Draft ANSI Principles for Developing ISO Standards

Related to or Supporting Public Policy Initiatives

Proposed ANSI Input for ISO Council and/or ISO/TMB

March 2008

The 2007 ISO General Assembly Open Session on International Standards and Public Policy addressed an
important element of the environment in which ISO (and other developers of global standards) exist and provided
perspectives on one major class of ISO standards users, namely, governments. ANSI understands and appreciates
that ISO management wishes to propose actions for ISO that will make its portfolio of standards more visible to
public authorities and, equally important, ensure that its standards work is addressing relevant needs of the public
authorities. These are reasonable goals.

ANSI feels it would be worthwhile for ISO Council and/or ISO/TMB to establish a set of principles that can guide
ISO committees developing standards related to or supporting public policy initiatives. These principles will
ensure that ISO standards can be properly supported and used by public authorities.

ANSI proposes the following recommended principles for ISO Council and/or ISO/TMB consideration and
approval:

1. ISO can be a major provider of voluntary standards for government authorities, who need standards that meet
the WTO TBT criteria and that can support technical regulations and/or procurement actions.

2. As a private, voluntary organization, ISO itself, however, is not directly representative of government interests;
ISO's value is that it reflects a range of stakeholders.

3. ISO committees in their work shall not assume roles appropriate to international intergovernmental bodies. The
development of regulation and/or the development and interpretation of international treaties are done by
national and regional governments or to treaty organizations.

4. Nationa l positions in ISO standards are not necessarily government posit ions, although government technical
experts participate in developing these positions.

5. ISO actively supports and communicates the principles developed in the WTO TBT Committee.

6. ISO NSBs should ensure that governments, including their trade representatives, in their countrie s are aware of
ISO's portfolio , are informed about ISO as a venue for standards development, and are engaged in ISO
standards development whenever appropriate to reduce misunderstanding and inadvertent contradictions.

7. ISO creates standards based on solid technical input that provide credible technical tools that support regulation
and public policy. ISO standards do not seek to drive or motivate social and political agendas, nor do they
establish regulations or set public policies.

8. ISO seeks to refrain from use of special working groups with participation outside the ISO NSB model to
develop standards as these structures may not provide effective mechanisms for coordinating perspectives at the
national level.

9. The ISO/TMB should develop guidelines for use by ISO committees to delineate appropriate and inappropriate
subject matter for ISO standards in relation to regulation and public policy.