Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization
Decision on Proposed Understanding on WTO-ISO Standards Information System
Ministers,
Decide to recommend that the Secretariat of the World
Trade Organization reach an understanding with the International
Organization for Standardization ("ISO") to establish
an information system under which:
1. ISONET members shall transmit to the ISO/IEC Information Centre
in Geneva the notifications referred to in paragraphs C and J
of the Code of Good Practice for the Preparation, Adoption and
Application of Standards in Annex 3 to the Agreement on Technical
Barriers to Trade, in the manner indicated there;
2. the following (alpha)numeric classification systems shall
be used in the work programmes referred to in paragraph J:
(a) a standards classification system which would allow
standardizing bodies to give for each standard mentioned in the
work programme an (alpha)numeric indication of the subject matter;
(b) a stage code system which would allow standardizing
bodies to give for each standard mentioned in the work programme
an (alpha)numeric indication of the stage of development of the
standard; for this purpose, at least five stages of development
should be distinguished: (1) the stage at which the decision
to develop a standard has been taken, but technical work has not
yet begun; (2) the stage at which technical work has begun,
but the period for the submission of comments has not yet started;
(3) the stage at which the period for the submission of
comments has started, but has not yet been completed; (4)
the stage at which the period for the submission of comments has
been completed, but the standard has not yet been adopted; and
(5) the stage at which the standard has been adopted;
(c) an identification system covering all international
standards which would allow standardizing bodies to give for each
standard mentioned in the work programme an (alpha)numeric indication
of the international standard(s) used as a basis;
3. the ISO/IEC Information Centre shall promptly convey to the
Secretariat copies of any notifications referred to in paragraph
C of the Code of Good Practice;
4. the ISO/IEC Information Centre shall regularly publish the
information received in the notifications made to it under paragraphs
C and J of the Code of Good Practice; this publication, for which
a reasonable fee may be charged, shall be available to ISONET
members and through the Secretariat to the Members of the WTO.
Continue on to Decision on Review of the ISO/IEC
Information Centre Publication
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