ISO/TC 207 COMMUNIQUÉ

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1 COMMUNIQUÉ 9 th Annual Meeting of ISO/TC 207 on Environmental Management ISO/TC 207 held its 9 th Plenary meetings in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from July 2 to July 8, Member bodies from 56 countries participated in the meetings, as well as 10 Liaison Organizations. Some 480 participants attended meetings at the beautiful Putra World Trade Centre and were recipients of superb Malaysian hospitality and support throughout the week. The 9 th Plenary meeting of ISO/TC 207 set the framework for upcoming committee activities. The plenary concluded with 39 resolutions, which included support for the: Ongoing work of ISO/TC 207 s Subcommittees (SCs) and two Working Groups (WGs), The establishment of a new Terminology Coordination Group (TCG) replacing SC6, The inaugural meeting of the NG0 Task Group, The ongoing work of the Developing Countries Contact Group and Spanish Translation TF, and The creation of a New Chair s Advisory Group (CAG) Future Vision Task Force Participants recognized the need for the development of a strategic plan and sector policy for ISO/TC 207. Acting on recommendations from the CAG, members agreed that the Secretary of ISO/TC 207 initiate the development of a sector policy and the newly created Future Vision Task Force (FVTF) lead the development of a strategic plan. ISO/TC 207 members also recommended that ISO provide, during the Rio plus 10 conference in 2002, a review of how the ISO series of standards have contributed to the achievement of the Rio 1992 Agenda as well as ISO s competence and readiness to respond to new developments. The NGO Task Group held their first meeting in Kuala Lumpur and successfully selected their Chair, established a workplan, and assigned responsibilities for each of their three deliverables. In reviewing the Ad Hoc Group on Climate Change May 2001 Report to the TMB, the Climate Change Task Force noted that the development of a measurement, monitoring, reporting and verification standard for GHG emissions at the organization/facility level would be within the scope of ISO/TC 207. The Climate Change TF also agreed to develop business and case study booklets that demonstrate the applicability of the ISO series of standards to organizational-level GHG management. ISO/TC 207 also decided to seek further clarification from the Secretary of the ISO/TMB on the future application of Guide 72 - Guidelines on the development of management system standards to ISO/TC 207 products and appropriate implementation mechanisms. The ISO/TC 207 SCs and WGs had a productive series of meetings during the week. Highlights from SC/WG reports presented to the final plenary are discussed below. Meeting participants declared the 9 th Plenary meeting of ISO/TC 207 a tremendous success and expressed their sincerest appreciation to Dr. Margaret Kerr for her outstanding leadership as Chair of ISO/TC 207 over the past four and a half years. Members accepted an invitation from the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) to host the 10 th Plenary meetings of ISO/TC 207 from June 10 th to 16 th, 2002 in Johannesburg, South Africa. For more information, please contact Ahmad Husseini, Canadian Standards Association, 178 Rexdale Blvd., Toronto, Ontario, Canada M9W 1R3, Tel: , Fax: , ahmad.husseini@csa.ca 9 th Meeting, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Page 1 of 5

