G/SPS/GEN/1632  
 
6 July 2018  
(18-4271) Page: 1/5 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original: English  
 
COMMUNICATION FROM I SO 
(REPORT OF ACTIVITIE S) 
The following communication, received on 22 June 201 8, 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 the current work undertaken by ISO  that may be of interest 
to the Members of the WTO SPS  Committee  and is intended to support and enhance dialogue and 
coordination between the two organizations.  
 
Any general information regarding the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) can  be 
found on http://www.iso.org/ . ISO counts more than 22,150 published ISO deliverables, 
238 active technical committees and 488  active subcommittees managing some 2,431  working 
groups.  
 
1  ISO'S INTERNATIONAL STATUS  
1.1.  ISO h as a specific status with many UN agencies, including the WHO and FAO. It is also an 
observer at the WTO Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE), the Committee on Technical 
Barriers to Trade (TBT) and the Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures ( SPS), as well 
as at the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) and the World Organization for Animal 
Health  (OIE). ISO has also entered into a liaison relationship with the International Plant Protection 
Convention  (IPPC).  
2  ISO AND STANDARDS FO R THE SDGS  
2.1.  A con ference is co ‐organized by ISO and the United Nations Office at Geneva  (UNOG), 
represented by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). Taking place during 
the same week as the 41st ISO General Assembly, it will bring together ISO 's member s 
(representatives from the National Standards Bodies of more than 160  countries) with 
UN agencies, international organizations, NGOs, diplomats and national policymakers to explore 
how standards can support the achievement of the UN Sustainable Developmen t Goals (SDGs).  
2.2.  Governments, businesses and organizations around the world have committed to help 
achieve these 17 goals and this conference will explore how voluntary standards can be powerful 
tools to support their efforts.  
2.3.  Participants will discover cas e studies demonstrating how standards can further 
environmental sustainability by supporting the uptake of resource ‐saving products and equipment; 
or how they can promote economic development through bringing technological innovations to 
scale and increasi ng economic productivity.  G/SPS/GEN/1632  
 
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  2.4.  The objectives of the conference are:  
 strengthening partnerships between standards bodies and UN organizations;  
 raising awareness amongst standards bodies of the 2030 Agenda;  
 promoting the use of standards as a tool for policym akers, authorities, civil society, 
businesses, and other stakeholders.  
 
3  CAPACITY BUILDING WI THIN ISO  
3.1.  In 2017, technical assistance and training projects were carried out under the ISO  Action 
Plan for developing countries 2016 -2020 to strengthen standardization capacities of ISO  members 
in various areas.  
3.2.  Sponsorships were granted to experts from developin g countries to participate in the 
standardization work of the committees dealing with sustainable cocoa, cereals and pulses and 
food safety management systems.  
3.3.  DEVCO, ISO 's policy committee on developing country matters, established in 1961, is a 
unique fo rum for ISO members from developed and developing countries to discuss 
standardization and related issues, to exchange experience and best practice, and to identify 
needs and requirements of developing countries. It is also the role of DEVCO to monitor the  
implementation of the ISO Action Plan for developing countries. In September  2017, 
DEVCO  created working groups tasked at identifying standardization needs of members in 
developing countries and to consider ways to share resources for the development and use of 
standards.  
3.4.  Today, 148 out of the 162 ISO members are members of DEVCO. (Find out more about 
DEVCO on http://www.iso.org/iso/home/about/iso -and-developing -countries.ht m) 
4  ISO TECHNICAL WORK U PDATES  
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 assessmen t (ISO/CASCO).  
5  ISO'S CONFORMITY ASS ESSMENT COMMITTEE – CASCO  
5.1.  It is this body within ISO that is closest to covering the same subject matter as the Codex 
Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems (CCFICS). To date, 
CASCO has 1 39 members. More information about the scope, the structure and the membership, 
as well as a quick link to the work programme of ISO/CASCO is available on the ISO website.  
5.2.  Topical issues currently being addressed in CASCO:   
 in December 2017, the Strategic Alliance and Regulatory Group (STAR) supported the 
CASCO En gagement Strategy for the next five  years and its commitment to continue 
engaging with the insurance industry and to initiate the dialogue with the procurement 
sector in 2018.  
 Over 2017 -2018, CASCO  Secretariat has continued the promotion of the CASCO Toolbox 
and highlighted the importance of implementing well established and recognized 
conformity assessment practices in different events.  
5.3.  Published in 2017 and 2018 : 
 ISO/IEC 17011:2017, Conformity ass essment — Requirements for accreditation bodies 
accrediting conformity assessment bodies ; 
 ISO/IEC 17021 -3:2017, Conformity assessment — Requirements for bodies providing audit 
and certification of management systems — Part 3: Competence requirements for au diting 
and certification of quality management systems ; 
 ISO/IEC TS 17021 -10:2018, Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of 
management systems — Part 10: Competence requirements for auditing and certification 
of OHAS management systems ; G/SPS/GEN/1632  
 
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   ISO/IEC 17025:2017, General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration 
laboratories . 
 
5.4.  Under development:  
 Draft ISO/IEC TS 17021 -8, Conformity assessment — Requirements for bodies providing 
audit and certification of management systems — Part 8: Competence requirements for 
auditing and certification of management systems for sustainable development in 
communities ; 
 Draft ISO/IEC 17029, General requirements for bodies performing validation and 
verification activities ; 
 Revision of ISO/TS 22003, Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of 
food safety management system  (Joint work with ISO/TC 34/SC 17) . 
 
