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Contents
Foreword
INTRODUCTION TO THE CONSOLIDATED ISO SUPPLEMENT
1 Organizational structure and responsibilities for the technical work
1.1 Role of the technical management board
1.2 Advisory groups to the technical management board
1.3 Joint technical work
1.4 Role of the Chief Executive Officer
1.5 Establishment of technical committees
1.6 Establishment of subcommittees
1.7 Participation in the work of technical committees and subcommittees
1.8 Chairs of technical committees and subcommittees
1.9 Secretariats of technical committees and subcommittees
1.10 Project committees
1.11 Editing committees
1.12 Working groups
1.13 Groups having advisory functions within a committee
1.14 Ad hoc groups
1.15 Liaison between technical committees
1.16 Liaison between ISO and IEC
1.17 Liaison with other organizations
2 Development of International Standards
2.1 The project approach
2.2 Preliminary stage
2.3 Proposal stage
2.4 Preparatory stage
2.5 Committee stage
2.6 Enquiry stage
2.7 Approval stage
2.8 Publication stage
2.9 Maintenance of deliverables
2.10 Corrections and amendments
2.11 Maintenance agencies
2.12 Registration authorities
2.13 Copyright
2.14 Reference to patented items (see also Annex I)
3 Development of other deliverables
3.1 Technical Specifications
3.2 Publicly Available Specifications (PAS)
3.3 Technical Reports
4 Meetings
4.1 General
4.2 Procedure for calling a meeting
4.3 Languages at meetings
4.4 Cancellation of meetings
4.5 Distribution of documents
4.6 Remote participation at committee meetings
5 Appeals
5.1 General
5.2 Appeal against a subcommittee decision
5.3 Appeal against a technical committee decision
5.4 Appeal against a technical management board decision
5.5 Progress of work during an appeal process
ISO/IEC ANNEXES
Annex A (normative) Guides
Annex B (normative) ISO/IEC procedures for liaison and work allocation
Annex C (normative) Justification of proposals for the establishment of standards
Annex D (normative) Resources of secretariats and qualifications of secretaries
Annex E (normative) General policy on the use of languages
Annex F (normative) Options for development of a project
Annex G (normative) Maintenance agencies
Annex H (normative) Registration Authority (“RA”) Policy
Annex I (normative) Guideline for Implementation of the Common Patent Policy for ITU-T/ITU-R/ISO/IEC
Annex J (normative) Formulating scopes of technical committees and subcommittees
Annex K (normative) Project committees
Annex L (normative) Selection criteria for people leading the technical work
ANNEXES APPLICABLE TO ISO ONLY
Annex SA (normative) ISO Code of Conduct
Annex SB (normative) Document distribution
Annex SC (normative) Strategic business plans
Annex SD (normative) Matrix presentation of project stages
Annex SE (normative) Numbering of documents
Annex SF (normative) Hosting meetings
Annex SG (normative) Second (and subsequent) language texts for ISO standards
Annex SH (normative) Procedures for the standardization of graphical symbols
Annex SI (normative) Procedure for the development of International Workshop Agreements (IWA)
Annex SJ (normative) Forms
Annex SK (normative) Deadlines for posting committee and working group meeting documents
Annex SL (normative) Harmonized approach for management system standards
Annex SM (normative) Global relevance of ISO technical work and publications
Annex SN (Currently blank — placeholder for new annexes)
Annex SO (normative) Principles for developing ISO and IEC Standards related to or supporting public policy initiatives
Annex SP (normative) Policy for the development of sector-specific management standards and sector-specific management system standards (MSS)
Annex SQ (Currently blank — placeholder for new annexes)
Annex SR (normative) Statements intended to limit the purpose or use of deliverables
Annex SS (normative) Optional use of the Committee Draft (CD) stage — Guidance for committees
Annex ST (normative) Twinning Policy
Reference documents
Foreword
The ISO/IEC Directives are published in two parts:
— Part 1: Procedures for the technical work
— Part 2: Principles and rules for the structure and drafting of ISO and IEC documents
Furthermore, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and ISO/IEC Joint Technical Committee (JTC)
1 have published independent supplements to Part 1, which include procedures that are not common.
This part sets out the procedures to be followed within ISO and the IEC in carrying out their technical work: primarily the development and maintenance of International
Standards through the activities of technical committees and their subsidiary bodies.
ISO, IEC and ISO/IEC JTC 1 provide additional guidance and tools to all those concerned with the preparation of technical documents on their respective websites
(www.iso.org/directives; https://www.iec.ch/members_experts/refdocs/ and http://www.jtc1.org).
This sixteenth edition incorporates changes agreed by the respective technical management boards since publication of the fourteenth edition in 2018. Procedures which
are not common to all the ISO/IEC Directives are published separately in the ISO Supplement (also referred to as the Consolidated ISO Supplement), the IEC Supplement
or the ISO/IEC JTC 1 Supplement, respectively. The Supplements are to be used in conjunction with this document.
The following clauses have been modified with respect to the previous edition:
Foreword, 1.5.7, 1.7.4, 1.9.2, 1.12.1, 1.12.2, 1.12.6, 1.13.2, 1.15.1, 1.15.4, 1.17.2, 1.17.6, 2.1.5.4, 2.1.6, 2.1.8, 2.2.3, 2.4.3, 2.5.2, 2.6.1, 2.6.4, 2.7.5, 2.7.7, 2.7.8, 2.10.2, 2.10.4, 2.14
The track changes version of this seventeenth edition should be consulted for the details of the changes made.
These procedures have been established by ISO and IEC in recognition of the need for International Standards to be cost-effective and timely, as well as widely recognized
and generally applied. In order to attain these objectives, the procedures are based on the following concepts.
a) Current technology and project management
Within the framework of these procedures, the work may be accelerated and the task of experts and secretariats facilitated both by current technology (e.g. IT tools)
and project management methods.
b) Consensus
Consensus, which requires the resolution of substantial objections, is an essential procedural principle and a necessary condition for the preparation of International
Standards that will be accepted and widely used. Although it is necessary for the technical work to progress speedily, sufficient time is required before the approval
stage for the discussion, negotiation and resolution of significant technical disagreements.
For further details on the principle of “consensus”, see 2.5.6.
c) Discipline
National Bodies need to ensure discipline with respect to deadlines and timetables in order to avoid long and uncertain periods of “dead time”. Similarly, to avoid re-
discussion, National Bodies have the responsibility of ensuring that their technical standpoint is established taking account of all interests concerned at national level,
and that this standpoint is made clear at an early stage of the work rather than, for example, at the final (approval) stage. Moreover, National Bodies need to recognize
that substantial comments tabled at meetings are counter-productive, since no opportunity is available for other delegations to carry out the necessary consultations
at home, without which rapid achievement of consensus will be difficult.
d) Cost-effectiveness
These procedures take account of the total cost of the operation. The concept of “total cost” includes direct expenditure by National Bodies, expenditure by the offices
in Geneva (funded mainly by the dues of National Bodies), travel costs and the value of the time spent by experts in working groups and committees, at both national
and international level.
Opportunities for remote participation at meetings should be sought to the extent possible.
e) General principles for voting and decisions
For votes by correspondence or during a committee meeting, a simple majority of the P-members voting is required for approval unless otherwise specified in
the ISO/IEC Directives.
The committee leadership shall ensure that votes submitted in writing, in advance of a committee meeting, are considered at the meeting. For strategic matters (e.g.
changing the scope of a standard or the scope of a committee, change of allocation of a project), a discussion amongst committee members should first take place
before a formal committee decision is taken.
When a document is out for ballot (NP, CD or any later stage) formal discussion during meetings or distribution of National Body positions via formal committee
distribution channels are prohibited.
In all votes, abstentions are not counted.
A vote by correspondence should include the possibility to abstain.
Proxy voting is not permitted in ISO.
f) Global relevance of ISO International Standards
It is ISO's aim and expectation that each of its International Standards represents a worldwide consensus and responds to global market needs. In order to achieve this
aim, it has been recognized that special measures are needed in particular to ensure that the needs of developing countries are taken into account in ISO's technical
work. One such measure is the inclusion of specific provisions for “twinning”, i.e. partnerships between two ISO member bodies for the purposes of capacity building,
in this ISO Supplement to the ISO/IEC Directives. (See 1.7, 1.8.3, 1.9.2, 1.9.3, 1.9.4 and Annex ST.)
Whilst these provisions are necessarily limited to the technical work, “twinning” may occur at multiple levels, in particular to assist the twinned partner in capacity
building in developing countries of their standardization, conformity assessment and IT infrastructures, with the aim of the twinned partner ultimately being self-
sufficient in carrying out their activities.
g) Committee specific procedures
The ISO/IEC Directives (and Consolidated ISO Supplement) have been developed based on many years of experience with standards development across many
committees and fields. Therefore, committees should have little, if any, need to develop committee specific procedures (CSP) (which include committee decisions
which are de facto procedures). Where a committee feels that the ISO/IEC Directives (or Consolidated ISO Supplement) do not adequately address a specific issue, the
committee should submit a request for arevision/expansion of the ISO/IEC Directives (or Consolidated ISO Supplement) to the ISO Technical Management Board
rather than develop a committee specific procedure. In cases where a committee feels the ISO/IEC Directives (or Consolidated ISO Supplement) do not at all address a
specific operational issue, the committee may develop a CSP, including a clear rationale for the procedure, and submit it for the approval of the ISO Technical
Management Board who will make every effort to respond quickly to the request.
h) Addressing sustainability in standards
When developing standards committees are encouraged to refer to the ISO Guide for addressing sustainability in standards (“Guide 82”) which is available
at: https://isotc.iso.org/livelink/livelink?func=ll&objId=8389141&objAction=browse&viewType=1.
i) Terminology used in this document
NOTE 1 Wherever appropriate in this document, for the sake of brevity the following terminology has been adopted to represent similar or identical concepts within ISO and IEC.

Term ISO IEC

National Body Member Body (MB) National Committee (NC)
technical management  Technical Management  Standardization 
board (TMB) Board (ISO/TMB) Management Board (SMB)
 Term ISO IEC
Chief Executive Officer  Secretary-General General Secretary
(CEO)
office of the CEO Central Secretariat (CS) Central Office (CO)
council board Council Council Board (CB)
advisory group Technical Advisory Group (TAG) Advisory Committee
secretary Committee manager Secretary
Committee TCs, SCs, and PCs TCs, SCs, PCs, and SyCs
For other concepts, ISO/IEC Guide 2 applies.

NOTE 2 In addition the following abbreviations are used in this document.

JTAB Joint Technical Advisory Board

JPC Joint Project Committee
JTC Joint Technical Committee
JWG joint working group
TC technical committee
SyC Systems committee (IEC)
SC Subcommittee
PC project committee
WG working group
PWI preliminary work item
NP new work item proposal
WD working draft
CD committee draft
DIS draft International Standard (ISO)
CDV committee draft for vote (IEC)
FDIS final draft International Standard
PAS Publicly Available Specification
TS Technical Specification
TR Technical Report
INTRODUCTION TO THE CONSOLIDATED ISO SUPPLEMENT
0.1   What is the Consolidated ISO Supplement?
The ISO/IEC Directives define the basic procedures to be followed in the development of International Standards and other publications. ThisConsolidated ISO
Supplement (also referred to as the “ISO Supplement”) contains both the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1 and the procedures specific to ISO which were formerly referred to as
the “ISO Supplement”.
Part 1 of the ISO/IEC Directives, together with this Consolidated ISO Supplement, provide the complete set of procedural rules to be followed by ISO committees. There
are, however, other documents to which reference may need to be made. In particular, for committees cooperating with CEN under the Agreement on technical
cooperation between ISO and CEN (Vienna Agreement), reference should be made to the Guidelines for Chairmen and Secretariats on the implementation of the Vienna
Agreement.
Attention is also drawn to the fact that ISO/IEC JTC 1 Information technology has adopted ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1 together with the JTC 1 Supplement.
0.2   The structure of this Consolidated ISO Supplement
The clause structure of the Consolidated ISO Supplement follows that of Part 1 of the ISO/IEC Directives. In order to assist in cross-referencing the texts, the ISO specific
clauses are highlighted in blue under the clauses of the ISO/IEC Directives. If there is no highlighted blue text under a particular clause, it means that there are no ISO-
specific clauses.
Tables and annexes beginning with “S” in this Consolidated ISO Supplement are all unique to ISO and do not follow the order in the ISO/IECDirectives. Where a reference in
an ISO annex (i.e. beginning with “S”) is made to an annex in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1, this is explicitly indicated.
The following clauses that have been modified with respect to the previous edition of the ISO Supplement:
Foreword, 1.9.1, 1.12.1, 1.12.6, 2.1.6.1, 2.6.2, 2.9.1, 2.9.2, 3.2.1, 4.1.2, Annex SF, Annex SH, Annex SL, Annex SN, Annex SQ, Annex SS and Reference documents. The track
change version of this twelfth edition should be consulted for the details of the changes made (www.iso.org/directives).

