RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/TBT/W/158
18 May 2001
(01-2555)
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:  English
DEVELOPMENTS WITHIN THE INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION
FOR STANDARDIZATION (ISO) THAT ARE RELATED TO
THE SECOND TRIENNIAL REVIEW
OF THE TBT AGREEMENT
Communication from the ISO
I. OVERVIEW
1. The scope of this report is to provide information on the procedures and activities of ISO that
are relevant to the findings of the Second Triennial Review of the Operation and Implementation of
the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Tr ade, in the framework of its international
standardization responsibilities.  As emphasized in section 2 below, ISO is an international standards
body operating with open, impartial and transparent procedures that afford an opportunity forconsensus among its members. ISO and its member bodies recognize and implement the Principles for
the Development of International Standards, and Guides specified in the Second Triennial Review
(G/TBT/ 9, Annex 4).
2. ISO's status of observer to the TBT Committee allows its representative to regularly update
the Committee on ISO activities and to answer questions. The ISO observer will continue to note
problems related to the implementation of international standards prepared by ISO that members
might encounter, with a view to undertaking corrective actions when needed.  The ISO observer will
also report problems identified by WTO Members in the application of the CASCO Guides and
International Standards to the Committee for Conformity assessment (ISO/CASCO).
3. ISO pays special attention to the needs of its developing country members and section 3
provides an overview of the ISO programmes designed to facilitate their participation in the standards
development process. ISO is a world federation of national standards bodies having a broad
representation of geographical regions with members in 30 countries of Africa, 27 in the Americas
and Caribbean region, 36 in Asia, 42 in Europe and 3 in Oceania.
II. PRINCIPLES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS
AND GUIDES IMPLEMENTED WITHIN ISO
4. This section specifies how the Principles for the Development of International Standards and
Guides are implemented within ISO, al ong the lines of Annex 4 of G/TBT/9.
A. TRANSPARENCY5. The ISO technical work programme containing  proposals for standards, guides and other
deliverables is published twice a year (January and July) and is publicly available. It can be consultedin the ISO Catalogue on the ISO website www.iso.ch .  Successive draft proposals are available from
the ISO members and from the ISO Central Secretariat in Geneva in English and a substantial number
(more than 60 per cent) are available in English and in French).
6. ISO member bodies inform the public through their own channels in their respective countries
at each essential step of the standard preparation; namely:  (i) when a new project is submitted to theG/TBT/W/158
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member bodies' approval;  (ii) when draft proposals of the technical experts are submitted for
comment/approval;  (iii) when the draft Intern ational Standards are submitted to a five-month
technical consultation of the ISO member bodies;  and (iv) on the final two-month verification of
consensus on the finalized text.  Publication is within 2 months of the closure of the final two-month
consultation phase of verifying the consensus.
B. OPENNESS7. According to article 3 of the ISO statutes, ISO member bodies are those national standards
bodies most broadly representative of standardization in their respective countries and which have
been admitted into the Organization in accordance with the rules of procedure. National bodies
interested in standardization in countries without a national standard body may be registered either ascorrespondent member or subscriber member with limited rights. Only one body per country is
admitted to membership.
8. All member bodies have the right to participate actively in the work of each of the some
200 technical committees and their ~ 600 subcommittees preparing standards in specific technicalfields.  They are invited to select the committees of  interest to their economy, in which they wish to
participate and at what level.  In choosing to participate actively, member bodies take the commitment
to contribute to the technical work, either by attending meetings or by correspondence.  However,
member bodies also have the option of observer membership under which they receive committee
documents, have the right to submit comments and attend meetings without taking a commitment.  Amember body may choose to neither participate actively nor to observe a given committee in which
case it does not have the above-mentioned rights and obligations with regard to the work of that
committee.  Nevertheless, all member bodies, irrespective of their status within a technical committee,
have the right to vote on enquiry drafts and on Final Draft International Standards in the consensus
verification phase.  Member bodies can decide, at any time, to change their level of participation.
9. Correspondent members are entitled to observe the work of the technical committees and to
comment on the successive drafts. They have the same status within technical committees as member
bodies having chosen observer membership.  Once their infrastructure permits, correspondent
members often apply for full membership.  Countries with very small economies choose subscriber
membership when their infrastructure does not allo w them to participate in the technical work and
policy work.  Once their infrastructure permits, they may apply for correspondent membership.
