ISO Focus

The Magazine of the International Organization for Standardization

Volume 3, No. 1, January 2006, ISSN 1729-8709

Service sectors turn

to standards

• Security management in
supply chains
• Global standard for crash
test dummies
 Contents
1 Comment Alan Bryden, ISO Secretary-General
Positively global
2 World Scene
Highlights of events from around the world
3 ISO Scene
Highlights of news and developments from ISO members
4 Guest View
Arthur D. Kranzley, Vice-President, Advanced Payments,
MasterCard International
ISO Focus is published 11 times 7 Main Focus
© Sanska

a year (single issue : July-August).

It is available in English.
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• Facilitating business relations – a chance for services standards
• The European approach to service standardization
• Financial services evolve to meet the needs of the digital age
• Six decades, but who’s counting ? ISO in financial services
• A global benchmark for financial planners
• Exhibition industry stands to gain from future ISO standard
• ISO committee for tourism brings transparency to the industry
• Never get out of your depth : Scuba diving standards
• Global trade in services – New challenges for standardization
• The challenge of standardizing water services
• Going public – a Consumers International viewpoint
• A new ISO standard for market, opinion and social research
• Best business practice for market and opinion research
41 Developments and Initiatives
• Security management in global supply chains

ISSN 1729-8709
43 New this month
Printed in Switzerland • WorldSID – New CD-ROM on ISO 14000 – Nanotechnologies

Cover photo : ISO. 45 Coming up

ISO Focus January 2006
Comment
Positively global
E vents of the past year have rein-
forced the perception of how
global many major issues faced
by mankind are. Climate change, epi-
demics, terror and natural disasters have
made the headlines ; the answers to such
issues lie with global solutions. Poverty,
demography, the digital divide, the rising
price of energy and raw materials, the
quality and quantity of the water sup-
ply, delocalization of labour and invest-
ments are some of the many elements
which increase world tensions. Global
leaders are struggling to address these
issues through international coopera-
tion and solidarity, and to find fair and
acceptable short and long-term solu-
tions. The UN General Assembly in
New York, which reviewed the progress
towards the Millennium goals, the World
Trade Organization Ministerial Confer-
ence, which in Hong Kong made some
progress towards completing the Doha
Round, the meeting in Montreal of the
United Nations Framework Conven-
tion on Climate Change and the G8
summits are examples of venues illus-
trating the difficulty in achieving con-
sensus on these issues, so vital for the
sustainable and peaceful development
of our planet.
In this context, international
standardization of the type developed
by ISO, based on a double level of
consensus – amongst stakeholders and
across countries – is particularly topical
and useful. It represents a positive facet
of globalization. Indeed, International
Standards not only facilitate trade, but
they are also instrumental in dissemi-
nating new technologies and spread-
ing best practices for conducting busi-
ness and conformity assessment. At the
same time, they avoid “ reinventing the
wheel ”, and enable the cogs of the glo-
bal village to turn smoothly. They thus
contribute to improving the planet’s tri-
ple bottom line : economic, social and
environmental.
No wonder ISO is increasingly
solicited ! Food safety, environmental
management, converging information
and communication technologies, home-
land security, anticipation and response
2004 and 2005 compared to 2003, whilst
our stock of work items has remained
at over 4 000. This is also a sign that
we are improving the efficiency of our
development processes. We thus gear
to natural disasters, social responsibil- ourselves to “ think (positively) global ”
ity, nanotechnology, services associat- and, through the network of our nation-
ed with tourism are high on our current al members, “ act locally ”.
agenda. And, as the scope of our agenda I would like to take the occa-
broadens, new partners and actors join sion of the dawning of 2006, with its
the ISO System. It is important that they multitude of challenges ahead to meet
also feel at home with us. the high expectations placed upon us
to thank very heartily the many experts
“ International Standards and contributors to the “ ISO job ” and
to present to the widespread ISO fam-
not only facilitate trade, ily and the broader community of users
but they are also of ISO standards my best wishes for a
instrumental in successful New Year.
disseminating new
technologies and spreading
best practices for
conducting business and
conformity assessment.”
We pay special attention to mak-
ing sure our standards are globally rel-
evant. This is first ensured by our broad
membership, which has grown by 10
in just one year, bringing the contri-
butions of 156 national communities.
Our Action Plan for Developing Coun-
tries accompanies this progression, so
that they are better positioned to make Alan Bryden
an optimal use of their ISO member- ISO Secretary-General
ship. Our partnerships with over 580
international and regional organizations
in liaison with our technical commit-
tees comfort the content and the rep-
resentativeness of our work. The abil-
ity of our member bodies to promote
the use of ISO standards and possibly
adopt them as their national standards,
together with the recent publication of
our “ global relevance ” policy, adds to
our collective efficiency. It is not sur-
prising that our output of ISO deliver-
ables has progressed by some 25 % in
ISO Focus January 2006 1
World
Planning for the UN road
safety week
The Road Safety Collaboration,
a coalition of international
organizations united to address
the global road safety crisis,
met in London, England, in
November 2005.
According to the World Health
© ISO
Organization (WHO), road
traffic injuries kill 1.2 million
people every year and injure or
disable as many as 50 million
more. Road crashes are the second
leading cause of death globally
among young people aged five
to 29 and the third leading
cause of death among people
aged 30 to 44 years. They cost
low and middle-income countries
more than the total development
aid they receive.
WHO established the Road
Safety Collaboration following
a UN General Assembly resolu-
tion in 2004 urging Member
States to address the problem of
road traffic injuries and inviting
WHO to coordinate efforts.
The Road Safety Collaboration
is now finalizing the objectives
of collaboration and planning
for the first UN Road Safety
Week to be held from 23-29
April 2007. Several international
organizations, including ISO,
have been invited to join this
global effort.
For more information, contact
François Abram: abram@iso.org
2 ISO Focus January 2006
Scene
ISO standard on
greenhouse gases in
wings of climate change
conference
ISO’s future ISO 14064 standards
for the quantification, reporting
and verification of greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions were pre-
sented in the programme of side
events to the United Nations
climate change conference in
Montréal (Québec) Canada, in
December 2005.
Targeted for release in mid-
March 2006, the three-part ISO
14064 will be a practical tool
for government and business to
measure and manage green-
house gas emissions and reduc-
tion activities. The ISO standard
should support the development
of GHG reduction programmes
and emissions trading markets
by providing an auditable,
standardized process for GHG
quantification and verification.
The draft standard is already
being incorporated in govern-
mental GHG mechanisms in
Australia and Canada.
The standard was presented at
Montréal by a panel including
representatives of ISO/TC 207 ;
the United Nations Develop-
ment Programme (UNDP) ;
governmental entities of Austria,
Canada and Indonesia ; the
World Business Council for Sus-
tainable Development (WBC-
SD), and the World Resources
Institute (WRI). A technical
analysis prepared by UNDP
shows broad compatibility
between ISO 14064 and the
Greenhouse Gas Protocol for
corporate accounting and report-
ing developed by WBCSD/WRI.
ISO 14064 is the result of a
working group of ISO technical
© ISO
committee ISO/TC 207, which
is responsible for the ISO
14000 family of environmental
management standards.
ISO 14064 will be followed
in early 2007 by ISO 14065,
a standard that will provide
requirements to accredit or
recognize bodies that under-
take GHG validation or verifi-
cation using ISO 14064 or
other relevant standards or
specifications.
For more information, see :
http://unfccc.int/2860.php
World Summit on
Information Society
tackles ‘ digital divide ’
Tunis hosted the second phase
of the World Summit on the
Information Society (WSIS) on
16-18 November, which 50
heads of state, around 19 000
participants including national
delegations from 174 States,
UN agencies, civil society
organizations and leading IT
companies attended.
The two outcome documents –
the Tunis Commitment and the
Tunis Agenda for the Informa-
tion Society – address the prob-
lem of the “digital-divide”
through the use of information
and communication technolo-
gies to drive economic and
social development, in line with
the UN Millennium Develop-
ment Goal of building an IT
society accessible to all.
The International Telecommu-
nication Union will collaborate
with other UN agencies, includ-
ing the United Nations Educa-
tional, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO),
United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) and the
Economic and Social Council
(ECOSOC) to establish an effi-
cient infrastructure to ensure
the required follow up and
accountability of the second
phase of WSIS.
The role of International Stand-
ards in contributing to the devel-
opment of a global Information
Society was acknowledged at
the first phase of WSIS.
For more information :
www.itu.int/wsis/
ISO/IEC 17011 deadline
for accreditation bodies
All signatories to the
International Accreditation
Forum (IAF) and the
International Laboratory
Accreditation Cooperation
(ILAC) international
recognition arrangements
were to have implemented
the requirements of ISO/
IEC 17011:2004, Conformity
assessment – General
requirements for accreditation
bodies accrediting conformity
assessment bodies, by 1 January
2006.
The deadline was set at the
2004 annual meeting of IAF
and ILAC in Cape Town,
South Africa, in collaboration
with ISO.
The IAF and ILAC recognition
arrangements provide for mutu-
al recognition of conformity
assessment results from accred-
ited management system and
product certification bodies and
testing and from calibration lab-
oratories respectively, thereby
reducing cost and time in
import and export activities.
For more information, contact :
ISO’s policy committee for
conformity assessment
(CASCO) Project Manager,
Joyce Bleeker :
bleeker@iso.org
ISO Scene
© ISO
From left to right : Dr. Mahmoud Eisa,
Director-General of EOS (Egypt) and ISO
Regional Liaison Officer for the Arab and
Mediterranean region ; H.E. Dr. Hashim
Yamani, the Saudi Arabia Minister of
Industry and Commerce ; Alan Bryden, ISO
Secretary-General ; Dr. Khaled Al-Khalaf,
the Director-General of SASO.
ISO standards topical
in the Gulf region
Saudi Arabia has become the
149 th signatory to the World
Trade Organization (WTO)
agreements, thus joining the
five other countries of the Gulf
Cooperation Council. Interna-
tional Standards are therefore
particularly topical in this region.
ISO Secretary-General Alan
Bryden visited the Saudi Arabian
Standards Organization
(SASO), in November 2005.
He reviewed SASO’s participa-
tion in ISO, as well as its role
in relation to the implementation
of the WTO Technical Barriers
to Trade and Sanitary and Phyto-
sanitary agreements, and its
ongoing projects for updating
and increasing its capacity in
testing and metrology laborato-
ries. Together with Dr. Khaled
Al-Khalaf, the Director-General of
SASO, he visited H.E. Dr. Hashim
Yamani, the Saudi Arabia Minis-
ter of Industry and Commerce,
who had just signed the Protocol
of Accession to the WTO.
Participants in the GSO meeting with the
ISO Secretary-General.
During his visit, Mr. Bryden
addressed the trainees of a
course on standardization organ-
ized at SASO by the Gulf Stand-
ards Organization. He met with
the CEOs of the national stand-
ards bodies in the region, all
members of ISO, and discussed
training and awareness-raising
events to be organized jointly in
the Gulf region.
ISO plastics committee
launches service award
ISO technical committee
ISO/TC 61, Plastics, Leaders
committee launched the out-
standing service award in 2005
to recognize distinguished or
exceptional service to its work.
Based on merit alone, a person
may be nominated for the
award if he or she has shown
unusually productive service
over a substantial period of
time, demonstrated marked
leadership in technical or other
activities or made outstanding
contributions in research lead-
ing to the development of new
standards.
Huub Omloo, Convenor, SC 5/WG 11 and
SC 9/WG 8 and 26, (right) presents Dr.
Robert MacFarlane, TC 61/SC 9 Chair
with the award.
In September 2005, Dr. Robert
MacFarlane, Chair of ISO/TC
61/SC 9, Thermoplastic mate-
rials, received the award for
his outstanding leadership of
this committee and dedication
to the development of classifi-
cation system standards in this
field, and Roger Guillermin,
Chair of ISO/TC 61/SC 13,
Composites and reinforcement
fibres, was recognized for his
outstanding work particularly
in the development of Interna-
tional Standards on the deter-
mination of fibre length for
glass-reinforced products.
The ISO/TC 61 award com-
mittee will meet each June to
consider nominations.
For more information,
contact Todd Sandler :
tsandler@astm.org.
Kick-off meeting for
ISO’s tourism committee
The inaugural meeting of the ISO
technical committee that is to
develop International Standards
for the field of tourism and relat-
ed services is taking place on 27-
28 March 2006 in Tunis, Tunisia.
ISO technical committee ISO/
TC 228, Tourism and related
services, is aimed at standardiz-
ing terminology and specifica-
tions across the industry, so that
choosing between tourism prod-
ucts becomes more transparent,
as well as ensuring, for exam-
ple, that holidays match their
sales description (see page 26).
Potential areas include : termi-
nology, accommodation, restau-
rants, convention bureaus, tour-
ist information offices, confer-
ence management, natural pro-
tected areas, beaches, leisure
activities, travel agencies, trans-
port and sustainable tourism.
ISO/TC 228 is jointly adminis-
tered by the ISO member bodies
from Spain (AENOR) and Tunisia
(INNORPI) ; the latter will host
this first meeting.
Honorary guild of paprika
producers
The director of ISO member for
Hungary Magyar Szabványügyi
Testület (MSZT), Mr. György
Pónyai, and Pauline Jones, techni-
cal programme manager for ISO/
TC 34 (ISO Central Secretariat)
were invested in the Honorary
Guild of Paprika Producers at a
meeting of ISO technical commit-
tee ISO/TC 34, Food products,
SC 7, Spices and condiments, held
in Hungary in September 2005.
The meeting was sponsored by
the Kolosca Spice Paprika Com-
pany Limited, currently Hungary’s
market leader in the production
and export of spice paprika pow-
György Pónyai, (left) Director of MSZT,
ISO member for Hungary and Pauline
Jones, technical programme manager for
ISO/TC 34 being invested in the Honorary
Guild of Paprika Producers.
der, providing 2.3 % of the total
world production.
ISO/TC 34 recently published
ISO 22000: 2005, Food safety
management systems – Require-
ments for any organization in
the food chain, which helps
organizations ensure that their
suppliers and customers receive
safe, quality products.
For more information, contact
Pauline Jones : jones@iso.org
SNIMA training session in Morocco.
Promoting ISO 14001
The ISO member for Morocco,
Service de Normalisation
Industrielle Marocaine
(SNIMA), in cooperation with
the Swiss government and ISO,
organized four weeks of train-
ing sessions in Morocco, in the
last quarter of 2005.
The sessions promoted and
explained how the implementa-
tion of an environmental man-
agement system, through the
application of ISO 14001:2004
can be used as an efficient tool
for any type of organization, to
improve its environmental per-
formance, thereby contributing
towards a sustainable environ-
ment.
The sessions were attended by
some 80 professionals from
industry, consultancies, govern-
ment and other types of services,
universities and laboratories.
In addition, four environmental
experts chosen by SNIMA
completed the training pro-
gramme for trainers, with the
objective of capacity building
of ISO members by promoting
environmental management and
the effective use of ISO 14001.
For more information, contact
Bernardo Calzadilla Sarmiento :
calzadilla@iso.org
ISO Focus January 2006 3
Guest View
Arthur D. Kranzley
© MasterCard International

