation represented by the ministries of the Member States and the standardization bodies, which are expressly named. A Standing Committee is established by the Directive, which can identify areas of European standardization to support its policies and propose mandates to CEN and its partners. In the past these mandates were sometimes viewed as sinister, underhand devices to carry out standardization that would erect barriers to trade. Actually they are an offer to the standardizers, to harmonize technical requirements, with the assumption that the States accept the results because they themselves have commissioned them. The other side of the coin is that the standardizers are committed to writing specifications that are actually suitable for use in support of legislation and to ensure that they arrived at democratically.

However, more than two-thirds of our work is not based on mandates from the Commission initiated by CEN's members and partners that have an interest in standardization. Such work must still be notified to the Commission and is published twice a year in our Work programme.

I do not know of any other part of the world which operates exactly like this. In any case it has given Europe a strong basis for its standardization and, dare I say, has actually buttressed the global endeavors of ISO by showing that standards in some areas can really support legislation by taking over the burden of detailed technical drafting.

Whilst trying to clear up some misconceptions, the Vienna Agreement between CEN and ISO is not a privileged arrangement, as is sometimes stated The agreement in fact is for technical cooperation when it suits both sides, to maximize the efficiency of standardization It means that the Europeans want global standards where possible, provided they meet their (legitimate) requirements in time and contents, The results are clearly transparent in the dual designation adopted It may even require us to abandon familiar numbers (e.g. EN 45001 becoming EN ISO 17025). Again we do not always detect a similar strength of resolve in other parts of the world.

In short, if standards are to continue to matter and to play their part in de-regulation and if there is a sincere wish on the part of legislators, to give up some of their ground, the European approach is to be commended For those considering it a valuable way forward some cultural changes might be needed in some of their regions.

Text reproduced, with kind permission, from:
ISO-BULLETIN, July 2000 (COMMENT)

Written by: Dudley B. Rhynd, Director (BNSI) Barbados national Standards Institute



The Caribbean response to access markets

Trade liberalization and globalization in the world economy has intensified international competitiveness in the production of goods and services. The World Trade Organization's rules for governing international trade has brought into sharp focus the importance of international standards and conformity assessment procedures in removing technical barriers to trade.

Most of the Caribbean countries are signatories to the WTO Agreements and are parties to the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade. Many have also accepted the Code of Good Practice for the preparation, adoption and application of standards.

Caribbean countries are at varying stages of development as far as adequate standards infrastructure is concerned. Most of the countries have not had many years of systematic integrated standardization measures in place. The international trading environment now calls for equal treatment, a move towards removal of former concessional trading arrangements for products such as sugar, rum and bananas, which are foreign exchange earners, the use of international standards as a basis for international trade, and the use of standards which govern trading policies such as the tying of trade to environmental protection.

The Caribbean also has to deal with the subject of the inclusion of labour standards in trade agreements. This issue will require greater analysis in the region on matters such as the economic impact on common labour standards on trade, and economic development in general.

In an effort to expand markets for goods and services, the Caribbean countries have been negotiating bilateral and multilateral trading arrangements. Caribbean countries are also engaged in the creation of a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), including 34 countries, by 2005.

In all these negotiations, standards play a pivotal role for gaining access to markets. What has been the Caribbean response to these standards requirements in order not to be marginalized in international trade ?

The establishment of the Caricom* Single Market and Economy (CSME) constitutes the measured institutional response to current developments present in the international community as a means of safeguarding and promoting the fundamental values of the people of the Caribbean.

A programme on the Development of Standards Bodies in the region is in progress with the help of the Caribbean Community Secretariat and the Caribbean Development Bank.

The positive decision by the Caricom* Council of Trade and Economic Development (COTED) to establish an Intergovernmental Body, the Caricom* Regional Organization of Standards and Quality (CROSQ), is an indication of the realization of Governments of the importance of standards and related activities in trade development.

The FTAA negotiations will involve 34 countries of the Western Hemisphere at varying levels of standards infrastructural development, The fact of underdevelopment is expected to be taken into account in arriving at an agreement that assimilates the state of-the-art in standards activities while at the same time not marginalizing in trade the countries of smaller economies of the Caribbean. After all, the strict adherence to the rules should also be matched by the morality of the results.