2 SC1, ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS ISO/TC 207/SC 1 met in plenary on July 2 nd and 7 th in Kuala Lumpur. In addition, SC1 s Working Groups 1 and 2 each met for 2½ days during the week. During the meetings SC1: Accepted with regret the retirement of Mr Joel Charm as Convenor of WG2 and thanked him for his work as Convenor. Appointed Mr Philip Stapleton as the new Convenor of WG2. Discussed the work carried out by WG1 and WG2 during their meetings in Salvador, Brazil in November 2000, and also the work of the WG1 Drafting Group in Washington, DC, USA in February March Authorized WG2 to continue the revision processes of ISO 14004:1996. Reconvened the WG 1 Drafting Group to meet in London in October 2001, in order to continue with its work on proposed revisions to the text of ISO Resolved to hold meetings of WG1 and WG2 for 2½ days each in Billund, Denmark in November 2001, prior to the planned issuing of CDs for comment for the revisions of ISO and ISO Resolved to hold its next plenary meeting in June 2002 in South Africa in conjunction with the tenth ISO/TC 207 plenary meetings. For more information contact Daniel Mansfield, British Standards Institution, 389 Chiswick High Road, London W4 4AL, United Kingdom, Tel: , Fax: , daniel.mansfield@bsi-global.com SC2, ENVIRONMENTAL AUDITING ISO/TC 207/SC2 met in plenary on July 3 rd in Kuala Lumpur. In addition, SC2 organized a workshop on the application of ISO 14010, and 14012, the development of ISO 19011, and auditing in relation to environmental reports and greenhouse gas emission reduction projects. Key items of discussion during SC2 meetings included: ISO/FDIS on guidelines for environmental assessment of sites and organizations is targeted for publication in August ISO/DIS was published for ballot on May 31, 2001 following a successful 7 th meeting of the TC 176-TC 207 Joint Working Group on Auditing in Sydney, March A short report prepared by the Chair and Secretary was accepted by SC2 in which it was concluded that the contents of ISO 14010, and are fully covered by ISO/DIS An ad hoc group was established under the leadership of Dr. Andrew Griffiths (Germany) to study the applicability of ISO/DIS for the verification of data and information (i) included in published environmental reports; and (ii) related to projects designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions John Stans was successfully re-appointed as chairman of TC 207/SC2 for another three year period. SC2 decided that its next meeting would be held during the course of the tenth ISO/TC 207 plenary in 2002 in South Africa. For more information contact, Dick Hortensius, Nederlands Normalisatie-instituut (NNI), Kalfjeslaan 2, P.O. Box 5059, 2600 Gb, Delft, Netherlands, Tel: , Fax: , Dick.Hortensius@NNI.NL SC3, ENVIRONMENTAL LABELLING ISO/TC 207/SC 3 met in plenary on July 6 th in Kuala Lumpur. In addition, SC3 s Working Group 4 met on July 2 nd, 3 rd, and 5 th. Two workshops on environmental labelling were also held: one for Type III practitioners and another on the implementation of the ISO series. Key outcomes and discussions included: 9 th Meeting, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Page 2 of 5

3 Agreement to accept GEDNet (Global Type III Environmental Product Declarations Network) as a category A Liaison Body. SC5 informed SC3 that a method of resolving outstanding issues between SC3 & SC5 (comparative assertions & alternative methodologies) has been defined. A decision on the future of TR has been deferred until 2002 as the majority of members felt that there was a need for more experience before a decision on the document s future be taken. Between now and the next plenary, WG4 is to identify gaps & additional needs of TR & the framework document which would have to be addressed before development of a generic standard. In response to the French proposal on applying Type III labels for products in the construction industry, SC3: - Decided it was not in a position to fully respond to the proposal; - Expressed its belief that a good generic International Standards should meet the needs of all sectors; and - Noted that TR and its potential to become a standard should satisfy construction product sector s needs TC 207/SC3 identified possible overlap with TC 59/SC3 in terms of declarations associated with construction products and proposed that the Chairs and Secretaries of the 2 SC s meet to consider the practical options for establishing co-operation. Bill Dee was successfully re-appointed as the Chairman of SC3 for a second 3-year term, commencing in January The next meeting of SC3 will be held during the course of the tenth ISO/TC 207 plenary in 2002 in South Africa. For more information (other than media) contact, John Henry, SAI, GPO Box 5420 Sydney, NSW 2001 Australia, Tel: , Fax: , john.henry@standards.com.au For media information please contact Tom Gaudery Tel: SC4, ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE EVALUATION SC4 has published two documents - ISO 14031:1999 (Environmental performance evaluation - Guidelines) and ISO TR 14032:1999 (Examples of environmental performance evaluation). An EPE Implementation Workshop was held in lieu of a formal SC4 meeting at the 9 th plenary due to the mature stage of SC4 documents. There were six presentations given at the workshop on examples of EPE Implementation, followed by two concurrent breakout sessions in the afternoon. Based on the positive feedback and attendance of the EPE Workshop, SC4 will schedule another workshop during the 10 th plenary of TC 207 in Johannesburg, South Africa, in For more information contact, Sara Hafele, American National Standards Institute (ANSI), 25 West 43rd Street, 4th Floor, New York, New York, USA 10036, Tel: , Fax: , shafele@ansi.org SC5, ENVIRONMENTAL LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT ISO/TC 207/SC5 held its plenary meetings on the 2 nd and 6 th of July 2001 in Kuala Lumpur. During these meetings the last two documents in the ISO series were finalized. 9 th Meeting, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Page 3 of 5

