G/SPS/GEN/1248  
 
10 June 2013  
(13-3002)  Page: 1/7  
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
COMMUNICATION FROM ISO 
(REPORT OF ACTIVITIES) 
The following communication, received on 5 June 2013, is being circulated at the request of the 
International Organization for Standardization (ISO). 
 
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 The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has prepared this information paper as part of ongoing updates and communication between the SPS Committee and the ISO Central 
Secretariat. It provides a summary of current work undertaken by ISO that may be of interest to 
members of the WTO SPS Committee and is intended to support and enhance dialogue and coordination between the two organizations. 
1  INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION  FOR STANDARDIZATION (ISO) 
1.1.  Any general information regarding the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 
can be found on http://www.iso.org/ . The ISO portfolio counts nearly 19,800 International 
Standards which have been developed by 219 technical committees and 491 subcommittees 
managing some 2,469 working groups. 
2  ISO'S INTERNATIONAL STATUS 2.1.  ISO has a specific status with many UN agencies, including WHO and FAO. It is also an 
observer at the WTO Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE), the Committee on Technical 
Barriers to Trade (WTO TBT) and the Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS). 
2.2.  ISO's observer status to the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) provides an opportunity 
for the coordination of issues related to a variety of ISO standards that are adopted and used by 
Codex in its work. ISO methods have been endorsed in the document " Recommended methods of 
analysis and sampling " (CODEX STAN 234-1999 ) which is updated each year during the Codex 
Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling meeting. 
2.3.  ISO organized a regional workshop on F ood Standards and Trade from 8 to 10 May 2013 in 
Havana, Cuba with the support of the Oficina Nacional de Normalización  (NC) in Cuba together 
with the cooperation of the Codex, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the Global 
Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency 
(Sida). 70 participants from 26 countries (representatives of national standards institutes, government and industry) from Latin America and the Caribbean participated in this regional 
workshop. 
2.4.  This workshop offered the opportunity to have an overview of the region's food supply 
chains, expose the linkages and differences among the various international players, and review 
the challenges, opportunities and solutions that a coherent implementation of standards and 
practices can provide. 
3  ISO AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES 3.1.  Since 1960, ISO has had a policy development committee – DEVCO – that deals specifically 
with the needs of developing countries in standard ization. Developing countries need to focus both G/SPS/GEN/1248 
 
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  on acquiring world-class technological competence  and on achieving a good understanding of the 
technical requirements underlying global trade. For more than 50 years, ISO has been assisting in both these areas through ISO/DEVCO, the ISO Committee on developing country matters. DEVCO's membership comprises 145 national standards institutes from industrialized as well as 
developing countries. (Find out more about DEVCO on " http://www.iso.org/iso/home/about/iso-
and-developing-countries.htm "). 
3.2.  In 2012, ISO/DEVCO carried out three projects  in relation to ISO 22000 technical assistance 
and four events were planned in 2013 (see Annex 2). With the objective of improving awareness 
of key stakeholders in developing countries of the role of such standards in economic growth, world trade and their contribution to sustainable development, four national seminars on ISO 22000 were organized. Three other events were orga nized with the objective of building capacity: 
a regional workshop on standards contribution to th e food sector in Africa in Nairobi, Kenya, and a 
regional workshop on Food Standards and Trade in Havana, Cuba, both of them inviting other international organizations such as the Codex Alimentarius Commission to participate; and a 
national training of trainers seminar, which will be organized in Walvis Bay, Namibia. In addition, 
six sponsorships were provided in 2012 to individuals from developing countries to attend the meeting of ISO/TC 34/SC 17 – Management systems for food safety  in Saitama, Japan from 
29 October to 1 November 2012. 
4  ISO TECHNICAL WORK UPDATES 4.1.  The priority areas of mutual interest on which ISO would like to maintain and nurture 
dialogue with the SPS Committee are the work of  ISO/TC 34 on food products and the generic 
work of the ISO Committee on conformity assessment (ISO/CASCO). 
5  ISO'S CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT STANDARDS AND THEIR USE IN FOOD SAFETY 5.1.  The 28
th plenary of the ISO Committee on conformity assessment (ISO/CASCO1) was hosted 
by the Colombian Institute of Technical Standards and Certification (ICONTEC) and held in Bogotá, 
Colombia, on 11-12 October 2012. It was attended by 97 delegates from 34 member bodies, 1 internal liaison and 12 liaison bodies including the IEC. 
5.2.  ISO/CASCO held an open day on conformi ty assessment in conjunction with the plenary 
which attracted more than 80 participants. The open day focused on the work of ISO/CASCO 
working groups (WGs) and recently published ISO/CASCO standards. 
5.3.  Having the ISO/CASCO plenary in Bogotá fac ilitated the participation from the Latin American 
and Caribbean regions in both the plenary and the workshop. 
5.1  Topical issues currently being addressed in ISO/CASCO 
‐ As part of the activities for ensuring good implementation of standards, ISO/CASCO 
drafted a proposal for the development of an  international directory of organizations 
certified to ISO management systems standards which was presented to the Strategy and Policy Committee (CSC/SPC) (document 04/2013) in January 2013. The strategic 
issues raised by the CSC/SPC will be addressed in a detailed business assessment of the 
idea to be presented to Council in September 2013. 
‐ International Accreditation Forum (IAF) - International Laboratory Accreditation Co-
operation (ILAC) - ISO recognizing the need to continue the momentum achieved to date 
with good implementation of standards is up dating a joint strategic plan for the period 
2012 to 2015. The plan contains nine ac tion points firmly focused on good 
implementation of standards with actions for all three organizations. 
‐ ISO/CASCO has started an initiative to actively promote a harmonized approach to 
conformity assessment activities based on  the ISO/CASCO toolbox by developing a 
brochure for National Member Bodies (NMBs) intended for use with national regulators. 
At least one regional workshop in the latter part of 2013 will be held on this subject. The 
                                               