1 Organizational structure and responsibilities for the technical work

1.1 Role of the technical management board
The technical management board of the respective organization is responsible for the overall management of the technical work and in particular for:
a) establishment of technical committees;
b) appointment of chairs of technical committees;
c) allocation or re-allocation of secretariats of technical committees and, in some cases, subcommittees;
d) approval of titles, scopes and programmes of work of technical committees;
e) ratification of the establishment and dissolution of subcommittees by technical committees;
f) allocation of priorities, if necessary, to particular items of technical work;
g) coordination of the technical work, including assignment of responsibility for the development of standards regarding subjects of interest to several technical
committees, or needing coordinated development; to assist it in this task, the technical management board may establish advisory groups of experts in the relevant
fields to advise it on matters of basic, sectoral and cross-sectoral coordination, coherent planning and the need for new work;
h) monitoring the progress of the technical work with the assistance of the office of the CEO, and taking appropriate action;
i) reviewing the need for, and planning of, work in new fields of technology;
j) maintenance of the ISO/IEC Directives and other rules for the technical work;
k) consideration of matters of principle raised by National Bodies, and of appeals concerning decisions on new work item proposals, on committee drafts, on enquiry
drafts or on final draft International Standards.
NOTE 1 Explanations of the terms “new work item proposal”, “committee draft”, “enquiry draft” and “final draft International Standard” are given in Clause 2.
NOTE 2 For detailed information about the role and responsibilities of the ISO technical management board, see the Terms of reference of the TMB
— https://www.iso.org/committee/4882545.html and for the IEC see https://www.iec.ch/dyn/www/f?p=103:47:0::::FSP_ORG_ID,FSP_LANG_ID:3228,25.
1.2 Advisory groups to the technical management board
1.2.1 A group having advisory functions in the sense of 1.1 g) may be established
a) by one of the technical management boards;
b) jointly by the two technical management boards.
NOTE In IEC certain such groups are designated as Advisory Committees.
1.2.2 A proposal to establish such a group shall include recommendations regarding its terms of reference and constitution, bearing in mind the requirement for
sufficient representation of affected interests while at the same time limiting its size as far as possible in order to ensure its efficient operation. For example, it may be
decided that its members be only the chairs and secretaries of the technical committees concerned. In every case, the TMB(s) shall decide the criteria to be applied and
shall appoint the members.
Any changes proposed by the group to its terms of reference, composition or, where appropriate, working methods shall be submitted to the technical management
boards for approval.
1.2.3 The tasks allocated to such a group may include the making of proposals relating to the drafting or harmonization of publications (in particular International
Standards, Technical Specifications, Publicly Available Specifications and Technical Reports), but shall not include the preparation of such documents unless specifically
authorized by the TMB(s).
1.2.4 Any document being prepared with a view to publication shall be developed in accordance with the procedural principles given in Annex A.
1.2.5 The results of such a group shall be presented in the form of recommendations to the TMB(s). The recommendations may include proposals for the
establishment of a working group (see 1.12) or a joint working group (see 1.12.6) for the preparation of publications. Such working groups shall operate within the
relevant technical committee, if any.
1.2.6 The internal documents of a group having advisory functions shall be distributed to its members only, with a copy to the office(s) of the CEO(s).
1.2.7 Such a group shall be disbanded once its specified tasks have been completed, or if it is subsequently decided that its work can be accomplished by normal liaison
mechanisms (see 1.16).
1.3 Joint technical work
1.3.1 Joint Technical Advisory Board (JTAB)
The JTAB has the task of avoiding or eliminating possible or actual overlapping in the technical work of ISO and IEC and acts when one of the two organizations feels a
need for joint planning. The JTAB deals only with those cases that it has not been possible to resolve at lower levels by existing procedures. (See Annex B.) Such cases may
cover questions of planning and procedures as well as technical work.
Decisions of the JTAB are communicated to both organizations for immediate implementation. They shall not be subject to appeal for at least 3 years.
1.3.2 Joint Technical Committees (JTC) and Joint Project Committees (JPC)
1.3.2.1 JTC and JPC may be established by a common decision of the ISO/TMB and IEC/SMB, or by a decision of the JTAB.
1.3.2.2 For JPC, one organization has the administrative responsibility. This shall be decided by mutual agreement between the two organizations.
Participation is based on the one member/country, one vote principle.
Where two National Bodies in the same country elect to participate in a JPC then one shall be identified as having the administrative responsibility. The National Body
with the administrative responsibility has the responsibility of coordinating activities in their country, including the circulation of documents, commenting and voting.
Otherwise the normal procedures for project committees are followed (see 1.10).
1.4 Role of the Chief Executive Officer
The Chief Executive Officer of the respective organization is responsible, inter alia, for implementing the ISO/IEC Directives and other rules for the technical work. For
this purpose, the office of the CEO arranges all contacts between the technical committees, the council board and the technical management board.
Deviations from the procedures set out in the present document shall not be made without the authorization of the Chief Executive Officers of ISO or IEC, or
the ISO/IEC Joint Technical Advisory Board (JTAB), or the technical management boards for deviations in the respective organizations.
1.5 Establishment of technical committees
1.5.1 Technical committees are established and dissolved by the technical management board.
1.5.2 The technical management board may transform an existing subcommittee into a new technical committee, following consultation with the technical committee
concerned.
1.5.3 A proposal for work in a new field of technical activity which appears to require the establishment of a new technical committee may be made in the respective
organization by
— a National Body;
— a technical committee or subcommittee;
— a project committee;
— a policy level committee;
— the technical management board;
— the Chief Executive Officer;
— a body responsible for managing a certification system operating under the auspices of the organization;
— another international organization with National Body membership.
1.5.4 The proposal shall be made using the appropriate form (see Annex SJ in the Consolidated ISO Supplement to the ISO/IEC Directives
and https://www.iec.ch/standardsdev/resources/forms_templates/ which covers
a) the proposer;
b) the subject proposed;
c) the scope of the work envisaged and the proposed initial programme of work;
d) a justification for the proposal;
e) if applicable, a survey of similar work undertaken in other bodies;
f) any liaisons deemed necessary with other bodies.
For additional informational details to be included in the proposals for new work, see Annex C. The form shall be submitted to the office of the CEO.
1.5.5 The office of the CEO shall ensure that the proposal is properly developed in accordance with ISO and IEC requirements (see Annex C) and provides sufficient
information to support informed decision making by National Bodies. The office of the CEO shall also assess the relationship of the proposal to existing work, and may
consult interested parties, including the technical management board or committees conducting related existing work. If necessary, an ad hoc group may be established
to examine the proposal.
Following its review, the office of the CEO may decide to return the proposal to the proposer for further development before circulation for voting. In this case, the
proposer shall make the changes suggested or provide justification for not making the changes. If the proposer does not make the changes and requests that its proposal
be circulated for voting as originally presented, the technical management board will decide on appropriate action. This could include blocking the proposal until the
changes are made or accepting that it be balloted as received.
In all cases, the office of the CEO may also include comments and recommendations to the proposal form.
For details relating to justification of the proposal, see Annex C.
Proposers are strongly encouraged to conduct informal consultations with other National Bodies in the preparation of proposals.
In some instances, the ISO Technical Management Board may consider it appropriate to carry out an informal exploratory enquiry.
Technical committees are established by the ISO/TMB on a provisional basis. Following the initial meeting of the technical committee, but no later than 18 months,
provisionally established technical committees are required to prepare a strategic business plan for review by theISO/TMB (see Annex SC). The committees are formally
established by the ISO/TMB at the time of acceptance of the business plan. This does not preclude the initiation of standardization projects during this 18 month period.
1.5.6 The proposal shall be circulated by the office of the CEO to all National Bodies of the respective organization (ISO or IEC), asking whether or not they
a) support the establishment of a new technical committee providing a statement justifying their decision (“justification statement”), and
b) intend to participate actively (see 1.7.1) in the work of the new technical committee.
The proposal shall also be submitted to the other organization (IEC or ISO) for comment and for agreement (see Annex B).
The replies to the proposal shall be made using the appropriate form within 12 weeks after circulation. Regarding 1.5.6 a) above, if no such statement is provided, the
positive or negative vote of a National Body will not be registered and considered.
The form for replies to the proposals has been replaced by an electronic balloting system. Replies not using the electronic balloting system will not be counted.
1.5.7 The technical management board evaluates the replies and either
— decides the establishment of a new technical committee, provided that
1) a 2/3 majority of the National Bodies voting are in favour of the proposal; abstentions are excluded when the votes are counted; and
2) at least 5 National Bodies who voted in favour expressed their intention to participate actively,
and allocates the secretariat (see 1.9.1), or
— assigns the work to an existing technical committee, subject to the same criteria of acceptance.
1.5.8 Technical committees shall be numbered in sequence in the order in which they are established. If a technical committee is dissolved, its number shall not be
allocated to another technical committee.
1.5.9 As soon as possible after the decision to establish a new technical committee, the necessary liaisons shall be arranged (see 1.15 to 1.17).
1.5.10 A new technical committee shall agree on its title and scope as soon as possible after its establishment, preferably by correspondence.
Agreement of the title and scope of the technical committee requires approval by a 2/3 majority of the P-members voting.
The scope is a statement precisely defining the limits of the work of a technical committee.
The definition of the scope of a technical committee shall begin with the words “Standardization of …” or “Standardization in the field of …” and shall be drafted as
concisely as possible.
For recommendations on scopes, see Annex J.
The agreed title and scope shall be submitted by the Chief Executive Officer to the technical management board for approval.
1.5.11 The technical management board or a technical committee may propose a modification of the latter's title and/or scope. The modified wording shall be
established by the technical committee for approval by the technical management board.
1.5.12 “Stand-by” – a technical committee or subcommittee is said to be in a “stand-by” status when it has no tasks on its work programme but retains its title, scope
and secretariat so that it can be reactivated should a new task be assigned to it.
The decision to put a committee on stand-by or to reactivate it is taken by the technical management board on a proposal from the committee in question.
1.6 Establishment of subcommittees
1.6.1 Subcommittees are established and dissolved by a 2/3 majority decision of the P-members of the parent committee voting, subject to ratification by the technical
management board. A subcommittee may be established only on condition that a National Body has expressed its readiness to undertake the secretariat.
1.6.2 At the time of its establishment, a subcommittee shall comprise at least 5 members of the parent technical committee having expressed their intention to
participate actively (see 1.7.1) in the work of the subcommittee.
1.6.3 Subcommittees of a technical committee shall be designated in sequence in the order in which they are established. If a subcommittee is dissolved, its
designation shall not be allocated to another subcommittee, unless the dissolution is part of a complete restructuring of the technical committee.
1.6.4 The title and scope of a subcommittee shall be defined by the parent technical committee and shall be within the defined scope of the parent technical committee.
1.6.5 The secretariat of the parent technical committee shall inform the office of the CEO of the decision to establish a subcommittee, using the appropriate form. The
office of the CEO shall submit the form to the technical management board for ratification of the decision.
1.6.6 As soon as possible after ratification of the decision to establish a new subcommittee, any liaisons deemed necessary with other bodies shall be arranged
(see 1.15 to 1.17).
1.7 Participation in the work of technical committees and subcommittees
It is recognized that member bodies in developing countries often lack the resources to participate in all committees which may be carrying out work which is important
for their national economy. Developing country member bodies are therefore invited to establish P-member twinning arrangements with more experienced P-members.
Under such arrangements, the lead P-member will ensure that the views of the twinned P-member are communicated to and taken into consideration by the responsible
ISO committee. The twinned P-member shall consequently also have the status of P-member (see note) and be registered as a twinned P-member by the Central
Secretariat.
NOTE It is left to the member bodies concerned to determine the most effective way of implementing twinning. This may include for example the P-member sponsoring an expert from the
twinned member body to participate in committee meetings or to act as an expert in a working group, or it may involve the P-member seeking the views of the twinned member body on
particular agenda items/documents and ensuring that the twinned member body provides its positions in writing to the committee secretariat.
The details of all twinning arrangements shall be notified to the secretariat and chair of the committee concerned, with the committee members and the office of the CEO
being informed accordingly to ensure the greatest possible transparency.
A lead P-member shall twin with only one other P-member in any particular committee.
The twinned P-member shall cast its own vote on all issues referred to the committee for vote by correspondence.
For more information on twinnings, see Annex ST for the Twinning Policy.
Consistent with the ISO Statutes and Rules of Procedure, correspondent and subscriber members are not eligible for P-memberships. Correspondent members of ISO may
register as observers of committees but do not have the right to submit comments.
1.7.1 All National Bodies have the right to participate in the work of technical committees and subcommittees.
In order to achieve maximum efficiency and the necessary discipline in the work, each National Body shall clearly indicate to the office of the CEO, with regard to each
technical committee or subcommittee, if it intends
— to participate actively in the work, with an obligation to vote on all questions formally submitted for voting within the technical committee or subcommittee, on new
work item proposals, enquiry drafts and final draft International Standards, and to contribute to meetings (P-members), or
— to follow the work as an observer, and therefore to receive committee documents and to have the right to submit comments and to attend meetings (O-members).
In ISO, National Bodies that choose to be P-members of a committee have the additional obligation to vote on all systematic review ballots under the responsibility of that
committee.
A National Body may choose to be neither P-member nor O-member of a given committee, in which case it will have neither the rights nor the obligations indicated above
with regard to the work of that committee. Nevertheless, all National Bodies irrespective of their status within a technical committee or subcommittee have the right to
vote on enquiry drafts (see 2.6) and on final draft International Standards (see 2.7).
National Bodies have the responsibility to organize their national input in an efficient and timely manner, taking account of all relevant interests at their national level.
1.7.2 Membership of a subcommittee is open to any National Body, regardless of their membership status in the parent technical committee.
Members of a technical committee shall be given the opportunity to notify their intention to become a P- or O-member of a subcommittee at the time of its establishment.
Membership of a technical committee does not imply automatic membership of a subcommittee; National Bodies shall notify their intended status in each subcommittee.
1.7.3 A National Body may, at any time, begin or end membership or change its membership status in any technical committee or subcommittee in IEC by informing
the office of the CEO and the secretariat of the committee concerned, and in ISO by direct input via the Global Directory, subject to the requirements
of clauses 1.7.4 and 1.7.5.
1.7.4 A committee secretariat shall notify the Office of the CEO if a P-member of that committee :
1. has been persistently inactive by failing to attend physically, by correspondence or remotely, 2 successive committee meetings and failing to have any experts
appointed to the technical work, or
2a. In IEC:
Has failed to vote on questions formally submitted for voting within the committee (see 1.7.1).
2b. In ISO:
has failed to vote on over 20 % (and at least 2) of the questions formally submitted for voting on the committee internal balloting (CIB) within the committee over one
calendar year (see 1.7.1).
Upon receipt of such a notification, the Chief Executive Officer shall remind the National Body of its obligation to take an active part in the work of the committee. In the
absence of a satisfactory response to this reminder within 4 weeks, the National Body shall without exception automatically have its status changed to that of O-member.
Even with the existence of a response within 4-weeks, should the member in question continue to be persistently inactive (see condition 1 above) up to and including the
next plenary (or a minimum 6 months), the National Body shall without exception automatically have its status changed to that of O-member.
A National Body having its status so changed may, after a period of 12 months, indicate to the Office of the CEO that it wishes to regain P-membership of the committee, in
which case this shall be granted.
NOTE This clause does not apply to the development of Guides.
1.7.5 If a P-member of a technical committee or subcommittee fails to vote on an enquiry draft or final draft International Standard prepared by the respective
committee, or on a systematic review ballot for a deliverable under the responsibility of the committee, the Chief Executive Officer shall remind the National Body of its
obligation to vote. In the absence of a satisfactory response to this reminder, the National Body shall automatically have its status changed to that of O-member. A
National Body having its status so changed may, after a period of 12 months, indicate to the Chief Executive Officer that it wishes to regain P-membership of the
committee, in which case this shall be granted.
NOTE This clause does not apply to the development of Guides.
1.8 Chairs of technical committees and subcommittees
1.8.1 Appointment
Chairs of technical committees shall be nominated by the secretariat of the technical committee and approved by the technical management board, for a maximum period
of 6 years, or for such shorter period as may be appropriate. Extensions are allowed, up to a cumulative maximum of 9 years.
Chairs of subcommittees shall be nominated by the secretariat of the subcommittee and approved by the technical committee for a maximum period of 6 years, or for
such shorter period as may be appropriate. Extensions are allowed, up to a cumulative maximum of 9 years. Approval criterion for both appointment and extension is
a 2/3 majority vote of the P-members of the technical committee.
Secretariats of technical committees or subcommittees may submit nominations for new chairs up to one year before the end of the term of existing chairs. Chairs
appointed one year before shall be designated as the “chair elect” of the committee in question. This is intended to provide the chair elect an opportunity to learn before
taking over as chair of a committee.
Where two NSBs agree to share the leadership of an ISO committee, they may jointly identify a chair and jointly agree the way in which they will support that chair. In
such cases, the NSB holding the committee secretariat is encouraged to nominate a chair from the other NSB.
For the purposes of transparency, the NSBs involved shall inform the committee members of any cooperative relationships.
The candidates for chairmanships shall have the competencies and attributes listed in Annex L Selection criteria for people leading the technical work (see L.3.1).
1.8.2 Responsibilities
The chair of a technical committee is responsible for the overall management of that technical committee, including any subcommittees and working groups.
The chair of a technical committee or subcommittee shall
a) act in a purely international capacity, divesting him- or herself of a national position; thus s/he cannot serve concurrently as the delegate of a National Body in his or
her own committee;
b) guide the secretary of that technical committee or subcommittee in carrying out his or her duty;
c) conduct meetings with a view to reaching agreement on committee drafts (see 2.5);
d) ensure at meetings that all points of view expressed are adequately summed up so that they are understood by all present;
e) ensure at meetings that all decisions are clearly formulated and made available in written form by the secretary for confirmation during the meeting;
f) take appropriate decisions at the enquiry stage (see 2.6);
g) advise the technical management board on important matters relating to that technical committee via the technical committee secretariat. For this purpose s/he shall
receive reports from the chairs of any subcommittees via the subcommittee secretariats;
h) ensure that the policy and strategic decisions of the technical management board are implemented in the committee;
i) ensure the establishment and ongoing maintenance of a strategic business plan covering the activities of the technical committee and all groups reporting to the
technical committee, including all subcommittees;
j) ensure the appropriate and consistent implementation and application of the committee's strategic business plan to the activities of the technical committee’s or
subcommittee’s work programme;
k) assist in the case of an appeal against a committee decision.
In case of unforeseen unavailability of the chair at a meeting, a session chair may be elected by the participants.
SC chairs shall attend meetings of the parent committee as required and may participate in the discussion, but do not have the right to vote. In exceptional circumstances,
if a chair is prevented from attending, he or she shall delegate the secretary (or in ISO and IEC, another representative) to represent the subcommittee. In the case where
no representative from the SC can attend, a written report shall be provided.
1.8.3 Twinned-chairs
Committees are encouraged to establish chair level twinning arrangements where one ISO member body acts as the lead partner and the other ISO member body as the
twinned partner (with a limit of one Twinned-chair per committee). Twinned-chairs shall be a P-member (i.e. any P-member whether through a twinning arrangement or
not) in the committee concerned. The same rules apply for the appointment and term of chairs and Twinned-chairs. The delineation of responsibilities shall be decided
by mutual agreement and recorded in a twinning agreement between the two member bodies nominating the chair and the Twinned-chair, with the committee members
and the office of the CEO being informed accordingly.
For more information on twinnings, see Annex ST for the Twinning Policy.
1.9 Secretariats of technical committees and subcommittees
1.9.1 Allocation
The secretariat of a technical committee shall be allocated to a National Body by the technical management board.
The secretariat of a subcommittee shall be allocated to a National Body by the parent technical committee. However, if two or more National Bodies offer to undertake the
secretariat of the same subcommittee, the technical management board shall decide on the allocation of the subcommittee secretariat.
Two NSBs may cooperate on the work of an ISO committee secretariat, to support one another on strategic thinking and to share the resource burden of the work. 
However, only one of these parties will be considered the official committee secretariat and such arrangements shall not be considered “co-secretariats”.
If two member bodies wish to create a partnership in which they rotate secretariat responsibilities of a technical committee between them, they shall both meet the
requirements in clause 1.9.1 b) and Annex D of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. If the rotation is proposed at the TC level, the request must be submitted for approval to the
TMB, if it is at SC level approval shall be sought from the TC. If one of the member body partners decides to relinquish the secretariat, the committee shall make a call for
candidates to take over the secretariat. The other partner may submit their candidature to hold the secretariat.
For the purposes of transparency, the NSBs involved shall inform the committee members of any cooperative relationships.
For both technical committees and subcommittees, the secretariat shall be allocated to a National Body only if that National Body
a) has indicated its intention to participate actively in the work of that technical committee or subcommittee, and
b) has accepted that it will fulfil its responsibilities as secretariat and is in a position to ensure that adequate resources are available for secretariat work (see D.2).
Once the secretariat of a technical committee or subcommittee has been allocated to a National Body, the latter shall appoint a qualified individual as secretary
(see D.1 and D.3).
Secretaries shall have the competencies and attributes listed in Annex L Selection criteria for people leading the technical work (see L.3.2).
TC/SC secretariats, at intervals of 5 years, shall normally be subject to reconfirmation by the ISO Technical Management Board.
If, during a year when a particular TC/SC secretariat is due for reconfirmation, TC/SC productivity data show the committee to be experiencing difficulties, this will be
drawn to the attention of the ISO Technical Management Board for decision as to whether a reconfirmation enquiry should be conducted. The allocation of those
secretariats not notified for detailed examination will be reconfirmed automatically.
A reconfirmation enquiry may also be initiated at any time at the request of the Secretary-General or of a P-member of a committee. Such requests shall be accompanied
by a written justification and shall be considered by the ISO Technical Management Board which will decide whether to conduct a reconfirmation enquiry.
The enquiry shall be conducted amongst the P-members of the committee to determine whether the P-members are satisfied that sufficient resources are available to the
secretariat and that the performance of the secretariat is satisfactory. Any P-member responding negatively shall be invited to indicate whether it is willing itself to accept
the secretariat of the committee.
The enquiry shall be conducted by the ISO Technical Management Board in the case of TC secretariats, and by TC secretariats in the case of SC secretariats. However, in
cases where the same member body holds both the TC and SC secretariat, the enquiry shall be conducted by the ISO Technical Management Board.
If there are no negative responses, the secretariat allocation shall be reconfirmed. All negative responses concerning both TC and SC secretariats shall be referred to the
ISO Technical Management Board for decision.
1.9.2 Responsibilities
The National Body to which the secretariat has been allocated shall ensure the provision of technical and administrative services to its respective technical committee or
subcommittee.
The secretariat is responsible for monitoring, reporting, and ensuring active progress of the work, and shall use its utmost endeavour to bring this work to an early and
satisfactory conclusion. These tasks shall be carried out as far as possible by correspondence.
The secretariat is responsible for ensuring that the ISO/IEC Directives and the decisions of the technical management board are followed.
A secretariat shall act in a purely international capacity, divesting itself of a national point of view.
The secretariat is responsible for the following to be executed in a timely manner:
a) Working documents:
1) Preparation of committee drafts, arranging for their distribution and the treatment of the comments received;
2) Preparation of enquiry drafts and text for the circulation of the final draft International Standards or publication of International Standards;
3) Ensuring the equivalence of the English and French texts, if necessary with the assistance of other National Bodies that are able and willing to take responsibility
for the language versions concerned. (See also 1.11 and the respective Supplements to the ISO/IECDirectives);
b) Project management
1) Assisting in the establishment of priorities and target dates for each project;
2) Notifying the names, etc. of all working group and maintenance team convenors and project leaders to the office of the CEO;
3) Proposing proactively the publication of alternative deliverables or cancellation of projects that are running significantly overtime, and/orwhich appear to lack
sufficient support;
c) Meetings (see also Clause 4), including:
1) Establishment of the agenda and arranging for its distribution;
2) Arranging for the distribution of all documents on the agenda, including reports of working groups, and indicating all other documents which are necessary for
discussion during the meeting (see E.5);
3) Regarding the decisions (also referred to as resolutions) taken in a meeting:
— ensuring that the decisions endorsing working groups recommendations contain the specific elements being endorsed;
— making the decisions available in writing for confirmation during the meeting (see E.5); and
— posting the decisions within 48 hours after the meeting in the committee's electronic folder.
4) Preparation of the minutes of meetings to be circulated within 4 weeks after the meeting;
5) Preparation of reports to the technical management board (TC secretariat), in the IEC within 4 weeks after the meeting, or to the parent committee (SC
secretariat);
6) In case of unforeseen unavailability of the secretary at a meeting (if the Secretariat is unable to provide a replacement), an acting secretary may be appointed by
the committee for the meeting.
d) Decisions
The committee secretariat shall ensure that all resolutions are clearly drafted, reviewed, and presented, and all decisions taken by the committee, whether at a plenary
meeting or by correspondence, are documented and traceable through committee resolutions or numbered documents reporting the results of a committee decision;
e) Advising
Providing advice to the chair, project leaders, and convenors on procedures associated with the progression of projects.
In all circumstances, each secretariat shall work in close liaison with the chair of its technical committee or subcommittee. The secretariat and the chair are jointly
responsible for the effective management of the committee.
The secretariat of a technical committee shall maintain close contact with the office of the CEO and with the members of the technical committee regarding its activities,
including those of its subcommittees and working groups.
The secretariat of a subcommittee shall maintain close contact with the secretariat of the parent technical committee and as necessary with the office of the CEO. It shall
also maintain contact with the members of the subcommittee regarding its activities, including those of its working groups.
The secretariat of a technical committee or subcommittee shall update in conjunction with the office of the CEO the record of the status of the membership of the
committee.
The office of the CEO shall also maintain a register of the membership of its working groups.
Member bodies are encouraged to establish twinning arrangements between a secretariat and a twinned secretariat with a limit of one twinned secretariat per
committee. The lead partner will hold the secretariat and the twinned partner the twinned secretariat. Twinned secretariats shall be from member bodies holding P-
membership in the committee concerned (either directly or via a twinning arrangement). The same rules apply for the allocation of secretariats and twinned secretariats,
as well as secretaries and twinned secretaries. The delineation of responsibilities shall be decided by mutual agreement between the member bodies concerned, and
recorded in the twinning agreement, with the committee members and the office of the CEO being informed accordingly.
For more information on twinnings, see Annex ST for the Twinning Policy.
1.9.3 Change of secretariat of a technical committee
If a National Body wishes to relinquish the secretariat of a technical committee, the National Body concerned shall immediately inform the Chief Executive Officer, giving
a minimum of 12 months' notice. The technical management board decides on the transfer of the secretariat to another National Body.
If the secretariat of a technical committee persistently fails to fulfil its responsibilities as set out in these procedures, the Chief Executive Officer or a National Body may
have the matter placed before the technical management board, which may review the allocation of the secretariat with a view to its possible transfer to another National
Body.
Concerning the procedure to follow when the lead partner in a twinning arrangement for a technical committee secretariat wishes to relinquish the secretariat,
see clause ST.5.7 Terminating a twinning arrangement of Annex ST on the Twinning Policy.
1.9.4 Change of secretariat of a subcommittee
If a National Body wishes to relinquish the secretariat of a subcommittee, the National Body concerned shall immediately inform the secretariat of the parent technical
committee, giving a minimum of 12 months' notice.
If the secretariat of a subcommittee persistently fails to fulfil its responsibilities as set out in these procedures, the Chief Executive Officer or a National Body may have
the matter placed before the parent technical committee, which may decide, by majority vote of the P-members, that the secretariat of the subcommittee should be re-
allocated.
In either of the above cases an enquiry shall be made by the secretariat of the technical committee to obtain offers from other P-members of the subcommittee for
undertaking the secretariat.
If two or more National Bodies offer to undertake the secretariat of the same subcommittee or if, because of the structure of the technical committee, the re-allocation of
the secretariat is linked with the re-allocation of the technical committee secretariat, the technical management board decides on the re-allocation of the subcommittee
secretariat. If only one offer is received, the parent technical committee itself proceeds with the appointment.
Concerning the procedure to follow when the lead partner in a twinning arrangement for a subcommittee secretariat wishes to relinquish the secretariat,
see ST.5.7 Terminating a twinning arrangement of Annex ST on the Twinning Policy.
1.10 Project committees
Project committees are established by the technical management board to prepare individual standards not falling within the scope of an existing technical committee.
NOTE Such standards carry one reference number but may be subdivided into parts.
Procedures for project committees are given in Annex K..
Project committees wishing to be transformed into a technical committee shall follow the process for the establishment of a new technical committee (see 1.5).
1.11 Editing committees
It is recommended that committees establish one or more editing committees for the purpose of updating and editing committee drafts, enquiry drafts and final draft
International Standards and for ensuring their conformity to the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see also 2.6.6).
Such committees should comprise at least
— one technical expert of English mother tongue and having an adequate knowledge of French;
— one technical expert of French mother tongue and having an adequate knowledge of English;
— the project leader (see 2.1.8).
The project leader and/or secretary may take direct responsibility for one of the language versions concerned.
Editing committees shall meet when required by the respective technical committee or subcommittee secretariat for the purpose of updating and editing drafts which
have been accepted by correspondence for further processing.
Editing committees shall be equipped with means of processing and providing texts electronically (see also 2.6.6).
1.12 Working groups
1.12.1 Technical committees or subcommittees may establish, by decision of the committee, working groups for specific tasks (see 2.2, 2.4, 2.5and 2.6). A working
group operates by consensus, reports and gives recommendations, if any, to its parent committee through a convenor appointed by the parent committee.
Working group convenors shall be appointed by the committee for up to three-year terms. Such appointments shall be confirmed by the National Body (or liaison
organization). The convenor may be reappointed for additional terms of up to three-years. There is no limit to the number of terms.
Responsibility for any changes of convenors rests with the committee and not with the National Body (or liaison organization).
The convenor may be supported by a secretariat, as needed.
The nomination of the working group secretary shall be confirmed by his/her National Body.
Committees are encouraged to establish arrangements between a convenor and a twinned convenor, with a limit of one twinned convenor per working group. The lead
partner (convenor) and twinned partner (twinned convenor) will be decided by mutual agreement. Convenors and twinned convenors shall be from the P-members in
the committee concerned. The same rules apply for the appointment of convenors and twinned convenors.
Note that twinned convenors are only possible through twinning arrangements.
Co-convenors are only possible in Joint Working Groups (JWG) — see 1.12.6.
For more information on twinnings, see Annex ST for the Twinning Policy.
A working group comprises a restricted number of experts individually appointed by the P-members, A-liaisons of the parent committee and C-liaison organizations,
brought together to deal with the specific task allocated to the working group. The experts act in a personal capacity and not as the official representative of the P-
member or A-liaison organization (see 1.17) by which they have been appointed with the exception of those appointed by C-liaison organizations (see 1.17). However, it
is recommended that they keep close contact with that P-member or organization in order to inform them about the progress of the work and of the various opinions in
the working group at the earliest possible stage. A working group may also include representatives appointed by liaison committees (see 1.15.4).
It is recommended that working groups be reasonably limited in size. The technical committee or subcommittee may therefore decide upon the maximum number of
experts appointed by each P-member and liaison organizations.
Once the decision to set up a working group has been taken, P-members and A- and C-liaison organizations shall be officially informed in order to appoint
expert(s).Working groups shall be numbered in sequence in the order in which they are established.
When a committee has decided to set up a working group, it shall ensure that a convenor or an acting convenor is appointed at the same time the WG is set up. The
convenor shall arrange for the first meeting of the working group to be held within 12 weeks. This information shall be communicated immediately after the committee’s
decision to the P-members of the committee and A- and C-liaison organizations, with an invitation to appoint experts within 6 weeks. Additional projects may be
assigned, where appropriate, to existing working groups.
1.12.2 The composition of the working group is defined in the ISO Global Directory (GD) or in the IEC Expert Management System (EMS) as appropriate. Experts not
registered to a working group in the ISO GD or the IEC EMS respectively, shall not participate in its work. Convenors may invite a specific guest to participate in a single
meeting and shall notify the guest’s National Body of the invitation ahead of the meeting via the office of the CEO.
In case of missing stakeholder categories, the Convenor shall inform the committee secretariat, who shall launch another call for experts.
1.12.3 Persistently inactive experts, meaning absence of contributions through attendance to working group meetings or by correspondence shall be removed, by the
office of the CEO at the request of the technical committee or sub-committee secretary, from working groups after consultation with the P-member.
In case of lack of experts in the working group to meet the minimum number (as defined in clause 2.3.5), the Convenor shall inform the committee secretariat, who shall
launch another call for experts.
If the subsequent call for experts fails to recruit the minimum number of experts, the Convenor shall consult with the committee secretariat to decide if the project can or
should continue. If the decision is to continue with fewer than the minimum number of experts, the committee secretariat shall request permission from the ISO
Technical Management Board to proceed.
1.12.4 On completion of its task(s) — normally at the end of the enquiry stage (see 2.6) of its last project — the working group shall be disbanded by decision of the
committee, the project leader remaining with consultant status until completion of the publication stage (see 2.8).
1.12.5 Distribution of the internal documents of a working group and of its reports shall be carried out in accordance with procedures described in the respective
Supplements of the ISO/IEC Directives.
1.12.6 In special cases a joint working group (JWG) may be established to undertake a specific task in which more than one ISO and/or IEC technical committee or
subcommittee is interested. Committees who receive requests to establish JWG shall reply to such requests in a timely manner.
NOTE For specific rules concerning JWGs between ISO committees and IEC committees, see Annex B in addition to the following.
The decision to establish a joint working group shall be accompanied by mutual agreement between the committees on:
— the committee/organization having the administrative responsibility for the project;
— the convenor of the joint working group, who shall be nominated by a P-member from one of the committees, with the option to appoint a co-convenor from the other
committee;
— the membership of the joint working group (membership is open to P-members, representatives appointed by liaison committees as per 1.15.4, category A liaisons of
the respective committees, and C liaisons that wish to participate. The number of representatives may be limited to an equal number from each committee, if agreed
by concerned committees).
The committee/organization with the administrative responsibility for the project shall:
— record the project in their programme of work;
— conduct the call for experts in all committees that are part of the JWG;
— be responsible for addressing comments (usually referred back to the JWG) and ensure that the comments and votes at all stages of the project are compiled and
handled appropriately (see 2.5, 2.6 and 2.7) — all comments are made available to the leadership of the committees;
— prepare drafts for the committee, enquiry and approval stages according to procedures given in 2.5, 2.6 and 2.7;
— send all relevant documents (minutes, Working drafts, drafts for the committee, enquiry and approval stages) to the secretariat of the other committee(s) for
circulation in their respective committee and/or action;
— be responsible for maintenance of the publication.
Approval criteria are based on the Directives used by the committee with the administrative lead. If the lead committee is a JTC 1 committee, the Consolidated JTC 1
Supplement also applies.
For proposal stage (NP)
— For ISO/ISO or IEC/IEC JWGs, only one NP ballot is needed. If a NP has already been launched or approved in one committee, it cannot be balloted again in another
committee. Two NPs are launched for ISO/IECJWGs, one in each organization.
— It is possible to establish a JWG at a later stage, in which case its administrative lead will be confirmed by the committees concerned.
— Once the joint work is agreed, the committee with the administrative lead informs ISO/CS or IEC/CO respectively, of its lead and of the committees participating in the
work.
— The other committees launch a call for experts for participation in the JWG.
For preparatory stage (WD)
— The JWG functions like any other WG: consensus is required to advance to CD.
For committee stage (CD)
— The CD is circulated for review and comment by each committee.
— The final CD requires consensus by all committees, as defined in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1.
For DIS and FDIS ballots
— National Bodies are requested to consult all national mirror committees involved to define one position. A statement is included on the cover page to draw attention
of National Bodies.
— For an ISO/IEC JWG, two DIS/FDIS votes are launched, i.e. one in each organization.
The Foreword identifies all committees involved in the development of the deliverable.
1.13 Groups having advisory functions within a committee
1.13.1 A group having advisory functions may be established by a technical committee or subcommittee to assist the chair and secretariat in tasks concerning
coordination, planning and steering of the committee’s work or other specific tasks of an advisory nature.
1.13.2 A proposal to establish such a group shall include recommendations regarding its constitution and terms of reference, including criteria for membership,
bearing in mind the requirement for sufficient representation of affected interests while at the same time limiting its size as far as possible in order to ensure its efficient
operation. Members of advisory groups shall be committee officers, individuals nominated by National Bodies and/or, as relevant, by A-liaison organizations. The parent
committee shall approve the final constitution and the terms of reference prior to the establishment of any nominations to the advisory group.
For chair’s advisory groups, consideration shall be given to the provision of equitable participation.
In order to achieve greater involvement by National Bodies in developing countries in the governance of ISO committees, it is strongly recommended that special
provisions be made to allocate places for representatives of developing countries in any advisory groups established by a committee. Those representatives shall be
nominated by member bodies holding P-membership in the committee concerned (either directly or via a twinning arrangement).
1.13.3 The tasks allocated to such a group may include the making of proposals relating to the drafting or harmonization of publications (in particular International
Standards, Technical Specifications, Publicly Available Specifications and Technical Reports), but shall not include the preparation of such documents.
1.13.4 The results of such a group shall be presented in the form of recommendations to the body that established the group. The recommendations may include
proposals for the establishment of a working group (see 1.12) or a joint working group (see 1.12.6) for the preparation of publications.
1.13.5 The internal documents of a group having advisory functions shall be distributed to its members only, with a copy to the secretariat of the committee concerned
and to the office of the CEO.
1.13.6 Such a group shall be disbanded once its specified tasks have been completed and agreed by the parent committee.
1.14 Ad hoc groups
Technical committees or subcommittees may establish ad hoc groups, the purpose of which is to study a precisely defined problem on which the group reports to its
parent committee at the same meeting, or at the latest at the next meeting.
The membership of an ad hoc group shall be chosen from the delegates present at the meeting of the parent committee, supplemented, if necessary, by experts appointed
by the committee. The parent committee shall also appoint a convenor.
An ad hoc group shall be automatically disbanded at the meeting to which it has presented its report.
1.15 Liaison between technical committees
1.15.1 Within each organization, technical committees and/or subcommittees working in related fields shall establish and maintain liaison. Liaisons shall also be
established, where appropriate, with technical committees responsible for basic aspects of standardization (e.g. terminology, graphical symbols). Liaison shall include the
exchange of basic documents, including new work item proposals and working drafts.
Committees shall take an official decision on the establishment or removal of an internal liaison. Committees receiving requests for internal liaisons shall automatically
accept such requests. A notification of this acceptance shall be forwarded to the Office of the CEO and the requesting committee.
1.15.2 The maintenance of such liaison is the responsibility of the respective technical committee secretariats, which may delegate the task to the secretariats of the
subcommittees.
1.15.3 A technical committee or subcommittee may designate a Liaison Representative or Liaison Representatives, to follow the work of another technical committee
with which a liaison has been established, or one or several of its subcommittees. The designation of such Liaison Representatives shall be notified to the secretariat of
the committee concerned, which shall communicate all relevant documents to the Liaison Representative(s) and to the secretariat of that technical committee or
subcommittee. The appointed Liaison Representative shall make progress reports to the secretariat by which s/he has been appointed.
1.15.4 Such Liaison Representatives shall have the right to participate in the meetings of the technical committee or subcommittee whose work they have been
appointed to follow but shall not have the right to vote. They may contribute to the discussion in meetings, including the submission of written comments, on matters
within the competence of their own technical committee and based on feedback that they have collected from their own committee. They may also attend meetings of
working groups of the technical committee or subcommittee, but only to contribute the viewpoint of their own technical committee on matters within its competence.
1.16 Liaison between ISO and IEC
1.16.1 Arrangements for adequate liaison between ISO and IEC technical committees and subcommittees are essential. The channel of correspondence for the
establishment of liaison between ISO and IEC technical committees and subcommittees is through the offices of the CEOs. As far as the study of new subjects by either
organization is concerned, the CEOs seek agreement between the two organizations whenever a new or revised programme of work is contemplated in the one
organization which may be of interest to the other, so that the work will go forward without overlap or duplication of effort. (See also Annex B.)
1.16.2 Liaison Representatives designated by ISO or IEC shall have the right to participate in the discussions of the other organization's technical committee or
subcommittee whose work they have been designated to follow, and may submit written comments; they shall not have the right to vote.
1.17 Liaison with other organizations
1.17.1 General requirements applicable to all categories of liaisons
In order to be effective, liaison shall operate in both directions, with suitable reciprocal arrangements.
The desirability of liaison shall be taken into account at an early stage of the work.
The liaison organization shall accept the policy based on the ISO/IEC Directives concerning copyright (see 2.13), whether owned by the liaison organization or by other
parties. The statement on copyright policy will be provided to the liaison organization with an invitation to make an explicit statement as to its acceptability. The liaison
organization is not entitled to charge a fee for documents submitted.
A liaison organization shall be willing to make a contribution to the technical work of ISO or IEC as appropriate. A liaison organization shall have a sufficient degree of
representativity within its defined area of competence within a sector or subsector of the relevant technical or industrial field.
A liaison organization shall agree to ISO/IEC procedures, including IPR (see 2.13).
Liaison organizations shall accept the requirements of 2.14 on patent rights.
Technical committees and subcommittees shall review all their liaison arrangements on a regular basis, at least every 2 years, or at every committee meeting.
1.17.2 Different categories of liaisons (Category A, B and C)
The categories of liaisons are:
— Category A: Organizations that make an effective contribution to the work of the technical committee or subcommittee for questions dealt with by this technical
committee or subcommittee. Such organizations are given access to all relevant documentation and are invited to meetings. They may nominate experts to participate
in a WG (see 1.12.1).
— Category B: Organizations that have indicated a wish to be kept informed of the work of the technical committee or subcommittee. Such organizations are given
access to reports on the work of a technical committee or subcommittee.
NOTE Category B is reserved for inter-governmental organizations.
— Category C: Organizations that make a technical contribution to and participate actively only in a specific working group.
The procedure for the establishment of liaisons is:
— The organization wishing to create a liaison shall send an application liaison form to the office of the CEO with copies to the technical committee or subcommittee
officers and IEC CO Technical Officer or ISO CS Technical Programme Manager.
— ISO application liaison form is available here
— IEC application liaison form is available here
NOTE Invariably the organization will have been in contact with the technical committee or subcommittee officers prior to submitting its application and in these cases the technical
committee or subcommittee officers should ensure that the organization is aware of their obligations as given in clauses 1.17.1 i.e. copyright, agreeing to ISO/IEC procedures including IPR, and
patent rights.
— The Office of the CEO will confirm that the eligibility criteria have been fulfilled and then consult with the National Body where the organization making the
application has its headquarters;
— In case of objection from the National Body where the organization making the application has its headquarters, the matter will be referred to the technical
management board for decision;
— If there is no objection from the National Body where the organization making the application has its headquarters, the application will be sent to the technical
committee or subcommittee secretary with a request to circulate it for vote.
1.17.3 Acceptance (Category A, B and C liaisons)
Agreement to establish category A, B and C liaisons requires approval of the application by two-thirds of the P-members voting.
Committees are urged to seek out the participation of all parties at the beginning of the development of a work item. Where a request for category C liaison is submitted
late in the development stage of a particular work item, the P-members will consider the value that can be added by the organization in question despite its late
involvement in the working group.
1.17.4 Eligibility
1.17.4.1 At the technical committee/subcommittee level (Category A and B liaisons)
When an organization applies for a liaison with a technical committee/subcommittee, the office of the CEO will check with the member body in the country in which the
organization is located. If the member body does not agree that the eligibility criteria have been met, the matter will be referred to the TMB to define the eligibility.
The office of the CEO will also ensure that the organization meets the following eligibility criteria:
— it is not-for-profit;
— is a legal entity — the office of the CEO will request a copy of its statutes;
— it is membership-based and open to members worldwide or over a broad region;
— through its activities and membership demonstrates that it has the competence and expertise to contribute to the development of International Standards or the
authority to promote their implementation; and
— has a process for stakeholder engagement and consensus decision-making to develop the input it provides (in ISO, see Guidance for ISO liaison organizations —
Engaging stakeholders and building consensus http://www.iso.org/iso/guidance_liaison-organizations.pdf.
1.17.4.2 At the working group level (Category C liaisons)
When an organization applies for a liaison with a working group, the office of the CEO will check with the member body in the country in which the organization is
located and will ensure that the organization meets the following eligibility criteria:
— it is not-for-profit;
— through its activities and membership demonstrates that it has the competence and expertise to contribute to the development of International Standards or the
authority to promote their implementation; and
— has a process for stakeholder engagement and consensus decision-making to develop the input it provides (in ISO, see Guidance for ISO liaison organizations —
Engaging stakeholders and building consensus http://www.iso.org/iso/guidance_liaison-organizations.pdf.
This can include for example manufacturer associations, commercial associations, industrial consortia, user groups and professional and scientific societies. Liaison
organizations shall be multinational (in their objectives and standards development activities) with individual, company or country membership and may be permanent
or transient in nature.
1.17.5 Rights and obligations
1.17.5.1 At the technical committee/subcommittee level (Category A and B liaisons)
Technical committees and subcommittees shall seek the full and, if possible, formal backing of the organizations having liaison status for each document in which the
latter is interested.
Any comments from liaison organizations should be given the same treatment as comments from member bodies. It should not be assumed that refusal by a liaison
organization to provide its full backing is a sustained opposition. Where such objections are considered sustained oppositions, committees are invited to refer
to clause 2.5.6 for further guidance.
1.17.5.2 At the working group level (Category C liaisons)
Category C liaison organizations have the right to participate as full members in a working group, maintenance team or project team (see 1.12.1) but not as project
leaders or convenors.
Category C liaison experts act as the official representative of the organization by which they are appointed. They may only attend committee plenary meetings if
expressly invited by the committee to attend. If they are invited by the committee to attend, they may only attend as observers.
1.17.6 Carrying over liaisons when a project committee is converted into a technical committee or a subcommittee
When a project committee is converted to a technical committee or a subcommittee, the new technical committee or subcommittee shall pass a resolution confirming
which category A and B liaisons are carried over. Approval of the resolution requires a 2/3 majority of P-members voting.
Table 1 — Liaison categories

Category A B C
Purpose To make an effective  To be kept informed of  To make a technical 
contribution to the work of  the work of the committee. contribution to drafting 
the committee. standards in a Working Group.
Eligibility — Not for profit Intergovernmental — Not for profit
Organizations only
— Legal entity — Not for profit — Relevant competence and expertise
— Membership based  — Legal entity — Process for stakeholder engagement and consensus
(worldwide or over  decision-making
a broad region) — Membership based (worldwide or over 
a broad region)
— Relevant competence and expertise (See clause 1.17.4.2 for full 
— Relevant competence and expertise details)
— Process for stakeholder engagement
and  — Process for stakeholder engagement and
consensus decision-making consensus decision-making

(See clause 1.17.4.1 for full  (See clause 1.17.4.1 for full 

details) details)
Level Committee Committee Working Group
Participation Participate in committee meetings, To be kept informed of  Full participation as a member of the WG (but cannot
access to documents, may  the work only (access to  be 
appoint experts to WGs and  documents). convenor or Project Leader).
these experts may serve as 
convenors or Project Leaders.
Rights and No voting rights, but can  No voting rights, but can  Experts can attend committee meetings if expressly
obligations comment (comments are  comment (comments are  invited by the committee, but only 
given the same treatment  given the same treatment  as observers.
as comments from member bodies). as comments from member bodies). Cannot propose new work items.
Can propose new work items Cannot propose new work items.
(see clause 2.3.2).

2 Development of International Standards

2.1 The project approach
2.1.1 General
The primary duty of a technical committee or subcommittee is the development and maintenance of International Standards. However, committees are also strongly
encouraged to consider publication of intermediate deliverables as described in Clause 3.
International Standards shall be developed on the basis of a project approach as described below.
2.1.2 Strategic business plan
Annex SC describes the objectives of strategic business plans, and the procedure that applies to their development and approval.
Each technical committee shall prepare a strategic business plan for its own specific field of activity,
a) taking into account the business environment in which it is developing its work programme;
b) indicating those areas of the work programme which are expanding, those which have been completed, and those nearing completion or in steady progress, and those
which have not progressed and should be cancelled (see also 2.1.9);
c) evaluating revision work needed (see also the respective Supplements to the ISO/IEC Directives);
d) giving a prospective view on emerging needs.
The strategic business plan shall be formally agreed upon by the technical committee and be included in its report for review and approval by the technical management
board on a regular basis.
NOTE In ISO, the TMB approves the first strategic business plan only and committees are responsible for ensuring regular updates and revisions.
2.1.3 Project stages
2.1.3.1 Table 2 shows the sequence of project stages through which the technical work is developed, and gives the name of the document associated with each project
stage. The development of Technical Specifications, Technical Reports and Publicly Available Specifications is described in Clause 3.
Table 2 — Project stages and associated documents

Project stage Associated document

Name Abbreviation
Preliminary stage Preliminary work item a PWI
Proposal stage New work item proposal a NP
Preparatory stage Working draft(s) a WD
 Project stage Associated document
Name Abbreviation
Committee stage Committee draft(s) a CD
Enquiry stage Enquiry draft b ISO/DIS
IEC/CDV
Approval stage final draft International Standard c FDIS
Publication stage International Standard ISO, IEC or ISO/IEC
a
These stages may be omitted, as described in Annex F.
b
Draft International Standard in ISO, committee draft for vote in IEC.
c
May be omitted (see 2.6.4).

