(ISO: Geneva) -- Any organization may claim to have developed a standard, but “not all standards are created equal,” according to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in a new brochure clarifying the distinctions between international standards of the type developed by the ISO system, using well described and accepted principles and disciplines, and private standards developed by industry consortia and other groups.

The context for the brochure, “International Standards and ‘private standards,’” is the concern regarding the potential for increasing numbers of private standards for creating technical barriers to trade and confusion in the marketplace as to which standards should be used.

The ISO warns that the existence of a growing number of private standards in such fields as information and communication technologies, agri-food, and on social and environmental issues, may ultimately confuse users and consumers, thereby diminishing their important market, safety, social, or environmental effect.

“In addition, claims of conformance, using potentially inconsistent methodologies for their assessment, may also undermine the intended impacts of such private standards,” notes ISO. 

ISO is a nongovernmental organization and its membership comprises the national standards institutes of 159 countries, which in turn, have strong links with stakeholders from industry, government, and consumers. Such a broad range of stakeholders, along with the robust processes ISO uses for developing standards, provides the basis for consensus across sectors and countries on its international standards.

ISO points out in the brochure that its international standards are developed according to principles stipulated by the World Trade Organization’s Technical Barriers to Trade Committee (WTO/TBT):

• Transparency
• Openness
• Impartiality and consensus
• Effectiveness and relevance
• Coherence
• Addressing the concerns of developing countries

Other standards developed to meet the needs of specific sectors or segments of the population may be perfectly valid and relevant for their purpose, but should not be considered as equivalent to ISO standards because they do not adhere to the above criteria, nor do they share all of the other attributes of formal international standards, says ISO.

However, because ISO’s voluntary standards do meet these criteria, as do those of its partner organization, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), their standards can, for example, be used by governments as technical support for public policy and regulations, particularly in such fields as health, safety, and the environment.

“Coherence, harmonization, and a closer level of cooperation between the developers of private standards and the formal international standards system needs to occur,” adds ISO.  “Ultimately, the goal of one international standard, one test, and one certificate should be pursued in these domains in order to achieve global acceptance, as well as their intended impacts.”

“International Standards and ‘private standards’” is published in English and French editions. The brochure can be downloaded as PDF file free of charge from the ISO web site.