• 

Ref.: 943

ISO and IEC to help harmonize conformity assessment practices and facilitate world trade

2004-11-17

One of the main challenges facing the international trading system is the diverse conformity assessment practices and approaches that persist in different countries and contexts. ISO and IEC are contributing to a solution in the form of two essential reference documents for conformity assessment designed to reduce technical barriers to trade and to prevent the emergence of new ones.

These two documents are intended to be used in conjunction with, or when preparing, ISO/IEC International Standards or Guides relating to conformity assessment, and also to support the implementation of the World Trade Organization's Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement (WTO TBT).

Conformity assessment has become an important component of world trade. At its simplest, "conformity assessment" means checking that products, materials, services, systems or people measure up to specified requirements (regulations, standards, specifications etc.). Unless trading partners adhere to identical (or equivalent) conformity assessment procedures and requirements, or recognize each other's conformity assessment results, then the costly problem of discriminatory, non-transparent and unnecessary obstacles to trade will persist.

The first "solution document" is a new standard ISO/IEC 17000:2004, Conformity assessment - Vocabulary and general principles, that collects and compiles into one glossary-type document all terms and definitions applicable to conformity assessment in English, French and Russian. It facilitates a coherent approach to the description of conformity assessment activities and the use of harmonized conformity assessment terminology, as well as contributing to a common understanding of conformity assessment terms.

"As a common basis for the preparation and maintenance of any standards and guides relating to conformity assessment activities, ISO/IEC 17000 is intended to offer a consistent terminology that is based on agreed general principles," said Geoff Strawbridge, Convenor of the working group that developed the new standard. "ISO/IEC 17000 should be relevant to the designers and administrators of conformity assessment procedures, writers of standards, bodies and people who undertake conformity assessment work, and government officials that are involved in trade or managing their domestic economies."

The second document, ISO/IEC Guide 60:2004, Conformity assessment - Code of good practice, recommends good practices for all elements of conformity assessment, including conformity assessment normative documents, bodies, systems, schemes and results. It is for use by individuals and bodies who wish to provide, promote, or use ethical and reliable conformity assessment services that are characterized by WTO principles like openness, transparency, impartiality, coherence and consensus.

David Shortall, Convenor of the group of experts that developed the new Guide, explains its significance: "With increased globalization of industries and markets, there has been greater acceptance of harmonized International Standards and guides as vehicles to improve competition and eliminate technical barriers to trade. Guide 60 provides a framework of best practices and procedures which could be used by the full range of conformity assessment stakeholders, including governmental, private, national and international systems."

The two documents are part of a set of conformity assessment suite developed by ISO's Committee on conformity assessment (ISO/CASCO), in partnership with IEC, that help to harmonize international practices in the area of conformity assessment, improve economic efficiency and eliminate technical barriers to trade.

ISO/IEC 17000:2004 was developed by CASCO Working Group WG 5, Terminology, and ISO/IEC Guide 60 was developed by CASCO Working Group WG 22, Code of good practice for conformity assessment. ISO/IEC 17000:2004, which costs 142 Swiss francs and ISO/IEC Guide 60, which costs 47 Swiss francs, are available from ISO national member institutes and from ISO Central Secretariat.