2.1.3.2 F.1 illustrates the steps leading to publication of an International Standard.

2.1.3.3 The ISO and IEC Supplements to the ISO/IEC Directives give a matrix presentation of the project stages, with a numerical designation of associated sub-stages.
To facilitate the monitoring of project development, ISO has adopted a systematic approach to project management, based on subdivision of projects into stages and
substages.
The project management system is associated with a detailed project tracking system that is a subset of the Harmonized Stage Code systemISO Guide 69:1999 Harmonized
Stage Code system (Edition 2) — Principles and guidelines for use. Annex SD gives a matrix presentation of this project tracking system, with the numerical designation of
associated sub-stages. A project is registered in the ISO Central Secretariat database as having reached each particular step when the action or decision indicated at that
point has been taken and ISO Central Secretariat has been duly informed.
2.1.4 Project description and acceptance
A project is any work intended to lead to the issue of a new, amended or revised International Standard. A project may subsequently be subdivided (see also 2.1.5.4).
A project shall be undertaken only if a proposal has been accepted in accordance with the relevant procedures (see 2.3 for proposals for new work items, and the
respective Supplements to the ISO/IEC Directives for review and maintenance of existing International Standards).
2.1.5 Programme of work
2.1.5.1 The programme of work of a technical committee or subcommittee comprises all projects allocated to that technical committee or subcommittee, including
maintenance of published standards.
2.1.5.2 In establishing its programme of work, each technical committee or subcommittee shall consider sectoral planning requirements as well as requests for
International Standards initiated by sources outside the technical committee, i.e. other technical committees, advisory groups of the technical management board, policy
level committees and organizations outside ISO and IEC. (See also 2.1.2.)
2.1.5.3 Projects shall be within the agreed scope of the technical committee. Their selection shall be subject to close scrutiny in accordance with the policy objectives
and resources of ISO and IEC. (See also Annex C.)
2.1.5.4 Each project in the programme of work shall be given a number (see IEC Supplements to the ISO/IEC Directives for document numbering at the IEC) and shall
be retained in the programme of work under that number until the work on that project is completed or its cancellation has been agreed upon. During the development
of the project, the committee may decide to subdivide its number if it is subsequently found necessary to subdivide the project itself. The subdivisions of the work shall
lie fully within the scope of the original project; otherwise, a new work item proposal shall be made. The original project shall be cancelled after subdivision.
2.1.5.5 The programme of work shall indicate, if appropriate, the subcommittee and/or working group to which each project is allocated.
2.1.5.6 The agreed programme of work of a new technical committee shall be submitted to the technical management board for approval.
2.1.6 Target dates
The committee shall establish, for each project on its programme of work, target dates for the completion of each of the following steps:
— circulation of the first working draft (in the event that only an outline of a working document has been provided by the proposer of the new work item proposal —
see 2.3);
— circulation of the committee draft ballot (if any);
— submission of the enquiry draft;
— submission of the final draft International Standard;
— publication (in agreement with the office of the CEO).
NOTE Committees may decide to skip the committee draft (CD) stage in accordance with Annex SS. The final draft International Standard (FDIS) shall be skipped if no technical changes are
to be included in accordance with 2.6.4.
These target dates shall correspond to the shortest possible development times to produce International Standards rapidly and shall be reported to the office of the CEO,
which distributes the information to all National Bodies. For establishment of target dates, see the respective Supplements to the ISO/IEC Directives.
In establishing target dates, the relationships between projects shall be taken into account. Priority shall be given to those projects intended to lead to International
Standards upon which other International Standards will depend for their implementation. The highest priority shall be given to those projects having a significant effect
on international trade and recognized as such by the technical management board.
The technical management board may also instruct the secretariat of the technical committee or subcommittee concerned to submit the latest available draft to the office
of the CEO for publication as a Technical Specification (see 3.1).
All target dates shall be kept under continuous review and amended as necessary, and shall be clearly indicated in the programme of work. Revised target dates shall be
notified to the technical management board. The technical management board will cancel all work items which have been on the work programme for more than 5 years
and have not reached the approval stage (see 2.7).
2.1.6.1 General
When a proposed new project is approved (whether for a new deliverable or for the revision of an existing deliverable), when submitting the results to the ISO Central
Secretariat the committee secretariat shall also indicate the selected standards development track, as follows:
SDT 18 standards development track — 18 months to publication
SDT 24 standards development track — 24 months to publication
SDT 36 standards development track — 36 months to publication
The following limit dates are automatically assigned to all new projects:
— DIS registered limit date (stage 40.00): 12 months before the end of the selected standards development track.
— Publication limit date (stage 60.60): Maximum timeframe of the selected standards development track.
NOTE Standards projects using the 18-month development track shall be eligible for ‘a priority treatment process’ offered by ISO/CS if they are submitted toISO/CS for publication within 16
months of the project’s registration. This process reduces publication processing time by approximately one third.
Committee secretariats are reminded to perform risk assessments during project planning in order to identify potential problems in advance and set the target dates
accordingly. The target dates shall be kept under continuous review by committee secretariats which shall ensure that they are reviewed and either confirmed or revised
at each committee meeting. Such reviews shall also seek to confirm that projects are still market relevant and in cases in which they are found to be no longer required, or
if the likely completion date is going to be too late, thus causing market players to adopt an alternative solution, the projects shall be cancelled or transformed into
another deliverable (see 2.1.6.2).
NOTE Time spent on round-robin testing during the development of a standard shall not be counted in the overall development time. The standards development track is paused on request
from the secretariat to ISO/CS during round-robin testing.
2.1.6.2 Automatic cancellation of projects (and their reinstatement)
If the limit date for DIS (stage 40.00) or publication (stage 60.60) is exceeded, the committee shall decide within 6 months on one of the following actions:
a) for projects at the preparatory or committee stages: submission of a DIS — if the technical content is acceptable and mature;
b) for projects at the enquiry stage: submission of a second DIS or FDIS — if the technical content is acceptable and mature;
c) publication of a TS — if the technical content is acceptable but unlikely sufficiently mature for a future International Standard;
d) publication of a PAS — if the technical content is acceptable but unlikely sufficiently mature for a future International Standard or a TS;
e) submission of a request for extension to the ISO/TMB — if no consensus can be reached but there is strong interest from stakeholders to continue — a committee may
be granted one extension of up to 9 months for the total project duration but the publication of intermediary deliverables (such as PAS and TS) is recommended;
f) cancellation of the work item — if the committee is unable to find a solution.
If, at the end of the six month period, none of the above actions has been taken, the project shall be automatically cancelled by the ISO Central Secretariat. Such projects
may only be reinstated with the approval of the ISO Technical Management Board.
2.1.7 Project management
The secretariat of the technical committee or subcommittee is responsible for the management of all projects in the programme of work of that technical committee or
subcommittee, including monitoring of their progress against the agreed target dates.
If target dates (see 2.1.6) are not met and there is insufficient support for the work (that is, the acceptance requirements for new work given in 2.3.5 are no longer met),
the committee responsible shall cancel the work item.
2.1.8 Project leader
For the development of each project, a project leader (the WG convenor, a designated expert or, if appropriate, the secretary) shall be appointed by the committee, taking
into account the project leader nomination made by the proposer of the new work item proposal (see 2.3.4). A change of project leader for an active project shall be
approved by the committee. It shall be ascertained that the project leader will have access to appropriate resources for carrying out the development work. The project
leader shall act in a purely international capacity, divesting him- or herself of a national point of view. The project leader should be prepared to act as consultant, when
required, regarding technical matters arising at the proposal stage through to the publication stage (see 2.5 to 2.8).
The secretariat shall communicate the name and address of the project leader, with identification of the project concerned, to the office of the CEO.
2.1.9 Progress control
Periodical progress reports to the technical committee shall be made by its subcommittees and working groups (see also ISO and IEC Supplements to
the ISO/IEC Directives). Meetings between their secretariats will assist in controlling the progress.
The office of the CEO shall monitor the progress of all work and shall report periodically to the technical management board. For this purpose, the office of the CEO shall
receive copies of documents as indicated in the ISO and IEC Supplements to the ISO/IEC Directives.
To enable ISO Central Secretariat to monitor the progress of all work and to report periodically to the ISO Technical Management Board, the committee secretariat shall
ensure that the ISO Central Secretariat is notified each time a new document is distributed.
2.1.10 Responsibility for keeping records
The responsibility for keeping records concerning committee work and the background to the publication of International Standards and other ISO deliverables is
divided between committee secretariats and the ISO Central Secretariat. The maintenance of such records is of particular importance in the context of changes of
secretariat responsibility from one member body to another. It is also important that information on key decisions and important correspondence pertaining to the
preparation of International Standards and other ISO deliverables should be readily retrievable in the event of any dispute arising out of the provenance of the technical
content of the publications.
The secretariats of committees shall establish and maintain records of all official transactions concerning their committees, in particular reference copies of approved
minutes of meetings and resolutions. Copies of working documents, results of ballots etc. shall be kept at least until such time as the publications to which they refer have
been revised or have completed their next systematic review, but in any case for a minimum of five years after the publication of the related International Standards or
other ISO deliverable.
The ISO Central Secretariat shall keep reference copies of all International Standards and other ISO deliverables, including withdrawn editions, and shall keep up-to-date
records of member body votes in respect of these publications. Copies of draft International Standards (DIS) and of final draft International Standards (FDIS), including
associated reports of voting, and final proofs shall be kept at least until such time as the publications to which they refer have been revised or have completed their next
systematic review, but in any case for a minimum of five years after publication.
2.2 Preliminary stage
2.2.1 Technical committees or subcommittees may introduce into their work programmes, by a simple majority vote of their P-members, preliminary work items (for
example, corresponding to subjects dealing with emerging technologies), which are not yet sufficiently mature for processing to further stages and for which no target
dates can be established.
Such items may include, for example, those listed in the strategic business plan, particularly as given under 2.1.2 d) giving a prospective view on emerging needs.
2.2.2 All preliminary work items shall be registered into the programme of work.
2.2.3 All preliminary work items shall be subject to regular review by the committee. The committee shall evaluate the market relevance and resources required for all
such items.
All preliminary work items that have not progressed to the proposal stage in the IEC by the expiration date given by the committee and in ISO within 3 years will be
automatically cancelled.
2.2.4 This stage can be used for the elaboration of a new work item proposal (see 2.3) and the development of an initial draft.
2.2.5 Before progressing to the preparatory stage, all such items shall be subject to approval in accordance with the procedures described in 2.3.
2.3 Proposal stage
In the case of proposals to prepare management system deliverables, see Annex SL.
2.3.1 A new work item proposal (NP) is a proposal for:
— a new standard;
— a new part of an existing standard;
— a Technical Specification (see 3.1) or a Publicly Available Specification (see 3.2).
The NP stage (clause 2.3) is not required for:
— the revision or amendment of an existing International Standard,
— the revision of an existing TS or a PAS (if within its 6-year lifespan),
— the conversion of a TS or PAS to an IS.
However, the committee shall pass a resolution containing the following elements: 1) target dates, 2) confirmation that the scope will not be expanded, and 3) the
convenor or project leader. The committee shall also launch a call for experts (Form 4 is not required).
For the conversion of a TS or a PAS to an IS, a two-thirds majority resolution is required.
If the revision or the amendment results in an expanded scope, 2.3 applies (NP ballot shall be initiated and Form 4 is required).
2.3.2 A new work item proposal within the scope of an existing technical committee or subcommittee may be made in the respective organization by
— a National Body;
— the secretariat of that technical committee or subcommittee;
— another technical committee or subcommittee;
— an organization in category A liaison;
— the technical management board or one of its advisory groups;
— the Chief Executive Officer.
2.3.3 Where both an ISO and an IEC technical committee are concerned, the Chief Executive Officers shall arrange for the necessary coordination. (See also Annex B.)
2.3.4 Each new work item proposal shall be presented using the appropriate form, and shall be fully justified and properly documented (see Annex C.).
The proposers of the new work item proposal shall
— make every effort to provide a first working draft for discussion, or shall at least provide an outline of such a working draft;
— nominate a project leader;
— discuss the proposal with the committee leadership prior to submitting the appropriate form, in order to decide on an appropriate development track (based on
market needs) and draft a project plan including key milestones and the proposed date of the first meeting.
The form shall be submitted to the office of the CEO or to the secretariat of the relevant committee for proposals within the scope of an existing committee.
The office of the CEO or the relevant committee chair and secretariat shall ensure that the proposal is properly developed in accordance with ISO and IEC requirements
(see Annex C) and provides sufficient information to support informed decision making by National Bodies.
The office of the CEO or the relevant committee chair and secretariat shall also assess the relationship of the proposal to existing work, and may consult interested
parties, including the technical management board or committees conducting related existing work. If necessary, an ad hoc group may be established to examine the
proposal. Any review of proposals should not exceed 2 weeks.
In all cases, the office of the CEO or the relevant committee chair and secretariat may also add comments and recommendations to the proposal form.
See Annex K for new work item proposals for project committees.
Copies of the completed form shall be circulated to the members of the technical committee or subcommittee for P-member ballot and to the O-members and liaison
members for information.
The proposed date of availability of the publication shall be indicated on the form.
A decision upon a new work item proposal shall be taken by correspondence.
Votes shall be returned within 12 weeks.
The committee may decide on a case-by-case basis by way of a resolution to shorten the voting period for new work item proposals to 8 weeks.
When completing the ballot form, National Bodies shall provide a statement justifying their decision for negative votes (“justification statement”). If no such statement is
provided, the negative vote of a National Body will not be registered and considered.
2.3.5 Acceptance requires
a) approval of the work item by a 2/3 majority of the P-members of the technical committees or subcommittees voting — abstentions are excluded when the votes are
counted; and
b) a commitment to participate actively in the development of the project, i.e. to make an effective contribution at the preparatory stage, by nominating technical experts
and by commenting on working drafts, by at least 4 P-members in committees with 16 or fewer P-members, and at least 5 P-members in committees with 17 or more
P-members; only P-members having also approved the inclusion of the work item in the programme of work [see a)] will be taken into account when making this tally.
If experts are not nominated on the form accompanying an approval vote, then the National Body's commitment to active participation will not be registered and
considered when determining if the approval criteria have been met on this ballot.
If in the context of an NP, a member body does not provide a clear justification statement for why it voted “no”, the committee secretariat should go back to the member
body and give it two (2) weeks to provide an explanation.
If the member body does not provide a response within that 2-week period, the vote will not be counted in the result.
Secretariats shall not make value judgments about the justification and shall ask the member body in case of doubt.
If member bodies do not name an expert in the Form, they have two (2) weeks following the result of the vote to name their expert. If this delay is not respected, the
member body's participation will not be counted, thereby affecting the approval requirement for b) above.
Individual committees may increase this minimum requirement of nominated experts.
In cases, where it can be documented that the industry and/or technical knowledge exists only with a very small number of P-members, then the committee may request
permission from the technical management board to proceed with fewer than 4 or 5 nominated technical experts.
2.3.6 Once a new work item proposal is accepted, it shall be registered in the programme of work of the relevant technical committee or subcommittee as a new
project with the appropriate priority. The agreed target dates (see 2.1.6) shall be indicated on the appropriate form.
The voting results will be reported to the ISO Central Secretariat (using Form 6) or the IEC Central Office (using Form RVN) within 4 weeks after the close of the ballot.
2.3.7 The inclusion of the project in the programme of work concludes the proposal stage.
2.4 Preparatory stage
2.4.1 The preparatory stage covers the preparation of a working draft (WD) conforming to the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
2.4.2 When a new project is accepted the project leader shall work with the experts nominated by the P-members during the approval [see 2.3.5 a)].
2.4.3 The secretariat may propose to the technical committee or subcommittee, either at a meeting or by correspondence, to create a working group the convenor of
which will normally be the project leader.
Such a working group shall be set up by the technical committee or subcommittee, which shall define the task(s) and set the target date(s) for submission of draft(s) to
the technical committee or subcommittee (see also 1.12). The working group convenor shall ensure that the work undertaken remains within the scope of the balloted
work item.
If there is consensus that a scope requires expansion or significant technical changes this shall be confirmed by committee decision with a 2/3rdmajority.
2.4.4 In responding to the proposal to set up a working group those P-members having agreed to participate actively [see 2.3.5 a)] shall each confirm their technical
expert(s). Other P-members or A- or C- liaison organizations may also nominate expert(s).
2.4.5 The project leader is responsible for the development of the project and will normally convene and chair any meetings of the working group. S/he may invite a
member of the working group to act as its secretary.
2.4.6 Every possible effort shall be made to prepare both a French and an English version of the text in order to avoid delays in the later stages of the development of
the project.
If a trilingual (English — French — Russian) standard is to be prepared, this provision should include the Russian version.
2.4.7 For time limits relating to this stage, see 2.1.6.
2.4.8 The preparatory stage ends when a working draft is available for circulation to the members of the technical committee or subcommittee as a first committee
draft (CD) and is registered by the office of the CEO. The committee may also decide to publish the final working draft as a PAS (see 3.2) to respond particular market
needs.
If the committee has opted to skip the CD (see 2.5), the preparatory stage ends when the enquiry draft (DIS) is available for circulation (see 2.6).
2.5 Committee stage
2.5.1 The committee stage is the principal stage at which comments from National Bodies are taken into consideration, with a view to reaching consensus on the
technical content. National Bodies shall therefore carefully study the texts of committee drafts and submit all pertinent comments at this stage.
Committees may decide to skip the CD stage in accordance with Annex SS.
Any graphical symbol shall be submitted to the relevant ISO committee responsible for the registration of graphical symbols (see Annex SH).
2.5.2 As soon as it is available, a committee draft shall be circulated to all P-members and O-members of the technical committee or subcommittee for consideration,
with a clear indication of the latest date for submission of replies.
A period of 8, 12 or 16 weeks as agreed by the technical committee or subcommittee shall be available for National Bodies to comment.
The default for CD circulation is 8 weeks.
Comments shall be sent for preparation of the compilation of comments, in accordance with the instructions given.
2.5.3 No more than 4 weeks after the closing date for submission of replies, the secretariat shall prepare the compilation of comments and arrange for its circulation to
all P-members and O-members of the technical committee or subcommittee. When preparing this compilation, the secretariat shall indicate its proposal, made in
consultation with the chair of the technical committee or subcommittee and, if necessary, the project leader, for proceeding with the project, either
a) to discuss the committee draft and comments at the next meeting, or
b) to circulate a revised committee draft for consideration, or
c) to register the committee draft for the enquiry stage (see 2.6).
In the case of b) and c), the secretariat shall indicate in the compilation of comments the action taken on each of the comments received. This shall be made available to
all P-members, if necessary by the circulation of a revised compilation of comments, no later than in parallel with the submission of a revised CD for consideration by the
committee (case b) or simultaneously with the submission of the finalized version of the draft to the office of the CEO for registration for the enquiry stage (case c).
Committees are required to respond to all comments received.
If, within 8 weeks from the date of dispatch, 2 or more P-members disagree with proposal b) or c) of the secretariat, the committee draft shall be discussed at a meeting
(see 4.2.1.3).
2.5.4 If a committee draft is considered at a meeting but agreement on it is not reached on that occasion, a further committee draft incorporating decisions taken at the
meeting shall be distributed within 12 weeks for consideration. A period of 8, 12 or 16 weeks as agreed by the technical committee or subcommittee shall be available to
National Bodies to comment on the draft and on any subsequent versions.
2.5.5 Consideration of successive drafts shall continue until consensus of the P-members of the technical committee or subcommittee has been obtained or a decision
to abandon or defer the project has been made.
2.5.6 The decision to circulate an enquiry draft (see 2.6.1) shall be taken on the basis of the consensus principle.
It is the responsibility of the chair of the technical committee or subcommittee, in consultation with the secretary of his/her committee and, if necessary, the project
leader, to judge whether there is sufficient support bearing in mind the definition of consensus given in ISO/IEC Guide 2:2004.
“consensus: General agreement, characterized by the absence of sustained opposition to substantial issues by any important part of the concerned interests and by a
process that involves seeking to take into account the views of all parties concerned and to reconcile any conflicting arguments.
NOTE     Consensus need not imply unanimity.”
The following applies to the definition of consensus:
In the process of reaching consensus, many different points of views will be expressed and addressed as the document evolves. However, “sustained oppositions” are
views expressed at minuted meetings of committee, working group (WG) or other groups (e.g. task forces, advisory groups, etc.) and which are maintained by an
important part of the concerned interest and which are incompatible with the committee consensus. The notion of “concerned interest(s)” will vary depending on the
dynamics of the committee and shall therefore be determined by the committee leadership on a case by case basis. The concept of sustained opposition is not applicable
in the context of member body votes on CD, DIS or FDIS since these are subject to the applicable voting rules.
Those expressing sustained oppositions have a right to be heard and the following approach is recommended when a sustained opposition is declared:
— The leadership shall first assess whether the opposition can be considered a “sustained opposition”, i.e. whether it has been sustained by an important part of the
concerned interest. If this is not the case, the leadership will register the opposition (i.e. in the minutes, records, etc.) and continue to lead the work on the document.
— If the leadership determines that there is a sustained opposition, it is required to try and resolve it in good faith. However, a sustained opposition is not akin to a right
to veto. The obligation to address the sustained oppositions does not imply an obligation to successfully resolve them.
The responsibility for assessing whether or not consensus has been reached rests entirely with the leadership. This includes assessing whether there is sustained
opposition or whether any sustained opposition can be resolved without compromising the existing level of consensus on the rest of the document. In such cases, the
leadership will register the opposition and continue the work.
Those parties with sustained oppositions may avail themselves of appeals mechanisms as detailed in Clause 5.
In case of doubt concerning consensus, approval by a two-thirds majority of the P-members of the technical committee or subcommittee voting may be deemed to be
sufficient for the committee draft to be accepted for registration as an enquiry draft; however every attempt shall be made to resolve negative votes.
Abstentions are excluded when the votes are counted, as well as negative votes not accompanied by technical reasons.
The secretariat of the technical committee or subcommittee responsible for the committee draft shall ensure that the enquiry draft fully embodies decisions taken either
at meetings or by correspondence.
2.5.7 When consensus has been reached in a technical committee or subcommittee, its secretariat shall submit the finalized version of the draft in electronic form
suitable for distribution to the national members for enquiry (2.6.1), to the office of the CEO (with a copy to the technical committee secretariat in the case of a
subcommittee) within a maximum of 16 weeks.
The secretariat shall submit the proposed draft International Standard (DIS) to the ISO Central Secretariat in electronic format together with a completed explanatory
report (ISO form 8A) and the compilation of comments and actions taken in response to comments on the final CD.
2.5.8 For time limits relating to this stage, see 2.1.6.
2.5.9 The committee stage ends when all technical issues have been resolved and a committee draft is accepted for circulation as an enquiry draft and is registered by
the office of the CEO. Texts that do not conform to the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 shall be returned to the secretariat with a request for correction before they are
registered.
2.5.10 If the technical issues cannot all be resolved within the appropriate time limits, technical committees and subcommittees may wish to consider publishing an
intermediate deliverable in the form of a Technical Specification (see 3.1) pending agreement on an International Standard.
2.6 Enquiry stage
2.6.1 At the enquiry stage, the enquiry draft (DIS in ISO, CDV in IEC) shall be circulated by the office of the CEO to all National Bodies for a 12-week vote.
For policy on the use of languages, see Annex E.
National Bodies shall be advised of the date by which completed ballots are to be received by the office of the CEO.
At the end of the voting period, the chair and secretariat of the committee will have access to the results of the voting together with any comments received, for further
speedy action.
2.6.2 Votes submitted by National Bodies shall be explicit: positive, negative, or abstention.
A positive vote may be accompanied by editorial or technical comments, on the understanding that the secretary, in consultation with the chair of the technical
committee or subcommittee and project leader, will decide how to deal with them.
If a National Body finds an enquiry draft unacceptable, it shall vote negatively and state the technical reasons. It may indicate that the acceptance of specified technical
modifications will change its negative vote to one of approval, but it shall not cast an affirmative vote which is conditional on the acceptance of modifications.
In the case where a member body has voted negatively without submitting a justification, the vote will not be counted.
In the case where a Member Body has voted negatively and has submitted comments that are not clearly of a technical nature, the committee secretary shall contact the
Member Body within 2 weeks of the ballot closure. If the committee leadership and the Member Body do not find an agreement, the matter is escalated to the Technical
Management Board via the Office of the CEO.
2.6.3 An enquiry draft is approved if
a) a two-thirds majority of the votes cast by the P-members of the technical committee or subcommittee are in favour, and
b) not more than one-quarter of the total number of votes cast are negative.
Abstentions are excluded when the votes are counted, as well as negative votes not accompanied by technical reasons.
Comments received after the normal voting period are submitted to the technical committee or subcommittee secretariat for consideration at the time of the next review
of the International Standard.
2.6.4 On receipt of the results of the voting and any comments, the chair of the technical committee or subcommittee, in cooperation with its secretariat and the
project leader, and in consultation with the office of the CEO, shall take one of the following courses of action:
a) when the approval criteria of 2.6.3 are met and no technical changes are to be included, to proceed directly to publication (see 2.8);
b) when the approval criteria of 2.6.3 are met, but technical changes are to be included, to register the enquiry draft, as modified, as a final draft international standard;
c) when the approval criteria of 2.6.3 are not met:
1) to circulate a revised enquiry draft for voting (see 2.6.1), or

NOTE A revised enquiry draft will be circulated for a voting period of 8 weeks, which may be extended up to 12 weeks at the request of one or more P-members
of the committee concerned.

2) to circulate a revised committee draft for comments, or

3) to discuss the enquiry draft and comments at the next meeting, or
4) to propose the publication of a revised draft as a TS or PAS, or
5) to propose the cancellation of the project.
2.6.5 Not later than 12 weeks after the end of the voting period, a full report shall be prepared by the secretariat of the technical committee or subcommittee and
circulated by the office of the CEO to the National Bodies. The report shall
a) show the result of the voting;
b) state the decision of the chair of the technical committee or subcommittee;
c) reproduce the text of the comments received; and
d) include the observations of the secretariat of the technical committee or subcommittee on each of the comments submitted.
Every attempt shall be made to resolve negative votes.
If, within 8 weeks from the date of dispatch, two or more P-members disagree with decision 2.6.4 c)1) or 2.6.4 c)2) of the chair, the draft shall be discussed at a meeting
(see 4.2.1.3).
Committees are required to respond to all comments received.
2.6.6 When the chair has taken the decision to proceed to the approval stage (see 2.7) or publication stage (see 2.8), the secretariat of the technical committee or
subcommittee shall prepare, within a maximum of 16 weeks after the end of the voting period and with the assistance of its editing committee, a final text and send it to
the office of the CEO for preparation and circulation of the final draft International Standard.
The secretariat shall provide the office of the CEO with the text in a revisable electronic format and also in a format which permits validation of the revisable form.
Texts that do not conform to the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 shall be returned to the secretariat with a request for correction before they are registered.
The revised text shall be submitted to ISO Central Secretariat in electronic format together with the decision of the chair taken as a result of the voting, using ISO
Form 13, and including a detailed indication of the decisions taken for each comment as Annex B to the ISO Form 13.
2.6.7 For time limits relating to this stage, see 2.1.6.
2.6.8 The enquiry stage ends with the registration, by the office of the CEO, of the text for circulation as a final draft International Standard or publication as an
International Standard, in the case of 2.6.4 a) and b).
2.7 Approval stage
2.7.1 At the approval stage, the final draft International Standard (FDIS) shall be distributed by the office of the CEO within 12 weeks to all National Bodies for a 8-
week vote (6 weeks in IEC).
National Bodies shall be advised of the date by which ballots are to be received by the office of the CEO.
2.7.2 Votes submitted by National Bodies shall be explicit: positive, negative, or abstention.
A National Body may submit comments on any FDIS vote.
If a National Body finds a final draft International Standard unacceptable, it shall vote negatively and state the technical reasons. It shall not cast an affirmative vote that is
conditional on the acceptance of modifications.
In the case where a member body has voted negatively without submitting a justification, the vote will not be counted.
In the case where a Member Body has voted negatively and has submitted comments that are not clearly of a technical nature, the committee secretary shall contact the
Member Body within 2 weeks of the ballot closure. If the committee leadership and the Member Body do not find an agreement, the matter is escalated to the Technical
Management Board via the Office of the CEO.
2.7.3 A final draft International Standard having been circulated for voting is approved if
a) a two-thirds majority of the votes cast by the P-members of the technical committee or subcommittee are in favour, and
b) not more than one-quarter of the total number of votes cast are negative.
Abstentions are excluded when the votes are counted, as well as negative votes not accompanied by technical reasons.
2.7.4 The secretariat of the technical committee or subcommittee has the responsibility of bringing any errors that may have been introduced in the preparation of the
draft to the attention of the office of the CEO by the end of the voting period; further editorial or technical amendments are not acceptable at this stage.
2.7.5 All comments received will be retained for the next review and will be recorded on the voting form as “noted for future consideration”. However, the Secretary
along with the office of the CEO may seek to resolve obvious editorial errors. Technical changes to an approved FDIS are not allowed.
At the end of the voting period, the result of voting, indicating either the formal approval by National Bodies to issue the International Standard or formal rejection of the
final draft International Standard, are available to all National Bodies.
2.7.6 If the final draft International Standard has been approved in accordance with the conditions of 2.7.3, it shall proceed to the publication stage (see 2.8).
2.7.7 If the final draft International Standard is not approved in accordance with the conditions in 2.7.3, the document shall be referred back to the technical
committee or subcommittee concerned for reconsideration in the light of the technical reasons submitted in support of the negative votes.
The committee shall decide to:
— resubmit a modified draft as a committee draft, enquiry draft or, in ISO and JTC 1, final draft International Standard; or
— publish a Technical Specification or a Publicly Available Specification (see 3.1 and 3.2); or
— cancel the project.
2.7.8 The approval stage ends with the circulation of the voting report (see 2.7.5) stating that the FDIS has been approved for publication as an International Standard,
with the publication of a Technical Specification (see 3.1.1), or with the document being referred back to the committee.
2.8 Publication stage
2.8.1 Within 6 weeks, the office of the CEO shall correct any errors indicated and validated by the secretariat of the technical committee or subcommittee, and publish
and distribute the International Standard.
Before publication the document is sent to the secretary and project leader for final review.
2.8.2 The publication stage ends with the publication of the International Standard.
2.9 Maintenance of deliverables
The procedures for the maintenance of deliverables are given in the respective Supplements to the ISO/IEC Directives.
2.9.1 Introduction
Every International Standard and other deliverable published by ISO or jointly with IEC shall be subject to systematic review in order to determine whether it should be
confirmed, revised, amended (for International Standard), converted to another form of deliverable, or withdrawn, according to Table S1.
A committee may at any time between systematic reviews pass a resolution initiating a revision of a deliverable.
See clause 2.3.1 for the process for initiating a revision of an existing deliverable (or amendment of an existing International Standard).
For minor changes to International Standards, e.g. updating and editorial changes, that do not impact the technical content, a shortened procedure called “minor revision”
may be applied. This is comprised only of the proposal for a minor revision by the committee (through a resolution and completion of ISO form 8B), approval and
publication stages (see 2.7 and 2.8). Subsequent to the resolution of the responsible technical committee and consultation of the responsible ISO Technical Programme
Manager, a final draft of the revised deliverable shall be submitted to ISO/CS within a maximum of 16 weeks, for an 8 week FDIS vote, or 12 weeks in the case of Vienna
Agreement documents. The Foreword of the next edition of the deliverable shall indicate that it is a minor revision and list the updates and editorial changes made.
Table S1 — Timing of systematic reviews

Deliverable Max. elapsed time  Max. number of  Max. life

before systematic  times deliverable 
review may be confirmed
International Standard 5 years Not limited Not limited
Technical Specification  3 years Once recommended 6 years recommended
(see 3.1.3)
Publicly Available Specification (see 3.2.4) 3 years Once 6 years 
(If not converted after this 
period, the deliverable is 
proposed for withdrawal)
Technical Report (see 3.3.3) Not specified Not specified Not limited

A systematic review will typically be initiated in the following circumstances:

— (all deliverables) on the initiative and as a responsibility of the secretariat of the responsible committee, typically as the result of the elapse of the specified period
since publication or the last confirmation of the document, or
— (for International Standards and Technical Specifications) a default action by ISO Central Secretariat if a systematic review of the International Standard or Technical
Specification concerned has not been initiated by the secretariat of the responsible committee, or
— (all deliverables) at the request of one or more National Body, or
— (all deliverables) at the request of the CEO.
The timing of a systematic review is normally based either on the year of publication or, where a document has already been confirmed, on the year in which it was last
confirmed. However, it is not necessary to wait for the maximum period to elapse before a document is reviewed.
2.9.2 Review
The review period is 20 weeks.
Before the systematic review ballot, the committee may prepare a recommendation, to be approved by its P-members, on the future of the deliverable. This
recommendation will be made available with the SR ballot.
NOTE Systematic reviews are administered electronically by the ISO Central Secretariat and all ISO member bodies are invited to respond to such reviews. P-members of a given committee
have an obligation to vote on all systematic review ballots for deliverables under the responsibility of that committee. The purpose of the reviews has been extended to include obtaining
information when member bodies have needed to make modifications in order to make ISO standards suitable for national adoption. Such modifications need to be considered by committees in
order to determine whether they need to be taken into account to improve the global relevance of a standard. The final decision, to revise, confirm or withdraw a standard, remains with the P-
members of the responsible committee.
After the closing of the vote, the secretariat's proposal reflecting the voting results shall be circulated to the members of the technical committee or subcommittee using
Form 21. No more than 6 months after the closing of the vote, the committee shall take a final decision as to whether to revise, confirm or withdraw the standard,
following which the secretariat shall submit the committee's decision to the ISO Central Secretariat.
2.9.3 Interpretation of ballot results
2.9.3.1 General
Typically, a decision as to the appropriate action to take following a systematic review shall be based on a simple majority of P-members voting for a specific action.
However, in some cases a more detailed analysis of the results may indicate that another interpretation may be more appropriate.
NOTE It is not feasible to provide concrete rules for all cases when interpreting the ballot results due to the variety of possible responses, degrees of implementation, and the relative
importance of comments, etc.
Where voting results are not definitive and/or a decision is based on interpretation of responses the secretariat shall invite approval of a proposed course of action
within a specified time delay, for example within two months.
In proposing future action, due account shall be taken of the maximum possible number of confirmations and specified maximum life of the deliverable concerned
(see Table S1).
2.9.3.2 Interpretation of ballot results for International Standards
Option 1: Confirmation (retention without technical change)
Where it has been verified that a document is used, that it should continue to be made available, and that no technical changes are needed, a deliverable may be
confirmed. The criteria is as follows:
— the standard has been adopted with or without change or is used in at least five countries (when this criteria is not met, the standard should be withdrawn); and
— a simple majority of the P-members of the committee voting propose confirmation.
Option 2: Amendment or revision (Retention, with change/s)
Where it has been verified that an International Standard is used, that it should continue to be made available, but that technical changes are needed, it may be proposed
for amendment or revision. The criteria are as follows:
— the International Standard has been adopted with or without change or is used in at least five countries (when this criterion is not met, the standard should be
withdrawn); and
— a simple majority of the P-members of the committee voting considers there is a need for amendment or revision.
In that case, an item may be registered as an approved work item (stage 10.99).
A call for experts shall be launched. However, there is no minimum number of active P-members required.
Where an amendment or revision is not immediately started following approval by the committee, it is recommended that the project is first registered as a preliminary
work item and that the International Standard is registered as confirmed. When it is eventually proposed for registration at stage 10.99, reference shall be made to the
results of the preceding systematic review and the committee shall pass a resolution (see clause 2.3.1 for the process for initiating a revision or amendment of an existing
International Standard).
Where it is decided that the International Standard needs to be revised or amended, it becomes a new project and shall be added to the programme of work of the
technical committee or subcommittee. The steps for revision or amendment are the same as those for preparation of a new International Standard
(see ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1, clauses 2.3 to 2.8), and include the establishment of target dates for the completion of the relevant stages.
Option 3: Withdrawal
When the standard has not been adopted with or without change or is not used in at least five countries, the standard should be withdrawn (see Options 1 and 2 above).
In the case of the proposed withdrawal of an International Standard, the National Bodies shall be informed by the CEO of the decision of the technical committee or
subcommittee, with an invitation to inform the office of the CEO within 8 weeks if they object to that decision.
Any objection received shall be referred to the ISO Technical Management Board for consideration and decision.
2.9.3.3 Conversion to an International Standard (Technical Specifications and Publicly Available Specifications only)
In addition to the three basic options of confirmation, revision, or withdrawal, in the cases of the systematic review of Technical Specifications and Publicly Available
Specifications a fourth option is their conversion to an International Standard.
To initiate conversion to an International Standard, a text, up-dated as appropriate, is submitted to the normal development procedures as specified for an International
Standard (see clause 2.3.1).
The conversion procedure will typically start with a DIS vote. Where changes considered to be required are judged as being so significant as to require a full review in the
committee prior to DIS ballot, a revised version of the document shall be submitted for review and ballot as a CD.
2.9.4 Reinstatement of withdrawn standards
If, following withdrawal of an International Standard, a committee determines that it is still needed, it may propose that the standard be reinstated. The standard shall be
issued either as a draft International Standard or as a final draft International Standard, as decided by the committee, for voting by the member bodies. The usual
approval criteria shall apply. If approved, the standard shall be published as a new edition with a new date of publication. The foreword shall explain that the standard
results from the reinstatement of the previous edition.
2.10 Corrections and amendments
2.10.1 General
A published International Standard may subsequently be modified by the publication of
— a technical corrigendum (in IEC only);
— a corrected version;
— an amendment; or
— a revision (as part of the maintenance procedure in 2.9).
NOTE In case of revision a new edition of the International Standard will be issued.
2.10.2 Corrections
A correction is only issued to correct an error or ambiguity, inadvertently introduced either in drafting or in publishing and which could lead to incorrect or unsafe
application of the publication.
Corrections are not issued to update information that has become outdated since publication.
Suspected errors shall be brought to the attention of the secretariat of the technical committee or subcommittee concerned. After confirmation by the secretariat and
chair, if necessary in consultation with the project leader and P-members of the technical committee or subcommittee, the secretariat shall submit to the office of the CEO
a proposal for correction, with an explanation of the need to do so.
The Chief Executive Officer shall decide, in consultation with the secretariat of the technical committee or subcommittee, and bearing in mind both the financial
consequences to the organization and the interests of users of the publication, whether to publish a technical corrigendum (in IEC only) and/or a corrected version of the
existing edition of the publication (see also 2.10.4). The secretariat of the committee will then inform the members of the committee of the outcome.
The corrections are mentioned in the Foreword of the corrected version.
2.10.3 Amendments
An amendment alters and/or adds to previously agreed technical provisions in an existing International Standard. An amendment is considered as a partial revision: the
rest of the International Standard is not open for comments.
An amendment is normally published as a separate document, the edition of the International Standard affected remaining in use.
The procedure for developing and publishing an amendment shall be as described in 2.3 (ISO and JTC 1), or the review and maintenance procedures (see IEC
Supplement) and 2.4, 2.5, 2.6 (draft amendment, DAM), 2.7 (final draft amendment, FDAM), and 2.8.
At the approval stage (2.7), the Chief Executive Officer shall decide, in consultation with the secretariat of the technical committee or subcommittee, and bearing in mind
both the financial consequences to the organization and the interests of users of the International Standard, whether to publish an amendment or a new edition of the
International Standard, incorporating the amendment. (See also 2.10.4.)
NOTE Where it is foreseen that there will be frequent additions to the provisions of an International Standard, the possibility should be borne in mind at the outset of developing these
additions as a series of parts (see ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2).
2.10.4 Avoidance of proliferation of modifications
No more than 2 separate documents in the form of amendments shall be published modifying a current International Standard. The development of a third such
document shall result in publication of a new edition of the International Standard.
2.11 Maintenance agencies
When a technical committee or subcommittee has developed a standard that will require frequent modification, it may decide that a maintenance agency is required.
Rules concerning the designation of maintenance agencies are given in Annex G.
2.12 Registration authorities
When a technical committee or subcommittee has developed a standard that includes registration provisions, a registration authority is required. Rules concerning the
designation of registration authorities are given in Annex H.
2.13 Copyright
The copyright for all drafts and International Standards and other publications belongs to ISO, IEC or ISO and IEC, respectively as represented by the office of the CEO.
The content of, for example, an International Standard may originate from a number of sources, including existing national standards, articles published in scientific or
trade journals, original research and development work, descriptions of commercialized products, etc. These sources may be subject to one or more rights.
In ISO and IEC, there is an understanding that original material contributed to become a part of an ISO, IEC or ISO/IEC publication can be copied and distributed within
the ISO and/or IEC systems (as relevant) as part of the consensus building process, this being without prejudice to the rights of the original copyright owner to exploit
the original text elsewhere. Where material is already subject to copyright, the right should be granted to ISO and/or IEC to reproduce and circulate the material. This is
frequently done without recourse to a written agreement, or at most to a simple written statement of acceptance. Where contributors wish a formal signed agreement
concerning copyright of any submissions they make to ISO and/or IEC, such requests shall be addressed to ISO Central Secretariat or the IEC Central Office, respectively.
Attention is drawn to the fact that the respective members of ISO and IEC have the right to adopt and re-publish any respective ISO and/or IEC standard as their national
standard. Similar forms of endorsement do or may exist (for example, with regional standardization organizations).
2.14 Reference to patented items (see also Annex I)
2.14.1 If, in exceptional situations, technical reasons justify such a step, there is no objection in principle to preparing a deliverable in terms which include the use of
items covered by patent rights — defined as patents, utility models and other statutory rights based on inventions, including any published applications for any of the
foregoing — even if the terms of the deliverable are such that there are no alternative means of compliance. The rules given below shall be applied.
2.14.2 If technical reasons justify the preparation of a deliverable in terms which include the use of items covered by patent rights, the following procedures shall be
complied with:
a) The proposer of a proposal for a deliverable shall draw the attention of the committee to any patent rights of which the proposer is aware and considers to cover any
item of the proposal. Any party involved in the preparation of a deliverable shall draw the attention of the committee to any patent rights of which it becomes aware
during any stage in the development of the deliverable.
b) If the proposal is accepted on technical grounds, the proposer shall ask any holder of such identified patent rights for a statement that the holder would be willing to
negotiate worldwide licences under his/her rights with applicants throughout the world on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms and conditions. Such
negotiations are left to the parties concerned and are performed outside ISO and/or IEC. A record of the right holder's statement shall be placed in the registry of the
ISO Central Secretariat or IEC Central Office as appropriate. If the right holder does not provide such a statement, the committee concerned shall not proceed with
inclusion of an item covered by a patent right in the deliverable without authorization from ISO Council or IEC Council Board as appropriate.
c) A deliverable shall not be published until the statements of the holders of all identified patent rights have been received, unless the council board concerned gives
authorization.
2.14.3 Should it be revealed after publication of a deliverable that licences under patent rights, which appear to cover items included in the deliverable, cannot be
obtained under reasonable and non-discriminatory terms and conditions, the deliverable shall be referred back to the relevant committee for further consideration.