C. IMPARTIALITY AND CONSENSUS10. According to the ISO/IEC Directives for the technical work, all ISO member bodies are given
equal opportunities to contribute to the preparation of an international standard and there aremechanisms to verify that each comment is considered for its own merit.  Member bodies have the
right to appeal against decisions of the subcommittees, committees and the Technical Management
Board.  The requirements specified in Annex 4 of G/TBT/9 are an integral part of the
ISO/IEC Directives for the technical work.
D. EFFECTIVENESS AND RELEVANCE
11. ISO 's strategies plan recognizes the need for continuous effort to increase ISO's market
relevance, by better understanding market needs,  improving the participation of enterprises, more
effective representation of consumers and other social forces, as well as by strengthening technicalprogramme management.  A programme has been established for specific sectors to develop better
interaction between industry senior management and the delegates who typically participate in the
standardization process.  Specific conferences are being organized with personalities from the
business community, intergovernmental organizations and representatives of various societal interests.
Moreover, all the technical committees preparing international standards in some 200 technical fieldsG/TBT/W/158
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have been instructed to prepare a structured business plan available for consultation and comments on
the ISO website.
12. Guidelines for justifying proposals for the establishment of standards are given in the
ISO/IEC Directives for the technical work.  The latter also specifies that every ISO standard has to bereviewed at least every five years by the technical committee responsible for its development.
Confirmation, revision or withdrawal is decided by ma jority vote.  A review may also be initiated on
the request of the ISO Secretary-General or a member body.  In some exceptional cases, it can happen
that obsolete or ineffective standards are neither withdrawn nor revised through lack of interest.
Should WTO Members identify such standards, corrective action will be immediately taken by the
ISO Technical Management Board, which supervises the technical work (13000 valid standards and
5000 projects).
E. COHERENCE13. The ISO Technical Management Board is responsible for ensuring the coherence of the
portfolio of ISO standards, which is achieved through strict delineation of work between the technicalcommittees preparing standards in the various technical fields.  Very precise scopes, published in the
ISO Memento, avoid overlap.  Residual interface problems between the work of some committees are
arbitrated by the Technical Management Board.
14. Formal Agreements exist with IEC, ITU and UN/ECE that specify the respective roles of the
standardizing organizations.  More specific agreements have been concluded with specialized
international standardizing bodies such as the C odex Alimentarius, the International Commission on
Illumination, the International Institute for Welding, the International Dairy association, etc.
Agreements have also been concluded with regional organizations either to avoid duplication of effort
or to ensure coherence from the start between regional standards and international standards.
F. DEVELOPMENT DIMENSION15. Effective participation of developing countries in the ISO standards development process is a
constant concern and section 3 below provides information on the way it is addressed within ISO.
G. DELEGATION OF STANDARDIZATION WORK TO REGIONAL BODIES16. Under the terms of the Vienna Agreement for technical cooperation between ISO and the
European Committee for Standardization (CEN), the development of particular standards may be
delegated by an ISO technical committee to its CEN counterpart, and the draft European standard then
issued in parallel in both organizations at the stage of the technical enquiry and formal approval.  Ithas to be emphasized that the decision to delegate work to CEN is decided by the ISO committee,
which ensures that the above principles are observed during the work process for ISO under CEN
lead.
17. Parallel processing agreements have also been concluded with several North American
standards developing organizations, which are preserving the rights of the member bodies.
III. PROGRAMMES FOR ADDRESSING THE NEEDS OF DEVELOPING COUNTRY
MEMBERS
A. THE ISO COMMITTEE ON DEVELOPING COUNTRY MATTERS (ISO/DEVCO)
18. ISO/DEVCO was established in 1961.  It is open to all ISO member bodies as actively
participating or observer members, and to all ISO correspondent members as observer members.  Its
objectives are:G/TBT/W/158
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- to identify the needs and requirements of developing countries in the field of
standardization and related areas and to assist them in defining their needs and
requirements;
- to recommend measures to assist developing countries in meeting their needs and
requirements;
- to provide a forum for the exchange of experience among all ISO members (last
workshop "Facilitating recognition of co nformity assessment activities in the
21st century" was held in September 2000 in partnership with ISO/CASCO in Milan);
- to publish and regularly update development manuals (10 manuals published).
19. At the beginning of 2001, 101 ISO members – fr om both developed and developing countries
– participate in the work of ISO/DEVCO (71 as active participants and 30 as observers).
ISO/DEVCO services are directed towards the de veloping country member s of ISO (100 Members).
