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.
The Lawphil Project - Arellano Law Foundation