3 Development of other deliverables

3.1 Technical Specifications
Technical Specifications may be prepared and published under the following circumstances and conditions.
3.1.1 When the subject in question is still under development or where for any other reason there is the future but not immediate possibility of an agreement to
publish an International Standard, the technical committee or subcommittee may decide, by following the procedure set out in 2.3, that the publication of a Technical
Specification would be appropriate. The procedure for preparation of such a Technical Specification shall be as set out in 2.4 and 2.5. The decision to publish the resulting
document as a Technical Specification shall require a two-thirds majority vote of the P-members voting of the technical committee or subcommittee. A Technical
Specification may contain normative provisions. No technical changes are allowed on approved draft Technical Specifications.
In ISO, when the required support cannot be obtained for a final draft International Standard to pass the approval stage (see 2.7), or in case of doubt concerning
consensus, the technical committee or subcommittee may decide, by a two-thirds majority vote of P-members voting, that the document should be published in the form
of a Technical Specification.
3.1.2 When the P-members of a technical committee or subcommittee have agreed upon the publication of a Technical Specification, the draft specification shall be
submitted electronically by the secretariat of the technical committee or subcommittee to the office of the CEO within 16 weeks for publication. Competing technical
specifications offering different technical solutions are possible provided that they do not conflict with existing International Standards.
3.1.3 Technical Specifications shall be subject to review by the committee not later than 3 years after their publication. The aim of such review shall be to re-examine
the situation which resulted in the publication of a Technical Specification and if possible to achieve the agreement necessary for the publication of an International
Standard to replace the Technical Specification. In IEC, the date for this review is based on the stability date which shall be agreed in advance of the publication of the
Technical Specification (review date). Withdrawal of a Technical Specification is decided by the committee.
3.2 Publicly Available Specifications (PAS)
The procedures set out in 2.3 apply to the development of a PAS.
3.2.1 A PAS may be an intermediate specification, published prior to the development of a full International Standard, or, in IEC may be a “dual logo” publication
published in collaboration with an external organization. It is a document not fulfilling the requirements for a standard. A PAS is a normative document.
A PAS might be proposed from the outset, when a committee wishes to deliver content quickly to the market. Alternatively, when an international standard or a technical
specification is under development, the committee may decide that the publication of a PAS would be appropriate (e.g. when the project cannot meet the publication
deadline).
3.2.2 A proposal for submission of a PAS may be made by the Secretariat, an A-liaison or by any P-member of the committee. In IEC, a C-liaison may also submit a PAS
(see 1.17).
3.2.3 The PAS is published after verification of the presentation and checking that there is no conflict with existing International Standards by the committee
concerned and following simple majority approval of the P-members voting of the committee concerned. Competing PAS offering different technical solutions are
possible provided that they do not conflict with existing International Standards.
3.2.4 A PAS shall remain valid for an initial maximum period of 3 years in ISO and 2 years in IEC. The validity may be extended for a single period up to a maximum of
3 years in ISO and 2 years in IEC. During the validity period, withdrawal of a PAS is decided by the committee. At the end of the validity period, the PAS shall be
transformed with or without change into another type of normative document or shall be automatically withdrawn.
3.3 Technical Reports
3.3.1 When a technical committee or subcommittee has collected data of a different kind from that which is normally published as an International Standard (this may
include, for example, data obtained from a survey carried out among the National Bodies, data on work in other international organizations or data on the “state of the
art” in relation to standards of National Bodies on a particular subject), the technical committee or subcommittee may decide, by a simple majority vote of P-members
voting, to request the Chief Executive Officer to publish such data in the form of a Technical Report. The document shall be entirely informative in nature and shall not
contain matter implying that it is normative. It shall clearly explain its relationship to normative aspects of the subject which are, or will be, dealt with in International
Standards related to the subject. The Chief Executive Officer, if necessary in consultation with the technical management board, shall decide whether to publish the
document as a Technical Report. No technical changes are allowed on approved draft Technical Reports.
3.3.2 When the P-members of a technical committee or subcommittee have agreed upon the publication of a Technical Report, the draft report shall be submitted
electronically by the secretariat of the technical committee or subcommittee to the Chief Executive Officer within 16 weeks for publication.
3.3.3 It is recommended that Technical Reports are regularly reviewed by the committee responsible, to ensure that they remain valid. Withdrawal of a Technical
Report is decided by the technical committee or subcommittee responsible.
In ISO, Technical Reports are not subject to a review process.

4 Meetings
4.1 General
National Bodies are reminded that they are not permitted to charge delegates/experts any sort of participation fee, nor require accommodations at specific hotels or
hotel rates for any meetings of technical committees, subcommittees, working groups, maintenance and project teams. The basic meeting facilities shall be funded
entirely by resources from a National Body and/or voluntary sponsors. For more information in IEC, see Meeting Guide
(https://www.iec.ch/members_experts/refdocs/iec/IEC_Meeting_Guide_2012.pdf) and for ISO, see Annex SF for further details.
4.1.1 Technical committees and subcommittees shall use current electronic means to carry out their work (for example, e-mail, groupware and teleconferencing)
wherever possible. A meeting of a technical committee or subcommittee should be convened only when it is necessary to discuss committee drafts (CD) or other matters
of substance which cannot be settled by other means.
4.1.2 The technical committee secretariat should look ahead with a view to drawing up, in consultation with the office of the CEO, a planned minimum 2-year
programme of meetings of the technical committee and its subcommittees and, if possible, its working groups, taking account of the programme of work.
4.1.3 In planning meetings, account should be taken of the possible advantage of grouping meetings of technical committees and subcommittees dealing with related
subjects, in order to improve communication and to limit the burden of attendance at meetings by delegates who participate in several technical committees or
subcommittees.
4.1.4 In planning meetings, account should also be taken of the advantages for the speedy preparation of drafts of holding a meeting of the editing committee
immediately after the meeting of the technical committee or subcommittee and at the same place.
4.2 Procedure for calling a meeting
For information relating to hosting meetings, refer to Annex SF.
4.2.1 Technical committee and subcommittee meetings
4.2.1.1 The date and place of a meeting shall be subject to an agreement between the chair and the secretariat of the technical committee or subcommittee concerned,
the Chief Executive Officer and the National Body acting as host. In the case of a subcommittee meeting, the subcommittee secretariat shall first consult with the
secretariat of the parent technical committee in order to ensure coordination of meetings (see also 4.1.3).
4.2.1.2 A National Body wishing to act as host for a particular meeting shall contact the Chief Executive Officer and the technical committee or subcommittee
secretariat concerned.
The National Body shall first ascertain that there are no restrictions imposed by its country to the entry of representatives of any P-member of the technical committee or
subcommittee for the purpose of attending the meeting.
In accrediting delegates to attend meetings, national standards bodies from P- and O-member countries shall register them in the ISO Meetings application.
The hosting national standards body can access the list of delegates through the ISO Meetings application so that it can make appropriate arrangements for the meeting.
It is the responsibility of the national standards bodies in countries with participants who need invitation letters to send the names of these participants directly to the
hosting national standards body.
The hosting organizations are advised to verify and provide information on access means to meeting facilities. As per clause 4.2.1.3, a document describing logistics for
the meeting shall be circulated. As well as location and transport information, it should provide details of the accessibility of meeting facilities.
During the planning process, there should be a request for notification of specific accessibility requirements. The hosting body should make its best efforts to satisfy
these requirements.
4.2.1.3 The secretariat shall ensure that arrangements are made for the agenda and logistical information to be circulated by the office of the CEO (in the IEC) or by the
secretariat with a copy to the office of the CEO (in ISO) at the latest 16 weeks before the date of the meeting.
NOTE All new work item proposals must be approved by correspondence (committee internal ballot – CIB) see 2.3.4.
Only those committee drafts for which the compilation of comments will be available at least 6 weeks before the meeting shall be included on the agenda and be eligible
for discussion at the meeting.
Any other working documents, including compilations of comments on drafts to be discussed at the meeting, shall be distributed not less than 6 weeks in advance of the
meeting.
The agenda shall clearly state the starting and estimated finishing times.
In the event of meetings over running the estimated finishing time, the Chair shall ensure that the P-members are willing to take voting decisions. However if P-members
leave, they may request the Chair not to take any further voting decisions.
Any decisions made after the estimated finishing time of the meeting and after any P-members have left shall be confirmed by correspondence after the meeting.
NOTE Attendees should take the estimated meeting time into consideration when booking their travel.
See Annex SK for the issuance of notices, agendas and documents before committee and working group meetings.
4.2.2 Working group meetings
4.2.2.1 Working groups shall use current electronic means to carry out their work (for example, e-mail, groupware and teleconferencing) wherever possible. For a fully
remote meeting, the advance notice shall be made available a minimum of 4 weeks in advance of the meeting.
When a physical meeting needs to be held, notification by the convenor of the meetings of a working group shall be sent to its members and to the secretariat of the
parent committee, at least 6 weeks in advance of the meeting.
The Working Group leadership should ensure that everything reasonable is done to enable experts to actively participate.
Arrangements for meetings shall be made between the convenor and the member of the working group in whose country the meeting is to be held. The latter member
shall be responsible for all practical working arrangements.
4.2.2.2 If a working group meeting is to be held in conjunction with a meeting of the parent committee, the convenor shall coordinate arrangements with the
secretariat of the parent committee. In particular it shall be ensured that the working group members receive all general information for the meeting, which is sent to
delegates to the meeting of the parent committee.
4.2.2.3 Either the WG (or PT/MT/AC in IEC) leader or the Secretary of the relevant committee shall notify National Body Secretariats of any WG (or PT/MT/AC in IEC)
meeting held in their country.
4.3 Languages at meetings
While the official languages are English, French and Russian, meetings are conducted in English by default.
The National Body for the Russian Federation provides all interpretation and translation into or from the Russian language.
The chair and secretariat are responsible for dealing with the question of language at a meeting in a manner acceptable to the participants following the general rules of
ISO or IEC, as appropriate. (See also Annex E.)
4.4 Cancellation of meetings
Every possible effort shall be made to avoid cancellation or postponement of a meeting once it has been convened. Nevertheless, if the agenda and basic documents are
not available within the time required by 4.2.1.3, then the Chief Executive Officer has the right to cancel the meeting.
4.5 Distribution of documents
For requirements relating to document distribution, refer to Annex SB. A copy of the agenda and calling notice for a committee meeting shall be made available to the ISO
Central Secretariat for information.
4.6 Remote participation at committee meetings
Remote participation at committee meetings is supported in ISO to enable the goals of increasing stakeholder engagement and better coordination of the committee
work. Remote participation is allowed for all ISO meetings and ISO committees, provided that:
— The committee secretary checks with the host prior to meeting and follows the ‘Guidelines on remote participation at committee meetings’.
— The host agrees and can provide the necessary technology and support.
— The same registration and accreditation rules apply to remote and physical participants.
— The ‘Guidelines on remote participation at committee meetings’ are provided to all participants in advance of the meeting.

5 Appeals
5.1 General
5.1.1 National Bodies have the right of appeal
a) to the parent technical committee on a decision of a subcommittee;
b) to the technical management board on a decision of a technical committee;
c) to the council board on a decision of the technical management board,
within 12 weeks in ISO and 8 weeks in IEC of the decision in question.
The decision of the council board on any case of appeal is final.
5.1.2 A P-member of a technical committee or subcommittee may appeal against any action, or inaction, on the part of the technical committee or subcommittee, when
the P-member considers that such action or inaction is
a) not in accordance with
— the Statutes and Rules of Procedure;
— the ISO/IEC Directives; or
b) not in the best interests of international trade and commerce, or such public factors as safety, health or environment.
5.1.3 Matters under appeal may be either technical or administrative in nature.
Appeals on decisions concerning new work item proposals, committee drafts, enquiry drafts and final draft International Standards are only eligible for consideration if
— questions of principle are involved, or
— the contents of a draft may be detrimental to the reputation of ISO or IEC.
5.1.4 All appeals shall be fully documented to support the P-member's concern.
5.2 Appeal against a subcommittee decision
5.2.1 The documented appeal shall be submitted by the P-member to the secretariat of the parent technical committee, with a copy to the Chief Executive Officer.
5.2.2 Upon receipt, the secretariat of the parent technical committee shall advise all its P-members of the appeal and take immediate action, by correspondence or at a
meeting, to consider and decide on the appeal, consulting the Chief Executive Officer in the process.
5.2.3 If the technical committee supports its subcommittee, then the P-member which initiated the appeal may either
— accept the technical committee decision, or
— appeal against it.
5.3 Appeal against a technical committee decision
5.3.1 Appeals against a technical committee decision may be of 2 kinds:
— an appeal arising out of 5.2.3 above, or
— an appeal against an original decision of a technical committee.
5.3.2 The documented appeal shall, in all cases, be submitted to the Chief Executive Officer, with a copy to the chair and secretariat of the technical committee.
5.3.3 The Chief Executive Officer shall, following whatever consultations s/he deems appropriate, refer the appeal together with his/her comments to the technical
management board within 4 weeks after receipt of the appeal.
5.3.4 The technical management board shall decide whether an appeal shall be further processed or not. If the decision is in favour of proceeding, the chair of the
technical management board shall form a conciliation panel.
The conciliation panel shall hear the appeal within 12 weeks and attempt to resolve the difference of opinion as soon as practicable. The conciliation panel shall give a
final report within 12 weeks. If the conciliation panel is unsuccessful in resolving the difference of opinion, this shall be reported to the Chief Executive Officer, together
with recommendations on how the matter should be settled.
5.3.5 The Chief Executive Officer, on receipt of the report of the conciliation panel, shall inform the technical management board, which will make its decision.
5.4 Appeal against a technical management board decision
An appeal against a decision of the technical management board shall be submitted to the Chief Executive Officer with full documentation on all stages of the case.
The Chief Executive Officer shall refer the appeal together with his/her comments to the members of the council board within 4 weeks after receipt of the appeal.
The council board shall make its decision within 12 weeks.
5.5 Progress of work during an appeal process
When an appeal is against a decision respecting work in progress, the work shall be continued, up to and including the approval stage (see 2.7).
ISO/IEC ANNEXES
Annex A (normative) Guides
A.1 Introduction
In addition to International Standards, Technical Specifications, Publicly Available Specifications and Technical Reports prepared by technical committees, ISO and IEC
publish Guides on matters related to international standardization. Guides shall be drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
Guides shall not be prepared by technical committees and subcommittees. They may be prepared by an ISO Policy Development Committee, an IEC Advisory Committee
or Strategic Group, an ISO group reporting to the ISO technical management board, or an ISO/IEC Joint Coordination Group. These bodies are referred to below as the
“Committee or Group responsible for the project”.
The procedure for preparation and publication of a Guide is as described below.

A.2 Proposal stage

The ISO and/or IEC technical management board will approve proposals for new Guides or revisions of Guides and decide on the secretariat and composition of the
Committee or Group responsible for the project.
Once a project is approved by the ISO and/or IEC technical management board, the secretariat of the Committee or Group responsible for the project shall ensure that the
appropriate interests in ISO and IEC are informed.

A.3 Preparatory stage

The Committee or Group responsible for the project shall ensure that the appropriate interests in ISO and IEC have the opportunity to be represented during the
preparation of the working draft.

A.4 Committee stage

Once a working draft is available for circulation as a committee draft, the secretariat of the Committee or Group responsible for the project shall send it to the parent
committee or ISO and/or IEC technical management board for vote, comments and to approve its advancement to the Enquiry stage.

A.5 Enquiry stage

A.5.1 The office of the CEOs shall circulate the English text of the revised draft Guide to all National Bodies for an 8-week period for translation in French and other
languages and for preparation prior to 12-week vote.
A.5.2 The draft Guide is approved for publication as a Guide if not more than one-quarter of the votes cast are negative, abstentions being excluded when the votes are
counted.
In the case of ISO/IEC Guides, the draft shall be submitted for approval to the National Bodies of both ISO and IEC. The National Bodies of both organizations need to
approve the document if it is to be published as an ISO/IEC Guide.
If this condition is satisfied for only one of the organizations, ISO or IEC, the Guide may be published under the name of the approving organization only, unless the
Committee or Group responsible for the project decides to apply the procedure set out in A.5.3.
A.5.3 If a draft Guide is not approved, or if it is approved with comments the acceptance of which would improve consensus, the chair of the Committee or Group
responsible for the project may decide to submit an amended draft for a 8-week vote. The conditions for acceptance of the amended draft are the same as in A.5.2.

A.6 Publication stage

The publication stage shall be the responsibility of the office of the CEO of the organization to which the Committee or Group responsible for the project belongs.
In the case of a Joint ISO/IEC Group, the responsibility shall be decided by agreement between the Chief Executive Officers.

A.7 Withdrawal of a Guide

The Committee or Group responsible for the Guide shall be responsible for deciding if the Guide shall be withdrawn. The formal withdrawal shall be ratified by the
technical management board (TMB) in accordance with its normal procedures.

A.8 Procedure for transforming a guide into an ISO International Standard

1.  Submission of a proposal for transformation of a Guide into an International Standard
Any member body, organization in liaison or group reporting to the TMB (“Authorized bodies”), or the ISO CEO, can propose that an approved Guide be transformed into
an ISO International Standard. All proposals shall be accompanied by justification for the transformation into an International Standard.
2.  Circulation of the proposal
The offices of the CEO's circulate the proposal to all member bodies for approval.
3.  Member body ballot
3.1   The ballot will ask the question: Do you approve the transformation of Guide XX into an ISO International Standard?
3.2   Members will have the option of responding yes or no and the reasons for their negative vote should be provided.
3.3   Because the Guide in question has been developed and approved according to the consensus building procedures of ISO and/or IEC, technical or editorial comments
will not be considered. Consideration of such comments will be held over to the next revision of the International Standard if the transformation of the Guide is approved.
3.4   The voting period and voting rules are the same as for the normal DIS vote.
4.  Approval criteria
4.1   If more than one quarter of all votes received is negative, the transformation into an International Standard is not approved and the approval process ends.
4.2   If the transformation of a Guide into a standard is approved, the International Standard will be published, and the original Guide withdrawn.
5.  Maintenance of the International Standard resulting from a transformed guide
The ISO technical management board will decide on a case-by-case basis how to handle the maintenance of transformed Guide. Preference will be given to assigning the
maintenance responsibility to an appropriate TC, but, in the absence of an appropriate TC, the TMB will decide where to assign maintenance responsibility, including
through the establishment of a new TC or PC.
Annex B (normative) ISO/IEC procedures for liaison and work allocation
B.1 Introduction
By the ISO/IEC Agreement of 1976 1, ISO and IEC together form a system for international standardization as a whole. For this system to operate efficiently, the following
procedures are agreed for coordination and allocation of work between the technical committees and subcommittees of both organizations.

B.2 General considerations

The allocation of work between ISO and IEC is based on the agreed principle that all questions relating to international standardization in the electrical and electronic
engineering fields are reserved to IEC, the other fields being reserved to ISO and that allocation of responsibility for matters of international standardization where the
relative contribution of electrical and non-electrical technologies is not immediately evident will be settled by mutual agreement between the organizations.
Questions of coordination and work allocation may arise when establishing a new ISO or IEC technical committee, or as a result of the activities of an existing technical
committee.
The following levels of coordination and work allocation agreement are available. Matters should be raised at the next higher level only after all attempts to resolve them
at the lower levels have failed.
a) Formal liaisons between ISO and IEC committees for normal inter-committee cooperation.
b) Organizational consultations, including technical experts and representatives of the Chief Executive Officers, for cases where technical coordination may have an
effect on the future activities of the organizations in a larger sense than the point under consideration.
c) Decisions on work allocation
— by the technical management boards or, if necessary,
— the ISO/IEC Joint Technical Advisory Board (JTAB).
Questions affecting both ISO and IEC, on which it has not proved possible to obtain a common decision by the ISO Technical Management Board and the IEC
Standardization Management Board, are referred to the ISO/IEC Joint Technical Advisory Board (JTAB) for decision (see 1.3.1).

B.3 Establishing new technical committees

Whenever a proposal to establish a new technical committee is made to the National Bodies of ISO or of IEC respectively, the proposal shall also be submitted to the other
organization requesting comment and/or agreement. As a result of these consultations, two cases may arise:
a) the opinion is unanimous that the work should be carried out in one of the organizations;
b) opinions are divided.
In case a), formal action may then be taken to establish the new technical committee according to the unanimous opinion.
In case b), a meeting of experts in the field concerned shall be arranged with representatives of the Chief Executive Officers with a view to reaching a satisfactory
agreement for allocation of the work (i.e., organizational level). If agreement is reached at this level, formal action may be taken by the appropriate organization to
implement the agreement.
In the case of disagreement after these consultations, the matter may be referred by either organization to the ISO/IEC Joint Technical Advisory Board (JTAB).

B.4 Coordinating and allocating work between ISO and IEC technical committees
B.4.1 Formal liaison at committee level
Most coordination needs arising between individual ISO and IEC committees are successfully dealt with through formal technical liaison arrangements. These
arrangements, when requested by either organization, shall be honoured by the other organization. Requests for formal liaison arrangements are controlled by the
offices of the CEOs. The requesting organization shall specify the Mode of cooperation (see B.4.2.2).
B.4.2 Details of agreement
B.4.2.1 Continual efforts shall be made to minimize the overlap areas between IEC and ISO by entrusting areas of work to one of the two organizations.
For areas of work so entrusted, IEC and ISO shall agree through the JTAB on how the views and interests of the other organization are to be fully taken into account.
B.4.2.2 Five working modes of cooperation have been established, as follows:
Mode 1 — Informative relation
One organization is fully entrusted with a specific work area and keeps the other fully informed of all progress.
Mode 2 — Contributive relation
One organization should take the lead of the work and the other should make written contributions where considered appropriate during the progress of this work.
This relation also includes the exchange of full information.
Mode 3 — Subcontracting relation
One organization is fully entrusted with the realization of the work on an identified item, but due to specialization of the other, a part of the work is subcontracted and
that part is prepared under the responsibility of the second organization. Necessary arrangements shall be made to guarantee the correct integration of the resulting
subcontracted work into the main part of the programme. The enquiry and approval stages are handled by the organization being the main contractor for the
standardization task.
Mode 4 — Collaborative relation
One organization takes the lead in the activities, but the work sessions and meetings receive liaison representatives from the other. Such liaison representatives
should have the right to intervene in the debate but have no right to vote. The full flow of information is oriented through this liaison.
Mode 5 — Integrated liaison
Joint Working Groups and Joint Technical Committees ensure integrated meetings for handling together the realization of standards under a principle of total equality
of participation.
Joint Working Groups between technical committees of the two organizations shall operate in accordance with 1.12.6.
Any change to the mode of cooperation shall be by mutual agreement.
B.4.2.3 The allocation of work between IEC and ISO for potentially overlapping areas will be set out as required in schedules or programmes which, when agreed by
the relevant parties, will form addenda to this agreement.
A consequence of this agreement is that the parties agree to cross-refer to the relevant standards of the other in the respective competent fields of interest.
When the standard being referred to is updated, it is the responsibility of the body making the reference to take care of the updating of the reference where appropriate.
B.4.2.4 For work for which one organization has assumed responsibility and for which there will be subcontracting of work to the other, the fullest account shall be
taken of the interests participating in the subcontracted work in defining the objectives of that work.
B.4.2.5 The necessary procedures for enquiry and approval shall be realized by the organization entrusted with a particular standardization task, except as otherwise
agreed by the two technical management boards.
B.4.2.6 For standards developed under the Mode 5 — Integrated liaison, the committee, enquiry and approval stages shall be carried out in parallel in both ISO and IEC
in accordance with the rules of the organization with the administrative lead. The committee/organization with the administrative responsibility for the project shall
submit drafts for the committee, enquiry and approval stages to the other organization two weeks prior to the circulation date.
B.4.2.7 When the enquiry draft has not fulfilled the approval criteria (see 2.6.3) in one of the organizations, then:
— the officers of the committees involved in the joint working group may select one of options given in 2.6.4 c) or
— in exceptional circumstances, if agreed between the officers of the ISO and IEC committees involved in the joint working group and the offices of the CEO, the project
may proceed as a single logo standard of the organization in which the enquiry draft was approved. The joint working group is automatically disbanded.
B.4.2.8 If the final draft International Standard is not approved in accordance with the conditions in 2.7.3 then:
— the committees involved in the joint working group may select one of the options given in 2.7.7, noting that in IEC the circulation of a second final draft International
Standard is not allowed and will require a derogation of the TMB or
— in exceptional circumstances, if agreed between the officers of the ISO and IEC committees involved in the joint working group and the offices of the CEO, the standard
may be published as a single logo standard of the organization in which the final draft International Standard was approved. The joint working group is automatically
disbanded.
B.4.2.9 Standards developed under the Mode 5 — Integrated liaison via a joint working group between ISO and IEC are published by the organization of the committee
having administrative responsibility. That organization assigns the reference number of the standard and owns the copyright of the standard. The standard carries the
logo of both organizations and may be sold by both organizations. The foreword of the International Standard will identify all the committees responsible for the
development. For those standards where the committee with the administrative responsibility is in the IEC, then the foreword will also give the ISO voting results. ISO-
lead documents are assigned numbers from 1 to 59999. IEC-lead documents are assigned numbers from 60000 to 79999. In the case of multi-part standards, some parts
being under ISO responsibility and some being under IEC responsibility, a number in the 80000 series is assigned (e.g. ISO 80000-1, IEC 80000-6).
B.4.2.10 The maintenance procedures to be used for standards developed under the Mode 5 — Integrated liaison will be those currently applied in the organization
which has the committee with the administrative responsibility.
B.4.2.11 If there is a reason, during the development of the project, to change from one mode of operation to another, a recommendation shall be made by both
technical committees concerned and submitted to the two technical management boards for information.
B.4.3 Cooperation of secretariats
The secretariats of the technical committees/subcommittees from the two organizations concerned shall cooperate on the implementation of this agreement. There shall
be a complete information flow on on-going work and availability on demand to each other of working documents, in accordance with normal procedures.
Annex C (normative) Justification of proposals for the establishment of standards
C.1 General
C.1.1 Because of the large financial resources and manpower involved and the necessity to allocate these according to the needs, it is important that any
standardization activity begin by identifying the needs, determining the aims of the standard(s) to be prepared and the interests that may be affected. This will, moreover,
help to ensure that the standards produced will cover appropriately the aspects required and be market relevant for the affected sectors. Any new activity shall therefore
be reasonably justified before it is begun.
C.1.2 It is understood that, whatever conclusions may be drawn on the basis of the annex, a prerequisite of any new work to be commenced would be a clear indication
of the readiness of a sufficient number of relevant interested parties to allocate necessary manpower, funds and to take an active part in the work.
C.1.3 This annex sets out rules for proposing and justifying new work, so that proposals will offer to others the clearest possible idea of the purposes and extent of the
work, in order to ensure that standardization resources are really allocated by the parties concerned and are used to the best effect.
C.1.4 This annex does not contain rules of procedure for implementing and monitoring the guidelines contained in it, nor does it deal with the administrative
mechanism which should be established to this effect.
C.1.5 This annex is addressed primarily to the proposer of any kind of new work to be started but may serve as a tool for those who will analyse such a proposal or
comment on it, as well as for the body responsible for taking a decision on the proposal.

C.2 Terms and definitions

C.2.1
proposal for new work
proposal for a new field of technical activity or for a new work item
C.2.2
proposal for a new field of technical activity
proposal for the preparation of (a) standard(s) in a field that is not covered by an existing committee (such as a technical committee,
subcommittee or project committee) of the organization to which the proposal is made
C.2.3
proposal for a new work item
proposal for the preparation of a standard or a series of related standards in the field covered by an existing committee (such as a technical
committee) of the organization to which the proposal is made

C.3 General principles

C.3.1 Any proposal for new work shall lie within the scope of the organization to which it is submitted.
NOTE For example, the objects of ISO are laid down in its Statutes and of IEC in Article 2 of its Statutes.
C.3.2 The documentation justifying new work in ISO and IEC shall make a substantial case for the market relevance of the proposal.
C.3.3 The documentation justifying new work in ISO and IEC shall provide solid information as a foundation for informed ISO or IEC National Body voting.
C.3.4 Within the ISO and IEC systems, the onus is considered to be placed on the proposer to provide the proper documentation to support
principles C.3.2 and C.3.3 stated above.

C.4 Elements to be clarified when proposing a new field of technical activity or a new work item
C.4.1 Proposals for new fields of technical activity and new work items shall include the following fields of information (C.4.2toC.4.13).
C.4.2 Title
The title shall indicate clearly yet concisely the new field of technical activity or the new work item which the proposal is intended to cover.
EXAMPLE 1 (proposal for a new technical activity) “Machine tools”.
EXAMPLE 2 (proposal for a new work item) “Electrotechnical products — Basic environmental testing procedures”.
C.4.3 Scope
C.4.3.1 For new fields of technical activity
The scope shall precisely define the limits of the field of activity. Scopes shall not repeat general aims and principles governing the work of the organization but shall
indicate the specific area concerned.
EXAMPLE “Standardization of all machine tools for the working of metal, wood and plastics, operating by removal of material or by pressure”.
C.4.3.2 For new work items
The scope shall give a clear indication of the coverage of the proposed new work item and, if necessary for clarity, exclusions shall be stated.
EXAMPLE 1  
This standard lists a series of environmental test procedures, and their severities, designed to assess the ability of electrotechnical products to perform under expected conditions of service.
Although primarily intended for such applications, this standard may be used in other fields where desired.
Other environmental tests, specific to the individual types of specimen, may be included in the relevant specifications.
EXAMPLE 2  
Standardization in the field of fisheries and aquaculture, including, but not limited to, terminology, technical specifications for equipment and for their operation, characterization of aquaculture
sites and maintenance of appropriate physical, chemical and biological conditions, environmental monitoring, data reporting, traceability and waste disposal.
Excluded:
—   methods of analysis of food products (covered by ISO/TC 34);
—   personal protective clothing (covered by ISO/TC 94);
—   environmental monitoring (covered by ISO/TC 207).
C.4.4 Proposed initial programme of work (for proposals for new fields of technical activity only)
C.4.4.1 The proposed programme of work shall correspond to and clearly reflect the aims of the standardization activities and shall, therefore, show the relationship
between the subjects proposed.
C.4.4.2 Each item on the programme of work shall be defined by both the subject and aspect(s) to be standardized (for products, for example, the items would be the
types of products, characteristics, other requirements, data to be supplied, test methods, etc.).
C.4.4.3 Supplementary justification may be combined with particular items in the programme of work.
C.4.4.4 The proposed programme of work shall also suggest priorities and target dates for new work items (when a series of standards is proposed, priorities shall be
suggested).
C.4.5 Indication(s) of the preferred type or types of deliverable(s) to be produced
In the case of proposals for new fields of technical activity, this may be provided under C.4.4.
C.4.6 A listing of relevant existing documents at the international, regional and national levels
Any known relevant documents (such as standards and regulations) shall be listed, regardless of their source and should be accompanied by an indication of their
significance.
C.4.7 Relation to and impact on existing work
C.4.7.1 A statement shall be provided regarding any relation or impact the proposed work may have on existing work, especially existing ISO and IEC deliverables. The
proposer should explain how the work differs from apparently similar work, or explain how duplication and conflict will be minimized.
C.4.7.2 If seemingly similar or related work is already in the scope of other committees of the organization or in other organizations, the proposed scope shall
distinguish between the proposed work and the other work.
C.4.7.3 The proposer shall indicate whether his or her proposal could be dealt with by widening the scope of an existing committee or by establishing a new
committee.
C.4.8 Relevant country participation
C.4.8.1 For proposals for new fields of technical activity, a listing of relevant countries should be provided where the subject of the proposal is important to their
national commercial interests.
C.4.8.2 For proposals for new work item within existing committees, a listing of relevant countries should be provided which are not already P-members of the
committee, but for whom the subject of the proposal is important to their national commercial interests.
C.4.9 Cooperation and liaison
C.4.9.1 A list of relevant external international organizations or internal parties (other than ISO and/or IEC committees) to be engaged as liaisons in the development
of the deliverable(s) shall be provided.
C.4.9.2 In order to avoid conflict with, or duplication of efforts of, other bodies, it is important to indicate all points of possible conflict or overlap.
C.4.9.3 The result of any communication with other interested bodies shall also be included.
C.4.10 Affected stakeholders
A simple and concise statement shall be provided identifying and describing relevant affected stakeholder categories (including small and medium sized enterprises) and
how they will each benefit from or be impacted by the proposed deliverable(s).
C.4.11 Base document (for proposals for new work items only)
C.4.11.1 When the proposer considers that an existing well-established document may be acceptable as a standard (with or without amendments) this shall be
indicated with appropriate justification and a copy attached to the proposal.
C.4.11.2 All proposals for new work items shall include an attached existing document to serve as an initial basis for the ISO or IEC deliverable or a proposed outline or
table of contents.
C.4.11.3 If an existing document is attached that is copyrighted or includes copyrighted content, the proposer shall ensure that appropriate permissions have been
granted in writing for ISO or IEC to use that copyrighted content.
C.4.12 Leadership commitment
C.4.12.1 In the case of a proposal for a new field of technical activity, the proposer shall indicate whether his/her organization is prepared to undertake the secretariat
work required.
C.4.12.2 In the case of a proposal for new work item, the proposer shall also nominate a project leader.
C.4.13 Purpose and justification
C.4.13.1 The purpose and justification of the standard to be prepared shall be made clear and the need for standardization of each aspect (such as characteristics) to
be included in the standard shall be justified.
C.4.13.2 If a series of new work items is proposed the purpose and the justification of which is common, a common proposal may be drafted including all elements to
be clarified and enumerating the titles and scopes of each individual item.
C.4.13.3 Please note that the items listed in the bullet points below represent a menu of suggestions or ideas for possible documentation to support the purpose and
justification of proposals. Proposers should consider these suggestions, but they are not limited to them, nor are they required to comply strictly with them. What is most
important is that proposers develop and provide purpose and justification information that is most relevant to their proposals and that makes a substantial business case
for the market relevance and need of their proposals. Thorough, well-developed and robust purpose and justification documentation will lead to more informed
consideration of proposals and ultimately their possible success in the ISO and IEC systems.
— A simple and concise statement describing the business, technological, societal or environmental issue that the proposal seeks to address, preferably linked to the
Strategic Business Plan of the concerned ISO or IEC committee.
— Documentation on relevant global metrics that demonstrate the extent or magnitude of the economic, technological, societal or environmental issue, or the new
market. This may include an estimate of the potential sales of the resulting standard(s) as an indicator of potential usage and global relevance.
— Technological benefit — a simple and concise statement describing the technological impact of the proposal to support coherence in systems and emerging
technologies, convergence of merging technologies, interoperability, resolution of competing technologies, future innovation, etc.
— Economic benefit — a simple and concise statement describing the potential of the proposal to remove barriers to trade, improve international market access,
support public procurement, improve business efficiency for a broad range of enterprises including small and medium sized ones, and/or result in a flexible, cost-
effective means of complying with international and regional rules/conventions, etc. A simple cost/benefit analysis relating the cost of producing the deliverable(s) to
the expected economic benefit to businesses worldwide may also be helpful.
— Societal benefit(s) — a simple and concise statement describing any societal benefits expected from the proposed deliverable(s).
— Environmental benefit(s) — a simple and concise statement describing any environmental or wider sustainability benefits expected from the proposed deliverable(s).
— A simple and concise statement clearly describing the intended use(s) of the proposed deliverable(s), for example, whether the deliverable is intended as
requirements to support conformity assessment or only as guidance or recommended best practices; whether the deliverable is a management system standard;
whether the deliverable is intended for use or reference in technical regulation; whether the deliverable is intended to be used to support legal cases in relation to
international treaties and agreements.
— A simple and concise statement of metrics for the committee to track in order to assess the impact of the published standard over time to achieve the benefits to
stakeholders documented under C.4.10 above.
— A statement assessing the prospect of the resulting deliverable(s) being compliant with, for the IEC, the IEC Global Relevance
Policy: https://www.iec.ch/members_experts/refdocs/ac_cl/AC_200817e_AC.pdf and for ISO, with ISO's Global Relevance
Policy https://www.iso.org/iso/home/standards_development/governance_of_technical_work.htm and the ISO/TMB recommendations (see NOTE below) regarding
sustainable development and sustainability, where relevant.
NOTE For ISO, the ISO/TMB confirmed the following recommendations: 1) When a committee (in any sector) develops a standard dealing with sustainability/sustainable development the
standard must remain within the context of the committee's scope of work; 2) The committee should also notify the TMB with the title and scope as early as possible; 3) The committee
undertaking such work should clarify its intentions in the Introduction of the specific standard(s); 4) The most widely used definition of sustainable development is the one from the UN
Brundtland committee on sustainable development: development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
— A statement assessing the proposal’s compliance with the Principles for developing ISO and IEC Standards related to or supporting public policy initiatives (for ISO
see Annex SO in the Consolidated ISO Supplement and for IEC and ISO see Using and referencing ISO and IEC standards to support public
policy https://www.iso.org/sites/policy/) and the possible relation of the resulting deliverable(s) to public policy, including a statement regarding the potential for
easier market access due to conformity with appropriate legislation.
Annex D (normative) Resources of secretariats and qualifications of secretaries
D.1 Terms and definitions
D.1.1
secretariat
National Body to which has been assigned, by mutual agreement, the responsibility for providing technical and administrative services to a
technical committee or subcommittee
D.1.2
secretary
individual appointed by the secretariat to manage the technical and administrative services provided

D.2 Resources of a secretariat

A National Body to which a secretariat has been assigned shall recognize that, no matter what arrangements it makes in its country to provide the required services, it is
the National Body itself that is ultimately responsible for the proper functioning of the secretariat. National Bodies undertaking secretariat functions shall become party
to the ISO Service Agreement or IEC Basic Agreement, as appropriate.
The secretariat shall therefore have adequate administrative and financial means or backing to ensure:
a) facilities for word-processing in English and/or French, for providing texts electronically, and for any necessary reproduction of documents;
b) preparation of adequate technical illustrations;
c) identification and use, with translation where necessary, of documents received in the official languages;
d) updating and continuous supervision of the structure of the committee and its subsidiary bodies, if any;
e) reception and prompt dispatch of correspondence and documents;
f) adequate communication facilities by telephone, telefax and electronic mail;
g) access to the Internet;
h) arrangements and facilities for translation, interpretation and services during meetings, in collaboration with the host National Body, as required;
i) attendance of the secretary at any meetings requiring his/her presence, including technical committee and/or subcommittee meetings, editing committee meetings,
working group meetings, and consultations with the chair when necessary;
j) access by the secretary to basic International Standards (see the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 on “Reference Documents and sources for drafting”) and to International
Standards, national standards and/or related documents in the field under consideration;
k) access by the secretary, when necessary, to experts capable of advising on technical issues in the field of the committee.
Whilst the Chief Executive Officer endeavours to send his/her representative to the first meeting of a technical committee, to meetings of technical committees with new
secretariats, and to any technical committee or subcommittee meeting where such presence is desirable for solving problems, the office of the CEO cannot undertake to
carry out the work for a secretariat, on a permanent or temporary basis.