A
rthur D. Kranzley is Executive Priceless® advertising campaign is now
Vice-President, Advanced seen in 105 countries and in 48 languag-
Payments, for MasterCard es, giving the MasterCard brand a truly
International. In this role, he has global reach and scope.
established centers of excellence to
develop and manage new programmes, MasterCard Incorporated is a pri-
products, services, and channel vate, securities and exchange commission-
opportunities made possible by current registered share company whose shares
and evolving advances in technology. are owned by the principal members of
Areas of expertise addressed in these MasterCard International. MasterCard
centers include electronic commerce, International, a non-stock, membership
e-B2B, smart cards, mobile commerce, corporation with more than 23 000 Mas-
and wireless. Mr. Kranzley works terCard, Cirrus and Maestro members
extensively with MasterCard’s global worldwide, is the principal operating
business areas and regions to identify subsidiary of MasterCard Incorporated.
new opportunities in these areas and to MasterCard has approximately 4 000
maximize MasterCard’s leadership role employees. Our headquarters is located
in advanced payment systems and in Purchase, New York, and we have 37
technology. He is also active in additional offices around the world.
managing MasterCard’s continuing
efforts to promote safe, confidential, and “ MasterCard is a strong ISO Focus : How and where have
reliable payments in remote channels.
proponent of International International Standards helped Mas-
Mr. Kranzley, a MasterCard veteran terCard’s business ?
of almost 20 years, has been in the Standards and views
payments industry since 1975. He them as a vital part of Arthur D. Kranzley : Today’s com-
served with MasterCard in several roles, petitive environment is defined by rap-
including president of Maestro USA and
our continued effort to id advances in products and technology.
senior vice president/general manager, safeguard all those involved Continued innovation in telecommunica-
U.S. Region Deposit Access. He has also in the payments process.” tions has led to increased technical col-
held positions as senior vice president, laboration across industries and countries
Debit Services, and senior vice president, in support of global commerce. Conse-
Cirrus System, where he contributed to quently, a new trend has emerged – the
ISO Focus :What is MasterCard Inter-
the international growth of the stronger movement toward open stand-
national ? And what are its primary
MasterCard®/Cirrus® ATM Network. ards and interoperability within pay-
responsibilities ?
Prior to joining MasterCard, he was ment systems.
responsible for strategic business and Arthur D. Kranzley : MasterCard Historically, MasterCard products
corporate development in the areas of International is a leading global pay- have been compliant with ISO standards,
electronic financial services, Internet ments solutions company that provides from the size and shape of the payment
development, strategic alliances, new
a broad variety of innovative products card to the formatting of the informa-
business initiatives, and portfolio
and services in support of our global cus- tion contained on the magnetic stripe,
acquisitions with Advanta Corporation.
tomers’ credit, deposit access, electronic the layout and meaning of the embossing
Mr. Kranzley serves on the board of cash, corporate and related payment pro- on the front of the card, and the mech-
directors of The Center for e-Business grammes. MasterCard manages a family anisms by which that information can
at MIT, Mondex International, Mondex of well-known, widely accepted payment be presented anywhere in the world to
USA, and Mondex Asia Pte Ltd. and on brands including MasterCard®, Maes- facilitate payment.
the Executive Committee of EMVCo. tro® and Cirrus® and serves financial In the early 1990s, we began to
Mr. Kranzley holds a bachelor of science institutions, consumers and businesses plan for the global migration of payment
degree in aerospace and mechanical in more than 210 countries and territo- cards from magnetic stripe technology to
engineering from Princeton University. ries. The MasterCard award-winning smart card technology. We quickly real-
4 ISO Focus January 2006
 (Left) MasterCard’s headquarters in Purchase,
© MasterCard International

New York.

PayPass also allows financial institutions

to offer customers more payment options
and it helps increase gross dollar volume
(GDV) by attracting payments away from
cash, opens up new acceptance opportuni-
ties for “quick pay” and self-service envi-
ronments, and increases accountholder loy-
alty for their card programmes. Deploy-
ment of PayPass is now underway in sev-
eral countries around the globe.

ized that the key to global success was
the establishment of a common stand-
ard for how this new technology would
be implemented. Using the global stand-
ards established by ISO, we created the
EMV 1) set of specifications with other
payment companies, which has become
the basis of all smart card payment trans-
actions globally. Today, there are more
than 320 million cards and nearly four
© MasterCard International
on the ISO/IEC 14443 standards. Mas-
terCard PayPass is a new “contactless”
payment feature that provides consum-
ers with a fast and convenient way to pay
for small ticket purchases. Using Pay-
Pass, consumers simply tap their pay-
ment card or device (such as a key fob)
on a specially equipped merchant termi-
ISO Focus : You have said that “agree-
ing to one common standard benefits
all in the value chain” when referring
to the common communications proto-
col based on ISO/IEC 14443. Can you
please elaborate on this ? What are the
benefits of using a common protocol
for contactless payments ?

million point-of-sale (POS) terminals

using the technology today.
In the early 2000s, we began devel-
opment of the MasterCard® PayPass™
contactless payment programme, based

MasterCard PayPass provides an innovative

contactless payment solution for public
transportation.
© MasterCard International

© Skanska

The Taiwan PayPass Transportation Project

nal, eliminating the need to fumble for launch in October 2005.
cash and coins, hand their card over to
a clerk or swipe the card.
MasterCard PayPass allows mer-
chants to function more efficiently and serve
their customers better, since PayPass speeds
1) EMV (Europay, MasterCard, Visa),
consumers through the check-out process, a new set of global electronic payment
reduces cash handling, improves efficien- transaction standards named after the three
cy and provide competitive differentiation. organizations who established them.

ISO Focus January 2006 5

Guest View
Arthur D. Kranzley : A common pro- existing and new payment programmes.
tocol is essential for many of Master- The security mechanisms we employ to

© MasterCard International
Card’s programmes and services, includ- protect cardholder PINs and other sen-
ing the MasterCard® PayPass™ contact- sitive data are based on algorithms and
less payment programme. The establish- management protocols defined by ISO.
ment of a common protocol helps ensure As noted earlier, the MasterCard Pay-
that card issuers and acquirers, payment Pass contactless payment programme is
organizations, and merchants are com- OneSmart MasterCard chip card. an implementation of an open industry
patible globally. standard for radio frequency communi-
MasterCard has helped accelerate ISO Focus : With the globalization of cations (ISO/IEC 14443) – and our M/
the industry’s migration toward contact- trade in services and the growing use Chip™ EMV smart cards are based on
less payments by licensing its commu- of e-commerce, the expectations of the ISO 7816 standards.
nications protocol for radio frequency- customers on the quality of services
based contactless payments to its com-
petitors. This common and shared com-
are also increasing – How do you view
(and possibly support) the develop-
“ One common protocol
munication standard benefits all in the ment of International Standards for the and testing process helps
value chain by ensuring that cards and quality of services and security of their ensure that investments
terminals supporting all contactless pay-
ment brands are globally interoperable.
delivery ? made now will continue to
This benefits merchants, consumers and Arthur D. Kranzley : MasterCard is a pay off down the line.”
terminal vendors by providing a consist- strong proponent of International Stand-
ent experience at the check-out. ards and views them as a vital part of our
ISO Focus : In a company like Master-
continued effort to safeguard all those
Card whose survival depends on stay-
involved in the
ing in the forefront of technology inte-
payments process.
gration, how do International Stand-
Consequently we
ards allow the banking/financial indus-
continue to sup-
try to move forward ? What are your
port the develop-
expectations on ISO and International
ment of payment
Standards ?
standards for qual-
ity, compliance Arthur D. Kranzley : International
with specifica- Standards enable organizations such as
tions, and security. MasterCard to pursue continued tech-
To the extent that nological development based on a sol-
ISO is involved at id foundation of open industry stand-
© MasterCard International

an international ards from card physical characteristics

PayPass contactless card being used in
McDonalds in New York City.
For instance, merchants investing
in point-of-sale readers designed to work
with contactless payments want assurance
that the technology will work the same
in their numerous locations around the
world and that they will not need sep-
arate POS terminals for each payment
brand. Following one common protocol
and testing process helps the industry
avoid such scenarios and helps ensure
that investments made now will contin-
ue to pay off down the line.
6 ISO Focus January 2006
level across indus-
tries in these are-
as, we hope to pro-
vide input to these
standards based
on our work and experience within the
payments area.
ISO Focus : Can you describe the use
made by MasterCard of ISO Interna-
tional Standards – and why Master-
Card actively participates in ISO’s
work to promote secure, open wireless
payment standards ?
Arthur D. Kranzley : At MasterCard,
we believe it is our mission to devel-
op and promote interoperable, reliable
and secure standards for domestic and
international payments, and to ensure
the same standards can be used for both
to security specifications to advanced
communication protocols that are sup-
ported globally and across industries.
This ensures that the best experts and
most knowledgeable technicians and
engineers in these areas have contributed
and reviewed these standards for world-
wide application. As a result, we can be
assured that our investments in new and
innovative products and services based
on ISO standards have been developed
within a comprehensive framework, will
be globally supported by manufacturers,
suppliers, vendors and processors global-
ly, and will be interoperable with other
elements of an open system.
 Main Focus
Who needs
standards
for services ?

by Arnold Pindar, Head

of Consumer Affairs, British
Standards Institution and
Dana Kissinger-Matray,
Secretary of ISO/COPOLCO,
ISO Central Secretariat.

B
usinesses compete on the qual-
ity of the services they provide.
They also believe they know their
customers; their wants, their needs and
their expectations. Assuming they are
right, consumers should not have any
problems with services, and business,

Service sectors inversely, should not have any needs for

standards. Right ?
The answer is unequivocally no.

turn to
The vast majority of complaints from
consumers in developed countries are
about poor or inadequate services. So
how can businesses reduce the level

standards of complaints and improve services to

ensure customers are delighted the first
time, every time ?
The benefits of developing stand-
ards start with the technical committees
which bring together all stakeholders to
debate the issues. The result is relevant,
robust, full consensus standards that raise
baseline safety, quality and performance
of services whilst promoting competition
and innovation in service delivery.

