Francis Muguet

A preliminary reference document for the IGF

V 0.1 30 Aug. 2007

ISO International Workshop Agreements (IWA)

Introduction

ISO, the International Organization for Standardization, is a special kind of international organization, recognized by treaties, which works in a multi-stakeholder framework. While the ISO defines itself as a non-governmental organization, its ability to set standards that often become law, either through treaties or national standards, makes that in practice, the ISO acts as a consortium with strong links to governments. ISO procedures may therefore provide a source of inspiration to define IGF procedures. In particular, it is felt the ISO procedures related to International Workshops could be of a specific interest. Of course these ISO procedures are presented as a source of inspiration, and adaptation would be required for the IGF. For information, excerpts of the ISO directive related to International Workshops are listed below :

ISO/IEC Directive specific to ISO

Fist edition, 2001

International Organization for Standardization

1, ch. de la Voie-Creuse

Case postale 56

CH-1211 Genève 20

Telephone: +41 22 749 01 11

Telefax: +41 22 733 34 30

Internet: [email protected]

ISO online: http://www.iso.org

© ISO 2007

All rights reserved. It is permitted to download the electronic file, to make a copy and to print out the contents for your personal use only. You may not copy the file, “mirror” the file or any part of it for any other purpose without permission in writing from the publishers.

Contents Page

0.1 What is the ISO Supplement?

The ISO/IEC Directives define the basic procedures to be followed in the development of International Standards and other publications. An important aspect of the preparation of the 4th edition of the ISO/IEC Directives in 2001 was the separation out of the common procedures of ISO and IEC from those procedures unique to one or other organization. The former — the “common” — procedures remain as the ISO/IEC Directives, whereas the unique procedures (a concrete example being the various forms) are now in separate Supplements. This current document is the Supplement describing procedures specific to ISO (called below the ISO Supplement).

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Additionally, it is recalled that, following a decision of the ISO Council, a new type of document, the International Workshop Agreement (IWA), has been introduced. Such documents are developed outside of ISO committee structures. The rules for developing IWA are given in Annex SR.

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0.2 Relationship of the ISO Supplement to ISO/IEC Directives

This edition of the ISO Supplement complements the 4th edition of the ISO/IEC Directives, as published in 2001. It does not replace that document, but rather is to be applied in conjunction with that document.

0.3 The structure of the ISO Supplement

The clause structure of the ISO Supplement follows that of Part 1 of the ISO/IEC Directives to the first subclause level, e.g. to the level of 1.7, 2.1, etc., in order to assist in cross-relating the texts. If there are no comments (see, for example subclause 1.13), it means that there are no ISO-specific requirements or recommendations.

The annexes in the ISO Supplement are all unique to this Supplement and do not follow the order in the ISO/IEC Directives. Where a reference is to an annex in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1, 2001 themselves, this is indicated by an explicit reference.

0.4 ISO Change Notifications

ISO has instigated a system whereby agreements of the Technical Management Board that result in changes to procedures will be notified to ISO members and committees as soon as possible as ISO Change Notifications. Some of these will lead to changes in the basic document, the ISO/IEC Directives themselves, others will up-date the ISO Supplement. It is recommended that ISO Change Notifications are kept with the ISO Supplement until they are superseded. The table at the end of this foreword may be used as a convenient place to list current Change Notifications.

0.5 Obtaining the ISO Supplement

An electronic version of the ISO Supplement is available and is regularly up-dated. It includes all current ISO Change Notifications changes, and therefore is more up-to-date than this printed version. It is available to review or download in electronic format. In addition, for ease of reference, a composite document comprising both the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1 and the ISO Supplement, and where appropriate with links to related material, is maintained, in electronic format only. All documents in electronic format, including the ISO/IEC Directives, can be downloaded from the Standards Developers' Information Site (see Annex SA). The ISO/IEC Directives and ISO Supplement are also available via the direct URL http://www.iso.org/directives.

In the main body of the text reference is made to certain guidance documents. Authorised users may obtain these via the Standards Developers' Information Site (SDIS) (see also Annex SA).