1 http://www.iso.org/iso/home/about/conformity-assessment.htm . G/SPS/GEN/1248 
 
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  possibility of organizing other regional workshops in 2014 will depend on the success of 
the initial one. 
‐ ISO/CASCO completed its fifth year of managi ng the ISO Survey of Certifications. The 
most recent survey results have been made available free of charge to everyone for the 
first time and are available for downloading on the ISO website 
("http://www.iso.org/iso/home /store/publications_and_e-
products/publication_item.htm?pid=PUB100318 "). 
5.2  Promotion of the ISO/CASCO toolbox and 2012 workshops 
5.4.  During 2012, the Chair and Secretary of ISO/CASCO promoted the ISO/CASCO toolbox and 
highlighted the importance of implementing well established and recognised conformity 
assessment practices by attending the following events: 
‐ UNIDO-ITU-ISO Conformity Assessment worksh op for Asian developing countries in 
Bangladesh, 1-2 February 2012; 
‐ 11th meeting of the ISO/TC 34/SC 9/WG 3 in Lausanne, 24 April 2012; 
‐ ATP Conference2 in Berlin, September 2012; 
‐ IAF meeting in Frankfurt, 28 April to 3 May 2012; and 
‐ IAF and ILAC General Assemblies, in Brazil, October 2012. 
5.3  External representations and liaisons 
5.5.  One new category A liaison was established with ISO/CASCO in 2012, the World Organization 
for Animal Health (OIE). 
5.4  ISO/CASCO membership and next plenary meeting 
5.6.  At present ISO/CASCO has 120 members, including 73 Participating members and 
47 Observing members. 
5.7.  The next ISO/CASCO plenary, workshop and associated meetings will be held during the 
week of 7 October 2013 in Beijing, China. 
5.8.  More information about the scope and structure as well as a quick link to the work 
programme of ISO/CASCO 
("http://www.iso.org/iso/home/stand ards_development/lis t_of_iso_technical_committees/iso_tech
nical_committee.htm?commid=54998 ") is available on the ISO website. 
6  CODEX AND ISO/TC 34 COOPERATION 
6.1.  There is a long history of collaboration  between the Codex committees and ISO/TC 34, Food 
products . ISO/TC 34 supports the establishment of an ongoing and sustainable framework for 
collaboration between Codex and ISO, in order to  enhance the mutual coordination of work and 
the elimination of duplication and contradictions. This also includes interest to support any joint or 
collaborative communication on each others' work. 
6.2.  Codex and ISO activities are complement ary. Codex, as a governmental organization, 
prepares documents to assist governments in their statutory and regulatory work to protect their 
citizens from health hazards caused by food consumption. ISO, as a non-governmental 
organization, prepares standards in particular on test methods to assist stakeholders along the whole food chain to fulfil both the statutory and regulatory requirements, as well as the requirements of consumers of these products. ISO/TC 34 also works on how to involve more 
developing countries in the works. 
                                               
2 In reference to the Agreement on the Internatio nal Carriage of Perishable Foodstuffs and on the 
Special Equipment to be Used fo r such Carriage (ATP Agreement). G/SPS/GEN/1248 
 