“ International Standards
for services can
complement or provide
a basis for national
laws, just as they do for
manufactured goods.”
A lot of businesses take great
care to collect statistics about customer
habits and trends and have strong per-
ceptions about their customers’ needs.
This information is valid and important,
© ISO

but businesses’ perceptions are coloured

ISO Focus January 2006 7
Main Focus
by their experience as suppliers rather
than users of the services they provide.
The standards development process is
an effective way for these same users to
define services to meet their needs.
Since ISO activities began 59
years ago, its International Standards
have helped promote confidence in man-
ufactured products for consumers, sup-
pliers and purchasers. More than 15 000
standards now define technical param-
eters, test methods, management proc-
esses, and conformity assessment proce-
dures for all types of products and their
components.
The benefits of standards are pal-
pable: in the United Kingdom alone, a
recent study by the UK Department of
Trade and Industry1) reported that 13 % of
the country’s labour productivity growth
can be attributed to standards, equat-
ing to approximately GBP 2.5 billion
per annum of today’s economy. How-
ever, this research is based on a portfo-
lio of standards that are overwhelming-
ly product-based, with very few stand-
ards for services.
By the numbers
Up until recently, services have
been the “ poor cousins ” of international
standardization, even though they form
a substantial, and growing, share of the
world’s economy. A few facts underscore
the importance of services : according to
the World Trade Organization (WTO),
exports of commercial services have
grown by an average of 9 % worldwide
from 2000-2004 2). World trade in serv-
ices is expected to grow at an annual rate
of 8.4 % in 2005 and 2006 3).
Furthermore, the service sector
accounts for over 70 % of total employ-
ment and value, and almost all of the
employment growth in OECD (Organ-
isation for Economic Co-operation and
Development) countries 4). Service activi-
ties taken together account for about 70 %
of the gross domestic product of OECD
countries as a whole 5); the same figure
of 70 % applies to the majority of Euro-
pean Union (EU) member states. Finally,
the value added by the service sector in
the EU grew at an average rate of 3.1 %
annually between 1991 and 2001 6).
8 ISO Focus January 2006
Bolstering benefits,
bridging gaps
First of all, many underestimate
the benefits that standards for services
can provide for safety, health, fitness for
purpose, information and other aspects
contributing to quality and which gener-
ate consumer confidence. This is all the
more true as standards for services are a
relatively recent phenomenon, and the
marketplace does not have much expe-
rience with using them. Industry groups
and associations have sometimes mobi-
lized against the development of Inter-
national Standards for services, fear-
ing that they would add one more layer
of “ rules ” on top of national laws and
regulations.
This is actually a misunderstand-
ing, as International Standards for serv-
ices can complement or provide a basis
for national laws, just as they do for
manufactured goods. The challenge lies
in helping service providers and stake-
holders understand the mutual benefits
of standardization and to provide a flex-
ible though reliable approach to stand-
ards based service delivery.
Secondly, the nature of service
provision is different from that of goods,
so it is important to know which elements
to define in a standard. Starting with the
design of a service, cultural differences
About the authors
Arnold Pindar
© ISO, P. Krieger
is Head of Con-
sumer Affairs at
the British
Standards Insti-
tution. As part of
the Department
of External
Affairs his work
covers consumer,
societal, and educational interests in stand-
ardization. For five years Mr. Pindar was
Chair of ISO/COPOLCO’s working group,
Priorities from the consumer’s point of
view, and he takes an active role in ISO/
COPOLCO affairs.
He has chaired the coordination group of
The European Association for the Coordi-
nation of Consumer Representation in
Standardization (ANEC) for several years.
make it more difficult to international-
ize certain requirements for the content
and style of a service’s delivery, which
can vary according to different client
expectations in each country.
Furthermore, a service is ephem-
eral, limited in time, and often demands
face-to-face interaction between serv-
ice provider and customer. The quality
of a service is also assessed different-
ly. For example, a service cannot eas-
ily undergo a laboratory test the way a
manufactured product can. Even audit-
ing the performance of a service from
a vantage point outside the process can
be misleading, as receiving a service
1) DTI Economic Paper No.12 “The Empirical
Economics of Standards ”, June 2005, visit
http://www.dti.gov.uk/iese/The_Empirical_
Economics_of_Standards.pdf
2) Source “Why services matter for
development ”, International Trade Forum,
International Trade Centre, and the World Trade
Organization.
3) IMF World Economic Outlook, as quoted
in the address of Cedric Foo (Singapore) to the
ISO General Assembly, September 2005.
4) Growth in services, fostering employment,
© ISO
productivity and innovation, from the meeting
of the OECD Council at Ministerial level, 2005.
5) OECD Factbook 2005.
6) Address by Mr. Lars Flink (Sweden) at the
ISO General Assembly, September 2005.
Dana Kissinger-
Matray was
appointed
Secretary of
ISO/COPOLCO,
Committee on
consumer policy
in 2000, after
working for four
years within
ISO’s Committee on conformity
assessment (CASCO). Dana has a
Bachelor of Arts from Bryn Mawr
College, USA and a Certificate from
the Swiss Public Relations Institute.
Prior to joining ISO, Dana was a technical
translator and editor in Geneva.
is a more subjective experience than
receiving a manufactured object : the
customer participates directly in the
process of delivery.
Therefore, other techniques, such
as customer satisfaction surveys and
“ mystery customer ” actions are more
helpful. Even though more challeng-
ing, it is nonetheless critical to ensure
that the provider of a service gathers
information on customer satisfaction
and feeds it into an effective continual
improvement loop.
Finally, in spite of its significant
growth, trade in services has, to a great
extent, still remained within national
The British Standards Institution (BSI) research
carried out under the National Standardization
Strategic Framework (NSSF) 7) showed that the vast
majority of complaints logged by the United
Kingdom’s Office of Fair Trading related to services.
A total of 1 161 980 complaints were recorded
in 2003.
Topping the list were :
Telecommunication and utility services
Problems such as billing and marketing abuses
(28,2 %) ;
Home maintenance, including repairs and
improvements like double glazing and kitchen
fitting (26,2 %) ;
Motor vehicle repairs and servicing (12,6 %) ;
Professional and financial services (12 %) ;
7) For further information on the National
Standardization Strategic Framework (NSSF),
visit www.nssf.info.
borders in most countries. Speaking at a
conference on services in Berlin, Germa-
ny, in 2002, Dr. Torsten Bahke, Director
of DIN Deutsches Institut für Normung
(Germany) and, then, ISO Vice-President
(policy), stated that services in Germa-
ny accounted for only 12 % of exports
and 21 % of imports, and pointed out
that these figures were similar through-
out the industrialized world.8)
8) Source : “ Service standards for global
markets ”; Comment by Dr. Torsten Bahke in
ISO Bulletin, July 2002.
Service standards
as international ‘ best
practice ’
High expectations – Be it a prod-
uct or a service, consumers expect a high
level of certain characteristics : quality
and reliability, safety and health, compat-
ibility with related products, consistent
delivery, transparent information, great-
er choice, and fair pricing. In addition,
consumers are increasingly interested in
evidence of environmentally- friendly,
ethical and sustainable manufacturing
and disposal practices. Through purchas-
ing choices and other actions, consum-
ers are indicating they want standards
to confer the same benefits on services
as on manufactured goods.
Globalization – Financial and
tourism-related services are just two are-
as where trade is becoming increasingly
international. Services are often provided
through an intermediary rather than face-
to-face. For example : the Internet is used
by dealers to sell tickets for cultural and
sports events, or air travel, and online trad-
ing of securities is becoming increasing-
ly common. The challenge, therefore, is
to agree a set of criteria which transcend
cultural standards, which are supported
by business interests and which take into
Service sectors turn
to standards
account the needs of all directly-affected
stakeholders. This is no easy task though
International Standards for services can
also provide some basis for redress where
legal proceedings can be costly or prohibi-
tively difficult, especially across borders.
Poor performance – A more
comprehensive application of standards
to services would help all industries to
improve productivity, increase consum-
© ISO
er confidence and reap similar benefits to
those manufacturing and supplying prod-
ucts. Yet, independent research conduct-
ed in the United Kingdom by First Direct
Bank 9) examined the cost of “ bad ” serv-
ice across several sectors and found that
every person questioned had their time
wasted by poor customer service – on
average losing 23 minutes a week. Valu-
ing time as potential lost earnings at the
national average wage this is equivalent
to GBP 300 per customer a year, adding
up to a total of GBP 14 billion.
9) For further details on the First Direct Bank
research, visit www.firstdirect.com/press/
releases/release95.shtlm.
ISO Focus January 2006 9
Main Focus
If the consumer is losing this
much, consider for a moment how much
more it is costing business to deal with
the complaints and customer turnover
arising from this poor service.
Reaping the fruit
of our labour
Standardization of services entered
the international scene after the ISO
committee on consumer policy (ISO/
COPOLCO) held an international work-
shop on this subject in 1995. This event,
along with its recommendations and fur-
ther support from the ISO technical man-
agement board (TMB), led ISO and the
World Trade Organization to organize
four regional seminars on standardiza-
tion of services in 1998, in Argentina,
France, Singapore and the USA.
“ Be it a product or a
service, consumers expect
a high level of certain
characteristics.”
The conclusions of these work-
shops suggested that there was good
support for developing International
Standards on services, and stimulated a
number of national initiatives. Howev-
er, hardly any international standardiza-
tion activity resulted, with one notable
exception: the adoption of a European
standard, as an International Standard
– ISO 18513, Tourism services – Hotel
and other types of tourism accommoda-
tion – Terminology.
However, the workshops did stim-
ulate a number of standardization initia-
tives at the national level and regional lev-
el (including a European Committee for
Standardization (CEN) Mandate on stand-
ardization of services – see pages 14-15)
and helped set the stage for ISO’s recent
initiatives. Since then, entire new technical
committees have been established. These
include ISO/TC 222, Personal financial
planning, ISO/TC 224, Service activities
relating to drinking water supply systems
and wastewater systems – Quality crite-
ria of the service and performance indica-
tors, ISO/TC 225, Market Research, and
10 ISO Focus October 2005
ISO/TC 228, Tourism and related serv-
ices. Other articles in this issue describe
their activities more fully.
COPOLCO addressed the stand-
ardization of services once again in 2001,
when it held a workshop, “ Improving
standards for services – How can stand-
ards help ? ”. As a result, COPOLCO
decided to develop an ISO/IEC guide
for use by technical committees which
develop standards for any kind of serv-
ice. It also identified tourism and finan-
cial services as priority areas for inter-
national standardization.
The 2001 workshop resulted in
three main outcomes (either completed
or in advanced stages) :
Tourism : Research by COPOLCO
provided important input into a propos-
al for a new field of technical activity
which led to the establishment of ISO/
TC 228 (see pages 26). In parallel, some
ISO members supporting the enquiry had
themselves proposed a large number of
specific projects for the work programme
of the new TC, ranging from exhibition
management to sustainable tourism.
COPOLCO identified horizontal issues
such as hygiene, safety (especially child
and fire safety) and accessibility as both
important for consumers and especially
conducive to standardization. The work
is now being led through a twinning
arrangement between AENOR (Spain)
and INNORPI (Tunisia).
Financial services : Starting in
2001, COPOLCO studied and confirmed
a number of problems for consumer protec-
tion in the purchase of financial services. In
many countries, consumers had relatively
little access to clear and comparable infor-
mation on a number of financial products.
The result was a diminished ability to make
informed choices and therefore greater per-
sonal risk in contracting these services.
COPOLCO recommended that
ISO develop International Standards
governing how information is presented
for five financial services (life insurance,
mortgages, private pensions, consumer
credit, and payment systems), based on
their widespread use and high financial
risk. By decision of the ISO technical
management board in September 2005,
ISO/TC 222, Personal financial planning,
and ISO/TC 68, Financial services, will
develop this work jointly.
Guidelines for standardization
of services : COPOLCO also decided to
develop an ISO/IEC guide to provide basic
principles to follow for experts on tech-
nical committees developing standards
for services. The future ISO/IEC Guide
76, Developing standards for services –
Recommendations for addressing con-
sumer issues, will shortly go out to ISO
members for vote and comment.
“ Financial and tourism-
related services are just
two areas where trade
is becoming increasingly
international.”
This guide is significant because
it provides a basic framework of ele-
ments to consider when developing a
standard for a service. It recommends a
series of steps to follow for the service
design (with attention to needs of chil-
dren, the elderly and persons with disa-