0.6 Contact information for the ISO Supplement

Comments or questions on the ISO Supplement should be referred to:

Technical Management Board Secretariat
International Organization for Standardization
1, rue de Varembé
Case postale 56
CH-1211 Genève 20
Telephone: +41 22 749 01 11
Telefax: +41 22 733 34 30
Internet: [email protected]

Alternatively, questions on procedures for the technical work of ISO (i.e. relating to the application of ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1 and the ISO Supplement) and rules for the structure and drafting of documents (i.e. relating to the application of ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2), may be submitted to the ISO Directives Helpdesk ([email protected])

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Procedure for the development of

International Workshop Agreements (IWA)

1. Proposals to develop IWAs

A proposal to hold an ISO workshop for the purpose of developing one or more IWAs on a particular subject may come from any source, including ISO member bodies, liaison organizations, corporate bodies etc. An organization that is not an ISO member body or liaison organization, or is not international in scope, shall inform the ISO member body in its country of its intent to submit such a proposal.

Whenever practicable, proposers shall provide details concerning:

• Purpose and justification of the proposal;

• Relevant documents; and

• Cooperation and liaison,

in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1, 2001, annex C.

Additionally, wherever possible, proposals shall include indication of an ISO Member Body willing to provide secretariat support to the IWA Workshop. If it is considered likely that participation in the workshop will need to be limited (see SR.5.2), this shall also be indicated.

In some circumstances, it may be considered that several meetings may be needed in order to reach a consensus. In such cases, the proposer is encouraged, or may be required by the Technical Management Board, to develop a business plan which would give details concerning meeting schedules, expected dates of availability of draft documents, the possibility that a workshop may establish project teams to progress work between meetings of the workshop, the expected date of availability of any IWA, etc.

2. Review of proposals

Proposals will be referred to the Technical Management Board for approval. If the proposal is accepted, the TMB will initiate consultations with member bodies to identify a candidate willing to act as the organizer and to provide administrative and logistics support to the proposer. Preference will normally be given to:

• The member body from the country of the proposer, if the proposer is not a member body; or

• Member bodies holding secretariats in fields related to that covered by the proposal.

If there is more than one offer, the TMB will formally designate the member body assigned to act as the workshop secretariat. The assigned ISO member body may establish financial arrangements with the proposer to cover administrative and logistics support costs for the workshop. If a member body is not willing to act as workshop secretariat, the ISO/TMB may authorize the ISO Central Secretariat to fulfill this role, provided all associated costs are recovered by workshop registration fees.

An informative checklist for estimating IWA workshop costs is provided in SR.10.

The workshop secretariat and the proposer shall designate the chairman of the workshop

3. Announcement

Once the workshop secretariat and the proposer have agreed on a date and venue for the first meeting of the workshop, these shall be communicated to the ISO member bodies. These details shall be further announced by the workshop secretariat, the ISO Central Secretariat and by any other interested member bodies in the most appropriate way(s) to achieve the widest possible circulation (e.g. a publicly accessible website). This may include a number of different announcement options and media, but the intent is to ensure that the broadest range of relevant interested parties worldwide are informed of the workshop and have the opportunity to attend.

The proposer and workshop secretariat will ensure that any ISO committees with projects relevant to the subject will be invited to be represented at the workshop.

A registration fee may be applied to help support preparation and hosting of the workshop. Any registration fees shall be stated in the workshop announcement.

NOTE When the subject matter of a workshop is likely to be of interest to developing countries, it is recommended either that a funding mechanism other than a registration fee be applied to facilitate participation from such countries, or that a number of "free" registrations be permitted.

The announcement shall be made at least 60 90 days in advance of the agreed date to allow potential attendees adequate time to plan on attending the workshop. The announcement shall be accompanied by a registration form to allow potential participants to register for the workshop. Registration forms shall be returned to the workshop Secretariat.

4. Workshop information

A workshop programme detailing workshop objectives, deliverables, agenda, draft documents and any other relevant details for the workshop shall be available, and circulated to registered participants, no later than six weeks prior to the workshop date. Registered participants may submit their own contributions to the workshop secretariat for further distribution to other participants.

5. Participation

   1. Workshop chairmen

The proposer and workshop secretary shall designate the chairman of any particular workshop. The chairman shall act in a purely international and neutral capacity and in particular shall

• Ensure that all points of view expressed during a workshop are adequately summed up so that they are understood by all present,

• Conduct the workshop with a view to reaching consensus,

• Ensure that all decisions are clearly formulated and, if needed, made available to the participants before closure of the meeting of the workshop.