D.3 Requirements of a secretary

The individual appointed as secretary shall
a) have sufficient knowledge of English and/or French;
b) be familiar with the Statutes and rules of procedure, as appropriate, and with the ISO/IEC Directives (see the respective Supplements to the ISO/IEC Directives);
c) be in a position to advise the committee and any subsidiary bodies on any point of procedure or drafting, after consultation with the office of the CEO if necessary;
d) be aware of any council board or technical management board decision regarding the activities of the technical committees in general and of the committee for
which s/he is responsible in particular;
e) be a good organizer and have training in and ability for technical and administrative work, in order to organize and conduct the work of the committee and to promote
active participation on the part of committee members and subsidiary bodies, if any;
f) be familiar with the documentation supplied by the offices of CEO, in particular the use of electronic tools and services.
It is recommended that newly appointed secretaries of technical committees should make an early visit to the office of the CEO in Geneva in order to discuss procedures
and working methods with the staff concerned.
Annex E (normative) General policy on the use of languages
E.1 Expressing and communicating ideas in an international environment
At the international level, it is common practice to publish deliverables in at least two languages. There are a number of reasons why it is advantageous to use two
languages, for example:
— greater clarity and accuracy of meaning can be achieved by expressing a given concept in two languages which have different grammar and syntax;
— if consensus is reached on the basis of a text drafted in only one language, difficulties may arise when it comes to putting that text into another language. Some
questions may have to be rediscussed, and this can cause delay if the text originally agreed upon has to be altered. Subsequent drafting into a second language of a text
already approved in the first language often brings to light difficulties of expression that could have been avoided if both versions had been prepared at the same time
and then amended together;
— to ensure that international meetings will be as productive as possible, it is important for the agreements reached to be utterly devoid of ambiguity, and there has to
be no risk that these agreements can be called back into question because of misunderstandings of a linguistic nature;
— the use of two languages chosen from two linguistic groups widens the number of prospective delegates who might be appointed to attend the meetings;
— it becomes easier to express a concept properly in other languages if there are already two perfectly harmonized versions.

E.2 The use of languages in the technical work

The official languages are English, French and Russian.
The work of the technical committees and the correspondence are in English by default.
For the purposes of the above, the National Body for the Russian Federation provides all interpretation and translation into and from the Russian language.
In IEC, a definitive language of development for each deliverable shall be designated in the Foreword. Specific exceptions apply to the IEV and/ordatabase standards.

E.3 International Standards

International Standards are published by the ISO and IEC in English and in French (and sometimes in multilingual editions also including Russian and other languages,
especially in cases of terminology). These versions of a given International Standard are equivalent, and each is regarded as being an original-language version.
It is advantageous for the technical content of a standard to be expressed in both English and French from the outset of the drafting procedure, so that these two versions
will be studied, amended and adopted at the same time and their linguistic equivalence will be ensured at all times. (See also the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2, clause on
“Language versions”).
This may be done
— by the secretariat or, under the latter's responsibility, with outside assistance, or
— by the editing committee of the responsible technical committee or subcommittee, or
— by National Bodies whose national language is English or French and under an agreement concluded between those National Bodies and the secretariat concerned.
When it is decided to publish a multilingual International Standard (a vocabulary, for example), the National Body for the Russian Federation takes charge of the Russian
portion of the text; similarly, when it is decided to publish an International Standard containing terms or material in languages other than the official languages, the
National Bodies whose national languages are involved are responsible for selecting the terms or for drafting the portions of text which are to be in those languages.

E.4 Other publications developed by technical committees

Other publications may be issued in one official language only.

E.5 Documents for technical committee and subcommittee meetings

E.5.1 Drafts and documents referred to the agenda
The documents prepared and circulated prior to a meeting are the following.
a) Draft agendas
Draft agendas are prepared and distributed in the language(s) of the meeting (English by default) by the responsible secretariats.
b) Committee drafts referred to in the agenda
It is desirable that versions of the committee drafts referred to in the agenda will be available for the meeting in the language(s) of the meeting (English by default).
Enquiry drafts shall be available in English and French. The ISO Council or IEC Standardization Management Board guidelines shall be applied where one of the
language versions is not available in due time.
Other documents (sundry proposals, comments, etc.) relating to agenda items may be prepared in only one language (English or French).
E.5.2 Documents prepared and circulated during a meeting
The documents prepared and circulated during a meeting are the following.
a) Resolutions adopted during the meeting
An ad hoc drafting committee may be formed at the beginning of each meeting to support the Secretary in the drafting and/or reviewing of resolutions and, whenever
possible, should include one or more delegates of English and/or French mother tongue.
b) Brief minutes, if any, prepared after each session
If such minutes are prepared, they shall be drafted in English or French and preferably in both with, if necessary, the assistance of the ad hoc drafting committee.
E.5.3 Documents prepared and circulated after a meeting
After each technical committee or subcommittee meeting, the secretariat concerned shall draft a report of the meeting, which may be in only one language (English or
French) and which includes, as annex, the full text of the resolutions adopted, preferably in both English and French.

E.6 Documents prepared in languages other than English or French

National Bodies whose national language is neither English nor French may translate any documents circulated by secretariats into their own national language in order
to facilitate the study of those documents by the experts of their country or to assist the delegates they have appointed to attend the meetings of the technical committees
and subcommittees.
If one language is common to two or more National Bodies, one of them may at any time take the initiative of translating technical documents into that language and of
providing copies to other National Bodies in the same linguistic group.
The terms of the above two paragraphs may be applied by the secretariats for their own needs.

E.7 Technical meetings

E.7.1 Purpose
The purpose of technical meetings is to achieve as full agreement as possible on the various agenda items and every effort shall be made to ensure that all delegates
understand one another.
E.7.2 Interpretation of debates into English and French
Although the basic documents may be available in both English and French, it has to be determined according to the case whether interpretation of statements expressed
in one language should be given in the other language
— by a volunteer delegate,
— by a staff member from the secretariat or host National Body, or
— by an adequately qualified interpreter.
Care should also be taken that delegates who have neither English nor French as mother tongue can follow the meeting to a sufficient extent.
It is impractical to specify rules concerning the necessity of interpreting the debates at technical meetings. It is essential, of course that all delegates should be able to
follow the discussions, but it may not be altogether essential to have a word-for-word interpretation of each statement made.
In view of the foregoing, and except in special cases where interpretation may not be necessary, the following practice is considered appropriate:
a) for meetings where procedural decisions are expected to be taken, brief interpretation may be provided by a member of the secretariat or a volunteer delegate;
b) at working group meetings, the members should, whenever possible, arrange between themselves for any necessary interpretation on the initiative and under the
authority of the convenor of the working group.
To enable the secretariat responsible for a meeting to make any necessary arrangements for interpretation, the secretariat should be informed, at the same time as it is
notified of attendance at the meeting, of the languages in which the delegates are able to express themselves and of any aid which delegates might be able to provide in
the matter of interpretation.
In those cases where a meeting is conducted mainly in one language, the following practice should be adopted as far as is practicable in order to assist delegates having
the other language:
a) the decision taken on one subject should be announced in both languages before passing to the next subject;
b) whenever a change to an existing text is approved in one language, time should be allowed for delegates to consider the effect of this change on the other language
version;
c) a summary of what has been said should be provided in the other language if a delegate so requests.
E.7.3 Interpretation into English and French of statements made in other languages
When at a meeting of a technical committee or a subcommittee a participant wishes, in view of exceptional circumstances, to speak in any language other than English or
French, the chair of the session shall be entitled to authorize this, for the session in question, provided that a means of interpretation has been secured.
In order to give all experts an equal opportunity to express their views at meetings of technical committees and subcommittees, a very flexible application of this
provision is recommended.
Annex F (normative) Options for development of a project
F.1 Simplified diagram of options

F.2 “Fast-track procedure”

F.2.1 Proposals to apply the fast-track procedure may be made as follows.
F.2.1.1 The Committee Secretariat, any P-member or category A liaison organization of a concerned technical committee or subcommittee may propose that
an existing standard from any source be submitted for vote as an enquiry draft. The proposer shall obtain the agreement of the originating organization before making
a proposal. The criteria for proposing an existing standard for the fast-track procedure are a matter for each proposer to decide.
F.2.1.2 An international standardizing body recognized by the ISO or IEC council board may propose that a standard developed by that bodybe submitted for vote as
a final draft International Standard.
F.2.1.3 An organization having entered into a formal technical agreement with ISO or IEC may propose, in agreement with the appropriate technical committee or
subcommittee, that a draft standard developed by that organization be submitted for vote as an enquiry draft within that technical committee or subcommittee.
F.2.2 The proposal shall be received by the Chief Executive Officer, who shall take the following actions:
a) settle the copyright and/or trademark situation with the organization having originated the proposed document, so that it can be freely copied and distributed to
National Bodies without restriction, and advise the organization that the ISO/IEC intellectual property policies shall apply to the proposed document, see in
particular 2.13 and 2.14;
b) for cases F.2.1.1 and F.2.1.3, assess in consultation with the relevant secretariats which technical committee/subcommittee is competent for the subject covered by the
proposed document. In cases where a relevant committee is identified, the proposal, with rationale for using the Fast Track route, shall be circulated for awareness to
the committee prior to the enquiry vote. Where no technical committee exists competent to deal with the subject of the document in question, the Chief Executive
Officer shall refer the proposal to the technical management board, which may request the Chief Executive Officer to submit the document to the enquiry stage and to
establish an ad hoc group to deal with matters subsequently arising;
c) ascertain that there is no evident contradiction with other International Standards;
d) distribute the proposed document as an enquiry draft (F.2.1.1 and F.2.1.3) in accordance with 2.6.1, or as a final draft International Standard (case F.2.1.2) in
accordance with 2.7.1, indicating (in cases F.2.1.1 and F.2.1.3) the technical committee/subcommittee to the domain of which the proposed document belongs.
F.2.3 The period for voting and the conditions for approval shall be as specified in 2.6 for an enquiry draft and 2.7 for a final draft International Standard. In the case
where no technical committee is involved, the condition for approval of a final draft International Standard is that not more than one-quarter of the total number of votes
cast are negative.
In ISO the voting period on a proposal submitted as a final draft International Standard shall be 20 weeks.
F.2.4 If, for an enquiry draft, the conditions of approval are met, the draft standard shall progress in accordance with 2.6.4. If not, the proposal has failed and any
further action shall be decided upon by the technical committee/subcommittee to which the document was attributed in accordance with F.2.2 b).
The committee leadership can decide whether or not to skip the FDIS vote, and go straight to publication — see 2.6.4.
If, for a final draft International Standard, the conditions of approval are met, the document shall progress to the publication stage (2.8). If not, the proposal has failed and
any further action shall be decided upon by the technical committee/subcommittee to which the FDIS was attributed in accordance with F.2.2 b), or by discussion
between the originating organization and the office of the CEO if no technical committee was involved.
If the standard is published, its maintenance shall be handled by the technical committee/subcommittee to which the document was attributed in accordance
with F.2.2 b), or, if no technical committee was involved, the approval procedure set out above shall be repeated if the originating organization decides that changes to the
standard are required.
Annex G (normative) Maintenance agencies
G.1 A technical committee or subcommittee developing an International Standard that will require a maintenance agency shall inform the Chief Executive Officer at an
early stage in order that an ISO/TMB or IEC Council Board decision may be taken in advance of the publication of the International Standard.
G.2 The ISO/TMB or IEC Council Board designates maintenance agencies in connection with International Standards, including appointment of their members, on the
proposal of the technical committee concerned.
G.3 The secretariat of a maintenance agency should be attributed wherever possible to the secretariat of the technical committee or subcommittee that has prepared
the International Standard.
G.4 The Chief Executive Officer shall be responsible for contacts with external organizations associated with the work of a maintenance agency.
G.5 The rules of procedure of maintenance agencies shall be subject to ISO/TMB or IEC Council Board approval and any requested delegation of authority in
connection with the updating of the International Standard or the issuing of amendments shall be specifically authorized by the ISO/TMB or IEC Council Board.
G.6 Any charges for services provided by a maintenance agency shall be authorized by the council board.
Annex H (normative) Registration Authority (“RA”) Policy
H.1 Scope
H.1.1 A number of International Standards developed by ISO and IEC technical committees require the assignment of unique Registration Elements and describe the
methodology for the assignment of these Elements. The Registration Elements themselves are not part of the standard but are assigned by an appointed RA, who also
maintains an accurate register of the Registration Elements that have been assigned. The RA is a competent body with the requisite infrastructure that ensures the
effective allocation of these Registration Elements and any other RA responsibilities that are described in the RA Standard. These bodies are designated by ISO or IEC to
serve as the sole RA for particular standards, which creates a de facto monopoly situation.
H.1.2 A technical committee or subcommittee developing an International Standard that will require a registration authority shall inform the Chief Executive Officer at
an early stage, in order to permit any necessary negotiations and to allow the technical management board to take a decision in advance of the publication of the
International Standard.
H.1.3 The technical management board designates registration authorities in connection with International Standards on the proposal of the technical committee
concerned.
H.1.4 Registration authorities should be qualified and internationally acceptable bodies; if there is no such organization available, such tasks may be conferred upon
the office of the CEO by decision of the technical management board.
H.1.5 Registration authorities should be required to indicate clearly in their operations that they have been designated by ISO or IEC (for example, by including
appropriate wording in the letterhead of the designated body).
H.1.6 Registration functions undertaken by the registration authority under the provisions of the relevant International Standard shall require no financial
contribution from ISO or IEC or their members. This would not preclude, however, the charging for services provided by the registration authority if duly authorized by
the council board.

H.2 Compliance
Where the office of the CEO becomes aware of an RA Standard under development or under revision that has not followed this Policy, it shall stop the publication process
to allow time to implement this Policy before the RA Standard is published. For this reason, committees are encouraged to make the ISO Technical Program Manager
(TPM) or the IEC Technical Officer aware of a project requiring an RA as early in the development process as possible to avoid delays in publication.

H.3 Definitions
H.3.1 RA Standard: A standard for which an RA is providing the Registration Services.
H.3.2 Registration Services or RA Services: Services provided by the RA in the implementation of the RA Standard and which shall be described in the RA Standard.
H.3.3 Registration Authority (“RA”): Entity appointed by ISO or IEC to fulfil the Registration Services in an RA Standard.
H.3.4 Registration Agencies: Third parties (e.g. national or regional sub-entities) to which the RA may delegate some aspects of the Registration Services. Even when
delegated to Registration Agencies, the Registration Services remain under the overall responsibility of the RA.
H.3.5 Registration Authority Agreement (“RAA”): Agreement based on the RAA template signed by the RA and the ISO Secretary-General on behalf of ISO or the IEC
General Secretary on behalf of IEC, which details the functions, roles and legal obligations of the parties involved.
H.3.6 Registration Elements: Unique identifiers or identifier code components, the methodology for which is described in the RA Standard but which themselves are
not part of the RA Standard.
H.3.7 Technical Programme Managers (TPM): Individual within ISO/CS assigned to work with a given committee.
H.3.8 Technical Officer (TO): Individual within IEC/CO assigned to work with a given committee.

H.4 Procedure
H.4.1 Chronology
This Policy addresses the various aspects of an RA in the order of the life cycle of a typical RA noting that some stages may be done in parallel. Each stage is addressed as
follows:
— Declaring the need for an RA (H.4.2)
— Drafting an RA Standard (H.4.3)
— Selecting an RA (H.4.4)
— Appointing an RA (H.4.5)
— Signing an RAA (H.4.6)
— Implementing an RA Standard (H.4.7)
— Role of the RA (H.4.7.1)
— Role of the Committee (H.4.7.2)
— Role of the office of the CEO (H.4.7.3)
— Terminating an RA (H.4.8)
H.4.2 Declaring the need for an RA
A committee shall determine that an RA is required for a standard as soon as the draft is sufficiently mature to make this decision, whether this is during the creation of a
new standard or the revision of an existing standard involving material changes to its implementation. The committee confirms its decision that a standard needs an RA
for its implementation by way of a resolution.
The committee secretariat completes the RA Confirmation (“RAC”) Form (See Annex SJ) and submits it to the TPM as soon as the resolution is approved.
H.4.3 Drafting an RA Standard
The following shall be included in all RA Standards:
— A description of the identification scheme or the mechanism for generating unique Registration Elements.
— A description of the Registration Services, and the responsibilities of the RA.
— The link to the page on iso.org or iec.ch where ISO and IEC publish the name and contact information of the RA for a given RA Standard. The page on iso.org or iec.ch
shall provide a link to the RA's website which will contain more information on the Registration Services available.
The following shall not be included in RA Standards:
— In accordance with clause 4 of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2, contractual or other legal aspects.
— Procedures concerning the provision of the Registration Services (e.g. a Handbook made available by the RA).
— The name of the RA. Instead, a link to the ISO or IEC website shall be provided (see above).
— References to the selection or reappointment process for the RA.
— Details about any Registration Agencies. In case of delegation of Registration Services by the RA to third parties (e.g. Registration Agencies) as agreed under the RAA,
the RA Standard may mention the fact that some aspects of the Registration Services have been delegated.
The TPM is responsible for coordinating with the committee to ensure that the appropriate text is included in the RA Standard. Any questions about what should be
included in the RA Standard are to be addressed to the TPM.
H.4.4 Selecting an RA
The selection process of the RA applies to new RA Standards and existing RA Standards.
In the case of revisions, the committee shall review and decide whether the existing RA should continue or if a selection process should be launched to select additional
RA candidates. In their review, the committee shall consider the changes being made to the RA Standard, particularly with regard to the responsibilities of the RA, and the
goal of optimizing the implementation of the RA Standards. The decision to launch a selection process should be supported by a rationale. The committee shall confirm
its decision by resolution.
The committee shall establish a process so that an RA can be appointed or re-appointed before publication of the RA Standard. It is important that each draft of the RA
Standard contains details about the nature of the Registration Services needed and that these are shared with any current or prospective RA candidates.
The committee establishes the criteria for the application process and selection of the RA and confirms these by resolution. The minimum criteria for the selection
process shall be:
— Selection criteria – these must be clearly explained and with sufficient details for possible RA candidates to assess their ability to meet the criteria and apply on this
basis. Included in the selection criteria shall be the requirement that the prospective RA candidates provide the following information in writing:
— Proof (e.g. Statutes) that it is a legal entity which means that is an organization formed under the laws of a jurisdiction and that it is therefore subject to
governance related rules.
— Expression of willingness to take responsibility for the Registration Services.
— Confirmation that the RA is technically and financially able to carry out the RA Services described in the RA Standard and the RAA on an international level,
including for example, a financial plan for funding the expected volume of registrations, a list of employees or third parties and their applicable background and
skills, and description of the physical facilities available to the RA to accomplish the work, demonstrated financial capacity to meet liability exposure for
performing the services.
— Documentation and examples, where relevant, of the candidate RA’s experience in the respective community of practice.
— Confirmation of whether it intends to delegate part of the Registration Services to Registration Agencies.
— Confirmation of whether it will charge fees for the RA Services and, if it charges fees, confirmation that any such fees will be on a cost recovery basis.
— Expression of willingness to sign and execute an RAA, the ISO-IEC RAA template for which shall be shared with RA candidates.
— Public call for RA candidates – committees shall take the appropriate steps needed to post the call for competent RA applicants to as broad a market as possible,
also targeting possible organizations by inviting them to apply. The relative weighting of each evaluation criterion shall be published in the public call. Details of the
Registration Services shall be made available to any current RA and any prospective RA candidates.
— Evaluation – Prospective RA candidates shall provide their responses in writing. The committee (or a subset thereof) shall determine the relative weight to be given
to each selection criterion and shall evaluate the prospective RA candidates accordingly.
— Record-keeping – the committee secretariat shall keep records of all documents in the selection process, including the call for candidates, applications, evaluation,
decision, etc.
— Professionalism – the selection process should be conducted in a professional manner, adhering to the principle of discretion amongst those involved.
The committee shall then confirm to the TMB its recommendation for appointment of the organization selected to be the RA via a resolution.
H.4.5 Appointing an RA
The information that is provided by the committee in the RAC (see H.4.2 above) is needed to launch the TMB ballot appointing the RA, as well as the ISO or IEC Council
ballot if the RA intends to charge fees. RA may charge fees for the Registration Services if authorized by the ISO or IEC Council, and as long as the basis of charging fees is
strictly on a cost recovery basis. In the case of revisions, approval from the TMB or ISO or IEC Council is not needed if the committee decides that the same RA should
continue (see H.4.4) and the required authorization to charge fees has already been given.
In the case of JTC 1 RA Standards, a copy of the RAC Form shall also be provided to the IEC since RA appointments must all be confirmed by the IEC/SMB (and Council
Board) where fees are charged.
H.4.6 Signing an RAA
A signed RAA must have been executed using the latest RAA template before an RA Standard is published (including revisions). In the case of revisions, the process to
sign the RAA should begin at the time of the launch of the review process or the committee decision to launch a revision to ensure the timely signature of the RAA and to
avoid delays in publication.
Only after the TMB (and Council if fees are charged) has appointed the RA (and in the case of JTC 1 RA Standards, involving the IEC) can the RAA be signed. Signing an
RAA based on the ISO/IEC template is mandatory for all RAs. The RAA shall be signed before publication of a new or revised RA Standard. If an RAA is not signed, the new
or revised RA Standard shall not be published.
In cases where there is a high market need, the TMB can exceptionally approve the publication of a revised ISO RA standard to be published while an RAA is being
negotiated. The committee responsible for the RA standard needs to submit a formal request to the TMB with a market need justification through the Technical
Programme Manager of the committee. The concurrence of the IEC will need to be sought in the case of JTC 1 standards.
To ensure consistency and equality of treatment between the different RAs, any requested deviations from the RAA template which ISO/IECconsiders to be significant in
nature shall be submitted to the TMB for approval.
H.4.7 Implementing an RA Standard
H.4.7.1 Role of the RA
The RA provides the Registration Services by:
— providing the Registration Services described in the RA Standard, and
— respecting the provisions of the RAA.
H.4.7.2 Role of the committee
Although RAAs are signed by the RA and by the office of the CEO, the signature of a RAA by the office of the CEO binds all components in the ISO or IEC systems, including
ISO or IEC members and ISO or IEC committees. The central role is played by committees. In addition to declaring the need for an RA Standard (4.2), drafting the RA
Standard (4.3) and selecting an RA (4.4) for both new and revised RA Standards, the committee has the main responsibility for oversight of the RA as follows:
— Answering questions: The committee must be available to the RA to answer questions about the RA Standard and clarify any expectations regarding its role in
implementing the RA Standard.
— Assessing RA’s annual reports: The RAA requires the RA to provide the committee with annual reports by the date specified by the committee. The committee shall
ensure that these annual reports are provided on time and read them.
The RA’s annual report is to be divided in two parts:
The first part addresses the operational aspects of the RA as directly related to the RA Services. The committee, ISO or IEC may request information about the
activities of the RA that are not related to the RA Services if there is reason to believe that these are interfering with the RA Services. At a minimum this first part of the
RA report shall confirm:
— That the RA is fulfilling the RA Services described in the RA Standard.
 — Compliance with the signed RAA by the Registration Agencies designated by the RA.
— That the RA is meeting user needs and providing users with guidance, as needed.
The second part of the RA report provides information about any complaints received from users of the RA Standard regarding, for example: fees, access to and use of
data and/or information produced during the implementation of the RA Standard, as well as accuracy of the data and/or information. This part shall indicate whether
of the complaints remain outstanding at the time of the RA report and the efforts underway to resolve them.
— Monitoring: In addition to the annual RA report, the committee shall also analyse any feedback it receives from industry and users of the RA Standard. Based on all of
these elements (RA report and other feedback), the committee shall report to the office of the CEO (see below).
— Reporting to the office of the CEO: At least once per year and based on the information collected under Monitoring above, the committee shall provide a report to
the responsible TPM or TO using the Annual Committee Report to TPM (“ACR”) Form (See Annex SJ). The purpose of such reports is to confirm that the RA operates in
accordance with the RAA or to raise any concerns (concerns can include: RA not meeting industry or user needs, complaints about the quality of the Registration
Services, etc.). Such reports shall be provided at least annually to the responsible TPM or more frequently if the committee deems it necessary. The TPM may also ask
for ad hoc reports. If the report identifies concerns, it shall include the planned Corrective measures (see below) needed to address these concerns.
— Dispute resolution: The obligations of RAs to address complaints are contained in the RAA template. The role of the committee (and the office of the CEO) is limited
to advising the RA of any complaints it receives about the RA Services and supporting the RA in its addressing of the dispute. The committee shall not assume
responsibility for the dispute or become the appellate body for disputes between the RA and users of the RA Standard as this may inadvertently give the impression
that ISO or IEC is responsible for the Registration Services.
— Corrective measures:
— By the RA: the RA is responsible for implementing any corrective measure that are within its area of responsibility, which would include the Registration Services
and the provisions described in the RAA.
— By the committee: the committee is responsible for recommending possible corrective measures such as: revising the RA Standard, providing advice and guidance
to the RA, carrying out audits or recommending the termination of the RAA to the office of the CEO in severe cases.
— By the office of the CEO: the corrective measures that fall within the responsibility of the office of the CEO (e.g. updating or overseeing the RAA) will be
coordinated by the TPM or TO. The TPM or the TO may also recommend corrective measures.
— Maintenance of records: The committee shall maintain and archive all key communications and documentation (e.g. correspondence between the RA and the
committee regarding complaints) until at least five years after either termination of the RAA or withdrawal of the RA Standard. The committee secretariat is
responsible for ensuring that these are maintained in a separate folder on e-committees.
The committee may create an advisory subgroup, with the appropriate terms of reference, [often referred to as a Registration Management Group (“RMG”)] in order to
help them with the above. Committees (either directly or through the RMG) shall not participate or get involved in providing the Registration Services except in the
supervisory roles specified in this subclause.
H.4.7.3 Role of the office of the CEO
The committee’s interface with the office of the CEO is through the responsible TPM or TO. The role of the TPM or the TO includes:
— Identification of RA Standards during the development process if not done by the committee.
— Providing guidance and advice for the drafting of RA Standards.
— Training committees on this RA Policy.
— Coordination with committees to ensure compliance with the RA Policies, quality of RA Services, appropriate handling of complaints, addressing industry and users’
needs, including addressing the concerns raised in the annual reports provided by committees (using the ACR Form) and recommending and assisting in the
implementation of any corrective measures (see H.4.7.2).
— Maintenance of records in relation to his or her involvement.
H.4.8 Termination of an RA
Termination of RAs could occur when 1) an RAA has expired and the RA or ISO or IEC has given the required notice of its intent not to renew it, or 2) the RAA is
terminated for cause, or 3) the RAA was terminated by mutual consent, or 4) the RA Standard is withdrawn, or 5) the RAA goes into bankruptcy, liquidation or
dissolution.
When an RA has been given notice of non-renewal or termination, the committee should exercise particular oversight to ensure that RA Services are maintained during
the notice period and change-over phase.
Unless the RA Standard is withdrawn, the process detailed in H.4.4 above should be followed in the selection of a replacement RA unless the committee has identified an
alternative RA candidate that meets the selection criteria in 4.4 and going through the selection process for additional RA candidates would cause unacceptable
disruption in the RA Services.
Annex I (normative) Guideline for Implementation of the Common Patent Policy for ITU-T/ITU-R/ISO/IEC
The latest edition of the Guidelines for Implementation of the Common Patent Policy for ITU-T/ITU-R/ISO/IEC are available on the ISO website through the following link
(including the forms in Word or Excel formats):
https://www.iso.org/iso/home/standards_development/governance_of_technical_work/patents.htm
They are also available on the IEC website through the following link:
https://www.iec.ch/members_experts/tools/patents/patent_policy.htm
Annex J (normative) Formulating scopes of technical committees and subcommittees
J.1 Introduction
The scope of a technical committee or subcommittee is a statement precisely defining the limits of the work of that committee. As such it has a number of functions:
— it assists those with queries and proposals relating to a field of work to locate the appropriate committee;
— it prevents overlapping the work programmes of two or more ISO and/or IEC committees;
— it can also help guard against moving outside the field of activities authorized by the parent committee.

J.2 Formulation of scopes

Basic rules for the formulation of scopes of technical committees and subcommittees are given in 1.5.10.
The order of the elements of a scope shall be:
— basic scope;
— in the ISO, horizontal functions, where applicable;
— in the IEC, horizontal and/or group safety functions where applicable;
— exclusions (if any);
— notes (if any).

J.3 Basic scope

Scopes of technical committees shall not refer to the general aims of international standardization or repeat the principles that govern the work of all technical
committees.
In exceptional cases, explanatory material may be included if considered important to the understanding of the scope of the committee. Such material shall be in the form
of “Notes”.

J.4 Exclusions
Should it be necessary to specify that certain topics are outside the scope of the technical committee, these shall be listed and be introduced by the words “Excluded …”
Exclusions shall be clearly specified.
Where the exclusions are within the scope of one or more other existing ISO or IEC technical committees, these committees shall also be identified.
EXAMPLE 1 “Excluded: Those … covered by ISO/TC …”.
EXAMPLE 2 “Excluded: Standardization for specific items in the field of … (ISO/TC …), … (IEC/TC …), etc.”.
It is not necessary to mention self-evident exclusions.
EXAMPLE 3 “Excluded: Products covered by other ISO or IEC technical committees”.
EXAMPLE 4 “Excluded: … Specifications for electrical equipment and apparatus, which fall within the scope of IEC committees”.

J.5 Scopes of committees related to products

Scopes of committees related to products shall clearly indicate the field, application area or market sector which they intend to cover, in order to easily ascertain whether
a particular product is, or is not, within that field, application area or market sector.
EXAMPLE 1 “Standardization of … and … used in …”.
EXAMPLE 2 “Standardization of materials, components and equipment for construction and operation of … and … as well as equipment used in the servicing and maintenance of …”.
The limits of the scope can be defined by indicating the purpose of the products, or by characterizing the products.
The scope should not enumerate the types of product covered by the committee since to do so might suggest that other types can be, or are, standardized by other
committees. However, if this is the intention, then it is preferable to list those items which are excluded from the scope.
The enumeration of aspects such as terminology, technical requirements, methods of sampling, test methods, designation, marking, packaging, dimensions, etc. suggests a
restriction in the scope to those particular aspects, and that other aspects may be standardized by other committees. The aspects of the products to be standardized
should therefore not be included in the scope unless it is intended that the scope is limited to those particular aspects.
If the scope makes no mention of any aspect, this means that the subject in its entirety is covered by the committee.
NOTE The coverage does not necessarily mean the need for preparing a standard. It only means that standards on any aspect, if needed, will be prepared by that committee and no other.
An example of unnecessary enumeration of aspects is as follows:
EXAMPLE 3 “Standardization of classification, terminology, sampling, physical, chemical or other test methods, specifications, etc.”.
Mention of priorities, whether referring to type of product or aspect, shall not appear in the scope since these will be indicated in the programme of work.

J.6 Scopes of committees not related to products

If the scope of a committee is intended to be limited to certain aspects which are unrelated, or only indirectly related to products, the scope shall only indicate the aspect
to be covered (e.g. safety colours and signs, non-destructive testing, water quality).
The term terminology as a possible aspect of standardization should not be mentioned unless this aspect is the only task to be dealt with by the committee. If this is not
the case, the mention of terminology is superfluous since this aspect is a logical part of any standardization activity.
Annex K (normative) Project committees
K.1 Proposal stage
A new work item proposal not falling within the scope of an existing technical committee shall be presented using the appropriate form and fully justified (see 2.3.4) by
one of the bodies authorized to make new work item proposals (see 2.3.2).
The office of the CEO may decide to return the proposal to the proposer for further development before circulation for voting. In this case, the proposer shall make the
changes suggested or provide justification for not making the changes. If the proposer does not make the changes and requests that its proposal be circulated for voting
as originally presented, the technical management board will decide on appropriate action. This could include blocking the proposal until the changes are made or
accepting that it be balloted as received.
In all cases, the office of the CEO may also include comments and recommendations to the proposal form.
For details relating to justification of the proposal, see Annex C.
In the case of a proposal to establish a project committee to prepare management system standards, see Annex SL.
It shall be submitted to the secretariat of the technical management board which shall arrange for it to be submitted to all National Bodies for voting.
Proposers are also encouraged to indicate the date of the first meeting of the project committee (see K.3).
If the proposal was not submitted by a National Body, the submission to the National Bodies shall include a call for offers to assume the secretariat of a project committee.
Votes shall be returned within 12 weeks.
Acceptance requires:
— approval by a 2/3 majority of the National Bodies voting;
— a commitment to participate actively by at least five National Bodies that approved the new work item proposal and nominated technical experts.

K.2 Establishment of a project committee

The technical management board shall review the results of voting on the new work item proposal and if the approval criteria are met, shall establish a project committee
(the reference number shall be the next available number in the technical committee/project committee sequence).
The secretariat of the project committee shall be allocated to the National Body that submitted the proposal, or the technical management board shall decide on the
allocation amongst the offers received if the proposal did not originate from a National Body.
National Bodies that approved the new work item proposal and nominated (a) technical expert(s) shall be registered as P-members of the project committee. National
Bodies that approved the new work item proposal but did not make a commitment to participate actively shall be registered as O-members. National Bodies that voted
negatively, but nevertheless indicated that they would participate actively if the new work item was approved, shall be registered as P-members. National Bodies voting
negatively without indicating a wish to participate shall be registered as O-members.
The office of the CEO shall announce to the National Bodies the establishment of the project committee and its membership.
National Bodies will be invited to confirm/change their membership status by informing the office of the CEO.
The secretariat will contact any potential liaison organizations identified in the new work item proposal or in National Body comments thereon and will invite them to
indicate whether they have an interest in the work and, if so, which category of liaison they would be interested in. Requests for liaison will be processed according to the
existing procedures.

