1.3 Formal international standardisation organizations
13
1. Proposal stage. If an industry sector identifies the need for a new standard then
the industry representatives will ask its national standardisation organization to
send a New Work Item Proposal (NWIP) to ISO. The ISO Central Secretariat assigns this New Work Item Proposal to the most relevant Technical Committee
(TC) or Subcommittee (SC) and sends it out for a vote. It is only ifthe majority of
the P-members of the TC or the SC vote in favour of the New Work Item Proposal and at least five national bodies agree to actively participate in the W orking
Group, that ISO will advance the process. During this stage the project team is
formed and the members reach a consensus about the objectives of the planned
standard.
2. Preparatory stage. The TC or SC sets up a Working Group and identifies a
chairman referred to as the convener. The W orking Group is asked to prepare a
working draft (WD) as a first written summary of the future standard. Successive
working drafts may be considered uutil the W orking Group is satisfied that it has
developed the best technical solution to the problem being addressed. At this
point, the draft is forwarded to the Working Group's parent committee for the
consensus-building phase. During this stage the first version of the standard is developed.
3. Committee stage. As soon as a first committee draft (CD) is available, the ISO
Central Secretariat registers the document. It is distributed to all members of the
TC or SC for comments. Within this stage the document is reviewed carefully by
independent experts that have not taken part in the internal discussions. During
this stage the standard reaches maturity.
4. Enquiry stage. In this stage the document becomes a Draft International Standard
(DIS). Over aperiod of five months, the ISO Central Secretariat circulates the
document to all ISO member bodies for voting and comments. It is only approved
for submission as a Final Draft International Standard (FDIS) if a two-thirds majority of the P-members of the TC or SC are in favour, and not more than onequarter of the total number of votes cast are negative. If the approval criteria are
not met, the text is returned to the originating TC or SC for further study. During
this stage the standard is aligned with the existing standards of ISO and with other
ongoing work.
5. Approval stage. The ISO Central Secretariat circulates the Final Draft International Standard (FDIS) to all ISO member bodies and requests that a final Yes/No
vote be made within aperiod of two months. Technical comments that are received during this period are not considered, but will be registered for consideration during future revisions of the International Standard. The text is approved as
an International Standard if a two-thirds majority of the P-members of the TC or
SC are in favour and not more than one-quarter of the total number of the votes
cast are negative. If these approval criteria are not achieved, the standard is referred back to the originating TC or SC for consideration in the light of the tech-
13
1. Proposal stage. If an industry sector identifies the need for a new standard then
the industry representatives will ask its national standardisation organization to
send a New Work Item Proposal (NWIP) to ISO. The ISO Central Secretariat assigns this New Work Item Proposal to the most relevant Technical Committee
(TC) or Subcommittee (SC) and sends it out for a vote. It is only ifthe majority of
the P-members of the TC or the SC vote in favour of the New Work Item Proposal and at least five national bodies agree to actively participate in the W orking
Group, that ISO will advance the process. During this stage the project team is
formed and the members reach a consensus about the objectives of the planned
standard.
2. Preparatory stage. The TC or SC sets up a Working Group and identifies a
chairman referred to as the convener. The W orking Group is asked to prepare a
working draft (WD) as a first written summary of the future standard. Successive
working drafts may be considered uutil the W orking Group is satisfied that it has
developed the best technical solution to the problem being addressed. At this
point, the draft is forwarded to the Working Group's parent committee for the
consensus-building phase. During this stage the first version of the standard is developed.
3. Committee stage. As soon as a first committee draft (CD) is available, the ISO
Central Secretariat registers the document. It is distributed to all members of the
TC or SC for comments. Within this stage the document is reviewed carefully by
independent experts that have not taken part in the internal discussions. During
this stage the standard reaches maturity.
4. Enquiry stage. In this stage the document becomes a Draft International Standard
(DIS). Over aperiod of five months, the ISO Central Secretariat circulates the
document to all ISO member bodies for voting and comments. It is only approved
for submission as a Final Draft International Standard (FDIS) if a two-thirds majority of the P-members of the TC or SC are in favour, and not more than onequarter of the total number of votes cast are negative. If the approval criteria are
not met, the text is returned to the originating TC or SC for further study. During
this stage the standard is aligned with the existing standards of ISO and with other
ongoing work.
5. Approval stage. The ISO Central Secretariat circulates the Final Draft International Standard (FDIS) to all ISO member bodies and requests that a final Yes/No
vote be made within aperiod of two months. Technical comments that are received during this period are not considered, but will be registered for consideration during future revisions of the International Standard. The text is approved as
an International Standard if a two-thirds majority of the P-members of the TC or
SC are in favour and not more than one-quarter of the total number of the votes
cast are negative. If these approval criteria are not achieved, the standard is referred back to the originating TC or SC for consideration in the light of the tech-