© ISO
bilities), important aspects of delivery,
post-delivery and customer redress. It
includes aspects of customer satisfaction
measurement and continuous improve-
ment. A checklist with cross-references
to the basic elements, charts summarizing
these elements and informative annexes
with specific examples of services that
can be standardized using this guide
(for more information, see “ Consumer
issues in standardization of services ”
ISO Focus, July-August 2005)
Improving customer
satisfaction
COPOLCO’s past recommenda-
tions have also led to the publication of ISO
10002:2004, Quality management – Cus-
tomer satisfaction – Guidelines for com-
plaints handling in organizations, under
the leadership of ISO TC 176/SC 3, Quality
management and quality assurance – sup-
porting technologies. This in turn will be
part of a yet to be published suite of ISO
standards covering customer service: ISO/
CD 10001, Quality Management – Cus-
tomer satisfaction – Guidelines for codes
of conduct for organizations, and external
dispute resolution, ISO/CD 10003, Qual-
ity Management – Customer satisfaction
– Guidelines for dispute resolution exter-
nal to organizations, (see “ Complaints
as free advice, ISO Management Systems
September-October 2005”, and “Stand-
ards for customer service ”, ISO Focus,
July-August 2005).
“Reduced complaints and
greater customer satisfaction
will benefit all, whether on
the supply or demand side
of the services offered.”
These standards’ key purpose is
to provide benchmarks to help organiza-
tions and their customers do business in an
increasingly borderless marketplace. They
are an attempt to distil international best
practice in codes of conduct, complaints
handling and external dispute resolution.
Together, they form a comprehensive
approach for all phases of managing cus-
tomer satisfaction, and thereby contribute
to confidence in the marketplace.
Future projects and
initiatives
COPOLCO has now completed
a proposal for standardization on a new
and very topical issue : network serv-
ices billing. The committee feels such
work is timely in the light of the gen-
eral worldwide trend towards privati-
zation of services such as provision of
electricity, gas, water and telecommu-
nications, and the United Nations Mil-
lennium Goals for Sustainable Devel-
opment. One of COPOLCO’s liaisons,
Consumers International, is also doing
important work in this area. Consumers
in many countries have struggled with
the transparency of information on bills
for the provision of these services. Fur-
thermore, the bills in some cases are
even inaccurate, and when there is a
question, problem or a dispute, mech-
anisms for client redress are often inad-
equate or even nonexistent. Conditions
for service interruption can be arbitrary
and abusive.
BSI recently published a national
standard for customer billing practice
(BS 8463:2005). The standard received
wide media coverage and generated a
great deal of interest thereby highlight-
ing its importance to the UK public.
© ISO
Service sectors turn
to standards
An International Standard would
help deliver consumer protection world-
wide, because it would give a frame-
work for utility providers, whether pub-
lic or private, to adopt fair practices and
thereby give better service. COPOL-
CO is also studying the feasibility of
International Standards for other areas
impacting on market confidence and
which have implications for services
standardization : compliance manage-
ment, e-commerce and the end user, and
product recall. These will be discussed
at the next plenary meeting, scheduled
to take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malay-
sia, in May 2006.
Raising the stakes
ISO, with the strong support
of its Committee on Consumer Poli-
cy, ISO/COPOLCO, has taken up the
challenge to raise baseline safety, qual-
ity and performance of services whilst
promoting competition and innovation
in service delivery. It is an important
action towards realizing ISO’s number
one strategic objective : developing a
consistent and multi-sector collection
of globally relevant International Stan-
dards.10) If implemented by business, the
initiatives already underway will make
a significant difference.
Further acceleration in the stand-
ardization of services based on sound
evidence, will raise the baseline qual-
ity of services worldwide. It will also
allow businesses to continue to com-
pete on the quality of the services they
provide by raising the bar still further.
Reduced complaints and greater customer
satisfaction will benefit all, whether on
the supply or demand side of the serv-
ices offered.
10) ISO Strategic Plan 2005-2010 : Standards
for a sustainable world
ISO Focus January 2006 11
Main Focus
Facilitating
business relations
a chance for
services
standards
by Holger Muehlbauer, Secretary
of ISO/TC 222, Personal financial
planning
A
prominent feature of the current
structural change in economy and
society is the growing significance
of the services sector in terms of competi-
tion and the labour market. It is reflected
by the growing share of services in both
the gross national product and employ-
ment in almost every country.
Active participation in this struc-
tural change presents a great challenge.
Services are, and will continue to be, a
crucial factor in international competi-
tion for markets and locations. Commis-
sions for services will not be restrict-
ed by national frontiers. Globalization
and regionalization describe a process
in which global presence is linked with
the delivery of services individually tai-
lored to meet local needs. In line with this
About the author
Dr. Holger
Muehlbauer is
Secretary of ISO/
TC 222, Personal
financial planning
and is involved
in several ISO
projects,
including
exhibition
services,
ISO/IEC advisory group on security,
market research services. Trained as a
lawyer, Dr. Muehlbauer is currently Sector
Manager for standards for consumer
products and services at DIN Deutsches
Institut für Normung, ISO member for
Germany. He is also Secretary of several
working bodies of the European Committee
for Standardization.
12 ISO Focus January 2006
trend, standardization is also extending
its range beyond its traditional, techni-
cal fields to the services sector.
The undeniable benefits of
comparison and protection
At present, the uptake of stand-
ards in the service sector lags consider-
ably behind its importance in the econo-
my. In addition, the added value result-
ing from service standards by the elim-
ination of trade barriers and the foster-
ing of competitiveness is undeniable, but
remains unrealized. This is partly due
to a lack of understanding of the nature
and process of standardization and the
benefits it can bring.
Existing standards provide either
a description of the service by means
of typical parameters and definitions of
procedures, or by specifying the require-
ments to be met by the company offering
the service, for example, regarding the
technical equipment needed to deliver a
service or the recommended qualifica-
tions of the staff performing it.
Service users, for example, the
purchasers of services or service clients,
may see a great benefit in being able to
use standards to compare the work of
possible different providers and to assess
the level of service received. Consum-
ers, more specifically, may benefit from
an increased level of consumer protec-
tion as a result of standards that concern
or incorporate safety issues.
In contrast to product standardi-
zation, with its focus on preferred tech-
nical solutions, other motives for serv-
ice standardization include :
© ISO
• avoidance of state regulation by estab-
lishing rules at the sectoral level;
• creation of rules in respect of market
access;
• definition of minimum quality;
• preparing reference documents for
public invitations to tender;
• implementation of syndicate aims;
• establishing defined qualification
profiles;
• establishing certification fundamen-
tals.
Against the background of intan-
gible political benefits, the economic ben-
efits of service standardization cannot be
calculated in the same way as the savings
on materials, since purely mathematical
calculations are difficult to make.
Regardless of the industry, the
structure and content of a standard must
(within the context of ISO rules) meet the
needs of the interest parties participating
in a project and of those parties that will
ultimately use the standard. The multiplic-
ity of the service industry means that a dif-
ferential approach also needs to be adopt-
ed in standards practice. Market research
services require a different approach from
cleaning services, for instance.
Definition and
classification
Service standardization consti-
tutes the specification of requirements
to be fulfilled by the following: organi-
zational procedures, processes, perform-
ances and measuring methods in the con-
text of a service; resources and facilities
required for the service, without prescrib-
ing detailed product requirements; quali-
fications required for the service; termi-
nology used in the context of the service;
and, information to be submitted to the
addressee of the service.
These standards can be placed into
two groups – either industry-related serv-
ice standardization or consumer-related
service standardization – and diversified
into the following set of standards:
• tendering (cleaning and security serv-
ices);
The European Service sectors turn
to standards
approach
to service For these and other reasons, pro-
standardization motion of the services sector has become
a top priority on the EU agenda for the
European Commission (EC).
Service standardization is not com-
by Lars Flink, CEO of the pletely new to the European Committee
Swedish Standards Institute and for Standardization (CEN). Numerous
aspects in existing standards already relate
Vice-President of CEN
to services, which are generally integrat-
ed in product standards. However, until

• certification (market research and
translation services);
• information (logistics terminology);
• quality and performance measure-
ment (quality measurement in clean-
ing services);
• other (storage and postal services).
The examples are taken from
ongoing national, European and inter-
national standardization.
P
resently, growth in the economy
is essentially driven by services,
which account for 70 % of gross
domestic product (GDP) and employ-
ment in the majority of European Union
(EU) member countries. The value add-
ed by the service sector in the EU grew
at an average rate of 3.1 % per annum
between 1991 and 2001. Small and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are
the major contributor in the service sec-
tor, accounting for approximately 66 %
of the private employment and 57 % of
value added in the EU.1)
recently, standardization exclusively in
this field was tentative and ad hoc, rather
than based on consistent lines of firmly
grounded and shared policies.
Thus, in view of the importance
of the service sector for its internal mar-
ket, CEN needs to further develop its
current work in service standardization,
as well in new areas where it is needed
and feasible.
1) Data from the European Commission,
Enterprise and Industry Directorate-General.

Raising awareness
Throughout the service standards
projects managed at ISO and the Euro-
pean Committee for Standardization
(CEN) so far, the existing standardiza-
tion rules and procedures have shown
themselves to be adequate, practical
tools for designing standards. There is
no readiness on the part of industry to
accept abstract horizontal guidelines or
to provide human and financial resourc-
es to support such activities.
Standardization organizations
should continue to direct their efforts
towards attracting the interest of indus-
try to service standardization. Through
public relations and specific branch-relat-
ed projects, the emphasis must be made
on the benefits standardization brings
to this sector. However, the demand for
standardization must emanate from the
© ISO, P. Krieger

interested parties themselves, in order

to create the impression that rules are
being made ex officio.
Grand Canal in Venice, Italy, 2004.

The European standard for the language travel industry defines minimum requirements for
the language course providers and the language travel industry.

ISO Focus January 2006 13

Main Focus
Improving services for
travelling learners
Some 30 CEN documents are
available to support service standardi-
zation. Given the nature of the service
sector, which varies from one indus-
try to another, it is difficult to give an
overall formula for the standards being
developed in this area. They cover sub-
jects from terminology, guidelines for
contract drafting, quality of service and
measurement systems to service require-
ments. For example, in the tourism indus-
try CEN developed a European standard
for language study tours. The industry
amounts to up to 1.5 - 2 million “ trav-
elling learners ” a year in major foreign
language learning destinations such as
England, Ireland, France, Spain, Italy
and Germany.
The new European standard for
the language travel industry defines min-
imum requirements for the language
About the author
Lars Flink
is the CEO of
the Swedish
Standards
Institute (SIS)
where he is also
a Board Member
of the Eco-
Labeling group
and Chair of
both the SIS
Forum and the SIS Publishing groups.
He is currently Vice President at CEN
and a Board Member of the American
Society for Testing and Materials
(ASTM).
Mr. Flink has centred his career on the
international trade of technical products
and services. Prior to joining SIS in
2000 as CEO, he held company execu-
tive positions, notably that of CEO and
President for Sandblom and Stohne (a
quoted trading company) and of Execu-
tive Vice-President for a subsidiary of
ABB, after having held financial positions
in both Sweden and Italy for the Fläkt
Corporation, an ABB company.
He has an MBA in accounting and
finance from the Stockholm School of
Economics.
14 ISO Focus January 2006
Available CEN
standards
Current activity in the service sec-
tor is being developed in six techni-
cal committees (CEN/TC’s), and six
task forces of the technical board
(BT/TF’s) including :
• CEN/TC 319, Maintenance
• CEN/TC 320, Transport
services
• CEN/TC 328, Cleaning services
• CEN/TC 329, Tourism services
• CEN/TC 331, Postal services
• CEN/TC 348, Facility
management
• BT/TF 139, Funeral services
• BT/TF 138, Translation services
• BT/TF 142, Healthcare services
• BT/TF 167, Security services
• BT/TF 179, Cinematographic
services
• BT/TF 180, Real Estate services
course providers and the language trav-
el industry. In our “ fast speed ” world
of communication, there is definitely a
considerable need for uniform and con-
sistent specification. The standard will
therefore help to protect the customer’s
interests in business to customer rela-
tions but also help to avoid contradic-
tory specifications in business to busi-
ness relations.
In fact, the customer, the tour
operator as well as the schools will find
it easier to compare the transparency,
provision and fulfilment of contracted
services respectively of services they
are likely to contract.
Concerning market relevance and
the impact, the European standard is like-
ly to enhance the competitive position of
companies using them, thus increasing
job security, promoting deregulation and
hence reducing expenditure, all of which
contribute to the benefit of standardiza-
tion of our service industry as a whole
as well as for the individual.
Among the published standards in
the service sector, CEN developed stand-
ards on terminology for travel agencies
and tour operators (tourism services),
guidelines on the preparation of con-
tracts (maintenance services), measure-
ments of service quality (postal services),
as well as service requirements (transla-
tion services).
The current work in service stand-
ardization includes further development
of 43 CEN service standards in the exist-
ing committees.
The growing number of service
standards reflects market needs, which are
moving towards a service based economy.
For example, Universal Product Code,
Shell and IBM are active participants in
the facility management work. European
and international federations, for exam-
ple, ETOA – European Tour Operators
Association, EUATC – European Union
of Associations of Translation Compa-
nies, UPU – Universal Postal Union, as
well as public administration are initiat-
ing projects at European level.
Results of public enquiry
At the beginning of Septem-
ber 2003, CEN launched a large scale
enquiry into the need for service stand-
ards across the EU. The enquiry was
made publicly available on the CEN Web
site, as well as sent to all the national
standards bodies (NSB’s) members of
CEN, over 150 federations and asso-
ciations, European Chambers of Com-
merce, European Info Points, and con-
tacts in the service sector.
The input received by the public
enquiry, showed that both further devel-
opment for current work in service stand-
ardization, as well as development of new
areas is needed and feasible.
Recognizing the growing impor-
tance of standardization for services, in
2003 the EC also addressed the first pro-
gramming mandate in the field of services
to CEN, European Committee for Elec-
trotechnical Standardization (CENELEC)
and European Telecommunications Stand-
ards Institute (ETSI). With this first man-
date, a strong political support was shown
for service standardization and its need
and importance for the smooth function-
ing of the internal market.
 The first programming mandate,
although written generally, was meant
to ensure that all possibilities regarding
standardization for services be given due
consideration. CEN accepted the program-
ming mandate at the end of 2003.
Raising awareness
As part of its new approach and
strategy towards the development of
service standardization, CEN carried
out several activities throughout 2004
aimed at the development and promo-
tion (awareness raising) of services and
service standardization.
With regards to the promotion of
service standardization, from the perspec-
tive of both the EC and CEN, further col-
laboration took place with DG Enterprise
in organizing the EC workshop on Euro-
pean Standardization for Services (March
New initiatives, among others, concern real
estate and human resource services.
2004). On this occasion CEN presented
its current standardization programme
in tourism and facility management, and
explained to the audience (over 250 serv-
ice providers and users), how a project is
initiated and then followed through at the
European level.
Further, realizing the need for
more transparency and communication
in explaining service standardization to
the service providers and users, CEN
organized in May 2004 an open day
for service standardization for Europe-
an federations and international organ-
izations. More than 30 federations and
organizations were present, and the sem-
inar helped establish further relations
with stakeholders interested in Europe-
an service standardization.
With regards to the progress of
service standardization, the need for more
coordination among the CEN members
was identified. Therefore, a horizontal
working platform on Service standardi-
zation, was established in February 2004.
The first meeting took place in Brussels
in April. A majority of CEN members,
CEN associates (ANEC, ECOS, NOR-
MAPME and TUTB) 2), CENELEC and
the EC were present. The large number
of participants and the interest shown in
the discussion, revealed a high aware-
ness of the importance of services and
service standardization for the inter-
nal market.
Additionally, throughout 2004
CEN continued the traditional launch
of bottom-up projects, generated by the
industry, establishing
the CEN committee on
security services.
Focus on
individual
service areas
In 2005 most
of CEN’s activities in
the service sector were
directed at the newly
formulated strategy on
service standardization.
The EC also recognized
the importance of the
strategy proposed by
CEN, stating that “ the strategy for serv-
ices standardization should be based on
a combination of sectoral and horizontal
standardization activities, as well as generic
management system standards, and qual-
ity standards. Horizontal standards could
provide a foundation, and a number of
building blocks, that would simplify the
task of constructing standards aimed at
the needs of specific sectors.”
To further reinforce the political
support towards service standardization
in the EU, the EC addressed the sec-
ond programming mandate in the field
of services to CEN in June 2005. Cur-
rently the mandate is being discussed
at the national level by CEN members.
Service sectors turn
to standards
Once it has been accepted, the CEN
strategy in service standardization will
be launched.
The CEN strategy will focus on
individual service areas, which do not
benefit from service standardization. A
prioritization of service areas not using
standards will be done, and the barriers
in these areas will have to be identified
(e.g. trade barriers, legal barriers).
Subsequently, an analysis and
proposal of service standards, to address
these barriers, will follow. Service
standards shall be proposed as a way
to increase transparency in the market
and the confidence of service buyers,
as well as to ease regulation.
The proposed CEN strategy
will :
– take account of the needs of industry,
government and society ;
– indicate the areas in which standard-
ization might be most appropriately
pursued ;
– identify any barriers to the standardi-
zation of services and propose solu-
tions to removing such barriers ;
– take account of the different types of
standardization products available ;
– identify service standardization projects
in new service areas.
Similar to 2004, throughout 2005
CEN continued the traditional launch of
bottom-up projects, generated by the
industry, establishing the committee on
cinematographic services, and initiat-
ing projects on real estate and human
resource services.
For more information, see www.
cenorm.be
2) ANEC The European Consumer Voice
in Standardisation, ECOS European
Environmental Citizens Organisation for
Standardisation, NORMAPME European Office
of Crafts, Trades and Small and Medium-
sized Enterprises for Standardisation, TUTB
European Trade Union Technical Bureau for
Health and Safety.
ISO Focus January 2006 15
Main Focus