K.3 First meeting of a project committee

The procedure for calling a project committee meeting shall be carried out in accordance with Clause 4, with the exception that a six weeks' notice period may be used if
the date of the first meeting was communicated at the time of submission of the proposal.
The chair of the project committee shall be the project leader nominated in the new work item proposal or shall be nominated by the secretariat if no project leader was
nominated in the new work item proposal.
The first meeting shall confirm the scope of the new work item. In case revision is necessary (for purposes of clarification but not extension of the scope), the revised
scope shall be submitted to the technical management board for approval. It shall also confirm the project plan and in ISO the development track and decide on any
substructures needed to carry out the work.
If it is determined that the project needs to be subdivided to produce two or more publications, this is possible provided that the subdivisions of the work lie fully within
the scope of the original new work item proposal. If not, a new work item will need to be prepared for consideration by the technical management board.
NOTE Project committees are exempted from the requirement to establish a strategic business plan.

K.4 Preparatory stage

The preparatory stage shall be carried out in accordance with 2.4.

K.5 Committee, enquiry, approval and publication stages

The committee, enquiry, approval and publication stages shall be carried out in accordance with 2.5 to 2.8.

K.6 Disbanding of a project committee

Once the standard(s) is/are published, the project committee shall be disbanded.

K.7 Maintenance of standard(s) prepared by a project committee

The National Body which held the secretariat shall assume responsibility for the maintenance of the standard(s) according to the procedures given in 2.9 unless the
project committee has been transformed into a technical committee (see 1.10) in which case the technical committee shall be given the responsibility for the
maintenance of the standard.
Annex L (normative) Selection criteria for people leading the technical work
L.1 Obligations of member bodies
Member bodies are responsible for ensuring that candidates for leadership positions (i.e. chairs, convenors, and secretaries) meet the requirements contained in L.3.
Member bodies are also responsible for ensuring that any gaps in skills or knowledge of the selected leaders, as well as experts, are identified and filled through ongoing
training.

L.2 Resources available to fill gaps in skills or knowledge

A number of resources are available to help member bodies fill any identified gaps in skills or knowledge:
— Training and other materials are available from the ISO Central Secretariat or IEC Central Office to ensure the effectiveness of the various roles
in conducting/attending meetings, including understanding key concepts.
— To help train experts, it may be useful to schedule committee pre-sessions and information on existing resources before or in conjunction with committee plenaries.
— The support of the Technical Programme Manager or Technical Officer, particularly in the case of new committees, is available to train leaders and experts. In the case
of new committees, the Technical Programme Manager or Technical Officer should attend the first meeting to provide an overall introduction of ISO or IEC and its
processes.
— In ISO Exchange programmes could also be organized between member bodies or with the ISO Central Secretariat. Member bodies may also wish to consider
twinnings.
— The services of an external facilitator for coaching and training could be considered as one of the options to assist the committee leadership to develop specific skills,
such as the skills needed to run effective meetings, general leadership skills, etc.

L.3 Selection Criteria for people leading the technical work

The success of any committee or working group is dependent on its leadership. This selection criteria applies to committee  chairs, working group convenors and
committee secretaries. Members bodies are therefore required to apply this criteria when nominating people to these roles in order to ensure that the new ISO Code of
Conduct for the technical work or IEC Code of Conduct is upheld and that the ISO/IEC Directives are correctly applied.
L.3.1 Chairs and convenors
L.3.1.1 Competencies and attributes of good chairs and convenors:
— existing role and good reputation in the sector
— relevant professional experience with previous experience of chairmanship
— lead and inspire delegates and experts from the sector towards consensus
— understand the international nature of standardization work and its resulting benefits
— commit time and resources to their role
— develop solutions through innovative and creative thinking in a consensus environment
— act proactively and communicate diplomatically
— foster and value cooperation with other ISO and IEC Committees and partners including those from regulatory bodies
— act in a purely international capacity
L.3.1.2 Job specification for chairs and convenors:
— lead meetings effectively with a view to reaching agreement and to ensure that positions and decisions are clearly understood
— ensure that all positions and views (at meetings and by correspondence) are given equal treatment
— manage projects according to agreed target dates in accordance with the project plan from preparation to completion
— work to ensure that a full range of technical competence is available to the group
— be fully knowledgeable of the subject and market needs
— propose decisions to progress or to stop work on the basis of its market or global relevance
— have basic knowledge of ISO or IEC and its procedures
L.3.1.3 Additionally — chairs of committees are required to:
— take responsibility for the overall management of the committee, including any subcommittees and working groups
— advise the Technical Management Board on important matters relating to the Committee
— ensure that the policy and strategic decisions of the Technical Management Board are implemented by the Committee
— think strategically to promote ISO's and IEC’s work in the sector
L.3.1.4 Additionally — convenors of working groups are required to:
— have appropriate knowledge and capabilities in using MS Word based drafting tools and the ISO or IEC web-based applications, including the required use of ISO or
IEC applications for communications and document sharing, in order to support the working group’s work
L.3.1.5 Supporting information
The following information should be considered by the member bodies in the nominations for chairs and convenors:
— current role in the sector
— education
— professional career
— leadership experience
— similar activities
— language skills
L.3.2 Secretaries and secretariats
L.3.2.1 Selection of secretaries and secretariats
The success of an ISO committee or working group is dependent on its secretariat and secretary (or convenor of a WG in case there is no secretary). The following list is
based on the ISO/IEC Directives and shows the tasks expected to be performed in these roles. Member Bodies should use this list when appointing organizations and
professionals as secretariats and secretaries.
L.3.2.2 Good documents
Preparing drafts for the committee or working group, arranging for their distribution and the treatment of the comments received. In the case of committee secretaries,
preparing of drafts, text and figures for circulation by ISO Central Secretariat (ISO/CS) or IEC Central Office (IEC/CO) for enquiry and final draft International Standards
or for publication. Fulfilling the ISO/CS or IEC/CO submission requirements of such documents when sending them.
L.3.2.3 Excellent project management
Assisting in the establishment of priorities and target dates for each project. Notifying the names of all working group convenors and project leaders to
the ISO/CS or IEC/CO. Initiating ballots. Proposing proactive solutions for projects that are running significantly overtime, and/orwhich appear to lack sufficient support.
L.3.2.4 Well prepared meetings
Establishing the agenda and arranging for its distribution as well as the distribution of all documents on the agenda, including reports of working groups, and indicating
all other documents which are necessary for discussion during the meeting. Recording the decisions taken in a meeting and making these decisions available in writing
for confirmation in the meeting. Preparing the minutes of meetings to be circulated within 4 weeks after the meeting.
L.3.2.5 Good advice on ISO and IEC processes
Providing advice to the chair, project leaders, and convenors on the ISO/IEC Directives and in particular the procedures associated with the progression of projects.
Contacting any subcommittees and working group regarding their activities.
L.3.2.6 Connecting and networking
Working in close liaison with the chair of the committee or convenor of the working group. Maintaining close contact with the ISO/CS or IEC/COand with the members of
the committee or working group regarding its activities. Maintaining close contact with the secretary of any parent committee.
L.3.2.7 Proactive follow up of actions
Ensuring that all actions agreed at meetings or by correspondence are completed on time and in a transparent manner.
L.3.2.8 Good with IT
Have appropriate knowledge and capabilities in using MS Word based drafting tools and the ISO or IEC web-based applications, including the required use of ISO or IEC
applications for communications and document sharing, in order to support the committtee’s work.
L.3.2.9 Supporting Information
The following information should be considered by the member body when appointing secretaries:
— education
— professional career
— experience in standardization work
— participation in training programmes on standardization
— experience with ISO’s or IEC’s IT tools and IT infrastructure
— language skills
________________
 
ANNEXES APPLICABLE TO ISO ONLY
 
Annex SA (normative) ISO Code of Conduct
The ISO Code of Conduct is available on the Governance of technical work page
(https://www.iso.org/iso/home/standards_development/governance_of_technical_work.htm) of www.iso.org at:
https://www.iso.org/publication/PUB100397.html
The Code is to facilitate ISO's work which is carried out in an international, multi-stakeholder, multi-sector environment. It applies to people who choose to participate in
an ISO committee, working group or other consensus group. The Code is an obligation for participation in the above groups that work in the framework of
the ISO/IEC Directives.
Tips for implementing the Code are available at:
https://isotc.iso.org/livelink/livelink/fetch/2000/2122/15507012/20094274/suggestions_for_implementation_of_the_iso_code_of_conduct.pdf?
nodeid=21200847&vernum=-2
Guidance and process for addressing misconduct and breaches of the code of conduct:
https://isotc.iso.org/livelink/livelink/fetch/2000/2122/15507012/20094274/ISO_Code_of_Conduct_-_Complaints_Handling_Guidance_Process_2020.pdf?
nodeid=21068087&vernum=-2
Annex SB (normative) Document distribution
SB.1 Document distribution
Details showing document distribution are shown in the table.

SB.2 Electronic notifications of document delivery

The information included in electronic notifications of document availability shall comprise
— Subject line: committee reference
— Content (the precise format may vary):
1) N-number (automatically generated)
2) Official ISO reference number (e.g. CD 1234 for a committee draft, NP 2345 for a new work item proposal)
3) Title of the document
4) Expected action
5) Due date for expected action
6) Type of document (information, ballot, comment, notice of meeting, etc.)
7) Date and location, if it is a meeting document
8) Note field, for special information related to a particular document
9) Hyperlink to the document
 
Annex SC (normative) Strategic business plans
SC.1 Objectives of a strategic business plan (SBP)
1) To demonstrate in an objective manner the specific benefits which result from, or are expected from, the work of this technical committee.
NOTE 1 These benefits can vary significantly between different fields in which committees are involved: they can be economic (cost savings, reduced time to market, easier access to certain
regional markets, lower sales prices), they can be social (improvement of safety for workers, measured in the reduction of accidents) or they can be the improvement of the environmental
impact, for example.
2) To support prioritization and to improve the management of the technical work in a committee.
NOTE 2 This includes the definition of target dates and the planning of resources for the work of the technical committee (and its SCs) in relation to the development of new and the
maintenance of existing documents.
3) To increase the transparency in relation to the market forces and the percentage of market share represented within a committee.
All current SBP may be viewed online at https://www.iso.org/bp.

SC.2 Development tools and additional guidance

To facilitate the preparation of SBP, ISO Central Secretariat has developed a document template. This template and additional guidance may be downloaded from the
ISOTC server at www.iso.org/forms.

SC.3 Procedure for the development of a strategic business plan

SC.3.1 The committee secretary, in cooperation with committee members and/or the committee chair, shall prepare a draft SBP. The draft SBP shall be submitted to an
internal consultation within the technical committee. It shall be formally agreed upon by the technical committee by way of a resolution, before being submitted to the
technical management board for review.
The technical committee shall submit the draft SBP ([email protected]) in revisable (i.e. Word) and PDF-format to the ISO technical management board who will review the
draft SBP against the set of minimum requirements for SBPs (see Table SC.1).
Table SC.1 — Requirements for strategic business plans of ISO technical committees

Item Description of Requirements Score

1 Descriptions of relevant dynamics in the business environment related to the work of the ISO committee, and quantitative indictors of trends 1 to 5
in this business environment and the acceptance and implementation of the ISO committee’s standards.
2 Descriptions of tangible benefits that the standardization programme is expected to achieve for the business environment. 1 to 5
3 Descriptions of identified objectives of the ISO committee and strategies to achieve those objectives. This should include descriptions of 1 to 5
specific actions that will be taken or that will be proposed to the ISO committee to better respond to the needs and trends of the business
environment.
4 Descriptions of factors that may negatively impact the ISO committee’s ability to achieve its objectives and implement its strategies, 1 to 5
including information on the representation of the major market forces in the committee (geographically as well as by type, e.g. manufacturer,
government, etc.).
5 Objective information regarding the ISO committee and its work programme that is required: No score
— link added in section 7 to the TC’s page on ISO’s website About (Secretariat, Secretary, Chair, Date of creation, Scope, etc.), Contact details, (Yes/No)
Structure (Subcommittees and working groups), Liaisons, Meetings, Tools, Work programme (published standards and standards under Mandatory
development; information
— priorities assigned to projects in the work programme (if the committee assigns priorities) with an explanation of the reasons/process for
prioritization;
— relationships of projects to European regional standardization (CEN);
— time allocated to each project by working group convenors, project leaders/editors and for translation; and
— the range of stakeholders that should be engaged based on the subject area being standardized.

SC.3.2 An average score of at least 10 is necessary for approval. If the SBP is not approved by the TMB, the technical management board scores and comments will be
sent to the committee who will be asked to resubmit the SBP. If approved, the comments from the technical management board shall be taken into consideration during
the SBP review at the next plenary meeting.
SC.3.3 Once approved by the technical management board, the SBP is made available to the general public for review and comment on a publicly accessible server
(https://www.iso.org/bp) by the ISO Central Secretariat. Member bodies are encouraged to inform the interested public in their countries of the availability of the SBP
for public review and, if appropriate, to set links to the SBPs.
SC.3.4 The committee shall conduct a review of the SBP, considering all comments received, preferably once per year, but at least once every 3 years. Updated SBP do
not need to be submitted for TMB approval — they shall be approved by consensus within the committee (or, if consensus is not possible, by a simple majority of P-
members casting a vote).
Annex SD (normative) Matrix presentation of project stages
SD.1 Introduction to the Harmonized Stage Code
The standardization process has a number of definite steps or stages which can be used both to describe the process and to indicate where in the process any one item
has reached. In general terms the methods used to develop and publish standards via the formal standardization process operated by international, regional and national
standards bodies are very similar no matter which body is overseeing the process. Thus, at a high level, it is possible to have a common view of the standardization
process and with it a common set of stages. There are differences between the processes of individual bodies, however, and this has led to the development of different
stage systems for each body.
This Harmonized Stage Code (HSC) system is used in ISO’s databases for tracking standards development projects. Its purpose is to provide a common framework for the
transfer of core data. The system allows tracking of the development of a given project in the same way in databases being used at international, regional and national
levels and the matrix is so constructed that it can easily be adapted to new requirements.

SD.2 Design of the stage code matrix

A series of “stages” representing procedural sequences common to different organizations has been established. These represent the main stages of standards
development.
A series of “sub-stages” has been established within each stage, using a consistent logical system of concepts. The terms “stage” and “sub-stage” are hence used to
designate the respective axes of the resulting matrix.
Principal stages and sub-stages are each coded by a two-digit number from 00 to 90, in increments of 10. Individual cells within the generic matrix are coded by a four-
digit number made up of its stage and sub-stage coordinates. For visual presentation (although not necessarily for the purposes of database operations), the pair of
coordinates are separated by a point (e.g. 10.20 for stage 10, sub-stage 20).
All unused stage codes are reserved for future use, to allow for interpolation of additional phases that might be identified, e.g. stage codes 10, 30, 40, 50 and 80.

SD.3 Basic guidelines for using the system

— Other information concerning, for example, document source or document type, should be recorded in separate database fields and should not be reflected in stage
codes.
— There is no sub-code to indicate that a project is dormant at any particular stage. It is recommended to use another database field to address this issue.
— The HSC system allows for the cyclical nature of the standards process and for the repeating of either the current phase or an earlier phase. Events that may be
repeated in the life of a project are recordable by repetition of the same stage codes.
— Freezing a project at any point is possible by using the code the project has reached. Projects that have been suspended should have this information recorded in a
separate database field.
— The HSC system is not concerned with recording either target or actual dates for achieving stages.
 
Annex SE (normative) Numbering of documents
SE.1 Working documents (including committee drafts)
Each document (including committee drafts — see also SE.2) relating to the work of an ISO technical committee or subcommittee circulated to all or some of the member
bodies shall have a “N-number” generated by the system that appears at the top right-hand corner of recto pages and at the top left-hand corner of verso pages. The first
page of the document shall also bear, immediately under the reference number, the date, written in accordance with ISO 8601 (Data elements and interchange formats —
Information interchange — Representation of dates and times), on which the document was compiled.
Once a reference number is used for a working document, it cannot be used again for a document with differing wording and/or different contents. The same number
may be used for a proposal and a voting form (optional). If a document replaces an earlier one, the system generates a new N-number on the first page of the new
document.
The N-number is made up of the following two parts separated by the letter N:
1) the number of the technical committee (TC) and, when applicable, the number of the subcommittee (SC) to which the working document belongs;
2) an overall serial number.
As an example, the reference number will look as follows: ISO/TC a/SC b Nn

SE.2 Working drafts (WD), committee drafts (CD), draft International Standards (DIS), final draft International Standards (FDIS) and
International Standards
When a new project is registered by ISO Central Secretariat (see 2.3.5), the latter will allocate an ISO reference number to the project. The number allocated will remain
the same for the ensuing WD, CD, DIS and FDIS and for the published International Standard. The number allocated is purely a registration and reference number and has
no meaning whatsoever in the sense of classification or chronological order. The number allocated to a withdrawn project or International Standard will not be used
again.
If the project represents a revision or amendment of an existing International Standard, the registered project will be allocated the same number as the existing
International Standard (with, in the case of an amendment, a suffix indicating the nature of the document).
If, however, the scope is substantially changed, the project shall be given a different number.
Successive WDs or CDs on the same subject shall be marked “first working draft”, “second working draft”, etc., or “first committee draft”, “second committee draft”, etc., as
well as with the working document number in accordance with SE.1.
Successive DIS on the same subject will carry the same number but will be distinguished by a numerical suffix (.2, .3, etc.).
Annex SF (normative) Hosting meetings
SF.1 Who may host an ISO meeting?
Meetings may be hosted by:
— any ISO member (member body, correspondent member, subscriber member);
— for working group meetings only, any liaison member of the committee concerned.
For technical committee or subcommittee meetings, the ISO member body in the country shall be the host and its pre-approval of the meeting is required.
For working group meetings, the ISO member body in the country shall be informed of the meeting before the meeting is confirmed.
It is not necessary for a host to be a direct participant in the work of the committee concerned, although that will typically be the case.
A potential host shall first ascertain that there are no restrictions imposed by its country or the hosting venue to the entry of representatives of any P-member of the
technical committee or subcommittee for the purpose of attending the meeting. In some cases it may be necessary for special permission to be obtained for attendance —
wherever possible the host should assist in determining if this is the case, but it is the joint responsibility of the secretariat or group leader, and the participant to
determine any restrictions.
Given that some hosts may not have sufficient meeting facilities and/or other resources of their own, the main host — say an ISO member — may accept an invitation
from another organization to assist by, for instance, providing a meeting location or organizing a welcoming event.
Irrespective of the actual host of a meeting, responsibility for the meeting concerned rests with the secretary (in the case of a technical committee or subcommittee, or
similar groups) or group leader (in the case of working groups, ad-hoc groups, etc.). Thus, potential hosts should liaise directly with these individuals.

SF.2 Sponsorship of meetings

Large ISO meetings can be expensive and/or complicated to stage and support, and the resource requirements may exceed those that an ISO member can itself provide. It
is therefore acceptable for a meeting to have one or more sponsors contributing to its organization and cost. Nevertheless, whilst it is acceptable for sponsors to be
identified, and for their support to be recognized in the meeting, an ISO meeting shall not be used as an opportunity for the promotion for commercial or other reasons of
the products or services of any sponsor (see also “Fees for delegates at ISO meetings”).

SF.3 Proposing or withdrawing support as a meeting host

The ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1, request that the following advance notice be given:

Meeting of … Schedule of meeting dates Advance notice of

meeting location
Technical committee or 2 years 4 months
subcommittee
Working group — 6 weeks

In general, the more notice the better in order that participants may make appropriate travel and business arrangements, and also obtain briefing, where appropriate.
If a host finds that they need to withdraw an offer, these notice periods should also be respected.

SF.4 Meeting locations

In planning meetings, account should be taken of the possible advantage of grouping meetings of technical committees and subcommittees dealing with related subjects,
in order to improve communication and to limit the burden of attendance at meetings by delegates who participate in several technical committees or subcommittees.

SF.5 Facilities to provide at meetings

Any member body offering to host an ISO technical committee or subcommittee meeting undertakes to provide appropriate meeting facilities, including any provisions
for interpretation (see SF.6), for the TC/SC, taking into account the normal attendance at such meetings and any requirements foreseen by the committee secretariat for
facilities for parallel meetings (for example, of working groups, ad hoc groups or the drafting committee). The working facilities required during a meeting (i.e. additional
to rooms) will vary from group to group. This may include printing, and internet access (teleconference facilities). Administrative support may also be needed. The host
may be requested, but shall not be obliged, to provide separate facilities serving as the “chair's” or “secretariat” room.
The exact requirements should be determined by the committee secretariat or group leader. Some committee secretariats develop and maintain a standing document to
advise member bodies of the facilities that will be required of any potential host of a meeting of the committee, which ensures clear understanding of what will be
required. The host of a working group is also expected to provide all basic working facilities.

SF.6 Interpretation facilities at meetings

The chair and secretariat are responsible for dealing with the question of language at a meeting in a manner acceptable to the participants, following the general rules of
ISO, as appropriate. The official languages at meetings are English, French and Russian, and meetings are conducted in any one or more of these. The typical language
combinations are English and French, or English only. In the latter case, French may only be omitted with the explicit agreement of the francophone member(s). Thus,
there may be an obligation on the host to provide interpretation between English and French. This needs to be determined in advance. Potential hosts may need to seek
assistance from ISO Central Secretariat or from other P-members. The National Body for the Russian Federation provides all interpretation and translation into or from
the Russian language.
So far as the capabilities of translators (when required) are concerned, the guidance is:
— for meetings where final decisions on draft standards are expected to be taken, the services of an adequately qualified interpreter are generally required;
— meetings where “intermediary” or procedural decisions are expected to be taken, brief interpretation may be provided by a member of the secretariat or a volunteer
delegate;
— at working group meetings, the members should, whenever possible, arrange between themselves for any necessary interpretation on the initiative and under the
authority of the convenor of the working group.

SF.7 Welcoming activities and social events

ISO is widely recognized and respected. It is therefore not unusual for formal ceremonies to be associated with, for example, the opening of a technical committee
meeting. Such events are acceptable, but their incorporation within the meeting period is entirely at the option of the host, and typically subject to the approval of the
secretary and chair of the group/s concerned.
A host may also offer social events of one kind or another, perhaps with the aid of co-sponsors. As for welcoming events, social events are entirely optional (see also SF.8).
It is recognized that the inclusion of welcoming and social events significantly increases the time and cost, etc. of organizing a meeting. It may also increase the cost of
participation. Given the pressures on the resources of all participants there is merit in the simplification of meetings. Above all, meetings shall not become “competitive”
events so far as hosts are concerned, in the sense that no host shall feel obliged, in any respect, to equal or exceed the welcoming and/or social facilities offered at any
previous meeting.

SF.8 Fees for delegates at ISO meetings

Accredited delegates shall not be obliged to pay a fee as a condition of their participation in ISO meetings. However, in very exceptional cases (e.g. large and complex
meetings), some charging mechanism may be necessary, but such mechanisms shall be approved on a case-by-case basis by the Technical Management Board.
There is no obligation on a host to provide social functions during ISO meetings but if a committee requests a host to organize social functions, the host shall have the
right to require that the costs of holding such functions be borne by the delegates participating therein.

SF.9 Media participation policy

SF.9.1 General
This clause describes a policy for engaging with the media to raise the effectiveness of communication activities of ISO. It is vital to ensure transparency and openness by
proactively and consistently delivering accurate information to the public, and to support the use of proper channels to deliver information to the public as effectively and
efficiently as possible.
This policy describes how to raise awareness about ISO activities and ensure transparency. It is important that all involved in ISO activities provide accurate and
appropriate information in a spirit of good will and responsibility. The media contributes to the shaping of attitudes and behaviours of the general public. Building good
media relations is important for building awareness through accurate information and preventing isolated and unrepresentative views and opinions from misleading the
public.
Engagement with the media should be sought through multiple vehicles at multiple organizational levels.
All engagement with the media relating to ISO activities will be consistent with the following:
— Interest by the press or other media in ISO work is to be welcomed and the ISO Central Secretariat and many ISO member bodies have public relations and promotion
services able to provide information to the press concerning ISO, ISO standards, and work in progress.
— In recent years, there has been a growing interest on the part of some of the press to be present during meetings of particular ISO committees. Whilst this interest is
welcome, the presence of the press during an ISO meeting may inhibit the free and open discussion of issues. For this reason, members of the press shall not be
permitted to be present during working sessions of ISO meetings. However participation by members of the press may be permitted during opening and closing
ceremonies of ISO plenary meetings.
SF.9.2 ISO Central Secretariat roles
Within ISO, the ISO Central Secretariat prepares and releases any and all official press releases. The ISO Central Secretariat reserves the right of final decision on any ISO
press release.
SF.9.3 ISO committee and working group leadership roles
Leaders shall only express the consensus reached by the delegates/experts at press conferences held in conjunction with the ISO committee meetings. Between meetings,
the secretariat will endeavour to provide prompt written responses to media requests.
SF.9.4 Member body and mirror committee roles
At a local or national level, mirror committees are the proper channel for media inquiries. Mirror committees are encouraged to arrange meetings with local media. This
will improve local participation and awareness. At the national level, the relevant member body's media policy should apply.
SF.9.5 Delegate, expert and observer roles
These parties shall not comment to the media on the consensus achieved in the ISO committee, nor shall they comment on the contributions and comments made by
other delegates and experts in the working sessions of the ISO committee. This could have a detrimental effect on the productive dialogue and trust necessary among
delegates and experts for effective ISO standards development.
SF.9.6 Meetings and media participation
Media representatives present at the site of a meeting shall register with the ISO committee secretariat and the meeting host (name, organization, and contact number).
Media representatives will be given a media badge to wear or keep handy when present at the meeting site.
Registered media representatives with badges are allowed to attend the following events:
— Opening and closing ceremonies;
— Press conferences;
— Social events if invited by the host organization.
People from the media are not allowed to attend:
— Technical committee or subcommittee plenary meetings;
— Working group meetings;
— Chair's Advisory Group (CAG) meetings.
Press conferences may be scheduled for appropriate times (pre- and/or post-plenary) in a designated location by the ISO committee leadership in consultation with the
public relations service of the host ISO member body. At the press conferences, the ISO committee leaders and ISO Central Secretariat representatives will make
statements to the press. Delegates or experts may be invited to speak by the ISO committee leaders. Otherwise, delegates, experts and observers may attend, but are not
permitted to speak at the press conferences.

SF.10 Recordings at ISO meetings

The recording of ISO meetings by the committee secretary is acceptable provided that at the outset of the meeting all participants are made aware that the meeting will
be recorded and there are no objections. Individual participants shall have the right to require that the means of recording are switched off during a particular
intervention if s/he so desires.
Such recordings are intended to aid the meeting secretary in preparing the minutes/report of the meeting. They may also be used to resolve disputes concerning what
occurred at a meeting, which, in some instances, may require the preparation of transcripts of the recording.
The recordings and any transcripts are the property of the meeting secretary, who is expected to respect the confidentiality of ISO meetings. The recordings and
transcripts shall accordingly not be divulged to third parties and should preferably be destroyed once the minutes have been approved.
Annex SG (normative) Second (and subsequent) language texts for ISO standards
SG.1 Introduction
Annex E of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1, specifies the general policy on the use of languages as applied in ISO. This annex describes additional requirements concerning
obtaining second and subsequent language texts. (English, French and Russian are the official ISO languages.)

SG.2 English, French, Russian and other languages

SG.2.1 Responsibilities
It is the responsibility of the ISO committee secretariat to obtain (but not necessarily themselves prepare) texts in English in general. Translation of documents into
French is typically (but not exclusively) carried out by the translation department of the member body of France (AFNOR), or by agents nominated to act on their behalf.
It is the responsibility of the Russian member body to determine those cases for which a Russian version is required, and to provide all translation into Russian.
When a non-official language has been approved by the committee for inclusion in the final deliverable (this is permitted only in the case of a vocabulary), the National
Body supporting the related non-official language is responsible for the text, and its timely delivery (i.e. at the latest before the FDIS ballot).
SG.2.2 Equivalence of texts
The National Body supporting a language is responsible for ensuring the equivalence of the related language version to the official language text during the development
of an ISO deliverable, if necessary with the assistance of other experts. A recommended way of ensuring equivalence of texts is to establish a multilingual editing
committee.
SG.2.3 Timing of preparation of texts
The ISO/IEC Directives note that it is beneficial to start preparation of language versions as early as possible in the development cycle. It is preferable, but not required,
that Committee Drafts are available in all envisaged language versions. Apart from aiding comprehension during development, this also serves to help avoid preparation-
related delays at later stages.
Where a second or subsequent official language version is required, the ISO Central Secretariat will provide the member body responsible for the second or subsequent
language with a copy of the first language version, English in general, when the text is submitted to ISO Central Secretariat for processing as a DIS.
SG.2.4 Timely delivery of language versions
In the case where a second or subsequent official language version is required, the National Body supporting the related language shall provide the ISO Central
Secretariat with the related language version within 8 weeks of the submission of the first language version, English in general.
SG.2.5 Updating language versions after ballot
In the case of preparation of a second or subsequent DIS, or the FDIS text, in order to facilitate the preparation of the second or subsequent official language text (where
required), TC and SC secretariats should preferably provide the ISO Central Secretariat with a marked-up copy of the revised first-language DIS showing the changes to be
made, for use by the member body responsible for the second or subsequent language version.

SG.3 Other non-official languages

Languages other than the official languages of ISO may only be included in the body of vocabularies. This is dependent on the committee approving the business case
presented by a National Body, which is then responsible for the related language version.
In those cases where an ISO project is a joint project with CEN under the Agreement on technical cooperation between ISO and CEN (Vienna Agreement), the preparation of
a German version is a requirement. For more guidance reference should be made to the separate Guidelines for Chairmen and Secretariats on the implementation of the
Vienna Agreement. In all cases of multilingual documents, the cover page, copyright and foreword pages of the document will only mention the official ISO languages and,
only in case of a joint project with CEN under the Vienna Agreement, German might be added.

SG.4 Single-language versions

It may be proposed that an international document need only be developed in a single official language. Further official language versions can always be prepared as a
translation of the published text.

SG.5 Translations
Under the terms of the ISO Statutes, as supplemented by the agreement ISO policies and procedures for copyright, copyright exploitation rights and sales of ISO
publications (ISO POCOSA), the member bodies of ISO may, under their sole responsibility, prepare translations into other languages of certain ISO publications and
documents.
Annex SH (normative) Procedures for the standardization of graphical symbols
SH.1 Introduction
This annex describes the procedures to be adopted in the submission and subsequent approval and registration, when appropriate, of all graphical symbols appearing in
ISO documents.
Within ISO the responsibility for the coordination of the development of graphical symbols has been subdivided into two principal areas, allocated to two ISO technical
committees:
— ISO/TC 145 — all graphical symbols (except those for use in technical product documentation) (see ISO/TC 145 website);
— ISO/TC 10 — graphical symbols for technical product documentation (tpd) (see ISO/TC 10 website).
In addition there is coordination with IEC/TC 3 (Information structures, documentation and graphical symbols) and with IEC/TC 3/SC 3C (Graphical symbols for use on
equipment).
The basic objectives of the standardization of graphical symbols are to:
— meet the needs of users;
— ensure that the interests of all concerned ISO committees are taken into account;
— ensure that graphical symbols are unambiguous and conform to consistent sets of design criteria;
— ensure that there is no duplication or unnecessary proliferation of graphical symbols.
The basic steps in the standardization of a new graphical symbol are:
— identification of need;
— elaboration;
— evaluation;
— approval, when appropriate;
— registration;
— publication.
All steps should be carried out by electronic means.
— Proposals for new or revised graphical symbols may be submitted by an ISO committee, a liaison member of an ISO committee or any ISO member organization
(hereafter jointly called the “proposer”).
— Each approved graphical symbol will be allocated a unique number to facilitate its management and identification through a register that provides information that
can be retrieved in an electronic format.
— Conflicts with the relevant requirements and guidelines for graphical symbols shall be resolved by liaison and dialogue between ISO/TC 145 or ISO/TC 10 and the
product committee concerned at the earliest possible stage.

SH.2 All graphical symbols except those for use in technical product documentation
SH.2.1 General
ISO/TC 145 is responsible within ISO for the overall coordination of standardization in the field of graphical symbols (except for tpd). This responsibility includes:
— standardization in the field of graphical symbols as well as of colours and shapes, whenever these elements form part of the message that a symbol is intended to
convey, e.g. a safety sign;
— establishing principles for preparation, coordination and application of graphical symbols: general responsibility for the review and the coordination of those already
existing, those under study, and those to be established.
The standardization of letters, numerals, punctuation marks, mathematical signs and symbols, and symbols for quantities and units is excluded. However, such elements
may be used as components of a graphical symbol.
The review and co-ordination role of ISO/TC 145 applies to all committees that undertake the responsibility for creation and standardization of graphical symbols within
their own particular fields.
ISO/TC 145 has allocated these responsibilities as follows:
— ISO/TC 145/SC 1: Public information symbols;
— ISO/TC 145/SC 2: Safety identification, signs, shapes, symbols and colours;
— ISO/TC 145/SC 3: Graphical symbols for use on equipment.
There is also liaison with ISO/TC 10 and with IEC, in particular with IEC/SC 3C, Graphical symbols for use on equipment.
Table SH.1 shows the categories of graphical symbols covered by each coordinating committee.
Table SH.1 — Categories of graphical symbols

Basic message Location Target audience Design  Overview Responsible 

principles committee
Public  Location of 
information service or  In public areas General public ISO 22727 ISO 7001 ISO/TC 145/SC 1
symbols facility
a) General public ISO 3864-1
Safety signs Related to safety and health of  In workplaces and public areas and or ISO 3864-2 ISO 7010 ISO/TC 145/SC 2
(symbols) persons on products b) authorized and trained ISO 3864-3
persons
Graphical  Related to  a) General public IEC 80416-1
symbols for use equipment (function, control, On equipment or ISO 80416-2 ISO 7000 ISO/TC 145/SC 3
on  identification) b) authorized and trained IEC 80416-3 IEC 60417 IEC/TC 3/SC 3C
equipment persons
Technical  ISO/TC 10/SC 1
tpd symbols (Product  product  Trained persons ISO 81714-1 ISO 14617 ISO/TC 10/SC 10
representation) documentation (drawings,  IEC 60617 IEC/TC 3
diagrams, etc.)

Table SH.2 — Examples for the different categories of graphical symbols

SH.2.2 Submission of proposals
Proposers shall submit their proposals on the relevant application form as soon as possible to the secretariat of the appropriate ISO/TC 145 subcommittee in order to
allow for timely review and comment. It is strongly recommended that this submission be made by proposers at the CD stage, but it shall be no later than the first enquiry
stage (i.e. DIS or DAM) in the case of an International Standard.
Prior to submitting a graphical symbol proposal, the proposer should:
— be able to demonstrate the need for the proposed graphical symbol;
— have reviewed the relevant ISO and/or IEC standards of graphical symbols, in order to avoid ambiguity and/or overlap with existing standardized graphical symbols,
and to check for consistency with any related graphical symbol or family of graphical symbols already standardized;
— create the proposed graphical symbol in accordance with the relevant standards and instructions, these include design principles and criteria of acceptance.
SH.2.3 Standardization procedure for proposed graphical symbols
Upon receipt of a proposal, the ISO/TC 145 sub-committee concerned shall review the application form, within two months, to check whether it has been correctly
completed and the relevant graphics file(s) has been correctly provided. If necessary, the proposer will be invited to modify the application, and to re-submit it.
Upon receipt of a correctly completed application form, a formal review process shall be commenced to review the proposal for consistency with standardized graphical
symbols, the relevant design principles and criteria of acceptance.
When this formal review process has been completed, the results shall be transmitted to the proposer, together with any recommendations. The proposer will, where
appropriate, be invited to modify the proposal, and to re-submit it for a further review.
The procedures outlined on the relevant ISO/TC 145 sub-committee website shall be followed:
— ISO/TC 145/SC 1: Public information symbols (www.iso.org/tc145/sc1);
— ISO/TC 145/SC 2: Safety identification, signs, shapes, symbols and colours (www.iso.org/tc145/sc2);
— ISO/TC 145/SC 3: Graphical symbols for use on equipment (www.iso.org/tc145/sc3).
These websites also provide application forms for the submission of proposals.
Graphical symbols approved by ISO/TC 145 shall be assigned a definitive registration number and included in the relevant ISO/TC 145 standard.
NOTE In exceptional cases, unregistered symbols may be included in ISO standards subject to TMB approval.