B. THE ISO PROGRAMME FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES (DEVPRO) FOR CAPACITY
BUILDING
20. To provide the needed services identified by ISO/DEVCO, the ISO Central Secretariat
partially supports a Programme for Developing Countries that is approved by ISO/DEVCO and
endorsed by the ISO Council. The triennial programme for 2001-2003, endorsed by the ISO Council
in December 2000, includes the following items:
• identification of standardization needs in developing countries;
• preparation and publication of development manuals on topics related to standardization in
developing countries;
• training through seminars held in developing and industrialized countries, fellowships and
assistance in establishing training arrangements under bilateral and multilateral arrangements;
• training of technical officers for ISO technical committee secretariats;
• sponsorship of participation in ISO standards committee meetings;
• assistance in developing international standards needed by developing countries;
• assistance in documentation and information systems including the use of information and
communication technology (ICT) in standardization;
• assistance in the promotion of standards.
21. In 2000, 24 regional training seminars were organized, two of them in direct cooperation with
WTO on TBT issues with special emphasis on conformity assessment and its role in world trade.
Other topics covered were generic quality and environmental management standards, capacity
building for standardization and conformity assessment and upgrading of analytical laboratories.
Annex 1 shows the distribution of training seminars over a three-year period by region and Annex 2by subject matter. Many "train the trainers" seminars are organized in the various regions and have
proven efficient in reaching a broad audience in developing countries.  Special priority is allocated to
the least developed countries for their attendance at training seminars.
C. PARTICIPATION OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES IN ISO TECHNICAL WORK22. While participation of developing countries in the governance of ISO and in the policy
development committees can be considered satisfactory, participation of developing countries in the
technical work is not.  Several initiatives have therefore been taken to improve this situation.G/TBT/W/158
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(a) The Forum on Standards Actions in the Global Market (SGM Forum)
23. The SGM Forum was created in 1999 at the initiative of the ISO President to establish a
partnership intended to enhance the cooperation between a group of international organizations
representing three broad groups: entrepreneurial organizations (i.e. the private sector), a selected
group of UN agencies representing the public sector and the major international standardsorganizations.  The Forum brings together five UN agencies: WIPO, UNIDO, ITC, UNCTAD and
UN/ECE, three entrepreneurial organizations: the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the
Industry Cooperation on Standards & Conformity Asse ssment (ICSCA), the International Federation
for the Application of Standards (IFAN) and th e three apex organizations for international
standardization (ISO, IEC and ITU).  The WTO Secretariat is invited to observe SGM Forum
meetings.  ISO has called for attractive proposals from its members that could be financed and
implemented with the help of the SGM Forum partners.  Liaison has been established with the WorldBank and the Inter-American Bank.  Concrete programmes are being developed for developing
countries in the Mediterranean and in the Horn of Africa (see next paragraph).  An important initiative
of the Forum is a web-site containing an electronic database of technical assistance projects in the
area of standardization and related matters to enhance coordination of programmes.  The initiative has
been well received and 32 agencies, including some national standards bodies, are involved.
(b) DEVPRO/UNCTAD project to link members fr om developing countries to Internet
24. The multi-agency MED 2000 project, implemented by the ISO Programme for Developing
Countries (DEVPRO) under the auspices of UNCTAD and in collaboration with ILO, ITC and WIPO,
is part of a programme to stimulate growth and competitiveness of small and medium enterprises ofdeveloping countries from the Mediterranean Basi n and Horn of Africa.  ISO's contribution is to
provide assistance to upgrade the standards information services of the national standards bodies, to
ensure their communication capacity and to enab le online participation in the international
standardization process, as well as to provide improved services to the national business sector.  Pilot
projects are ongoing to promote the use of inform ation technologies. In synergy with the set of
participating agencies, there will be a complete range of services for SMEs.
(c) Participation of developing countries in ISO technical committees preparing international
standards
25. The need for an increased participation of developing countries in ISO standards development
has been recognized by the ISO Technical Management Board (TMB), the ISO governance body in
charge of the coordination, strategic planning and programming of the technical work carried out bythe 750 technical committees or subcommittees.  It  is recognized that preconditions for increased
participation are capacity building and provision of funds for physical participation in committee
meetings.  At its September 2000 meeting, the TMB decided to investigate the possibilities of more
immediate involvement of developing countries in the ISO technical work and established a task
force, constituted of TMB and DEVCO members, to address this issue under the convenorship ofICONTEC, Colombia.  The task force is invited to prepare recommendations to the TMB to facilitate
the participation of developing countries in ISO technical work by, for example, proposing
mechanisms that would:
- increase representation of developing countries in ISO technical bodies;
- increase the number of chairmen and secretaries, from developing countries, of
ISO technical committees and subcommittees as well as convenors of workinggroups; and
- allow twinning arrangements between ISO member bodies in developed and
developing countries.
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