From e-business
to e-records :
financial services
evolve to meet
the needs of
the digital age
by Mark A. Zalewski, Chair of
ISO/TC 68, Financial services

T
he financial services industry
serves a wide range of custom-
ers, including consumers, small
© ISO

businesses, large business, domestic

and global corporations, brokers/deal-
ers, government institutions, interme-
diaries, custodians and each other. As
the Internet increasingly becomes an
integral part of commerce, many busi-
ness transactions are conducted entire-
ly in electronic form. Financial service
providers too are investing in ways to
reduce costs, eliminate errors, diversify
revenues and attract customers by whol-
ly electronic alternatives.
This paradigm shift to straight-
through-processing compounded by the
social needs and, in some countries, by
domestic and federal laws, to protect the
privacy of the customer and the institution’s
financial information is at the forefront of
today’s challenges for ISO technical com-
mittee ISO/TC 68, Financial services.
Consumers have been warming
to electronic payment systems for years,
partly in an attempt to save time, avoid
clutter, and eliminate human errors. These
customer-based electronic delivery systems
have been the result of ISO/TC 68 stand-
ards focused on customer authentication,
customer verification, data protection of
such taken for granted services as auto-
mated banking machines, wireless point
of purchase, and Internet payment deliv-
ery schemes. But the business-to-business
transactions have lagged behind when it
comes to making payments in electronic
form. Certain business-to-business trans-
actions cry out for simplification, in the
securities industry, for instance, where the
16 ISO Focus January 2006
focus on trade automation has contribut-
ed to a neglect of back office-processing,
particularly as it concerns cross-border
trade. With the increase of trading vol-
umes and the continued consolidation
process of cross-border mergers and
acquisitions, back office processing has
remained fragmented.
The explosive growth of the
Internet-based retail brokerage, which
can be defined as the use of the Inter-
net to collect and channel retail equity
orders, has been the most conspicuous
sign of the Internet impact on the secu-
rities market.
“ Over USD 222 billion in
losses were sustained to
the global economy as a
result of identity theft.”
The Internet is considerably more
than a networking protocol and a set of com-
munication standards. It is a broad envi-
ronment which encompasses both technical
and business architectures. It implies the
blurring of boundaries between process-
ing and communications. Its impact is not
only technical, but economic.
By increasing the availability of
information, lowering transaction costs
and enlarging the span of potential rela-
tionships, the Internet creates a strong
demand for new forms of intermedia-
About the author
Mark A. Zal-
ewski is
Director of
e-Standards at
the American
Financial
Services Asso-
ciation. Mr.
Zalewski, prin-
cipal of the Aurora Group in Blue-
mont, VA, has held various executive
positions in product, software devel-
opment, telecommunications systems
and global business development dur-
ing his 20 plus years experience in the
financial retail services industry.
He has been involved in product inno-
vation for new market penetration and
expansion for start-up and mature
organizations. He has been an officer
at Marine Midland Bank (HSBC),
Goldome Bank, National Data
Corporation, GTE Spacenet, CyberCash
Inc. and Longitude Systems.
He is Chair of ISO/TC 68 and Chair
of X9C, the American National Stand-
ard (ANS) subcommittee responsible
for consumer credit. Mr. Zalewski
holds a BS in Education, an MBA in
Finance and Marketing and is a gradu-
ate of the Graduate School of Retail
Bank Management at the University of
Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce.
tion. The Internet and related technolo-
gy provide both a network infrastructure
and a flexible set of tools to develop and
deploy new transaction systems.
Financial services are a crucial
application area for such systems. If one
peers into the core business of financial
services, it reveals that transactions are
the basis of international business rela-
tionships. Financial services are focused
on the movement of financial information
of the organizations and their custom-
ers. Transactions in the form of products
are exchanged, interchanged, and set-
tled over networks. ISO financial serv-
ice standards are used as the common
business language to bridge differenc-
es in technology, language, regulations
and economies.
Fend the trends in cyber
crime
The financial services technical
standards focus on transaction-oriented
work and the multitude of related services
that surround the transactions. Transac-
tions rely upon commonly defined codes
and definitions, the historical basis of the
work of ISO/TC 68. In today’s technical
market place, these standards more and
more move into the digital environment.
Digital technology enables the world to
become increasingly interconnected as
an entire economy becomes reliant on
a single network infrastructure. While
© ISO
this offers tremendous opportunities, it
can also be a cause of concern if security
issues are improperly addressed, or even
neglected altogether. Heinous crimes such
as theft, fraud and extortion can occur in
great magnitude within a matter of sec-
onds. The new network-mediated econ-
omy paradoxically presents unparalleled
opportunities for the creation of good out-
comes, or the perpetuation of bad ones.
As the network infrastructure spans across
industry borders, so too, does the critical
need for electronic security.
In an effort to mitigate these types
of threats, ISO/TC 68 has assembled finan-
cial industry expertise on data security
to produce an array of data protection
and privacy standards to protect finan-
cial data stored and transmitted Online.
These standards in combination with the
risk protection profile efforts currently in
development, demonstrate the significant
effort ISO/TC 68 has put forward to fend
the trends in cyber crime and the intrusion
attacks attempted on computer servers
worldwide. To put this threat into perspec-
tive for the digital age, over USD 222 bil-
lion in losses were sustained to the global
economy as a result of identity theft.1)
“ Crimes such as theft,
fraud and extortion can
occur in great magnitude
within a matter of
seconds.”
This is not just confined to finan-
cial services served by the ISO commu-
nity. With the growth in outsourcing,
wireless usage, applications, blended
threats and the organized and dynamic
approach to hacking that various crimi-
nal syndicates have taken in recent years,
other standard development bodies see
the critical need for economic security.
Maximizing industry
involvement
Numerous initiatives are actively
addressing standardization of international
financial information flows and the pro-
tections of that flow, such as, FIXML –
Financial Information eXchange (FIX)
Service sectors turn
to standards
protocol, a messaging standard developed
for the real-time electronic exchange
of securities transactions and SWIFT –
Society for Worldwide Interbank Finan-
cial Telecommunication, a supplier of
secure messaging services and interface
software to wholesale financial entities.
These efforts are generally driven by
communities of users looking to drive
down cost in support of specific finan-
cial business processes. Despite the com-
plexity these multiple activities present
and to avoid duplication and to provide
consistency and interoperability across
the multitude of standards and solutions
developed, ISO/TC 68 and the United
Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and
Electronic Business, International Trade
and Business Processes Group Team 5
Finance Domain (UN/CEFACT TBG5),
entered into an agreement to investigate
and develop a common message stand-
ardization framework.
With the increasing business
complexities to improve quality, reduce
costs and achieve better time to market
(Straight Through Processing- STP) and
contending with multiple types and vari-
eties of financial transactions, the agree-
ment is an attempt to maximize indus-
try involvement and rid the development
process of special interest groups.
Building block for
interoperability
Realizing the interplay between
financial services and other industry
sectors, the agreement uses ISO 20022,
Financial services – UNIversal Financial
Industry message scheme (UNIFI), as the
foundation building block to involve cross
industry sectors, such as transportation,
in an attempt to provide interoperability
across the financial services industry and
other intersecting industry sectors.
The joint initiative, begun in Jan-
uary 2005, uses a formal approach in
the ultimate creation of a global online
1) Aberdeen Group June 2003 Report on the
Economic Impact of ID Theft.
ISO Focus January 2006 17
Main Focus
repository. The process involves the use
of business modling-based standards as
the core development tool to analyze and
define business processes. The method-
ology results in identifying requirements
and constraints and the collaborations
that ultimately are turned into messag-
es and their content. By preparing mes-
sage formats and applying syntax spe-
cific design rules, XML schemas result
from the technical design and business
case implementation. The XML schemas
may then be registered in a global Inter-
net accessible repository for all industry
sectors to view and use.

Bright future for financial

services
The financial services industry
continues to evolve with market chang-
es influenced by a global economy and
domestic laws. Cross-border mergers and
cross industry acquisitions have created
an opportunity for the financial service
providers to use new technological devel-
opments to compete in new markets and
avail their customers’ products and serv-
ices, regardless of domestic laws and reg-
ulations. Technological advances in wire-
Six decades, 1948, under the title of banking. Since
its creation, the committee’s title changed
less telecommunication, infrared com- but who’s from banking to financial services, with
the overall aim of being inclusive of all
munication, Internet connectivity, faster
computing and file sharing impose new counting ? aspects of the global banking and finan-
challenges for financial service standards cial services industry.
development initiatives where similar ISO in the financial Consumers of financial services
needs arise from cross industry sectors.
The industry is moving more toward elec-
services sector include the public consumer and cor-
porate/business clients (called custom-
tronic solutions where one may view the ers or clients). The corporate/business
migration, from paper-based systems to clients include services provided within
electronically stored information, or from by Cynthia Fuller, Secretary the industry –this generally consists of
e-business to e-records to e-evidence. The larger banks or financial firms offering
of ISO/TC 68, Financial services
increased use of electronic communica- services to smaller firms.

tion improves the efficiency of commer-
cial activities, enhances trade connections,
and allows new access opportunities for
previously remote parties and markets,
playing a role in promoting both domes-
tically and internationally.
Our challenge in the years ahead
will be to provide the financial services
industry commonality through interop-
erable standards to increase productivity,
reduce costs, access information, main-
tain privacy, and retain legal transparency
while protecting the security and reliabil-
ity of the financial infrastructure.
18 ISO Focus January 2006
W
hen we speak of ISO’s grow-
ing into the services sector, we
may be using the wrong term
as ISO has been involved in the servic-
es sector for some time now – nearly
six decades !
As suggested by the article’s title,
ISO has been involved in service sector
standardization for a very long time,
and now, that segment of its “ business ”
is expanding and will continue to do so
very rapidly in the next decade.
ISO technical committee ISO/TC
68, Financial services, was formed in
Clearly, the industry is inclusive
of traditional banks, as well as non-bank
retail service providers including secu-
rities firms, insurance companies, audi-
tors/consultants and financial governing
bodies. As banks have grown and have
reshaped either by charter or by legis-
lative permission, they have moved into
various business sectors including retail
services – cards, securities, private bank-
ing, insurance, corporate banking and
much more.
ISO/TC 68 members view the
industry as modern banking in all its