SH.3 Graphical symbols for use in technical product documentation (tpd) (ISO/TC 10)
ISO/TC 10 is responsible for the overall responsibility for standardization in the field of graphical symbols for technical product documentation (tpd). This responsibility
includes
— maintenance of ISO 81714-1: Design of graphical symbols for use in the technical documentation of products — Part 1: Basic rules, in co-operation with IEC;
— maintenance of ISO 14617, Graphical symbols for diagrams?
— standardization of graphical symbols to be used in technical product documentation, co-ordinated with IEC;
— establishing and maintaining a database for graphical symbols including management of registration numbers.
Included is the standardization of symbols for use in diagrams and pictorial drawings.
ISO/TC 10 has allocated these responsibilities to ISO/TC 10/SC 1 for symbols used on technical product documentation and ISO/TC 10/SC 10 for graphical symbols on
diagrams. The respective Secretariats are supported by maintenance groups.
Any committee identifying the need for new or revised graphical symbols for tpd shall as soon as possible submit their proposal to the secretariat
of ISO/TC 10/SC 1 or ISO/TC 10/SC 10 for review and — once approved — allocation of a registration number.
When developing new symbols for use in technical drawings, the proposed symbols (alternatively: those symbols) are submitted to ISO/TC 10 for review. ISO/TC 10 will
confirm that a duplicate symbol with a different meaning does not exist and will add the new symbol to this document once the originating standard has been approved
and published.
The following is a description of the process used for incorporating a new symbol:
1 The originator fills in the new symbol application form.
2 The originator attaches the symbol graphics file per the accepted graphics formats in the form.
3 The originator sends the application and graphics file to ISO/TC 10/SC 1 or ISO/TC 10/SC 10.
4 ISO/TC 10/SC 1 or ISO/TC 10/SC 10 forwards the documents to the validation team (appointed group of experts).
5 The validation team reviews the application and symbol according to the following areas:
— justification for new symbol;
— design;
 — conformity with ISO 81714-1;
— duplication and similarity to existing and registered symbols.
6 The validation team prepares their report and sends the application documents back to ISO/TC 10/SC 1 or ISO/TC 10/SC 10. Rejected proposals are sent back to the
originator with an attached cause of rejection.
7 If the new symbol request is approved, the originator is notified and the symbol is appointed a registry number and submitted to ISO Central Secretariat for
registration and publication on the ISO Online browsing platform: https://www.iso.org/obp.
8 The approved new symbol is added to the list of symbols to be added in the next revision of ISO 7083 or ISO 14617.
Annex SI (normative) Procedure for the development of International Workshop Agreements (IWA)
SI.1 Proposals to develop IWAs
A proposal to hold an ISO workshop for the purpose of developing one or more IWAs on a particular subject may come from any source, including ISO member bodies,
liaison organizations, corporate bodies etc. An organization that is not an ISO member body or liaison organization, or is not international in scope, shall inform the ISO
member body in its country of its intent to submit such a proposal.
Whenever practicable, proposers shall provide details concerning:
— Purpose and justification of the proposal;
— Relevant documents; and
— Cooperation and liaison,
in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1, Annex C.
Additionally, wherever possible, proposals shall include indication of an ISO Member Body willing to provide secretariat support to the IWA Workshop. If it is considered
likely that participation in the workshop will need to be limited (see SJ.5.2), this shall also be indicated.
In some circumstances, it may be considered that several meetings may be needed in order to reach a consensus. In such cases, the proposer is encouraged, or may be
required by the ISO Technical Management Board, to develop a business plan which would give details concerning meeting schedules, expected dates of availability of
draft documents, the possibility that a workshop may establish project teams to progress work between meetings of the workshop, the expected date of availability of any
IWA, etc.

SI.2 Review of proposals

Proposals will be referred to the ISO Technical Management Board for approval. Proposals should contain an analysis of the global interest in the subject being proposed
for the IWA in different countries and by stakeholders.
If the proposal is accepted, the ISO/TMB will initiate consultations with member bodies to identify a candidate willing to act as the organizer and to provide
administrative and logistics support to the proposer. Preference will normally be given to:
— The member body from the country of the proposer, if the proposer is not a member body; or
— Member bodies holding secretariats in fields related to that covered by the proposal.
If there is more than one offer, the ISO/TMB will formally designate the member body assigned to act as the workshop secretariat. The assigned ISO member body may
establish financial arrangements with the proposer to cover administrative and logistics support costs for the workshop. If a member body is not willing to act as
workshop secretariat, the ISO/TMB may authorize the ISO Central Secretariat to fulfil this role, provided all associated costs are recovered by workshop registration fees.
An informative checklist for estimating IWA workshop costs is provided in SI.10.
The workshop secretariat and the proposer shall designate the chair of the workshop.

SI.3 Announcement
Once the workshop secretariat and the proposer have agreed on a date and venue for the first meeting of the workshop, these shall be communicated to the ISO member
bodies. These details shall be further announced by the workshop secretariat, the ISO Central Secretariat and by any other interested member bodies in the most
appropriate way(s) to achieve the widest possible circulation (e.g. a publicly accessible website). This may include a number of different announcement options and
media, but the intent is to ensure that the broadest range of relevant interested parties worldwide are informed of the workshop and have the opportunity to attend.
The proposer and workshop secretariat will ensure that any ISO committees with projects relevant to the subject will be invited to be represented at the workshop.
A registration fee may be applied to help support preparation and hosting of the workshop. Any registration fees shall be stated in the workshop announcement.
NOTE When the subject matter of a workshop is likely to be of interest to developing countries, it is recommended either that a funding mechanism other than a registration fee be applied to
facilitate participation from such countries, or that a number of “free” registrations be permitted.
The announcement shall be made at least 90 days in advance of the agreed date to allow potential attendees adequate time to plan on attending the workshop. The
announcement shall be accompanied by a registration form to allow potential participants to register for the workshop. Registration forms shall be returned to the
workshop Secretariat.

SI.4 Workshop information

A workshop programme detailing workshop objectives, deliverables, agenda, draft documents and any other relevant details for the workshop shall be available, and
circulated to registered participants, no later than six weeks prior to the workshop date. Registered participants may submit their own contributions to the workshop
secretariat for further distribution to other participants.

SI.5 Participation
SI.5.1 Workshop chairs
The proposer and workshop secretary shall designate the chair of any particular workshop. The chair shall act in a purely international and neutral capacity and in
particular shall
— Ensure that all points of view expressed during a workshop are adequately summed up so that they are understood by all present,
— Conduct the workshop with a view to reaching consensus,
— Ensure that all decisions are clearly formulated and, if needed, made available to the participants before closure of the meeting of the workshop.
SI.5.2 Registered participants
Any organization may register as a participant in a workshop and participation will be open to the registered participants only. Participants are not required to be
appointed by the ISO member body in their country. The workshop secretariat, chair and proposer shall endeavour to ensure that the broadest range of interests is
represented in any workshop and that there is an appropriate balance of representation. If needed, this may require that some limitation be placed on participation (for
example no more than two registered participants from the same corporate body or organization). If the need to limit participation is expected at the outset, this shall be
indicated in the proposal submitted to the ISO Technical Management Board. If a need for limitation becomes apparent after announcement of the workshop, this shall be
authorized by the TMB secretariat following consultation with the ISO/TMB chair and, if needed, other ISO/TMB members.
Workshop secretariats are responsible for ensuring that the outcome of the workshop is truly international, i.e. it is attended by more than one country.
SI.5.3 Project teams
In cases in which more than one meeting will be required to reach consensus, a workshop may establish one or more project teams to progress work between meetings
of the workshop. The workshop shall designate the membership of such project teams, ensuring that their working methods will allow all interests to participate fully.

SI.6 Workshop procedures and management oversight

Workshops will be permitted to work in a practically autonomous manner using very flexible procedures.
However, there are a number of general ISO policies which need to be respected, in particular those concerning intellectual property rights and the use of SI units. It shall
be the responsibility of the workshop secretariat to ensure that the appropriate policies are known to registered participants and are respected.
Management oversight will be kept to the minimum required to ensure coordination with existing standardization activities if relevant and to ensure that appropriate
resource is provided by the ISO system. It will be the responsibility of the workshop chair to determine when consensus of the workshop participants has been reached
on a particular item or deliverable. For the purposes of determining consensus, the workshop chair shall apply the definition of consensus in clause 2.5.6.
It should be noted that an IWA workshop may arrive at the consensus that an IWA deliverable is not necessary.
The workshop deliverables shall contain a description of the workshop consensus achieved including any recommendations for possible future actions or revisions to the
workshop deliverables. The deliverable resulting from the workshop will proceed to publication based on the consensus of the workshop without additional reviews or
approvals by any other body, except in the case of an appeal on such a deliverable (see immediately below).

SI.7 Appeals
Any parties affected by the deliverable resulting from the workshop shall have the right of appeal for the following reasons:
— The workshop and the process to arrive at its deliverable have not complied with these procedures;
— The deliverable resulting from the workshop is not in the best interests of international trade and commerce, or such public factors as safety, health or the
environment; or
— The contents of the deliverable resulting from the workshop conflict with existing or draft ISO standard(s) or may be detrimental to the reputation of ISO.
Such appeals shall be submitted within two months of the date of the workshop and shall be considered by the ISO Technical Management Board which in such
circumstances will take the final decision concerning publication of an IWA.

SI.8 Workshop deliverables and publication

Workshops will decide on the content of their own deliverables. Deliverables shall be sent to the ISO Central Secretariat for publication as International Workshop
Agreements. They will be numbered in a special IWA series. Each IWA shall include the list of participants in the workshop that developed it.
IWAs may be published in one of the official ISO languages only and competing IWAs on the same subject are permitted. The technical content of an IWA may compete
with the technical content of an existing ISO or IEC standard, or the proposed content of an ISO or IEC standard under development, but conflict is not normally
permitted unless expressly authorized by the ISO/TMB.

SI.9 Review of IWAs

If there is an existing ISO committee whose scope covers the topic, the published IWA shall automatically be allocated to this committee for maintenance.
An IWA shall be reviewed three years after its publication. This review shall be organized by the member body which provided the workshop secretariat, or the
committee which has been allocated the responsibility for the maintenance of the IWA. The review shall include the consultation of interested market players. The result
of the review may be to confirm the IWA for a further three year period, to withdraw the IWA or to submit it for further processing as another ISO deliverable in
accordance with Part 1 of the ISO/IEC Directives.
An IWA may be further processed to become a Publicly Available Specification, a Technical Specification or an International Standard, according to the market
requirement.
An IWA may exist for a maximum of six years following which it shall either be withdrawn or be converted into another ISO deliverable.

SI.10 Checklist to estimate costs associated with hosting an ISO IWA Workshop (WS)
Completion of this checklist is NOT mandatory for the proposed hosting of an IWA. It is intended simply as a tool to assist proposers and assigned ISO member bodies in
determining major costs associated with hosting an ISO IWA Workshop. Some of the sample costs provided may not be applicable to particular IWA Workshops, or may
be covered in a different manner than is described below.
SI.10.1 Overall measures to consider

Expected number of deliverables

Expected number of Project Groups
Expected number of participants
Expected number of WS plenary meetings
Expected number of Project Group meetings

SI.10.2 Planned Resources — Human Resource Requirements & Functions

Function Who Estimated Covered Commitment
Cost by … (Y/N)
(Who)
WS Secretariat

— organizing WS plenary meetings

— producing WS and project meeting reports and action lists

— administrative contact point for WS projects

— managing WS (and project group) membership lists

— managing WS (and project group) document registers

— follow-up of action lists

— if the Workshop works mainly by electronic means, assist Chair in monitoring and follow-up of
electronic discussion
WS Chair

— chairing WS plenary meetings

— responsible for overall 

WS/project management

— producing project management progress reports

— acting as formal liaison with related 

WS/projects and liaison body

— if the Workshop works mainly by electronic means, follow and steer electronic discussions that
take place between meetings, take necessary decisions
 Function Who Estimated Covered Commitment
Cost by … (Y/N)
(Who)
WS Vice-Chair
If your WS will have “Vice-Chair(s)”, you should list them here, along with their particular 
functions and fill-in the right side of this table
Project Leader(s)
(where applicable)

— chairing project group meetings

— producing project group meeting

— reports and action lists

— preparing project group progress reports

— if the Workshop works mainly by

— electronic means, follow and steer

— electronic discussions that take place

— regarding his/her particular project

IWA Editor

— editing of the IWA texts

— attend meetings

— follow discussions relating to the IWA (s) that s/he is editing

SI.10.3 Planned Resources — Material Resource Requirements

Material Resource costs Numbers Estimated Cost Covered by … Commitment
per meeting (Who) (Y/N)
WS Meetings
Meeting rooms
Logistics (IT support, photocopies, etc.)
Food and beverage
Interpretation during meetings
Annex SJ (normative) Forms
These are available in electronic format (typically MS Word) for download from www.iso.org/forms.
Annex SK (normative) Deadlines for posting committee and working group meeting documents
SK.1 Why it is important to respect these deadlines
National mirror committees need time to prepare their national positions on the various issues discussed at the meeting.

SK.2 Ensuring that a document will be ready for circulation by the deadlines stipulated
This is the responsibility of the secretariat. They shall carefully consider the steps needed and leave enough time in advance of the meeting deadlines to make sure that
the document is ready. For example, to discuss a DIS, the secretariat will have to start the process 7 months before the committee meeting (i.e. 2 weeks document
preparation by the ISO Central Secretariat + 20 weeks for vote and translation + 6 weeks deadline before the meeting).

SK.3 How to deal with issues that come up at the meeting for which no document was issued 6 weeks in advance
It is possible that committees make decisions on points for which no information was provided in advance of the meeting within the deadlines indicated below. In such
cases, the committee leadership should ask the P-members present if they are comfortable and prepared to take such decisions in principle or if they would prefer time
to consult further with other national stakeholders. The committee leaders should ensure that they are seeking to engage all P members in decisions, even if those P
members that were not able to attend the meeting. A ballot can then be launched after the meeting via the ISO Committee Internal Ballot (CIB) mechanism to confirm any
decisions.

Item Time
(− before meeting, 
+ after meeting)
Agenda & meeting logistics (e.g. location, accommodation, visa information) −16 weeks
Documents for decision in meetings such as:
Working group reports −6 weeks
Liaison reports −6 weeks
Leadership elections/renewals −6 weeks
Creation/disbandment of subcommittees and working group −6 weeks
Strategic Business Plans −6 weeks
Voting results and compilation of comments for CD, DIS, DTR and DTS −6 weeks
Voting results for SR and any CIB ad hoc enquiries requiring discussion or follow-up −6 weeks
Resolutions +48 hours
Minutes (including list of attendees) +4 weeks

SK.4 Deadlines for sending working group documents

The ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1 state only that the agenda shall be sent out 6-weeks in advance of working group meetings. The timeframe for the circulation of other
documents is to be decided by the working group members. WG convenors should ensure that their working groups take decisions on the acceptable time frame for
circulating documents before meetings to ensure working group experts can be well-prepared. The minutes of WG meetings shall be circulated within 4 weeks after the
WG meeting.
Table SK.1 — Deadlines for WGs

Type of document, announcement or activity Deadline

(− before meeting, + after meeting)
First WG meeting after a TC decision +12 weeks
Meeting announcement (To be decided by the WG)
Agenda −6 weeks
Documents for the WG meeting (To be decided by the WG)
Recommended no later than −4 to −6 weeks
Minutes (including list of attendees) +4 weeks

SK.5 Time frames for circulating documents in advance of a web meeting or teleconference
Again, the principle should be that agendas and documents are circulated with enough time before any meeting in order that participants can be well-prepared for
informed discussions and decisions. Web or teleconference meetings of TCs, PCs, SCs and WGs for limited aspects of their work should follow the same time frames
detailed above. P-members involved should decide on appropriate timeframes for circulation of documents before Chairman’s Advisory Groups, Advisory Groups, Task
Forces, etc.
Annex SL (normative) Harmonized approach for management system standards
SL.1 General
The harmonized approach for developing management system standards (MSS) includes this annex, a justification study (see Appendix 1), the harmonized structure
(identical clause numbers with the same sequence, clause titles, text, common terms and core definitions) with guidance for use (see Appendix 2) and terminology
guidance (see Appendix 3).
A new management system standard (MSS) or revision of an existing MSS by a TC/SC/PC shall be developed in accordance with this annex (see SL.8.2).
NOTE 1 TC/SC/PC is hereafter referred to as “committee” in this annex.
NOTE 2 The committees responsible for MSS are members of the Joint Technical Coordination Group on MSS (JTCG).

SL.2 Terms and definitions

For the purposes of this annex, the following terms and definitions apply.

SL.2.1
management system
set of interrelated or interacting elements of an organization to establish policies and objectives, as well as processes to achieve those objectives

Note 1 to entry: A management system can address a single discipline or several disciplines.
Note 2 to entry: The management system elements include the organization’s structure, roles and responsibilities, planning and operation.
Note 3 to entry: This definition corresponds to definition 3.4 in Appendix 2.

SL.2.2
management system standard
MSS
standard for a management system (SL.2.1)

Note 1 to entry: For the purposes of this annex, this definition also applies to other ISO deliverables (e.g. TS, PAS, IWA).

SL.2.3
generic MSS
MSS (SL.2.2) designed to be widely applicable across economic sectors, various types and sizes of organizations and diverse languages,
geographical, cultural and social conditions
SL.2.4
sector-specific MSS
MSS (SL.2.2) that provides additional requirements or guidance for the application of a generic MSS (SL.2.3) to a specific economic or business
sector
SL.2.5
Type A MSS
MSS (SL.2.2) providing requirements

EXAMPLE Management system requirements standards (specifications); management system sector-specific requirements standards.

SL.2.6
Type B MSS
MSS (SL.2.2) providing guidelines

Note to entry 1: There are different categories of Type B MSS, including on:
— the use, application or implementation of a Type A MSS (SL.2.5);
— the establishment, improvement or enhancement of a management system;
— a specific topic, requirement or set of requirements related to a Type A MSS;
— other guidance not directly related to a Type A MSS.

SL.2.7
harmonized approach for MSS
methodology applied to development of MSS (SL.2.2) including justification study, identical clause numbers, clause titles, text and common
terms and core definitions

Note 1 to entry: See Appendix 2 and Appendix 3.

SL.3 Requirements to submit a Justification Study

A justification study (JS) shall be carried out in accordance with Appendix 1 and is needed for:
— new MSS including Type A , Type B or sector-specific MSS;
— revisions of MSS that do not have an approved JS.
All MSS proposals [including sector-specific MSS (SL.2.4), see Annex SP] and their JS shall be identified by the relevant committee leadership and the JS shall be sent to
the TMB (or its MSS task force) for evaluation and approval before the NP ballot takes place. It is the responsibility of the relevant committee secretariat to identify all
MSS proposals.
No JS is required for:
— a Type B MSS providing guidance on a specific Type A MSS for which a JS has already been submitted and approved;
— a revision of an MSS with an approved JS and scope that has been confirmed.
EXAMPLE ISO/IEC 27003:2010 (Information technology — Security techniques — Information security management system implementation guidance) does not need to have JS submitted
as ISO/IEC 27001:2013 (Information technology — Security techniques — Information security management systems — Requirements) has already had a JS submitted and approved.

SL.4 Cases where no JS have been submitted

MSS proposals which have not been submitted for TMB evaluation before the NP ballot will be sent to the TMB for evaluation and no new ballot should take place before
the TMB decision (project on hold). It is considered good practice that the committee members endorse the JS before it is sent to the TMB.
NOTE Already published MSS which did not have a JS submitted will be treated as new MSS at the time of revision, i.e. a JS needs to be presented and approved before any work can begin.

SL.5 Applicability of this annex

The procedures in this annex apply to all ISO deliverables, including TS, PAS and IWA.
SL.6 General criteria
All projects for new MSS (or for MSS which are already published but for which no JS was completed) shall undergo a JS (see SL.1 and SL.3). The following general criteria
are used for the preparation of the JS and to assess the market relevance of the proposed MSS. The justification criteria questions in Appendix 1 are based on these
criteria. The answers to the questions will form part of the JS. An MSS should only be initiated, developed and maintained when the following have been addressed.

1) Market — MSS meets the needs of, and add value for, the primary users and other affected parties.
relevance
2)Compatibility — There is compatibility between various MSS and within an MSS family.
3) Topic — A generic MSS (SL.2.3) should have sufficient application coverage to eliminate or minimize the need for sector-specific
coverage variances.
4) Flexibility — An MSS should be applicable to organizations in all relevant sectors and cultures and of every size. An MSS should not
prevent organizations from competitively adding to or enhancing their management systems beyond the standard or
differentiating themselves from others.
5) Free trade — An MSS should permit the free trade of goods and services in line with the principles included in the WTO Agreement on
Technical Barriers to Trade.
6) — The market need for first-, second- or third-party conformity assessment, or any combination thereof, should be assessed.
Applicability  The resulting MSS should clearly address the suitability of use for conformity assessment in its scope. An MSS should
of conformity  facilitate combined audits against multiple MSS.
assessment
7) Exclusions — An MSS shall not include directly related product or service specifications, test methods, performance levels (i.e. setting of
limits) or other forms of standardization for products or services provided by the implementing organization.
8) Ease of use — It should be ensured that the user can easily implement one or more MSS. An MSS should be easily understood,
unambiguous, free from cultural bias, easily translatable, and applicable to businesses in general.

SL.7 Justification study process and criteria

SL.7.1 General
This clause describes the justification study (JS) process for justifying and evaluating the market relevance of proposals for an MSS. Appendix 1 provides a set of
questions to be addressed in the justification study.
SL.7.2 Justification study process
The JS process applies to any MSS project and consists of the following:
a) the development of the JS by (or on behalf of) the proposer of an MSS project;
b) an approval of the JS by the TMB.
The JS process is followed by the normal ISO balloting procedure for new work item approval as appropriate.
SL.7.3 Justification study criteria
Based on Annex C and the general principles stated above, a set of questions (see Appendix 1) shall be used as criteria for justifying and assessing a proposed MSS project
and shall be answered by the proposer. This list of questions is not exhaustive and any additional information that is relevant to the case should be provided. The JS
should demonstrate that all questions have been considered. If it is decided that they are not relevant or appropriate to a particular situation, then the reasons for this
decision should be clearly stated. The unique aspect of a particular MSS may require consideration of additional questions in order to assess objectively its market
relevance.

SL.8 Identical clause titles, identical core text and common terms and core definitions for use in management systems standards (the
“harmonized structure”)
SL.8.1 Introduction
The aim of this document is to enhance the consistency and alignment of MSS by providing a unifying and agreed upon harmonized approach. The aim is that all Type A
MSS (and Type B MSS where appropriate) are aligned and the compatibility of these standards is enhanced. It is envisaged that individual MSS will add additional
“discipline-specific” requirements as required.
NOTE In SL.8.3 and SL.8.4, “discipline-specific” is used to indicate specific subject(s) to which a management system standard refers, e.g. energy, quality, records, environment etc.
The intended audience for this document is committees and others that are involved in the development of MSS.
This common approach to new MSS and future revisions of existing standards will increase the value of such standards to users. It will be particularly useful for those
organizations that choose to operate a single (sometimes called “integrated”) management system that can meet the requirements of two or more MSS simultaneously.
Appendix 2 sets out the harmonized structure that form the nucleus of future and revised Type A MSS, and Type B MSS when possible, together with guidance on its use
for MSS Writers and ISO Editors.
SL.8.2 Application of the harmonized structure by different types of MSS
Type A MSS shall apply the harmonized structure detailed in Appendix 2.
Type B MSS providing guidance on the use, application or implementation of a Type A MSS shall follow the same clause sequence down to the two-digit clause level (e.g.
10.2) of that Type A MSS.
For other Type B MSS, the committee may choose to use the harmonized structure clause sequence or take a different approach.
SL.8.3 Using Appendix 2 to this annex
Discipline-specific text additions to requirements in Appendix 2 shall be managed as follows.
1. Discipline-specific additions shall be made by the individual committee or other group that is developing the specific MSS.
2. Discipline-specific text shall not affect harmonization or contradict or undermine the intent of the harmonized structure.
3. Additional subclauses, or sub-subclauses (etc.) may be inserted either ahead of an identical text subclause (or sub-subclause etc.), or after such a subclause (etc.),
renumbered accordingly and with the necessary adjustments to cross referencing.
NOTE 1 Hanging paragraphs are not permitted (see ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2).
4. Clause 3 of the MSS shall include the terms and definitions from Clause 3 of Appendix 2. If a modification or deletion of a definition or note to entry is made by a
committee, a justification for deviation is required. Addition of notes to entry are not considered deviations. These terms and definitions may be repeated in a
vocabulary standard. Insertions of discipline specific terms and definitions and renumbering accordingly is permitted.
NOTE 2 Appendix 2 presents the definitions in systematic order, which is preferred due to translation (see Appendix 3 on terminology).
5. A committee may add or insert discipline-specific text within Appendix 2. Examples of additions include:
a) new bullet points;
b) discipline-specific explanatory text (e.g. Notes or Examples), in order to clarify requirements;
c) discipline-specific new paragraphs to subclauses (etc.) within the identical text;
 d) additional text that enhances the existing requirements in Appendix 2.
6. A committee shall avoid repeating requirements between identical core text and discipline-specific text by adding text to the identical core text, taking account of
point 2 above.
7. In order to distinguish between discipline-specific text and identical core text from Appendix 2, a committee shall, from the start of the drafting process, use blue for
text from the harmonized structure and black for the committee discipline-specific text. This aids identification of the different types of text during the development
and balloting stages.
NOTE 3 Identification of distinguishing text is not necessarily carried into the published version.
8. Understanding of the concept of “risk” may be more specific than that given in definition 3.7 of Appendix 2. In this case, a discipline-specific definition may be needed.
The discipline-specific terms and definitions are differentiated from the core definitions, e.g. (XXX) risk.
NOTE 4 The above can also apply to a number of other definitions.
9. If due to exceptional discipline specific circumstances, text from the harmonized structure cannot be applied in the management system standard, then the committee
may amend the text and introduce a deviation.
10. If there are non-discipline specific circumstances, the committee shall raise the issue within JTCG.
SL.8.4 Deviation reports
When a committee has a deviation, it shall justify the deviation based on discipline specific information by:
a) providing an initial deviation report to ISO/CS with the DIS submission;
b) providing a final deviation report to TMB (through the ISO/TMB Secretary at [email protected]) upon submission of the final text of the standard for publication.
The Committee shall use the ISO commenting template to provide its deviation reports. The deviation report shall contain the changes to the Appendix 2 text or notes to
entry and any deletions. The report should also contain additions to facilitate trend analysis for future revisions.
NOTE 1 The final deviation report can be an updated version of the initial deviation report.
NOTE 2 The Committee strives to avoid any non-applicability of the harmonized structure.
The Committee receives comments from ISO/CS regarding the deviations. The committee resolves the comments in dialogue with the editorial staff. The deviation
reports are retained by JTCG. JTCG reviews the deviation reports for trends and other information for future revisions of Annex SL.
Appendix 1
(normative)
Justification criteria questions
1 General
The list of questions to be addressed in the justification study are in line with the principles listed in SL.6. This list is not exhaustive. Additional information not covered
by the questions should be provided if it is relevant to the case.
Each general principle should be given due consideration and, ideally, when preparing the JS, the proposer should provide a general rationale for each principle, prior to
answering the questions associated with the principle.
The principles to which the proposer of the MSS should pay due attention when preparing the justification study are:
1.   Market relevance
2.   Compatibility
3.   Topic coverage
4.   Flexibility
5.   Free trade
6.   Applicability of conformity assessment
7.   Exclusions
NOTE No questions directly refer to the principle 8 (“Ease of use”), but it should guide the development of the deliverable.
Basic information on the MSS proposal

1 What is the proposed purpose and scope of the MSS? Is the document supposed to be a guidance document or a document with
requirements?
2 Is there one or more existing ISO committee or non-ISO organization that could logically have responsibility for the proposed MSS? If so,
identify.
3 Have relevant reference materials been identified, such as existing guidelines or established practices?
4 Are there technical experts available to support the standardization work? Are the technical experts direct representatives of the affected
parties from the different geographical regions?
5 What efforts are anticipated as being necessary to develop the document in terms of experts needed and number/duration of meetings?
6 Is the MSS intended to be a guidance document, contractual specification or regulatory specification for an organization?

Principle 1: Market relevance

7 Have all the affected parties been identified? For example:

a)   organizations (of various types and sizes): the decision-makers within an organization who approve work to implement and achieve
conformance to the MSS;
b)   customers/end-users, i.e. individuals or parties that pay for or use a product (including service) from an organization;
c)   supplier organizations, e.g. producer, distributor, retailer or vendor of a product, or a provider of a service or information;
d)   MSS service provider, e.g. MSS certification bodies, accreditation bodies or consultants;
e)   regulatory bodies;
f)   non-governmental organizations.
8 What is the need for this MSS? Does the need exist at a local, national, regional or global level? Does the need apply to developing
countries? Does it apply to developed countries? What is the added value of having an ISO document (e.g. facilitating communication
between organizations in different countries)?
9 Does the need exist for a number of sectors and is thus generic? If so, which ones? Does the need exist for small, medium or large
organizations?
10 Is the need important? Will the need continue? If yes, will the target date of completion for the proposed MSS satisfy this need? Are viable
alternatives identified?
11 Describe how the need and importance were determined. List the affected parties consulted and the major geographical or economical
regions in which they are located.
12 Is there known or expected support for the proposed MSS? List those bodies that have indicated support. Is there known or expected
 opposition to the proposed MSS? List those bodies that have indicated opposition.
13 What are the expected benefits and costs to organizations, differentiated for small, medium and large organizations if applicable?
Describe how the benefits and the costs were determined. Provide available information on geographic or economic focus, industry sector
and size of the organization. Provide information on the sources consulted and their basis (e.g. proven practices), premises, assumptions
and conditions (e.g. speculative or theoretical), and other pertinent information.
14 What are the expected benefits and costs to other affected parties (including developing countries)?
Describe how the benefits and the costs were determined. Provide any information regarding the affected parties indicated.
15 What will be the expected value to society?
16 Have any other risks been identified (e.g. timeliness or unintended consequences to a specific business)?

Principle 2: Compatibility

17 Is there potential overlap or conflict with (or what is the added value in relation to) other existing or planned ISO or non-ISO international
standards, or those at the national or regional level? Are there other public or private actions, guidance, requirements and regulations that
seek to address the identified need, such as technical papers, proven practices, academic or professional studies, or any other body of
knowledge?
18 Is the MSS or the related conformity assessment activities (e.g. audits, certifications) likely to add to, replace all or parts of, harmonize and
simplify, duplicate or repeat, conflict with, or detract from the existing activities identified above? What steps are being considered to
ensure compatibility, resolve conflict or avoid duplication?
19 Is the proposed MSS likely to promote or stem proliferation of MSS at the national or regional level, or by industry sectors?

Principle 3: Topic coverage

20 Is the MSS for a single specific sector?

21 Will the MSS reference or incorporate an existing, non-industry-specific MSS (e.g. from the ISO 9000 series of quality management
standards)? If yes, will the development of the MSS conform to the ISO/IEC Sector Policy (see ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2), and any other
relevant policy and guidance procedures (e.g. those that may be made available by a relevant ISO committee)?
22 What steps have been taken to remove or minimize the need for particular sector-specific deviations from a generic MSS?

Principle 4: Flexibility

23 Will the MSS allow an organization competitively to add to, differentiate or encourage innovation of its management system beyond the
standard?

Principle 5: Free trade

24 How would the MSS facilitate or impact global trade? Could the MSS create or prevent a technical barrier to trade?
25 Could the MSS create or prevent a technical barrier to trade for small, medium or large organizations?
26 Could the MSS create or prevent a technical barrier to trade for developing or developed countries?
27 If the proposed MSS is intended to be used in government regulations, is it likely to add to, duplicate, replace, enhance or support existing
governmental regulations?

Principle 6: Applicability of conformity

28 If the intended use is for contractual or regulatory purposes, what are the potential methods to demonstrate conformance (e.g. first party,
second party or third party)? Does the MSS enable organizations to be flexible in choosing the method of demonstrating conformance, and
to accommodate for changes in its operations, management, physical locations and equipment?
29 If third-party registration/certification is a potential option, what are the anticipated benefits and costs to the organization? Will the MSS
facilitate combined audits with other MSS or promote parallel assessments?

Principle 7: Exclusions

30 Does the proposed scope of the MSS include product or service specifications, test methods, (product or service) performance levels, or
other forms of guidance or requirements directly related to products or services produced or provided by the implementing organization?

Appendix 2
(normative)
Harmonized structure for MSS with guidance for use
 
The harmonized structure for MSS (identical clause numbers, clause titles, text and common terms and core definitions), together with guidance on its use for writers
and editors of MSS, is provided at the following URL:
(https://isotc.iso.org/livelink/livelink?func=ll&objId=16347818&objAction=browse&viewType=1)
Appendix 3
(informative)
Terminology guidance in support of Annex SL
 
Guidance that is intended to help writers and editors of MSS to understand the approach to terminology in Appendix 2 is provided at the following URL:
(https://isotc.iso.org/livelink/livelink?func=ll&objId=16347818&objAction=browse&viewType=1).
Annex SM (normative) Global relevance of ISO technical work and publications
SM.1 Introduction
The formation of the WTO and the subsequent adoption of the WTO Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement (WTO/TBT), placed an obligation on ISO to ensure that the
International Standards it develops, adopts and publishes are globally relevant. In Annex 4, paragraph 10 of the Second Triennial Review of the Agreement, the following
criteria state that a globally relevant standard should:
— Effectively respond to regulatory and market needs (in the global marketplace)
— Respond to scientific and techniwcal developments in various countries
— Not distort the market
— Have no adverse effects on fair competition
— Not stifle innovation and technological development
— Not give preference to characteristics or requirements of specific countries or regions when different needs or interests exist in other countries or regions
— Be performance based as opposed to design prescriptive
Hence the development and adoption of an International Standard that fails to meet these requirements is open to being challenged as creating a barrier to free trade.
Noting the need to provide fuller advice to committees on global relevance, and following a request from the ISO Council, the ISO/TMBestablished a Global Relevance
Task Force. This task force and, subsequently, the ISO/TMB have agreed on the set of principles that follows.

SM.2 Terms and definitions

Standard
Document, established by consensus and approved by a recognized body, that provides, for common and repeated use, rules, guidelines or characteristics for activities or
their results, aimed at the achievement of the optimum degree of order in a given context.
NOTE Standards should be based on the consolidated results of science, technology and experience, and aimed at the promotion of optimum community benefits.
(ISO/IEC Guide 2, ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2)
international standard
Standard that is adopted by an international standardizing/standards organization and made available to the public.
(ISO/IEC Guide 2, ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2)
International Standard
International standard where the international standards organization is ISO or IEC.
(ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2)
Global relevance
Required characteristic of an International Standard that it can be used/implemented as broadly as possible by affected industries and other stakeholders in markets
around the world.