5.5.  A full description of the technical work is available on the CASCO Committee page.  
6  ISO/TC 34 COOPERATIO N WITH CODEX, OIE AN D OTHE RS 
6.1.  There is a long history of collaboration between the Codex Committees and ISO/TC 34, Food 
products. ISO/TC 34 supports the collaboration between Codex and ISO, in order to enhance the 
mutual coordination of work and the elimination of duplication and co ntradictions. This also 
includes interest to support any joint or collaborative communication on each other's  work.  
6.2.  ISO's observer status to the CAC provides an opportunity for the coordination of issues 
related to a variety of ISO standards that are adopt ed and used by Codex in its work. ISO methods 
have been endorsed in the document "Recommended methods o f analysis and sampling " 
(CODEX  STAN 234 -1999) which is updated each year during the CCMAS meeting.  
6.3.  Codex and ISO activities are complementary. 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 particula r 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 the consumers of these products. ISO/TC 34 also works on how to involve more 
developing countries in the works.  
6.4.  ISO/TC 34 will continue to offer its full support and cooperation to the Commission with a 
view to avoiding duplication of work and will adopt, for its own documents, the conclusions of the 
Commission on all matters concerning food hygiene re quirements.  
6.5.  Annex  1 lists the projects that m ight be of interest to the SPS C ommittee. The following 
projects published or under development can be mentioned too:  
 Development of methods of analysis for vitamins and nutrients on Infant Formula and 
Adult Nut ritionals, in collaboration with AOAC (SPIFAN project: Stakeholder Panel on Infant 
Formula and Adult Nutritionals) and IDF. Standards on vitamins C and D were published 
beginning of July 2018.  
 There is a growing amount of food ingredients and food products  with natural claims due 
to the growing demand by consumers and therefore by the food industry. This demand is 
expected to maintain a sustainable trend. To address those requirements and to provide 
common understanding, ISO/TC  34/WG  18 has established an I SO technical 
specification  ISO/TS 19657, Definitions and technical criteria for food ingredients to be 
considered as natural.  
 Validation of 15 methods of analysis for food microbiology.  
 Revision of ISO 22000, Food safety management systems — Requirements for any 
organization in the food chain was published mid -June. More information can be found at 
https://www.iso.org/news/ref2301.html . 
 Development of a standard for sustainable and traceable cocoa beans : ISO  34101, with 
requirements for sustainability management systems, for performance (related to 
economic, social, and environmental aspects), for traceability, and for certification 
schemes.  
 A new subcommittee (SC  19) was created on bee products.  G/SPS/GEN/1632  
 
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  7  CONCLUS ION 
7.1.  It is recognized that the SPS Committee 's Members, as governments, have the authority to 
regulate at the national level and that I SO, as a producer of voluntary i nternational standards, 
does not. In the framework of good regulatory practice, as promote d at international and regional 
levels, international s tandards and guides may be considered useful by regulators as effective and 
efficient tools to achieve important regulatory mandates, manage risk and increase market 
confidence.  
7.2.  ISO considers that by u sing its international standards, regulatory authorities will achieve 
their aims in public health and safety at less cost for manu facturers and consumers. Using 
international s tandards also assists countries to meet their WTO TBT and SPS Agreement 
obligati ons. 
7.3.  For any further information on technical developments within ISO that have been reported in 
this paper, please do not hesitate to contact Mrs. Marie -Noëlle Bourquin at ISO Central Secretariat 
(bourquin@iso.org ). 
 G/SPS/GEN/1632  
 
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  ANNEX 1  
SELECTED ISO  PROJECTS HAVING CHAN GED STATUS  
DURING THE PAST TWEL VE MONTHS (AS OF JUN E 2018)  
Project number  Title Status  
ISO 18787  Foodstuffs  — Determination of water activity  Published in 2017  
ISO 2451 Cocoa beans  — Specification and quality requirements  Published in 2017  
ISO 2292 Cocoa beans  — Sampling  Published in 2017  
ISO 22000  Food safety management systems  — Requirements for any 
organization in the food chain  Published in June 2018  
ISO/DTS 22002 -5 Prerequisite programmes on food safety  — Part 5: 
Transport and storage  Under development  
ISO/TS  19657  Definitions and technical criteria for food ingredients to be 
considered as natural  Published in 2017  
ISO 20635  Infant formula and adult nutritionals  -– Determination of 
vitamin C by (ultra) high performance liquid 
chromatography with ultraviolet detection ((U)HPLC -UV) Published in July 2018  
ISO 20636  Fortified milk powders, infant formula and adult 
nutritionals  — Determination of vitamin D by liquid 
chromatography -mass spectrometry  Published in July 2018  
ISO/DIS  21446  Infant formula and adult nutritionals  — Determination of 
trans vitamin K1 content by normal ph ase high 
performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)  Under development  
ISO/CD  21468  Infant formula and adult nutritionals  — Determination of 
total choline and carnitine content by Liquid 
chromatography a nd tandem mass spectrometry 
(LC-MS/MS)  Under development  
ISO/CD  21470  Infant formula and adult nutritionals  — Determination of 
vitamin B1, B2, B3 and B6 content by liquid 
chromatography a nd tandem mass 
spectrometry  (LC-MS/MS)  Under development  
ISO 34101 series  Sustaina ble and traceable cocoa beans  
Part 1: Requirements for sustainability management 
systems  
Part 2: Requirements for performance (related to 
economic, social, and environmental aspects)  
Part 3: Requirements for traceability  
Part 4: Requirements for certification schemes  Under development  
 
 
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