2. Registered participants

Any organization may register as a participant in a workshop and participation will be open to the registered participants only. Participants are not required to be appointed by the ISO member body in their country.

The workshop secretariat, chairman and proposer shall endeavour to ensure that the broadest range of interests is represented in any workshop and that there is an appropriate balance of representation. If needed, this may require that some limitation be placed on participation (for example no more than two registered participants from the same corporate body or organization). If the need to limit participation is expected at the outset, this shall be indicated in the proposal submitted to the Technical Management Board. If a need for limitation becomes apparent after announcement of the workshop, this shall be authorized by the TMB secretariat following consultation with the TMB chairman and, if needed, other TMB members.

3. Project teams

In cases in which more than one meeting will be required to reach consensus, a workshop may establish one or more project teams to progress work between meetings of the workshop. The workshop shall designate the membership of such project teams, ensuring that their working methods will allow all interests to participate fully.

6. Workshop procedures and management oversight

Workshops will be permitted to work in a practically autonomous manner using very flexible procedures.

However, there are a number of general ISO policies which need to be respected, in particular those concerning intellectual property rights and the use of SI units. It shall be the responsibility of the workshop secretariat to ensure that the appropriate policies are known to registered participants and are respected.

Management oversight will be kept to the minimum required to ensure coordination with existing standardization activities if relevant and to ensure that appropriate resource is provided by the ISO system. It will be the responsibility of the workshop chairman to determine when consensus of the workshop participants has been reached on a particular item or deliverable. For the purposes of determining consensus, the workshop chairman shall apply the following definition contained in ISO/IEC Guide 2:1996:

“General agreement, characterized by the absence of sustained opposition to substantial issues by any important part of the concerned interests and by a process that involves seeking to take into account the views of all parties concerned and to reconcile any conflicting arguments. Consensus need not imply unanimity.”

It should be noted that an IWA workshop may arrive at the consensus that an IWA deliverable is not necessary.

The workshop deliverables shall contain a description of the workshop consensus achieved including any recommendations for possible future actions or revisions to the workshop deliverables. The deliverable resulting from the workshop will proceed to publication based on the consensus of the workshop without additional reviews or approvals by any other body, except in the case of an appeal on such a deliverable (see immediately below).

7. Appeals

Any parties affected by the deliverable resulting from the workshop shall have the right of appeal for the following reasons:

• The workshop and the process to arrive at its deliverable have not complied with these procedures;

• The deliverable resulting from the workshop is not in the best interests of international trade and commerce, or such public factors as safety, health or the environment; or

• The contents of the deliverable resulting from the workshop conflict with existing or draft ISO standard(s) or may be detrimental to the reputation of ISO.

Such appeals shall be submitted within two months of the date of the workshop and shall be considered by the ISO Technical Management Board which in such circumstances will take the final decision concerning publication of an IWA.

8. Workshop deliverables and publication

Workshops will decide on the content of their own deliverables, but it is strongly recommended that the drafting rules in Part 3 of the ISO/IEC Directives be followed. The workshop secretariat and proposer shall be responsible for preparation of the text in compliance with Part 3 of the ISO/IEC Directives. Deliverables shall be sent to the ISO Central Secretariat for publication as Industry Technical Agreements. They will be numbered in a special IWA series.

IWAs may be published in one of the official ISO languages only and competing IWAs on the same subject are permitted. The technical content of an IWA may compete with the technical content of an existing ISO or IEC standard, or the proposed content of an ISO or IEC standard under development, but conflict is not normally permitted unless expressly authorized by the TMB.

9. Review of IWAs

Three years after publication, the member body which provided the workshop secretariat will be requested to organize the review of an IWA, consulting interested market players as well as, if needed, the relevant ISO committee(s). The result of the review may be to confirm the IWA for a further three year period, to withdraw the IWA or to submit it for further processing as another ISO deliverable in accordance with Part 1 of the ISO/IEC Directives.

An IWA may be further processed to become a Publicly Available Specification, a Technical Specification or an International Standard, according to the market requirement.

An IWA may exist for a maximum of six years following which it shall either be withdrawn or be converted into another ISO deliverable.