SM.3 Principles
SM.3.1   The status and meaning of an International Standard shall be respected.
Any International Standard shall respect the above definitions and shall to the extent possible represent a unique international solution. In cases where unique
international solutions are not possible for specific provisions of an International Standard at the current time due to legitimate market and essential differences,
International Standards may present options to accommodate these differences where justified.
SM.3.2   The commitment to participate in the development of and the feasibility of preparing International Standards shall be demonstrated at the outset of
a standards development project.
It is recognized that in some instances various solutions exist to meet unique aspects of the local markets in different regions and countries. With globalization and the
unification of markets, these market differences should be minimized over time and evolve into one global market. Simply projecting one solution that accommodates one
market (but not others) as the International Standard will not force markets to evolve and coalesce. In such cases, the markets and their related industries will look
elsewhere for standards that better accommodate their needs, and ISO will lose its relevance for those markets and industries. Rather than force such a situation, ISO
committees should ascertain at the outset of a project whether:
— a globally relevant International Standard presenting one unique international solution in all of its provisions is feasible;
— an International Standard is feasible that presents options in specific provisions to accommodate existing and legitimate market differences where justified; or
— the preparation of a globally relevant International Standard is not feasible and work should not be undertaken in such circumstances.
Additional practical guidance for committee leaders and delegates/experts may be found in the ISO/TMB's Global Relevance Implementation Guidance document.
SM.3.3   Preference shall be given to preparing performance rather than prescriptive standards.
Please note the following: Annex 3 of the WTO/TBT Agreement.
“Wherever appropriate, the standardizing body shall specify standards based on product requirements in terms of performance rather than design or descriptive
characteristics.”
ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2, clause 5.4 Performance principle (Excerpt) “Whenever possible, requirements shall be expressed in terms of performance rather than design
or descriptive characteristics. This principle allows maximum freedom for technical development and reduces the risk of undesirable market impacts (e.g. restriction of
innovative solutions).”
Given these quotations, the use of the performance-based approach is widely recognized as supporting the development of globally relevant ISO standards. In the case of
design-based standards, the freedom for further technical innovation is most limited, while performance-based standards provide for maximum freedom for further
innovation. However, in practice, there may be cases where inclusion of design requirements for some provisions within a performance-based standard is appropriate.
There may also be other cases where development of a completely design-based standard may be appropriate and will result in a globally relevant ISO standard.
Thus, which approach is most appropriate depends on the technical matter in question.
Additional practical guidance for committee leaders and delegates/experts may be found in the ISO/TMB's Global Relevance Implementation Guidance document.
SM.3.4   Given existing and legitimate market differences, an International Standard may pass through an evolutionary process, with the ultimate objective
being to publish, at a later point, an International Standard that presents one unique international solution in all of its provisions.
Under this principle, a committee may wish to consider how it addresses current and potentially changeable differences in markets (based on factors such as legislation,
economies, social conditions, trade patterns, market needs, scientific theories, design philosophies, etc.) in the ISO deliverables it produces.
Additional practical guidance for committee leaders and delegates/experts may be found in the ISO/TMB's Global Relevance Implementation Guidance document.
SM.3.5   Essential differences consistent with Annex 3 to the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade can be included in International Standards, but
specific rules shall be applied if a committee wishes to introduce such differences and special authorization needs to be given by the ISO/TMB in instances
not covered by these rules.
Under this principle, a committee may wish to consider how it addresses essential differences in markets around the world, that is, factors that are not expected to
change over time, such as imbedded technological infrastructures, climatic, geographical or anthropological differences.
Additional practical guidance for committee leaders and delegates/experts may be found in the ISO/TMB's Global Relevance Implementation Guidance document.
SM.3.6   Committees can only ensure the global relevance of the International Standards they produce if they are aware of all the factors that may affect a
particular standard's global relevance.
Additional practical guidance for committee leaders and delegates/experts may be found in the ISO/TMB's Global Relevance Implementation Guidance document.
Annex SN (Currently blank — placeholder for new annexes)
Currently blank — placeholder for new annexes
 
Annex SO (normative) Principles for developing ISO and IEC Standards related to or supporting public policy
initiatives
SO.1 Background Context
The 2007 ISO General Assembly Open Session on International Standards and Public Policy addressed important dynamics confronting the ISO community — the
relationship between ISO standards and public policy as well as the unique needs and concerns of one major class of ISO standards users, namely, governments. ISO's
sister organization IEC, responsible for electrotechnical standardization, applauds the initiative and wishes to co-operate with ISO to develop common ISO/IEC principles
and guidance to technical committees of both organizations. It is a reasonable goal that ISO and IEC wish to make their portfolio of standards more visible to public
authorities and, equally important, ensure that its standards address the relevant needs and concerns of the public authorities. This will support their global relevance
and applicability worldwide, as it has been shown that ISO and IEC standards are capable of providing valuable support to the implementation of public policy. ISO and
IEC have been and will continue to be effective providers of voluntary standards that support the programs of government authorities, who need standards that meet the
WTO TBT criteria and that support technical regulations and/or procurement actions.
It should be noted that, as private, voluntary organizations, ISO and IEC themselves are not directly representative of government interests. ISO and IEC consensus on ISO
and IEC standards reflects agreement across a range of stakeholders at the standard drafting level, AND it reflects a consensus across national standards bodies at the
approval level. National positions on ISO or IEC standards are not necessarily government positions, although government experts may participate in developing these
positions with their counterparts from the private sector.
The following set of principles has been established to guide ISO and IEC committees developing standards related to or supporting public policy initiatives. These
principles will ensure that ISO and IEC standards can properly support and be used by public authorities.

SO.2 Principles
a) ISO and IEC are committed to creating market-driven International Standards, based on objective information and knowledge on which there is global consensus, and
not on subjective judgments, in order to provide credible technical tools that can support the implementation of regulation and public policy initiatives.
b) ISO and IEC are committed to developing International Standards that are market relevant, meeting the needs and concerns of all relevant stakeholders including
public authorities where appropriate, without seeking to establish, drive or motivate public policy, regulations, or social and political agendas.
When ISO or IEC standards are anticipated to support a public policy initiative, the relationship between the standard(s) and the public policy initiative(s) should be
clearly understood among all concerned parties. The interaction of standardization and public policy or regulation should be anticipated and the intervention of the
public authorities in the standards development process should occur as early as possible. It should be noted that in many cases experts representing regulatory
authorities are actively participating in the development of ISO and IEC International Standards both as members of the relevant international committees and/or at
the pertinent national mirror committees to ISO and IEC technical bodies.
c) ISO and IEC recognize that the development of regulation, public policy and/or the development and interpretation of international treaties are the role of
governments or treaty organizations.
d) ISO and IEC standards supporting regulation, regulatory cooperation and public policy are best developed within ISO and IEC structures and under operational
approaches and participation models that have been proven successful and that are detailed in the ISO/IEC Directives.
The use of special committee structures, procedures or participation models may compromise the credibility and suitability of the resulting ISO/IEC standards
supporting regulation and public policy.

SO.3 Implementation
— In addition to promoting these principles to ISO and IEC committees, their leaders and participants, ISO and IEC shall actively support and promote the principles for
international standardization established in the WTO TBT Agreement and subsequent decisions of the TBT Committee regarding the development of International
Standards.
— ISO member bodies and IEC National Committees should ensure that national governments, including their trade representatives, are aware of ISO's and IEC's
portfolios, are informed about ISO and IEC as venues for standards development, and are engaged in ISO and IEC standards development whenever appropriate to
reduce misunderstanding and inadvertent contradictions.
— The ISO Technical Management Board and the IEC Standardization Management Board should develop additional implementation guidance and case studies of
successful ISO and IEC standards efforts that support public policy initiatives (for example, ISO standards related to medical devices and greenhouse gas emissions,
and IEC standards related to radio interference, safety of household appliances, ships and marine technology).
Annex SP (normative) Policy for the development of sector-specific management standards and sector-
specific management system standards (MSS)
SP.1 General
Any technical committee or subcommittee, project committee or International Workshop that proposes development of a sector-specific management standard (SP.2.2)
or a sector-specific management system standard (MSS) (SP.2.4) shall follow the directions specified in this annex. It includes, as applicable, committee specific policies
(SP.5) which may not be limited to sector-specific management standards or sector-specific management system standards.

SP.2 Terms and definitions

SP.2.1
generic management standard
management standard designed to be widely applicable across economic sectors, various types and sizes of organizations and diverse
geographical, cultural and social conditions
SP.2.2
sector-specific management standard
management standard that provides additional requirements or guidance for the application of a 
generic management standard (SP.2.1) to a specific economic or business sector
SP.2.3
generic management system standard
generic MSS
MSS designed to be widely applicable across economic sectors, various types and sizes of organizations and diverse geographical, cultural and
social conditions
SP.2.4
sector-specific management system standard (MSS)
sector-specific MSS
MSS that provides additional requirements or guidance for the application of a generic MSS (SP.2.3) to a specific economic or business sector

SP.3 Sector-specific management standards and sector-specific management system standards

Any new proposal for a sector-specific management standard (SP.2.2) or sector-specific MSS (SP.2.4) shall:
— clearly demonstrate its market relevance and alignment through the completion of appropriate ISO project approval procedures by means of ISO Form 4, New Work
Item Proposal,
— [in the case of the development of a sector-specific MSS (SP.2.4)] clearly demonstrate that all the rules and principles in Annex SL have been followed, including the
approval of the justification study (see Annex SL), and
— clearly demonstrate that the liaison with the committee responsible for the generic management standard or generic MSS concerned is effective,
— if applicable, conform with the committee specific policies set out below.

SP.4 Drafting rules

Sector-specific management standards (SP.2.2) and sector-specific MSS (SP.2.4) shall respect the following rules:
a) Normative reference shall be made to the generic management standard (SP.2.1) or generic MSS (SP.2.3). Alternatively, the clauses and subclauses may be reproduced
verbatim.
b) If text from the generic management standard (SP.2.1) or generic MSS (SP.2.3) is reproduced in the sector-specific standard, it shall be distinguished from the other
elements of the sector-specific standard.
c) Terms and definitions specified in the generic management standard (SP.2.1) or generic MSS (SP.2.3) shall be referred to in a normative manner or reproduced
verbatim.

SP.5 Committee specific policies

SP.5.1 General
Sector-specific management standards (SP.2.2) and sector-specific MSS (SP.2.4) shall not interpret, change, or subtract from the requirements of the generic management
standard or generic MSS.
SP.5.2 Environment
SP.5.2.1   Terms and definitions
The following terms and definitions are applicable to environmental policy:

SP.5.2.1.1
sector-specific environmental management standard
standard that provides additional requirements or guidance for the application of a generic environmental management standard to a specific
economic or business sector

EXAMPLE The application of an environmental management system (ISO 14001) or life-cycle assessment (ISO 14044) to agri-food or energy sectors.

SP.5.2.1.2
aspect-specific environmental management standard
standard that provides additional requirements or guidance for the application of a generic environmental management standard for a specific
environmental aspect or aspects within its scope

EXAMPLE The application of an environmental management system (ISO 14001) for greenhouse gas (aspect) management or life-cycle assessment (ISO 14044) for the water (aspect)
footprint of products.

SP.5.2.1.3
element-specific environmental management standard
standard that provides additional requirements or guidance for the application of a generic environmental management standard for a specific
element or elements within its scope

EXAMPLE Communications or emergency management (elements) within an environmental management system (ISO 14001) or data collection or critical review (elements) within a life-
cycle assessment (ISO 14044).
SP.5.2.2   General
Any technical committee, subcommittee, project committee or International Workshop that proposes development of a sector-, aspect- or element-specific environmental
management standard shall clearly demonstrate its market relevance and alignment through the completion of appropriate project approval procedures, including:
— ISO Form 4, New Work Item Proposal for sector-, aspect- or element-specific specific application of generic environmental management system standards,
environmental labeling, life-cycle assessment and greenhouse gas management standards, and
— Annex SL Proposals for management system standards (MSS) for sector-, aspect- or element-specific specific application of generic environmental MSS.
Approval documentation should include specific justification as to why the relevant generic ISO 14000 series standard(s) insufficiently address sector-, aspect- or
element-specific needs and how the proposed new standard would effectively resolve identified issues. Proposers should critically assess whether additional sector-,
aspect- or element-specific requirements are needed as opposed to the provision of additional guidance to the generic environmental management standard(s).
SP.5.2.3   Any technical committee, subcommittee, project committee or International Workshop that proposes development of a sector-, aspect- or element-specific
environmental management standard should consider and reflect the needs of developing countries, economies in transition, small- and medium- enterprises and
organizations operating across a variety of sectors.
SP.5.2.4   ISO/TC 207 will cooperate in or, where appropriate and as decided by the Technical Management Board, lead joint projects with technical committee,
subcommittee, project committee or International Workshop developing sector-, aspect- or element-specific environmental management standards to avoid duplication
of effort and promote consistency and alignment. There is no intention to restrict the development of market relevant standards in committees outside of ISO/TC 207.
SP.5.2.5   Technical committee, subcommittee, project committee or International Workshop developing sector-, aspect- or element-specific environmental management
standards shall:
— include the normative reference of the appropriate generic ISO 14000 series environmental management systems, environmental auditing, environmental labeling,
life-cycle assessment and greenhouse gas management standards;
— include the normative reference of the appropriate generic ISO 14050 terms and definitions;
— distinguish ISO 14000 series text if it is reproduced; and
— not interpret, change, or subtract from the requirements of the generic ISO 14000 series environmental management systems, environmental auditing, environmental
labeling, life-cycle assessment and greenhouse gas management standards.
SP.5.2.6   Any requests for guidance on this sector-, aspect- or element-specific policy or for interpretation of generic ISO 14000 series standards or ISO 14050 terms and
definitions or for guidance on a sector-, aspect- or element-specific document shall be submitted to the ISO Central Secretariat as well as the relevant TC 207
subcommittee.
SP.5.3 Quality
When an technical committee, subcommittee, project committee or International Workshop wishes to develop quality management system requirements or guidance for
a particular product or industry/economic sector it shall respect the following rules.
a) Normative reference shall be made to ISO 9001 in its entirety. Alternatively, the clauses and subclauses may be reproduced verbatim.
b) If text from ISO 9001 is reproduced in the sector document, it shall be distinguished from the other elements of the sector document [see d)].
c) Terms and definitions specified in ISO 9000 shall be referred to in a normative manner or reproduced verbatim.
d) The guidance and criteria provided in Quality management systems – Guidance and criteria for the development of documents to meet needs of specific product
and industry/economic sectors, approved by ISO/TC 176, shall be considered not only when determining the need for a sector-specific requirements or guidance
document but also in the document development process.
Any requests for guidance on this sector policy or for interpretation of ISO 9000 terms and definitions, ISO 9001 or ISO 9004 shall be submitted to the secretariat
of ISO/TC 176.
SP.5.4 Asset management
When an technical committee, subcommittee, project committee or International Workshop wishes to develop asset management system requirements or guidance for a
particular product or industry/economic sector it shall respect the following rules:
a) Normative reference shall be made to ISO 55001 in its entirety. Alternatively, the clauses and subclauses may be reproduced verbatim.
b) If text from ISO 55001 is reproduced in the sector document, it shall be distinguished from the other elements of the sector document.
c) Terms and definitions specified in ISO 55000 shall be referred to in a normative manner or reproduced verbatim.
Any requests for guidance on a sector-specific document or for interpretation of ISO 55000 terms and definitions or ISO 55001 shall be submitted to the secretariat
of ISO/TC 251.
SP.5.5 Risk
When a technical committee, subcommittee, project committee or International Workshop wishes to develop risk management requirements or guidance for a particular
product or industry/economic sector it shall respect the following rules:
a) Reference shall be made to ISO 31000 in its entirety. Alternatively, the clauses and subclauses may be reproduced verbatim.
b) If text from ISO 31000 is reproduced in the sector document, it shall be distinguished from the other elements of the sector document.
c) Terms and definitions specified in ISO 31000 shall be referred to in a normative manner or reproduced verbatim.
Any requests for guidance on a sector-specific document or for interpretation of ISO 31000 terms and definitions shall be submitted to the secretariat of ISO/TC 262.
SP.5.6 Social responsibility
When a technical committee, subcommittee, project committee or International Workshop wishes to develop social responsibility requirements or guidance for a
particular product or industry/economic sector it shall respect the following rules:
a) Reference shall be made to ISO 26000 in its entirety. Alternatively, the clauses and subclauses may be reproduced verbatim.
b) If text from ISO 26000 is reproduced in the sector document, it shall be distinguished from the other elements of the sector document.
c) Terms and definitions specified in ISO 26000 shall be referred to in a normative manner or reproduced verbatim.
Annex SQ (Currently blank — placeholder for new annexes)
 
Annex SR (normative) Statements intended to limit the purpose or use of deliverables
SR.1 Principles
The ISO Technical Management Board adopted the following ISO/TMB Resolution 8/2012 regarding statements intended to limit the purpose or use of deliverables:
Noting that ISO Council Resolution 9/2001 confirms ISO's compliance with the basic principles of the operation and implementation of the WTO Agreement on
Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT),
Agrees that statements intended to limit the purpose or use of deliverables in relation to barriers or obstacles to trade are not permitted,
Further agrees that statements relating to contractual obligations or government regulation are also not permitted,
Requests that any such statements be removed during the development of a deliverable (i.e. before the close of the DIS) and that any such statements in existing
deliverables be removed when the deliverable is revised,
Requires that any exceptions to the above in exceptional cases be approved by the ISO/TMB (…)
The ISO Technical Management Board also adopted the following ISO/TMB Resolution 69/2012 regarding statements intended to limit the purpose or use of deliverables
in relation to conformity assessment (“conformity assessment disclaimers”):
Recalling TMB Resolution 8/2012 Statements intended to limit the purpose or use of deliverables,
(…)
Decides that statements related to conformity assessment (for example certification) are not permitted in ISO deliverables,
(…)
Agrees that any conformity assessment statements must be removed during the development of a deliverable (i.e. before the close of the DIS) and that any such
statements in existing deliverables must be removed when the deliverable is revised, to be replaced by the link in the Foreword, and
Requires that any exceptions to the above be approved by the TMB.

SR.2 Further information regarding statements in relation to barriers or obstacles to trade

Various statements intended to limited purpose or use of deliverables (sometimes referred to as “disclaimers”) in relation to barriers or obstacles to trade are included in
a number of ISO deliverables. Though the wording differs slightly from case to case, they make the point that the deliverable in question is not intended to create barriers
or obstacles to trade.
As explained on the ISO/IEC Information Centre, the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) is one of the legal texts of the WTO Agreement. It obliges WTO
Members to ensure that, inter alia, voluntary standards do not create unnecessary obstacles to trade. Specifically, Annex 3 of the TBT entitled Code of Good Practice for the
Preparation, Adoption and Application of Standards (para. E) states: “The standardizing body shall ensure that standards are not prepared, adopted or applied with a view
to or with the effect of, creating unnecessary obstacles to international trade.”
Standardizing bodies within the territory of a WTO Member can notify their acceptance of the Code of Good Practice for the Preparation, Adoption and Application of
Standards (Annex 3 to the TBT). A list is available of the standardizing bodies from the countries that have notified their acceptance. In accordance with the TBT, the onus
is then on WTO Members to ensure that the TBT is respected within their respective territories.
The obligation to avoid obstacles to trade is therefore amply covered in the TBT. To add a TBT declaimer in some standards but not in others creates two classes of
standards with no clear difference between the two. In fact, if the practice were allowed to continue, this could inadvertently create the impression that there are two
different levels of compliance with the TBT.
In addition, the issue of ISO's general compliance with the basic principles of the operation and implementation of the TBT was considered by the ISO Council. By way of
ISO Council Resolution 9/2001, the ISO Council confirmed that ISO was indeed compliant in this regard.

SR.3 Further information regarding statements in relation to contractual obligations or government regulation
ISO/TMB Resolution 8/2012 reinforces the application of clause 4 of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 which states that “A document shall not include contractual
requirements (e.g. concerning claims, guarantees, covering of expenses) and legal or statutory requirements.”
The ISO Technical Management Board also adopted the following ISO/TMB Resolution 70/2018 regarding the interpretation of “statements relating to contractual
obligations or government regulation”:
Noting the issues of interpretation related to Technical Management Board Resolution 8/2012 concerning the phrase “Further agrees that statements relating to
contractual obligations or government regulation are also not permitted”;
Further noting that
• text relating to compliance with contractual obligations, legal requirements and government regulations exists in many ISO standards; and
• ISO deliverables can be used to complement such requirements and serve as useful tools for all related stakeholders (which can include government authorities and
industry players);
Further noting the responses received from the DMT consultation on this question;
Clarifies that, for all ISO deliverables:
a) Statements that include an explicit requirement or recommendation to comply with any specific law, regulation or contract (such as a normative reference to such
requirements), or portion thereof, are not permitted;
b) Statements related to legal and regulatory requirements that do not violate point a) are permitted;
c) Factual examples of the content of specific laws or regulations for informative purposes are permitted; and
d) No exceptions shall be granted to point a).
In addition, a document shall not include statements containing an explicit requirement or recommendation to comply with national law or statements that an ISO
standard is not intended to conflict with national law. The application of ISO standards is voluntary and national law takes precedence in case of conflict. Furthermore, to
add such statements in some standards but not in others creates two classes of standards. This could inadvertently create the impression that an ISO standard takes
precedence over national law unless primacy of national law is expressly stated.

SR.4 Further information on do's and don'ts related to conformity assessment

Further information regarding conformity assessment for standard writers is available in the 
publication entitled “Conformity assessment for standards writers — Do's and Don'ts”: https://www.iso.org/iso/PUB100303.pdf and in clause 33 of ISO/IEC Directives,
Part 2. Additional guidance is also contained in the generic text, a link to which is included in the Foreword of ISO deliverables (www.iso.org/foreword-info).

SR.5 Requests for exceptions

Requests for exceptions to include a statement intended to limit the purpose or use of deliverables shall be approved by the ISO Technical Management Board who will
carefully consider such requests on a case by case basis.
Annex SS (normative) Optional use of the Committee Draft (CD) stage — Guidance for committees
The following is guidance for committees regarding the optional use of the Committee Draft (CD) stage.

SS.1 Implementation guidance

— Decisions on whether to skip the CD should be made on a case by case basis.
— Decisions should be made on the basis of what is expected to be gained by a CD circulation (e.g. further understanding of an issue) compared to possible increases in
costs and time (additional drafting and meetings).
— The proposal to skip the CD stage should be made by the Working Group Convenor/Project Leader following a consultation with the WG experts to prove consensus.
— The final decision should then be taken by the committee by consensus through a 4 week Committee Internal Ballot or at a meeting (for a definition of consensus,
see clause 2.5.6).
— When the consensus to skip CD is reached, see 2.5.7.
— In cases where there are concerns that skipping of the CD stage may seriously compromise consensus and document quality, then skipping the CD stage should be
avoided.

SS.2 Tips for Convenors and Project Leaders when proposing to skip the CD stage
1) Use stage 0 to build a draft document which reflects already known stakeholder views.
2) Ensure a high quality draft is circulated with the New Work Item Proposal.
3) Inform the parent committee secretary as soon as it is known that the Working Group (WG) would like the project to skip the CD stage.
4) Ensure P-members with a major interest in the subject have nominated experts to the WG and that consensus has been achieved on the document among the WG.
5) Ensure appropriate number of re-iterations of Working Drafts circulations to the experts.
6) Give regular updates about the status of the work to the secretary of the committee who in turn should provide updates to the P-members and circulate working
drafts for information if necessary.
7) Ask WG Experts to regularly inform their nominating P-members of the status of the work and encourage the WG experts to conduct informal consultations at the
national level.
8) Ensure the document submitted to the committee secretary is of high technical quality which is good enough for a DIS vote.
9) Always ensure a full review of the DIS comments after the DIS vote.

SS.3 Tips for committee Chairs and Secretaries

— Inform the members of the committee as soon as it is known that the Working Group would like to skip the CD stage.
— When submitting the DIS draft to ISO CS for preparation of the vote send the draft to the committee for information.

SS.4 Other information

— This does not alter the current standards development timeframes which remain at 1.5, 2 or 3 years. The optional use of the CD will help you meet or beat your target
dates that are set under these timeframes.
— For Vienna Agreement projects the CD can also be used on an optional basis.
Annex ST (normative) Twinning Policy
ST.1 Scope
The objective of twinning is to build capacity and improve participation and performance in the twinned partner. The twinning objectives should support those priorities
identified by the twinned partner and be integrated into their national development plans/strategies.
This policy is mandatory.

ST.2 Definitions
ST.2.1   Twinning: A partnership agreement between two ISO members for the purposes of capacity building, where capacity building is defined as the “development of
competencies (at National Body- NSB level) to be successful in ISO standardization work.
ST.2.2   Lead partner: The ISO member body providing the guidance, expertise and training.
ST.2.3   Twinned partner: The ISO member body seeking to build capacity.
ST.2.4   Leadership twinning: Twinning arrangements that involve learning the competencies relevant to leadership roles in the development of International
Standards. There are three types of leadership twinning arrangements; chair, convenor and secretary. Through leadership twinning, the twinned partner has the
opportunity to learn the skills and responsibilities needed to assume the chairmanship/convenorship/the role of a committee secretary.
ST.2.5   Chair twinning: An arrangement between a Chair and a Twinned-Chair.
ST.2.6   Convenor twinning: An arrangement between a Convenor and a Twinned Convenor.
ST.2.7   Secretariat twinning: An arrangement between a Secretariat and a Twinned Secretariat.
ST.2.8   P-member twinning: The lead partner and the twinned partner both need to be P-members of the committee in question. P-member Twinning allows the
twinned partner, that may not yet have the level of competency required to cooperate on a leadership position, to participate actively in the technical work of standards
development. P-member twinning allows members to gain specific targeted experience related to the work of a committee at the international and national levels
(including the role of national mirror committees) and insight into the obligations of a P-member.

ST.3 Requirements
To be eligible to participate in a twinning arrangement, the following requirements need to be met:
— Full membership of ISO (or participation in the ISO Council’s New member rights pilot, in the case of P-member Twinning).
— Requirement to be a lead partner: demonstration of sufficient knowledge and experience (at NSB level) of the role in question.
— Requirement to be a twinned partner: demonstration of a need for capacity building, as evidenced by a lack of experience holding secretariats /appointing chairs or
convenors/ participating actively in technical committees.
Selection criteria
The suggested experience for a lead partner is:
— Secretariat twinning: holding 5 or more committee secretariats.
— Chair or convenor twinning: having 5 or more appointed chairs or convenors.
— P-member twinning: being a P-member in 100 or more committees.
The suggested experience for a twinned partner is:
— Secretariat twinning: holding fewer than 5 committee secretariats.
— Chair or convenor twinning: having fewer than 5 appointed chairs or convenors.
— P-member twinning: being a P-member in fewer than 100 committees.

ST.4 General principles

1) Voluntary in nature — Twinning arrangements are to be entered into voluntarily.
2) Objectives — Both partners to the arrangement shall be committed to the primary objective of twinning: to build capacity and improve participation and
performance in the twinned partner. Twinning objectives should support those priorities identified by the twinned partner and integrated into their national
development plans/strategies.
3) No expectation of financial support — There is no expectation that the lead partner will provide financial support to the twinned partner.
4) One country, one vote — Twinning arrangements shall have no influence in terms of national position. There should be no expectation that one partner will support
the positions and views of the other partner. Twinning arrangements shall not jeopardize the principle of “one country, one vote” in ISO (and proxy voting is not
allowed).
5) Cooperation — The cooperation should be viewed as broadly as possible, with a flexible approach, and include technical, strategic and policy-level activities between
the partners.
6) Commitment — The commitment of both partners to the twinning arrangement should be sustained for the duration of the arrangement. By mutual agreement of
the two partners, the lead partner may also assume other specific administrative tasks beyond providing training and guidance.
7) Continual improvement — Twinning arrangements should embrace the continual improvement concept. There should be mechanisms in place to ensure that, for
each action, there is a possibility for follow-up and, if necessary, corrective action. Projects should include indicators to measure/monitor the progress of a twinned
partner’s participation and leadership in ISO, with progress reviewed on an annual basis.
8) Sustainability — The knowledge and experience gained through the twinning arrangement should be used to train other staff in the twinned partner to build
capabilities in a sustainable manner. Participation in twinning should reduce, or remove altogether, the need for twinning of the twinned partner so that, once the
twinning arrangement is finished, the twinned country can participate independently.

ST.5 Procedure
ST.5.1 Chronology
This Policy addresses the various aspects of a Twinning arrangement in the order of the life cycle of a typical Twinning arrangement noting that some stages may be done
in parallel. Each stage is addressed as follows:
— Identifying the need for a Twinning arrangement (ST.5.2)
— Selecting a Twinning partner (ST.5.3)
— Drafting/Submitting a Twinning Request (ST.5.4)
— Approving the Twinning Request (ST.5.5)
— Implementing the Twinning arrangement (ST.5.6)
— Terminating a twinning arrangement (ST.5.7)
— Role of the ISO CS (ST.5.8)
ST.5.2 Identifying the need for a Twinning arrangement
Twinning arrangements are to be entered voluntarily. The partners shall fill in the Request Form (See Annex SJ) once they have agreed on the type of twinning (P-
member, Secretariat, Chair or Convenor). In the case of a Secretariat or Chair twinning, the request form should be submitted to the TMB Secretariat. In the case of a WG
Convenor twinning arrangement, it should be submitted directly to the parent committee and the ISO Technical Program Manager (TPM) for processing. For P-member
twinning arrangements, the request form should be submitted to the TPM for review and the committee secretariat for information.
ST.5.3 Selecting a Twinning partner
If a member body has identified the need for a twinning arrangement, but not a twinning partner, it can contact ISO/CS or the TPM of the committee in question, if a
committee has been identified, and ask for help in identifying a partner to twin with.
ST.5.4 Drafting/Submitting a Twinning Request
The following shall be included in the request form:
— Contact details of the ISO member bodies making the request
— Committee in which a twinning relationship is requested
— Type of twinning requested
— Statement from the ISO member body (twinned partner) demonstrating the need for capacity building and explaining what kind of capacity-building this
arrangement will target
— Statement from the ISO member body (lead partner) demonstrating competencies and resources to support capacity building
— Goals and expected outcome of the twinning arrangement
— Proposed time frame of the twinning arrangement
— In the case of a leadership twinning arrangement, the contact details and CV of the Secretary/Twinned Secretary, Chair/Twinned-Chair, Convenor/Twinned Convenor
Secretariat or Chair twinning arrangements at TC, PC or SC level shall be approved by the TMB.
For WG Convenor Twinning arrangements, the requesting partners submit the Twinning request form directly to the secretariat of the parent committee for approval.
For P-member Twinning arrangements, the requesting partners submit the Twinning request form directly to the ISO/CS TPM (copied to the committee secretariat for
information).
ST.5.5 Approving the Twinning request:
• Secretariat and Chair twinning arrangements shall be submitted to the TMB Secretariat who will send the Twinning request form and supporting material to the TMB
members for approval by correspondence (4-week CIB ballot). Supporting material for the ballot shall include an assessment from the TPM/ISO CS, plus any relevant
statistics on NSB participation in ISO and performance in other committee leadership roles. The request is evaluated by the TMB according to the quality of the
information, and against the above guidelines (suggested experience) for being a “lead” and “twinned” partner.
If approved by the TMB, the Secretariat or Chair twinning arrangement will be registered in the Global Directory (GD).
• For WG Convenor Twinning arrangements, the requesting NSBs submit the Twinning request form directly to the secretariat of the parent committee for approval. The
committee then submits its decision to the TPM for processing.
• For P-member Twinning arrangements, the requesting NSBs submit the Twinning request form directly to the ISO/CS TPM (copied to the committee secretariat for
information). The TPM reviews the form and registers the Twinning arrangement in the G ID.
Once approved, the twinned partners shall submit a completed Twinning Agreement (with end date, maximum time limit of 5 years) and Collaboration Plan to
their ISO/CS TPM within 3 months of the registration of the Twinning arrangement. See Annex SJ for the Forms. The TPM reviews the Agreement and Collaboration Plan
and works with the twinned partners to improve it, if necessary. If the partners do not submit a satisfactory Twinning Agreement and Collaboration plan within
3 months, the twinning arrangement shall not be started.
ST.5.6 Implementing the Twinning arrangement
Twinning arrangements shall be subject to an annual review and performance assessment, consisting of a self-assessment by the twinned partners, an assessment by the
P-members of the committee, and an assessment by the TPM.
Annual performance assessment form: The twinned partners shall submit a completed form once per year. This form includes a section that will be completed by the
TPM.
P-member assessments will be done as part of the regular post-meeting feedback survey process. The TPM reviews the results of these surveys and notes the P-member
feedback on the Annual performance assessment form.
The TMB secretariat reviews the performance assessment forms and sends the completed forms back to the twinned partners for information. If there are no problems
raised, the form is filed and the arrangement continues.
ST.5.7 Terminating a Twinning arrangement
Failure to submit annual performance assessments or negative assessments/problems raised shall be brought to the attention of the TMB. The TMB evaluates the
information and decides on any action to be taken. This may include the cancellation of the twinning arrangement.
Once a twinning arrangement reaches the 5-year maximum time limit, it is automatically terminated. Extensions/renewals of Twinning arrangements are not possible.
There shall be no automatic transfer of leadership roles (secretariat, chair, convenor) from the lead to the twinned partner at the end of the twinning arrangement. The
twinned partner leadership roles shall be removed from the GD.
In the case of secretariat twinning, if the lead partner wishes to relinquish the secretariat, the committee may take a resolution to support the assignment of the
secretariat to the twinned partner. In the case of an SC secretariat, the TC will approve this assignment based on the SC resolution. In the case of a TC secretariat,
the ISO/TMB will approve this assignment based on the TC’s resolution.
Any other changes to leadership roles shall follow the approval process outlined in the ISO/IEC Directives Part 1.
ST.5.8 Role of ISO/CS
The Twinned partners’ interface with ISO/CS is through the responsible TPM. The role of the TPM includes:
— Helping to identify a potential twinning partner in cases where a twinning partner/lead partner has not been identified
— Providing guidance and advice on how to implement the twinning policy
— Raising potential problems to the attention of the TMB
Reference documents
The following are links to reference documents for the ISO technical community on a number of important subjects.

— ISO's web page

— ISO/IEC Directives, Parts 1 & 2, Consolidated ISO Supplement to ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1, JTC 1 Supplement
— Guidance for ISO national standards bodies — engaging stakeholders and building consensus
— Guidance for liaisons organizations — engaging stakeholders and building consensus
— Using and referencing ISO and IEC standards to support public policy
— ISO's global relevance policy
— ISO Code of Conduct for the technical work and suggestions for implementation
— Policy for the distribution of ISO publications and the protection of ISO's copyright (ISO POCOSA)
— Guidance and process for addressing misconduct and breaches of the code of conduct
— Guidance on drafting standards
— ISO Guides — adding value to International Standards
— Guidelines for TC/SC Chairs and Secretariats for implementation of the Agreement on technical cooperation between ISO and CEN (Vienna
Agreement)
— Guidance on twinning in ISO standards development activities
— Guidance for writing standards taking into account micro, small and medium-sized enterprises’ needs
— Guide for addressing sustainability in standards (“Guide 82”)
— Guidelines on competition law
— Guidelines on remote participation at committee meetings
— Guidance on New Work in ISO

1) ISO Council resolutions 49/1976 and 50/1976 and IEC Administrative Circular No. 13/1977.