ISO UPDATE TO the TBT committee

INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE international organization for standardization (ISO)

This document contains information provided by ISO at the TBT Committee meeting of 13‑15 March 2024 under Agenda Item 6 (Update by Observers).[1]

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1.1.   ISO would like to thank the WTO TBT for the opportunity to provide an update on ISO activities.

1.2.  The COP28 Climate Conference saw the active participation of over 60 representatives from the ISO community, of which 13 ISO members from developing countries sponsored by ISO to join their national delegations. ISO's presence aimed to emphasize the crucial role of International Standards in addressing climate change through an engaging programme of sessions held at the Standards Pavilion by ISO. International Standards also featured in the official UNFCCC programme.

1.3.  Two new ISO deliverables were unveiled at COP 28: The new Climate change management standard, ISO 14068-1, outlines a standardized approach for achieving and demonstrating carbon neutrality in the transition to net zero. ISO/TS 19870 on Hydrogen technologies was launched during a _COP28 Presidency ministerial roundtable. The new technical specification provides a trusted international methodology for assessing the greenhouse gas emissions of hydrogen pathways on a life-cycle analysis basis.

1.4.  Furthermore, ISO endorsed the _Steel Standards Principles, aimed at aligning how greenhouse gas emissions are measured in the steel sector. Further details on ISO's participation in COP 28 are available at ISO - COP28

1.5.  In line with the ISO London Declaration on Climate Change, on 23 February 2024, ISO published the _amendment of several management systems standards consisting of two new clauses to emphasize the importance of considering climate change impacts on achieving management system goals. The intent is to ensure that Climate Change issues are considered by the organization in the context of the effectiveness of the management system, in addition to all other issues. These additional statements in each management system standard are ensuring that this important topic is not overlooked but considered by all organizations in the design and implementation of the management system.

1.6.  In December 2023, ISO announced a key partnership with the IFRS Foundation, committing to future cooperation towards effective communication about sustainability-related risks and opportunities, marking a significant step towards aligning international financial reporting and sustainability standards.

1.7.  ISO recently published the ISO policy brief: A primer on public policy – maximizing your National Standards Bodies' (NSBs) engagement with policymakers. This brief provides guidance to ISO members on how public policies are developed and implemented and outlines how members can play a pivotal role in supporting public policy across various stages of the public policy life cycle in line with the WTO TBT Agreement. It is intended to serve as a complement to the ISO Standards and public policy: a toolkit for national standards bodies (now available French and Spanish too). Additionally, it will serve as an "umbrella" document to a series of thematic policy briefs that are being developed for ISO members to use, together with this document, to strengthen their engagement with policymakers on key issues including environment and trade, and digital economy and trade.

1.8.  The ISO Standards4Sustainability (S4S) Programme aims to support NSBs and their stakeholders to increase the uptake of selected ISO standards, through a Training-of-Trainer (ToT) approach. This programme is being implemented in pilot organizations, with a focus on SMEs and awareness raising. It encourages participation in ISO standards-setting activities in support of the UN SDGs and 3P framework Planet-People-Prosperity. With the support of the Government of Sweden 20 trainees from ISO members and their stakeholders in Eastern Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Tanzania) will benefit from a ToT course on ISO 22000 Food Safety Management. Building on the activities of 2023, 6 ISO members (Bolivia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Republic of North Macedonia and Uzbekistan) will continue to benefit from the ToT on ISO 50001 – Energy Management.

1.9.  Within the framework of the ISO Standards and Public Policy Programme, ISO will deliver a series of workshops in 2024 to increase the awareness of stakeholders on the role of international standards in support of trade policy objectives and to enable greater regulatory collaboration, focusing on the environment or digital transformation. The workshops will convene NSBs, Ministry of Trade, and Ministry of Environment representatives from up to 10 countries to help forge and strengthen their engagement on using standards as a tool to achieve public policy objectives. The first regional workshop will be held in South Africa in June, with a trade and climate lens. ISO will invite the WTO to contribute.

1.10.  ISO's committee on conformity assessment (CASCO) continues to work with different partners to demonstrate the applicability of the CASCO Toolbox to the area of sustainability as a recognized mean to support trust in claims related to climate action. CASCO, jointly with ISO/TC 207 Environmental management, is developing a suite of standards for validation and verification of sustainability information (ISO 14019 series), to be published in 2025. These standards are intended to complement existing frameworks for sustainability reporting and disclosure.

1.11.  In addition, several standards are being revised or newly developed with the view of providing enhanced and coherent tools for the development of conformity assessment schemes, including: ISO/IEC 17067 Conformity assessment, Fundamentals of product certification and guidelines for product certification schemes, ISO/IEC 17007 Conformity assessment, Guidance for drafting normative documents suitable for use for conformity assessment, and ISO/IEC TS 17035 Conformity assessment – Guidelines for validation/verification programmes

1.12.  ISO CASCO will hold its plenary in Kampala, Uganda, in the period 23-26 April 2024. Among other technical and future looking sessions, the plenary features a workshop on the role of conformity assessment in facilitating trade within the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). 

1.13.  Since 2022, ISO has had a dedicated programme aimed at 10 Least Developing Country (LDC) members. It aims to maximize the benefits of international standardization to address LDCs' economic and social development needs through high quality tailored support. The programme covers Chad, Ethiopia, Laos, Lesotho, Mali, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Togo, and Uganda, of which two are non-WTO members. Six of the ten countries selected "WTO TBT Agreement, ePing, and standards and public policies" as a key priority for their respective national programmes.

1.14.  In May 2024, ISO will organize a training for the Ethiopian Standards Institute (IES) on the TBT Agreement and ePing to support their accession process and will invite the WTO to deliver the training.

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