© ISO
dimensions, including retail (credit/debit
cards), corporate banking, securities, data
and information security (as related to
financial services), insurance and other
consumer, corporate services.
Burgeoning of e-banking
Although electronic communica-
tions began in banking in the 1950s, in
one form or another, it was the arrival
of the Internet that opened new worlds
in e-banking on a global basis. And, as
the industry moves from its brick and
mortar buildings, to electronic channels
and e-banking, so do the standardization
needs. As services industries expand
further toward electronic communica-
tions technology, so does participation
in service standardization – including
financial services.
Standards allow the parties
involved to communicate electronically
with less interface or manual processing
standards. And, as transactions become a
24-hour by 7-day a week service, flaw-
less communication is crucial, and thus,
the need for standards.
Security is a primary requirement
for financial services. It is not simply
the movement of data from point-to-
point that is a security risk, but the stor-
age, archival, management and distri-
bution of information that must also be
protected. Protecting and managing the
ever growing levels of electronic finan-
cial data require strong encryption, its
appropriate application and defined risk
management systems.
The desire to improve
operations and customer
relations
Standards have helped the finan-
cial services companies grow from batch-
oriented processes to real-time opera-
tions. And processing using automated
workflow management allowed integra-
tion of systems across all tiers to obtain
a single, consistent view of transaction
status at any one time.
Further, standards have helped
the industry to fully achieve global inter-
operability, grow the Straight Through
Processing – STP of information and
transactions, reduce the manual interven-
tion and allow compliance with emerg-
ing market standards. In fact, ISO/TC
68 would claim that the banking and
financial services industry is built upon
a foundation of standards.
Although one can argue that not
all of this foundation is composed of ISO
or even financial standards, many seg-
ments of the global industry rely heavily
upon ISO and national standards. The
number of standards users is growing
as developing countries look to build or
rebuild banking systems from the Inter-
national Standards (or select national
standards) currently available.
To make or “ transact ” a finan-
cial exchange, parties to and within
the transaction need to communicate
with one another. And, within these
messages or communications format,
form and functionality play a key role.
The major drivers for standardization
within the industry are the desire to
improve internal operations, customer
relations and straight through process-
ing with all parties within the indus-
try sector.
Service sectors turn
to standards
Standards have enabled the
development of the retail card transac-
tion business, debit and credit cards, as
the entire card processing infrastruc-
ture is built upon ISO standards, includ-
ing the personal identification number
(PIN) – ISO 9564-1: 2002, Banking –
Personal Identification Number (PIN)
management and security – Part 1:
Basic principles and requirements for
online PIN handling in ATM and POS
systems and transaction communication
standard ISO 8583 and there are many
more standards in this area.
“ Standards have
helped the industry
to fully achieve global
interoperability.”
One single ISO standard is used
to transact billions of dollars in retail
card business annually – ISO 8583-1:
2003 – Financial transaction card orig-
inated messages – Interchange message
specifications – Part 1: Messages, data
About the author
Cynthia Fuller
is the Executive
Director of the
Accredited
Standards
Committee X9,
Inc. (ASC X9,
Inc) – Financial
Industry Standards,
a 350 member
organization
nationally ANSI accredited developer
of financial standards (www.x9.org).
ASC X9, Inc. is the USA – technical
advisory group to ISO/TC 68, Financial
services and its subcommittees 2, 4, 6, and
7. Mrs. Fuller acts as Secretariat staff to
ISO/TC 68 and ISO/TC 68/SC 2, Security
management and general banking
operations under ANSI’s auspices. Mrs.
Fuller is the Secretary to the ISO/TC 68
20022 Registration Management Group.
ISO Focus January 2006 19
Main Focus
elements and code values. This stand-
ard allows all of the various parties to a
retail transaction to complete the trans-
action within seconds. Additionally, the
well known PIN standard (ISO 9564)
is used for initiation of card operations
and customer security of card transac-
tions. The PIN is used millions of times
globally each day. These are but a few
examples of standards used in this serv-
ice sector and ones that are easy for most
consumers to comprehend.
In the securities side of the finan-
cial services business, standards form
the basis of the communication of infor-
mation, known as electronic banking,
including those for coding and num-
bering the securities (ISO 6166) and
those that transact securities movement
(ISO 15022).
Financial industries are consum-
ers and users of standards developed
and built within other ISO communi-
ties and it is critical for them to recog-
nize the unique needs of not only the
financial services sector, but other serv-
ices sectors. Some of the unique needs
are worth mentioning.
Challenges and changes
go more smoothly with
global standards
The financial services industry,
like many industries delivering serv-
ices, faces a constant array of chal-
lenges. And, the pressure to deliver a
customer/client service quicker, better
and more reliably is a key component
of industry needs.
A partial list of challenges
affecting financial services business
includes : financial institution merg-
ers and acquisitions, global banking/
financial services expansion, non-banks
offering bank-like products in compe-
tition with traditional banks, the real-
ity of a 24/7 service day, outsourcing
operational areas, the move from the
traditional brick and mortar building
to electronic banking, continued direc-
tion from manual processes to straight
through processing, the growth of the
Internet, dependency on technology,
changing security requirements and
governmental regulation.
20 ISO Focus January 2006
What is often not recognized is
that all of the changes mentioned can
likely be positively influenced by stand-
ards. Mergers and acquisitions, for exam-
ple, can go more smoothly as a result
of standards if the merging companies
have standardized operations. And, glo-
bal banking/financial services expan-
sion becomes less burdensome if the
organization is merging into a market
where the global standards are widely
applied and adopted.
From chaos to
harmonization
As mentioned previously, the
financial services sector is very mature
in its use of and development of stand-
ards. In the 1990s, as various business
areas in this sector organized to work
together to resolve specific interop-
erability, processing and associated
problems, what was loosely known as
the “ standards landscape ” grew and
became increasingly more complex,
complicated and competitive – some
would even say chaotic.
As the number of standards devel-
oping organizations, or those organi-
zations developing specifications grew,
the outcome or the resultant specifica-
tion was, more often than not, a prod-
uct standard backed by only a handful
in the industry. In addition, standards
became a competitive issue. This was
in complete contrast to the position held
previously which viewed standards as
a means to allow broad communica-
tion and serve a broader constituency
of the industry.
“The entire card processing
infrastructure is built upon
ISO standards.”
In some cases the specifications
became a proprietary product, while
some others were more open stand-
ards – but competitive. Rather than the
more traditional and complicit devel-
opment that lead to the agreement for
ISO 9564, dealing with the management
and security of banking personal iden-
tification numbers or ISO 8583, dealing
with financial transaction card originat-
ed messages, the growing number of
groups and organizations working on
the same activities were at odds, and
by diverging in different directions,
led to a slowing of the adoption of all
standards by the sector.
The industry became aware of
the overlapping, complex and repeti-
tive direction it was taking and, start-
ing in the year 2000, sought a new
path. This change is today redirecting
the industry and its financial transac-
tion standardization energies to ISO
20022 (UNIversal Financial Industry
message scheme – UNIFI) – an evo-
lutionary standard originally borne to
serve the securities industry as it moves
from “ flat file ” or “ fixed ” transaction
messages to a more fluid messaging
direction. The flexible framework in
ISO 20022 allows financial message
development and registration of busi-
ness requirements and definition of
message sets according to an interna-
tionally agreed approach.
“ One single ISO standard
is used to transact billions
of dollars in retail card
business annually.”
Overall methodology and for-
mat specifications for inputs to and
outputs from the ISO 20022 reposi-
tory standard could be the key to har-
monizing financial industry stand-
ardization as this developing stand-
ard has wider adoption possibilities.
And, from the prior chaos in develop-
ment of standards arise a “ UNIFI’ed ”
direction under ISO in financial serv-
ices and in financial services standardi-
zation rather than the previous chaotic
complex direction.
This change and redirection dem-
onstrates the services sector’s need for
global standards and once again that
the industry is directing its energies
toward broader, more open and inter-
operable standards.

A global
benchmark
for financial
planners
by Stuart Kessler, Chair of
ISO/TC 222, Personal financial
planning, and Holger
Muehlbauer, Secretary
of ISO/TC 222
W
hile the business professions
of law and accounting have
been in existence, in one form
or another, for thousands of years, per-
sonal financial planning can only look
back on a four-decade history. Some
claim accounting dates back to the year
1000 BC when the commercially oriented
Phoenicians invented a 22-character pho-
netic alphabet, probably for book-keeping
© ISO
purposes, and to prevent being cheated
by the more advanced Egyptians. In the
law, the Hammurabi code 1) was set forth
centuries ago literally in stone.
Now, in a relatively short peri-
od, we have a new profession and the
ISO technical committee ISO/TC 222,
Personal financial planning, was called
upon to produce a unique and pioneer-
ing standard.
The problem is the same the world
over : private clients are overwhelmed
by the ever growing variety of invest-
ment schemes, the frequent changes
to the legal framework, and the risk of
misinvestment. They need comprehen-
sive, competent and objective advice.
But which financial planner can they
trust in financial matters ? How can they
compare the different schemes and tech-
niques being offered ?
1) The Code of Hammurabi is known for
demanding punishment to fit the crime with a
different treatment for each social class, and was
established by Babylonia’s king 1728-1686 BC.
Service sectors turn
to standards
Proposal initiated
by certified financial
planners
An International Standard for
financial planning will provide simpli-
fication for the client by formulating
requirements that make for neutral and
client-oriented financial advisory serv-
ices. A certificate on the basis of the
standard is intended to promote client
confidence.
This was the motivation for estab-
lishing ISO/TC 222, which held its inau-
gural meeting in Atlanta, the USA, in
February 2001.
“ An International Standard
for financial planning will
provide simplification for
the client.”
The committee was initially set
up following a proposal from the inter-
national organization, Certified Finan-
cial Planners. It is comprised of repre-
sentatives of financial planners, banks,
consumer protection bodies and research
organizations. They were joined by finan-
cial planners, also known as personal
financial specialists, as well as regula-
tors and educators.
Experts from Australia, Austria,
Canada, Hong Kong, (China), France,
Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea,
Malaysia, the Netherlands, Norway, Sin-
gapore, South Africa, Sweden, the Unit-
ed Kingdom, and the USA, attended the
meeting – making this a truly interna-
tional undertaking.
The committee used its first meeting
to establish four working groups (WGs):
• WG 1 : Process of Personal Financial
Planning ;
• WG 2 : Competency of a Personal
Financial Planner ;
• WG 3: Ethical requirements ;
• WG 4 : Continuing Competency.
ISO Focus January 2006 21
Main Focus
Each WG was assigned the task of
developing aspects of the standard relevant
to its own sector, and after much discus-
sion, the draft International standard (DIS)
was published in four parts in 2004.
At the end of the inquiry peri-
od, during which the document was
available for public review, many use-
ful comments were submitted and later
processed. The most significant subse-
quent modification was the merging of
the four parts of the draft standard into
a single document.
The standards project involved
experts representing very different view-
points and opinions, coming from a great
variety of legal, economic and cultur-
al backgrounds. They have authored
a unique and pioneering goal-orient-
ed standard.
Process of personal
financial planning
Generally the personal financial
planning process includes six steps :
• Establishing the client/planner rela-
tions ;
• Determining goals and gathering
data ;
• Analyzing and evaluating the client’s
financial status ;
About the authors
Stuart Kessler
is the Chair of
ISO/TC 222,
Personal financial
planning :
He is a Certified
Public
Accountant at
American
Express Tax
& Business INC.
22 ISO Focus January 2006
• Developing and presenting the finan-
cial plan ;
• Implementing recommendations ;
• Monitoring the plan recommenda-
tions.
Competency of a
personal financial planner
Competency is defined and pro-
vides illustrations, including require-
ments for competency in each of the
above process areas. Additionally, the
characteristics for the demonstration
of initial competency are defined and
assessment methods set forth.
Ethical requirements
Ethical behaviour is at the core
of the personal financial planner’s prac-
tice. Recognizing, valuing and applying
ethical principles on a daily basis are
fundamental to professional life.
This section of ISO 22222 pro-
vides a limited number of key ethi-
cal principles that apply broadly to all
aspects of the personal financial plan-
ning process.
• Ethical behaviour presumes and goes
beyond compliance with applicable
rules and regulations ;
Dr. Holger
Muehlbauer is
Secretary of
ISO/TC 222,
Personal
financial
planning and is
involved in
several ISO
projects,
including
exhibition services, ISO/IEC advisory
group on security, market research
services. Trained as a lawyer,
Dr. Muehlbauer is currently Sector
Manager for standards for consumer
products and services at DIN Deutsches
Institut für Normung, ISO member for
Germany. He is also Secretary of several
working bodies of the European
Committee for Standardization.
• Ethical decision-making capabili-
ty, confidence and integrity develop
with experience and implementation
in a range of often challenging situ-
ations.
“ To be effective,
consumers must have
confidence in their
personal financial
planner.”
This part of the standard sup-
ports and is fully integrated with the
other parts. The detail of application
will depend on the particular context
and factors involved in a specific case
and therefore more prescriptive require-
ments have been avoided.
A personal financial planner
has a responsibility to develop specif-
ic practical solutions within the frame-
work of this standard.
Continued competency
To remain compliant with the ISO
standard, personal financial planners
will be required to demonstrate contin-
uing competence. They will be respon-
sible for ensuring that their continuing
education programme covers the topics
necessary to maintain professional com-
petence and records of their learning or
relevant activities are kept.
Conformity assessment –
an important issue
One of the last hurdles the techni-
cal committee had to overcome was how
and who should assess the competency
of the professionals providing this serv-
ice to consumers. The experts involved
in establishing the standard would like
to see it form the basis for independent
certification procedures.
Conformity assessment of per-
sonal financial planners is a complex
task requiring access to specialized
knowledge, skills and experience. ISO/
TC 222 strongly believes that accredit-
ed, independent, third-party certifica-
tion, provides the most reliable meth-
od of conformity assessment and thus Service sectors turn
protection for consumers. to standards
Therefore, it recommended that
consumers seek the services of person-
al financial planners, who can demon-
strate that they have undergone conform-
ity assessment by independent third-
party certification bodies, which have
been accredited according to require-
ments set out in ISO/IEC 17024, Con-
formity assessment – General require-
ments for bodies operating certifica-
tion of persons.

