ISO
Together with IEC (International
Electrotechnical Commission) and ITU
(International Telecommunication Union) - has built a strategic partnership
with the WTO (World Trade
Organization) with the common goal of promoting a free and fair global trading
system. The political agreements reached within the framework of the WTO
require underpinning by technical agreements. ISO, IEC and ITU, as the three
principal organizations in international standardization, have the
complementary scopes, the framework, the expertise and the experience to
provide this technical support for the growth of the global market.
The
WTO's Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) includes the Code of Good
Practice for the Preparation, Adoption and Application of Standards. The TBT
Agreement recognizes the important contribution that International Standards
and conformity assessment systems can make to improving efficiency of
production and facilitating international trade.
Therefore, where International
Standards exist or their completion is imminent, the Code states that
standardizing bodies should use them as a basis for standards they develop. The
Code requires that standardizing bodies that have accepted its terms notify
this fact to the ISO/IEC Information center located at the ISO Central
Secretariat.
Standardizing bodies having accepted the Code must publish their
work programmes and also notify the existence of their work programmes to the
ISO/IEC Information Center. On behalf of the WTO, ISO periodically publishes a
directory of standardizing bodies that have accepted the WTO TBT Standards
Code.