4 The document presenting examples on how to apply ISO has been approved, and will be published as a Technical Report - ISO/TR Environmental management - Life cycle assessment - Illustrative examples on how to apply LCIA. The document outlining requirements and specifications concerning data documentation format has been approved and will be published as a Technical Specification - ISO/TS Environmental management - Life cycle assessment - Data documentation format. Having completed their work WG2, WG3, and WG4 were disbanded. SC5 reviewed the results of an inquiry on implementation of the ISO series. These results showed that the technical content of the ISO series is appreciated, however users noted that improvements could be made to document readability and applicability. SC5 agreed to form a Task Force, chaired by SC5 Chairman H.J. Klüppel, to examine these issues and reflect on the future strategy of SC5. The Task Force is expected to provide a strategy report to SC5 members for discussion at their next meeting in Johannesburg, June For more information contact, Corinne del Cerro, Association française de normalisation (AFNOR), 11, avenue de Préssensé, Saint-Denis La Plaine Cedex, France Tel: , Fax: , corinne.delcerro@afnor.fr SC6, TERMS AND DEFINITIONS ISO/TC 207/SC6 met in plenary on July 2 nd and 6 th in Kuala Lumpur. Three ad-hoc group meetings were convened on July 3 rd, 4 th, and 5 th. A terminology seminar was held on July 3 rd. Key outcomes from SC6 meetings included the following: SC6/AHG1 studied editorial comments to ISO and finalized a new version for FDIS ballot as an International Standard. SC6/AHG2 discussed the transition of SC6 into the Terminology Coordination Group. SC6/AHG3 discussed terms and definitions in ISO/CD 19011, ISO/CD TR 14048, and ISO/WD TR SC6 recommended that ISO/TC 207 establish ISO/TC 207/TCG under the leadership and Secretariat from Norway, with committed participation from all other ISO/TC 207 SCs as well as mandatory participation from WGs and national experts. SC6 recommended that SC6 be dissolved provided that the new TCG is established and as soon as ISO 14050, second edition, has been approved for publication as an International Standard. SC6 decided to hold a meeting of the TCG in June 2002 in South Africa in conjunction with the next ISO/TC 207 plenary meetings. For more information contact, Knut Jonassen, Norwegian General Standardizing Body (NAS), Skoyen, PO Box 260, Oslo, Norway, Tel: , Fax: knut.jonassen@nas.no WG3, INTEGRATING ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS INTO PRODUCT DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT ISO/TC 207/WG3 met on July 3 rd, 4 th, and 5 th in Kuala Lumpur. In addition, a Design for the Environment workshop was held on July 2 nd. A total of 28 delegates from 16 countries participated and reviewed the draft ISO/PDTR Integrating Environmental Aspects into Product Design and Development. Key outcomes from the meetings included: the clarification of concepts, texts, and help boxes, work to ensure greater consistency of terminology, and small modifications to the overall document structure. 9 th Meeting, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Page 4 of 5

5 Participants set their next meetings for October in Berlin, Germany. Late 2001 was targeted as the date that ISO/TR would be balloted to ISO/TC 207 members; Final publication of ISO/TR is targeted for the first half of For more information contact, Corinne del Cerro, Association française de normalisation (AFNOR), 11, avenue de Préssensé, Saint-Denis La Plaine Cedex, France Tel: , Fax: , corinne.delcerro@afnor.fr WG4, ENVIRONMENTAL COMMUNICATIONS ISO/TC 207/WG4 met on July 4 th and 5 th in Kuala Lumpur. ISO/TC 207/WG4 meetings focused on the objectives of 14063, current environmental communications activities from around the world, and the overall document structure. WG experts agreed to form three task groups for document drafting as follows: TG1 Principles; TG2 Environmental communications process in a P-D-C-A approach; and TG3 Criteria for selecting annex examples. The three task groups were formed only to meet during the Kuala Lumpur meeting and to discuss general principles of what shall be included in the different parts of the standard. The first draft will be produced by the WG 4 leadership (Secretariat and Convenor) and will be circulated to the WG4 members by the end of September 2001, with the next meetings of the WG scheduled for December 2-3 in Denmark. For more information contact, Kristina Sandberg, Swedish Standards Institute, SE Stockholm, Sweden, Sankt Paulsgatan 6, Tel: , Fax: , kristina.sandberg@sis.se 9 th Meeting, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Page 5 of 5

Contact: Title: Resolutions of ISO/TC th plenary meeting held on in Tokyo (Japan) Source: TC secretariat. Project(s): Status:

Contact: Title: Resolutions of ISO/TC th plenary meeting held on in Tokyo (Japan) Source: TC secretariat. Project(s): Status: Date 2007-11-26 Supersedes document Reference number ISO/TC 224 N 360 This document is still under study and subject to change. It should not be used for reference purposes. ISO/TC 224 Title: Service activities