Inspiring consumer
confidence
International Standard ISO
22222:2005 has been drawn up with
the objective of achieving and promot-
ing a globally accepted benchmark for
individuals, who provide the profession-
al service of personal financial plan-
ning. ISO 22222 will be the first truly
non-technical ISP service standard for
financial services.
Personal financial planning is a
process carried out by personal finan-
cial planners to enable consumers to
achieve their personal financial goals.
To be effective, consumers must have
confidence in their personal financial Exhibition in Tokyo displays specific initiatives in sustainable buildings in Hong Kong, China.
planner. As already mentioned, ISO
22222 will specify the ethical behaviors,
competences and experience required of
a professional personal financial plan-
Billion-dollar ous market partners to provide a unique
opportunity for personal contact. This is
ner, as well as describe and address exhibition industry the only marketing platform that allows
the full exploitation of all five senses in
various conformity assessment meth-
ods and requirements applying to each stands to gain an environment of face-to-face interac-
of them. from future tion. Exhibitions are therefore, an excel-
lent way to promote, launch and sell one
ISO standard company’s products and services.
According to the Global Asso-
ciation of the Exhibition Industry (UFI),
the worldwide exhibition industry is
by Winston Wong, Secretary worth at least an estimated USD 60 bil-
lion per year. More than 30 000 exhibi-
of ISO/TMB/WG, Exhibition tions (with the size of at least 500 square
terminology metres each), attracting more than 350
million visitors are organized in different

T
he history of exhibitions goes as
corners of the world each year. Despite
far back as Ancient Egypt, Greek
such impressive figures, there are cur-
Civilization and the Roman Empire,
rently no International Standards for the
when journeying traders met local pro-
industry.
ducers in market places and bazaars.1)
In today’s global economy, exhi- 1) Source : UFI, The Global Association of the
bitions continue to bring together vari- Exhibition Industry.
© Courtesy of NASA/JPL/UMD
Artwork by Pat Rawlings ISO Focus October 2005 23
Main Focus
Singapore breaks
new ground
While the exhibition industry
in Singapore has a relatively short his-
tory of about 30 years, the country has
risen to be a premier world-class destina-
tion for exhibitions in Asia. In the proc-
ess, Singapore-based enterprises expe-
rienced considerable challenges due to
the inconsistent use of exhibition termi-
nology, resulting in misunderstandings
amongst exhibitors and visitors from
different countries.
To address this problem,
SPRING Singapore (Standards, Pro-
ductivity and Innovation Board) formed
a working group in 1998, comprised
of members from the Singapore Asso-
ciation of Convention and Exhibition
Organisers and Suppliers (SACEOS),
the Singapore Exhibition and Conven-
tion Bureau (SECB) and SPRING, to
develop a national standard on exhibi-
tion content.
“ The worldwide exhibition
industry is worth at least
an estimated USD 60
billion per year.”
The result of their work was the
publication of a technical reference on
exhibition content in 2001, which was
subsequently reviewed and published as
a full Singapore standard in 2003. This
was a significant boost for the Singapore
exhibition industry as it was a world’s first
standard for the exhibition industry.
The SS 505: 2003, Exhibition
terminology and audit procedures, pro-
vides clear definitions for a core set of
standardized terminology commonly
used in the Singapore exhibition indus-
try. It has helped to reduce ambiguities
and uncertainties caused by the differ-
ent understanding and usage of exhibi-
tion-related terms.
The exhibition industry in Sin-
gapore has shown strong support in the
implementation of standards. Exhibition
organizers who are interested in apply-
ing for grants from the Singapore Exhi-
bition and Convention Bureau under
the International Exhibition City (IEC)
24 ISO Focus January 2006
About
SPRING
Singapore
“ We are honoured that the
Singapore Standard has been accept-
(Standards, ed as the basis for the development of
Productivity and an International Standard in exhibition
Innovation Board) terminology,” said Mr. Teo Nam Kuan,
SPRING’s Group Director for Quali-
SPRING works to enhance the
ty and Standards. “ The local small and
competitiveness of enterprises for
medium-sized companies in the exhibi-
a vibrant Singapore economy. The
tion industry have played a significant
focus is to champion enterprise train-
role in initiating the development of this
ing and growth – through a network
International Standard. This has allowed
of valued relationships and resources
Singapore to play a greater role in the
– to nurture a host of dynamic and
international exhibition industry.”
innovative Singapore enterprises.
SPRING works with its part-
ners to build a pro-business environ-
ment that encourages enterprise for-
mation and growth, and facilitates
the growth of industries. It also help
to improve the productivity and
innovation of enterprises, as well as
increase access to markets and busi-
ness opportunities. For more infor-
mation see: www.spring.gov.sg
programme 2) have to meet the guide-
lines laid out in the Singapore standard.
SACEOS has also developed a training
programme to facilitate the implemen-
tation of SS 505: 2003.
Leading the development
of the future ISO standard
2) The programme was launched with the
The successful implementa- objective of developing Singapore into the
tion of SS 505:2003 in Singapore, as premier location for holding international trade
well as the growing regional interest for exhibitions. It aims to attract and nurture trade
its internationalization prompted Singa- events, grow existing trade events and raise
standards of the EMS sector.
pore’s submission for the development
of an International Standard. SPRING,
the national standards body for Singa-
pore, and a member of ISO, with the
About the author
support of SACEOS and the SECB, ini- Winston Wong
tiated and submitted to ISO a new work is the Secretary
item proposal to develop an ISO stand- of ISO/TMB/
ard on exhibition terminology. WG, Exhibition
ISO’s technical management Terminology. He
board (TMB) formally accepted Singa- is a manager
pore’s proposal in February 2005. This with the Stand-
ardization
is a significant milestone for Singapore
Department of
as the national standard will be used as SPRING Singa-
the initial working document for the pore (Standards,
development of the first ISO Interna- Productivity and Innovation Board) and
tional Standard for the global exhibi- manages the standardization projects for
tion industry. the exhibition industry in Singapore.
 Leading the development of
the future ISO standard is Stephen Tan,
Chief Executive of Singapore Exhibi-
tion Services Pte Ltd. With more than
20 years of experience in the exhibi-
tion industry, Mr. Tan is well suited to
be the project leader and convenor of
the working group on exhibition ter-
minology (WG ET). He has also held
prominent positions as the Vice Presi-
dent of UFI, The Global Association of
the Exhibition Industry and the Presi-
dent of SACEOS.
There are currently 12 participat-
ing (P) members in the working group :
Canada, China, France, Germany, Ita-
ly, Japan, Norway, Russian Federation,
Singapore, South Africa, United King-
dom and the USA. The three observ-
er (O) members are Poland, Spain and
Sweden. The International Association
for Exhibition Management (IAEM)
and UFI are also participating as liai-
son organizations. The working group
reports directly to the ISO TMB.
The first meeting was held in
Singapore from 25-27 July 2005 and
the second meeting in Berlin, Germany,
from 16-18 November 2005.
The working group also referred
to documents submitted by other members
in the deliberation of the terminology. Doc-
uments were received from UFI and coun-
try members from Canada, France, Italy,
Germany, United Kingdom and USA.
“ After two rounds of working
group meetings, we have come closer
to achieving our goals in the standardi-
zation of exhibition terminology. Those
in attendance at the meetings have been
active in contributing as a team, and with
the continuation of this spirit, I am con-
fident that the working group will be
successful in meeting the deadlines,”
said Mr. Tan.
The future International Standard –
ISO 25639 – will provide a dictionary of core
terms for the exhibition industry.
Solving ambiguity,
confusion and
misunderstanding
The future International Stand-
ard on exhibition terminology – to be
referenced as ISO 25639 – will pro-
vide a dictionary of core terms for the
exhibition industry. This means that
when a person uses a term found in
the standard, the exhibition industry
in the world will know exactly what
is being described and what they can
expect.
So far, the working group has
identified and defined about 50 terms.
Some of the key terms include : gross
exhibition space, net exhibition space,
exhibitor, visitor and attendee.
The future ISO 25639 will help
to solve the problem of ambiguity, con-
fusion and misunderstanding of terms
Service sectors turn
to standards
used in the global exhibition industry
by providing a reference basis.
During the marketing of exhi-
bitions, for example, exhibition organ-
izers advertise the size of their shows.
This can be misleading to both exhibi-
tors and visitors because of the uncer-
tainty of whether the size refers to wall-
to-wall space, or actual exhibition space
occupied by the exhibitors.
The future ISO 25639 will
address the issue by defining exhibition
space as either gross exhibition space,
which refers to wall-to-wall space ; or net
exhibition space, which only takes into
account the actual content of the exhi-
bition excluding the peripherals such as
corridors and gantries.
“ A standardized set
of terminology will
provide a basis for
objective comparisons
and evaluations across
exhibitions all around
the world.”
The use of a standardized set
of terminology will also provide a basis
for objective comparisons and evalua-
tions across exhibitions all around the
world, and help prospective exhibitors
better ascertain the quality of the exhi-
bitions being held. This in turn will
enhance the exhibitors’ decision-mak-
ing process of which exhibitions they
will participate in.
The future ISO 25639 will serve
as a reference for the explanations given
in publicity brochures, definitions given
in show statistics and media publicity ;
and business-to-business communica-
tions. Exhibition organizers, exhibitors,
attendees, visitors and service providers
and many more stand to benefit from the
future International Standard.
ISO 25639 is expected to be
published by the end of the second quar-
ter of 2008.
ISO Focus January 2006 25
Main Focus
ISO technical
committee for
tourism brings
transparency
to the industry
by Elena Ordozgoiti de la
Rica (AENOR) and Amel Ben
Farhat (INNORPI),
Secretaries of ISO/TC 228,
Tourism and related services
I
SO technical committee ISO/TC
228, Tourism and related servic-
es, is aimed at standardizing ter-
minology and specifications across
the industry, so that choosing between
tourism products becomes more trans-
parent, as well as ensuring, for exam-
ple, that holidays match their sales
description.
With the creation in January 2005
of ISO/TC 228 tourism service provid-
ers and their customers can expect to
benefit from standardization of termi-
nology and specifications across the
industry, leading to greater clarity and
transparency in the marketing of tour-
ist products.
The objective is to make selec-
tion easier for the end user, and reduce
26 ISO Focus January 2006
disparities between the product offered
and what is actually provided.
Broad scope
The scope of ISO/TC 228’s activ-
ities is intended to reflect the breadth of
the tourist services sector it will serve
by developing :
Standardization of the terminol-
ogy and specifications of the services
offered by tourism service providers,
including related activities, touristic
destinations and the requirements of
facilities and equipment used by them,
to provide tourism buyers, providers
and consumers with criteria for mak-
ing informed decisions.
The technical committee is the
initiative of AENOR, Spain’s national
© ISO, P. Krieger
(Above) Tourists in a village near Djerba,
Tunisia and (Insert) in the Plaza Mayor,
Madrid, Spain.
standards and certification body, in
association with the national tour-
ism industry and its central admin-
istration, backed by a shared com-
mitment to continuously improve
the quality of tourism in Spain.
AENOR is joined in this
endeavour by the Tunisian stand-
ardization institute, INNORPI, which
has made similar commitments to pro-
moting national tourism, and has also
expressed to ISO its interest in interna-
tional standardization for the sector.
Expectation and benefits
The challenge for ISO/TC 228
will be to fulfil a number of important
expectations in standards for tourism
activity and services. Key among these
are greater transparency for the custom-
er, better marketing of tourism prod-
ucts, improved communication between
companies and enhanced environmen-
tal protection.
Thus, the resulting standards are
expected to make it easier for tourists
to discern the differences between one
product and another, and reduce pos-
sible misconceptions and disappoint-
ment by ensuring that what is offered
is accurately reflected in what is actu-
ally provided.
The proposed standards will aim
to facilitate communication between pro-
viders and their customers, i.e. those com-
panies that market tourist products, set
guidelines for management and encour-
age good service rewards. They should
also serve to protect and promote the
environment, as well as the cultural and
gastronomic wealth of each area.
Twinning
The AENOR-INNORPI partner-
ship is another example of ISO’s “ twin-
ning ” policy whereby a standards body
from a developed country with much
experience in standardization forms a
team with one from a developing coun-
try to make it easier for the latter to gain
experience in the management of com-
mittee secretariats, subcommittees or
working groups.
“ The scope of ISO/TC
228’s activities is intended
to reflect the breadth of
the tourist services sector.”
The task ahead is a challenge for
both bodies, since there are no previous-
ly documented models on which to base
the innovative twinning system of col-
laboration. AENOR and INNORPI have
entered into a Memorandum of Under-
standing, the main pillar of which is train-
ing INNORPI personnel in the standard-
ization functions described above.
A good start
ISO/TC 228 is off to a good start,
and responses to its initial proposals
have been extremely positive. Current-
ly, 42 countries on five continents have
expressed their intention to participate
(32 in the category of P-members and
10 as O-members).
However, there has been opposi-
tion from the tourism sector in Europe.
Voices representing some European hotel,
bar and restaurant interests maintain that
the industry itself should be entrusted with
drawing up any standards for the sector,
particularly in promoting the quality of
the services it provides.
There are also arguments that
standardization, and by implication, stan-
dardized conditions, could be detrimen-
tal to the visitor’s perception of cultural
diversity in different destinations.
“Standards are expected to
ensure that what is offered
is accurately reflected in
what is actually provided.”
The ISO technical committee must
work with these issues in mind to ensure
that the standards developed reflect the
interests of all parties and serve to offer
quality and transparency to the user,
without endangering the individuality
of each destination.
However, the conclusions of the
ISO/COPOLCO, committee on consum-
er policy, tourism group should inspire
the work of ISO/TC 228 in reflecting the
About the authors
Elena
Ordozgoiti de
la Rica, is Head
of the Services
Unit of AENOR,
the Spanish
national stand-
ards and certifi-
cation body.
Asociación
Española de
Normalización y Certificación (AENOR)
Genova 6
E-28004 Madrid
Spain
Tel. + 34 91 432 60 57
E-mail eordoz@aenor.es
Web www.aenor.es
Service sectors turn
to standards
demands of users of tourism services,
whose stated priorities are safety, secu-
rity, accessibility and hygiene.
It will also be necessary to con-
sider EN/ISO 18513:2003, Tourism serv-
ice – Hotels and other types of tourism
accommodation – Terminology, an exist-
ing standard that contains definitions of
a number of terms commonly used in
the tourism industry, and is designed to
facilitate understanding between users
and providers of tourism services.
In addition, ISO/TC 228 will also
discuss the adoption of the European div-
ing standards as International Standards
at its forthcoming first meeting.
But the main contribution to the
work programme is to come from mem-
bers, who have been invited to send their
proposals by mid-January, to prepare for
the first meeting that will take place in
Tunis on 27 and 28 March, 2006.
Amel Ben
Farhat is a civil
engineer and has
been a standard-
ization and prod-
uct certification
manager within
INNORPI since
1987. She has
also worked as a
consultant for
the National Programme for Upgrading
Quality of Tunisian industry. Amel Ben
Farhat is currently responsible for training
department within INNORPI and is also a
qualified quality management Certifica-
tion auditor.
Institut national de la normalisation et de
la propriété industrielle (INNORPI)
Rue 8451 no 8 par la rue Alain Savary
BP 57, Cité El Khadra
TN-1003 Tunis
Tel. + 216 71 78 59 22
E-mail inorpi@email.ati.tn
Web www.inorpi.ind.tn
ISO Focus January 2006 27
Main Focus