There is a need for continued technical assistance for the region in the critical areas of standards infrastructure and metrology. There is a concern that technical requirements are increasing and posing new barriers to market entry, and rising even as tariff-related barriers are falling around the world.

The special and differential treatment requested for smaller economies during multilateral negotiations should be seen not as an excuse for backing out from the "state of the art" in standards activities, but as a request for staggered implementation of requirements, flexibility for bilateral arrangements, and the needed assistance for trading partners for a win-win result.

There is a continued role for ISO in building standards expertise and facilitating standards related development. The initiative of the World Bank to assist in enterprise competitiveness in the Caribbean through ISO management system standards is most welcomed.

*   The Caribbean Community (Caricom), established by the treaty of Chagurarnas,
     Comprises the following Caribbean countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize,
     Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, Trinidad
     and Tobago, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Surinam, and Haiti.

Text reproduced, with kind permission, from:
ISO-BULLETIN, June 2000 (COMMENT)

Written by: John L. Donaldson, Chairman CASCO (ISO Committee on Conformity Assessment)



Incorporating conformity assessment considerations in standards development

Do you participate in any of the 187 technical committees of ISO? Did you contribute to the development of any of the 12524 standards published by ISO? Are suppliers of products, processes, services, or systems expected to use the standard you have helped to develop? Will these suppliers or their customers want to be able to confirm that what the customers are receiving meets "your' 'standard? In other words, are conformity assessment procedures likely to be associated with the use of "your' ' standard?

If your answer to these questions is "yes", then this comment is intended for you. There are two ways in which you as a standards developer may be interested in conformity assessment, i.e. the process whereby conformance with a standard is demonstrated. First, a standard needs to be suitable to serve as a basis for conformity assessment applications. You may also need to specify conditions for conformity assessment procedures that relate uniquely to the use of your standard within your specific industrial sector. For both of these concerns, ISO has guidance for technical committees on how to incorporate conformity assessment considerations in standards development.

ISO procedures for standards development, namely, the ISO/IEC Directives, anticipate that standards developers may not know as much about conformity assessment as might be useful to them, The Directives establish that CASCO, the ISO Conformity Assessment Committee, has a responsibility to ensure that committees have the help they need to address conformity assessment aspects of standards development knowledgeably.

You are the standards developer. CASCO conformity assessment experts cannot and do not tell you how to write your standards, but they can and do offer you suggestions of what to take into account if you want to produce a technical standard that is more likely to be suitable for conformity assessment applications, This guidance has been documented in ISO/IEC Guide 7:1994, Guidelines for drafting of standards suitable for use for conformity assessment.

CASCO is responsible for the development of general conformity assessment standards. Your technical committees, however, may develop conformity assessment standards when they are sector specific, i.e. their application is strictly Iimited to narrowly defined fields whose unique requirements justify the special development. When this situation arises, the Directives state that the technical committee should consult with CASCO in the development of its sector specific standard, and CASCO is expected to provide consultative advice in response.

The consultative process ensures, that ISO provides documentation that is robust and consistent Committee participants may not always be fully aware of all of CASCO documents and their content. If technical committees are to issue sector specific conformity assessment standards, ISO wishes to ensure these are not redundant with what is already available from CASCO. There needs to be some unique aged requiring the separate standard. In addition, the sector specific standards are expected to rely as much as possible on the existing CASCO generic documents and should cite them, as appropriate, among the specifications contained in the sector specific standard. CASCO is responsible for enabling technical committees to accomplish this requirement.

As a standards developer, you may well have realized that you are becoming increasingly involved with conformity assessment aspects in your standards development work Certainly CASCO is hearing from many more of you. As this workload intensifies, we realize that we must be better prepared to respond. As a result we have established a group to revise Guide 7 to improve its content, we are also considering how we might improve our responsiveness to requests with regard to proposals for sector specific schemes. We hope to have these available in the near future so we can better assist you. If you have suggestions for how we might accomplish this, please let us know.