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  6.3.  Since its creation in 1947, ISO/TC 34 has published more than 800 ISO deliverables 
(International Standards, Technical Specifications and Technical Reports). 65% of these documents are test methods. See Annex 1 for the structure of ISO/TC 34. 
6.4.  ISO/TC 34 held its plenary meeting in April 2012 in Nairobi, Kenya in order to foster 
involvement of African developing countries. A regional workshop on standards contribution to the 
food sector in Africa was organized during the meeting. There was one representative from Codex Alimentarius present during this workshop. 
6.5.  A new ISO Handbook, How to use ISO 22000 Food safety management systems  was 
published in April 2013. This handbook is intended to provide generic guidance to assist organizations (mainly small and medium-sized) that recognize the potential benefits of implementing a Food Safety Management System in accordance with ISO 22000:2005. It 
highlights the major steps in the implementation process and divides them into easy to understand 
tasks with practical advice for each. It also includes specific information for organizations looking to be certified to the standard. 
6.6.  The Press Release is available at: 
http://www.iso.org/iso/home/news_index/ news_archive/news.htm?refid=Ref1738 . 
6.7.  ISO/TC 34 will continue to offer its full support and cooperation to the Codex Commission 
with a view to avoiding duplication of work and will adopt, for its own documents, the conclusions 
of the Codex Commission on all matters concerning food hygiene requirements. 
7  CONCLUSION 7.1.  It is recognized that the SPS Committee's members, as governments, have the authority to 
regulate at the national level and that ISO, as a producer of voluntary International Standards, 
does not. In the framework of good regulatory pr actice, as promoted at international and regional 
levels, International Standards and Guides may be considered useful by regulators as effective and 
efficient tools to achieve important regulatory mandates, manage risk and address market 
confidence. 
7.2.  ISO considers that by using its International Standards, regulatory authorities will achieve 
their aims in public health and safety at less cost to manufacturers and consumers. Using 
International Standards also assists countries to meet their WTO TBT and SPS Agreement obligations. 
7.3.  For any further information on technical deve lopments within ISO that have been reported in 
this paper, please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Marie-Noëlle Bourquin at the ISO Central 
Secretariat (bourquin@iso.org). G/SPS/GEN/1248 
 
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  ANNEX 1 
STRUCTURE OF ISO/TC 34, FOOD PRODUCTS  
ISO/TC 34 comprises 51 Participating countries and 58 Observing countries. ISO/TC 34 secretariat 
is held jointly by France and Brazil (twinning arrangement). ISO/TC 34 has established several 
substructures [active structures are: 15 Subcommittees (SC) and seven Working Groups (WG)]; 
the development of important horizontal standa rds being under the responsibility of Working 
Groups directly reporting to ISO/TC 34. These substructures are the following: 
 
 
It can be noted that out of these 15 Subcommittees, only four are horizontal in scope 
(ISO/TC 34/SC 9, ISO/TC 34/SC 12, ISO/TC 34/SC 16 and ISO/TC 34/SC 17). G/SPS/GEN/1248 
 
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  ANNEX 2 
OVERVIEW OF ISO 22000 TECHNICAL ASSISTAN CE PROJECTS CARRIED OUT IN 2012 
AND THOSE PLANNED FOR 2013 
Objective 1: Improve awareness of key stakehol ders in developing countries of the role 
of standardization in economic growth, world trade and sustainable development 
Title Venue/Host Dates Total 
participants Sponsored 
participants Beneficiary countries 
National 
seminar on ISO 
22000 – Food safety management systems Belgrade, 
Serbia 9-10 
October 
2012 40 0 Serbia 
National 
seminar on ISO 
22000 – Food 
safety 
management 
systems Khartoum, 
Sudan 25-27 
November 
2012 64 0 Sudan 
National 
seminar on ISO 
22000 – Food safety management systems Quito, Ecuador 26-28 June 
2013 50 0 Ecuador 
National 
seminar on ISO 
22000 – Food 
safety 
management 
systems Dakar, Senegal September 
2013 (tbc) 50 0 Senegal 
 
Objective 2:  Build capacity of ISO member s and stakeholders involved in developing 
the standardization infrastructure and part icipating in international standardization 
work 
Title Venue/Host Dates Total 
participants Sponsored 
participants Beneficiary countries 
Regional 
workshop Standards contribution to the food sector in Africa – ISO/TC 34 – Food products  Nairobi, Kenya 24-25 April 
2012 123 48 Argentina; Benin; 
Botswana; Burkina Faso; Burundi; Lesotho; Cameroon; Central African Republic; Colombia; Congo, the Republic of; Côte d'Ivoire; Cuba; Eritrea; Ethiopia; Gabon; 
Gambia; Ghana; 
Guinea; Indonesia; Kenya; Madagascar; Malawi; Mauritania; Mauritius; Morocco; Mozambique; Namibia; Nigeria; Rwanda; Senegal; Seychelles; Sierra Leone; South Africa; Sudan; Swaziland; Tanzania; Thailand; Togo; Uganda; Zambia and Zimbabwe G/SPS/GEN/1248 
 
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  Title Venue/Host Dates Total 
participants Sponsored 
participants Beneficiary countries 
Regional 
workshop on 
Food Standards 
and Trade Havanna, Cuba 8-10 May 
2013 70 46 Antigua and Barbuda; 
Argentina; Barbados; 
Brazil; Chile; Colombia; 
Costa Rica; Cuba; 
Dominica; Dominican 
Republic; Ecuador; El 
Salvador; Guatemala; 
Guyana; Haiti; 
Honduras; Jamaica; 
Nicaragua; Panama; 
Paraguay; Peru; Saint 
Lucia; Suriname; 
Trinidad and Tobago; 
Venezuela, Bolivarian 
Republic of; and 
Uruguay 
National 
Training of Trainers seminar and follow-up seminars on ISO 22000 – Food safety management systems Walvis Bay, 
Namibia 19-23 
August (Training of trainers) 15 in Training 
of trainers 
100 in follow-
up seminar 0 Namibia 
 
 
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