1.5 Reaching consensus
According to ISO/IEC Guide 2:2004, Standardization and related activities -- General vocabulary consensus is “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 Foreword of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1, also affirms consensus-building as the basis for ISO’s standardization process. Consensus is an essential procedural principle, requiring the resolution of substantial objections in meetings or by correspondence. It is “a necessary condition for the preparation of International Standards that will be accepted and widely used”.
The aim is to resolve substantive issues before the final stages of development.
At the international level, it is generally the task of the technical committee Chair, in consultation with the Secretary and the Project Leader for the standard, to decide whether consensus has been reached and the text is ready to be circulated to the membership of ISO and/or IEC (enquiry stage).