Never get out

of your depth :
Scuba diving
standards

by Holger Muehlbauer, Secretary

of ISO/TC 222, Personal financial
planning

S
cuba diving is a fun sport that
anyone in good average health,
who meets the age requirements,
can participate in. However, it is com-
plex and cannot be understood in one
lesson and requires careful forethought
and planning.
Scuba divers must decide on a
suitable location, ensure that they have
the correct equipment – whether buy-
ing or hiring – and if they are diving for
the first time, they will need to take les-
sons, since approximately sixty percent
of all diving accidents happen during a
diver’s first 30 dives. Good theoretical
and practical instruction and supervi-
sion can therefore alleviate the dangers
of diving.
Making the deep blue safer
Customers frequently find it diffi-
cult to make the right choice from numer-
ous service providers in the recreational
diving sector. Today, critical consumers
expect reliable assessments of quality
and qualifications, and scope of servic-
es provided. Standards and the quality
certificates based on such assessments
now play a major role in this decision-
making process.
Standardization is important for
recreational activities, such as diving, in
which training and experience are essen-
tial for the participants to be able to carry
out the activity safely. Although recre-
ational diving is potentially hazardous,
the risks to the participants can easily be
reduced to acceptable levels by the adop-
tion of appropriate precautions.
Recreational diving services were
first developed by the European Com-
“ Standards aim to ensure
that the recreational
diving sector benefits from
better training, improved
customer service, more
safety and consumer
confidence.”
mittee for Standardization (CEN) tech-
nical committee CEN/TC 329, Tourism
services, working group (WG 3), Rec-
reational diving services.
Throughout Europe, the scuba
diving sector has implemented these
standards and is currently using them as
a benchmark for its training programmes.
Some countries, like Malta and Greece,
have incorporated them into national
legislation.
The aim of the standards is to
diminish the risks to an acceptable level
by establishing a series of specifications
for safe practices and the provision of
services. These specifications deal with
minimum requirements for the training
of scuba instructors.
The standards specify the level
of expertise that a scuba diving instruc-
tor ought to achieve. Only if a potential
instructor has sufficient practical expe-
rience as well as theoretical knowledge
and fulfils certain health requirements
can he be awarded an instructor’s certif-
About the author
Dr. Holger
Muehlbauer is
Secretary of ISO/
TC 222,
Personal
financial
planning and is
involved in
several ISO
projects,
including
exhibition services, ISO/IEC advisory
group on security, market research services.
Trained as a lawyer, Dr. Muehlbauer is
currently Sector Manager for standards for
consumer products and services at DIN
Deutsches Institut für Normung, ISO
member for Germany. He is also Secretary
of several working bodies of the European
Committee for Standardization.

28 ISO Focus January 2006

icate from a training organization. This
document qualifies him as professional
instructor and entitles him to train scu-
ba divers.
These standards, covering require-
ments common to the provision of train-
ing and certification of divers and instruc-
tors, aim to ensure that the recreational
diving sector benefits from better train-
ing, improved service for customers,
more safety and more consumer con-
fidence. They do not, however, place
requirements on consumers.
tional diving services – Safety related Service sectors turn
minimum requirements for the training to standards
of scuba instructors, specifies the com-
petencies that a scuba instructor has to
have achieved in order for a training
organization to award the scuba instruc-
tor certification indicating that he has
met or exceeded scuba instructor level 1
and specifies assessment of these com-
petencies. It also specifies conditions
under which training has to be provided,
in addition to the general requirements
for recreational diving service provision
according to ISO/DIS 24803.

A call for International

Standards
A number of non-European coun-
tries expressed interest in ISO standards
for scuba diving services. Interested par-
ties have agreed to support an initiative to
advance these standards to an international
level, which would ensure a high quality
and safety for scuba divers anywhere in
the world. The suite of European stand-
ards on recreational diving services were
submitted to ISO and are now at Draft
International Standard (DIS) stage.
Standards are important for com-
paring the quality of many services inter-
nationally and enable diving instructors
and schools to bring their services up to
a uniformly high level, thus improving
market transparency. For example, it will
be easier for certifiers to promote certi-
fication based on standards developed
by ISO, which is known and accepted
globally.
ISO/DIS 24801, consists of three ISO/DIS 24803, Recreational
parts under the general title, Recreation- diving services – Requirements for rec-
al diving services – Safety related min- reational scuba diving service provid-
imum requirements for the training of ers, specifies the safety practices and
recreational scuba divers, and distin- requirements for diving schools or dive
guishes three levels of diving instruc- centres. Service providers are obliged
tion: Level 1 is for instructors teaching to follow demands in the fields of rent-
basic diving knowledge, level 2 covers al of diving equipment, organized and
teaching of advanced divers and level 3 guided diving for certified divers and
awards instructors teaching dive lead- training and education. It is therefore
ers. A certified instructor for example required that a risk assessment is con-
needs to be able to recover casualties ducted before every dive, which includes
from depth, to perform First-Aid and the underwater visibility, pollution and
apply oxygen in emergencies as well emergency action plans. It also specifies
as being able to demonstrate the neces- which emergency equipment has to be
sary diving skills. available and which emergency proce-
ISO/DIS 24802, consists of two dures are to be put into place.
parts under the general title, Recrea- © All photos courtesy of Aqua Lung Ltd.

ISO Focus January 2006 29

Main Focus
© ISO
Global trade
in services –
New challenges
for international
standardization
by Dr. Sasithara
Pichaichannarong, Director-
General, Office of Tourism
Development, Ministry of
Tourism and Sports of Thailand
P
resently tourism is seen as a trad-
able global service, which brings
with it numerous debates on the
pros and cons of this industry. Some of
the positive effects of tourism include
facilitating access to environmental serv-
ices. Trade is increased through a larger
market access to external service sup-
30 ISO Focus January 2006
Thai temple.
pliers, which in turn helps governments
strengthen environmental standards, by
promoting increased competition, gen-
erating foreign exchange, income and
employment.
On the other hand, trade in serv-
ices can also have a negative impact on
social and environmental sustainability.
If tourism is not properly planned and
managed, it can have an adverse impact
both environmentally and socially, for
example, depletion of forests and cor-
al reefs, misuse of natural resources,
change of community structure, etc.
Without increased environmental
and social responsibility in the tourism
sector, the expansion of tourism trade
services might exacerbate these trends.
It is important therefore, that the stand-
ardization for tourism be adopted, in
order to be prepared for the liberaliza-
tion of trade in tourism services.
Having tourism standards is not
only good for protecting the envi-
ronment and community, but also for
enhancing the level of quality in tour-
ism services, such as accommodation,
restaurants, sport and leisure facili-
ties, tourist attractions, destinations,
tour operators, transportation, etc. in
order for the country to be able to com-
pete with other destinations in the glo-
bal competitive market nowadays.
Thailand as a quality
destination
There is no doubt that tourism
– with its links to a wide range of sec-
tors – is an important industry for eco-
nomic and social development of our
country (Figure 1), that provides vis-
itors with experiences and activities,
such as accommodation, tour opera-
tors, transportation services, restau-
rants, infrastructure, guide services,
handicraft/local craft shops. There are
a number of benefits for the country,
including generating foreign exchange,
jobs and income generation opportu-
nities, diversifying the local economy
and increasing entrepreneurial oppor-
tunities.
Thus, the Thai government con-
sidered tourism as one of the country’s
major economic-driven industries and
set the goal of becoming a “ Quality
Tourism Destination ” by 2008.
The need and
significance of tourism
standards
In order to achieve this goal,
there is a need to enhance our compet-
itive advantage in every tourism sec-
tor (products, services, human resourc-
es and the destination itself). Howev-
er, one of the challenging issues for
Thailand is the lack of standards to
ensure a high quality of tourism pro-
fessionals, products and services. It is
always the case in tourism, which is a
highly competitive market, that tour-
ism-related business would reduce its
prices and therefore quality as a strat-
egy for maintaining its market rather
than increasing its product and serv-
ice quality.
Development process
of Thailand’s tourism
standards
In order to enhance the qual-
ity of tourism products, services and
human resources and to be prepared
for liberalization of tourism servic-
es, the Thai government realized the
importance of and the need for tour-
ism standards that should be in place,
and established the national tourism
standards committee to be respon-
sible for developing standards for a
wide range of tourism sectors in the
country.
Service sectors turn
to standards
also cover the restrooms in tourism des-
tinations. Presently our government has
provided a budget for improving public
restrooms at major destinations.
The national tourism standard will
be used as a voluntary instrument pro-
viding tourism companies/destinations
with a greater scope for the improvement
of environmental performance, product
quality and social improvements rather
than being mandatory, i.e. government
control. The application of standardiza-
tion in companies/destinations can help
improve tourism products to reach high-

About the author

Dr. Sasithara
Pichaichan-
narong has been
the Director-Gen-
eral of the Thai
Office of Tourism
Development
since 2002.
Before joining
this office, she
was Deputy
Director-General of the Department of Phys-
ical Education of the Ministry of Education
© ISO

from 1998-2002 and Deputy Permanent

Delegate of Thailand to UNESCO from
1996-1998. At the international/regional
level, she has been actively involved in the
tourism field through her chairmanship of
the World Tourism Organization Committee
on Sustainable Development of Tourism and
her chairmanship of various ASEAN task
forces and working groups related to tour-
ism, including the ASEAN Task Force on
Tourism Standards and the ASEAN Working
Group on Tourism, Coordinating Committee
on Services. Dr. Sasithara has a PhD in
contemporary literature from the Université
de la Sorbonne, France.
Figure 1 : A wide range of sectors in the Thai tourism industry.
Under the national committee,
six subcommittees were established to
deal specifically with standards for des-
tinations, activities, tourism services,
accommodation, professionals and also
public restrooms. We have been work-
ing closely with the Ministry of Public
Health and Department of Local Admin-
istration to improve the hygiene, cleanli-
ness and safety of public restrooms for
users. Standards for public restrooms will
er standards and consequently quality
assurance of the tourism industry, which
is an important element to create experi-
ences, highly rated by visitors, enhance
tourism’s recognition in the country,
increase national competitiveness, cre-
ate a positive image in international mar-
kets and ensure that tourism operation/
development does not deplete the qual-
ity of natural and cultural resources of
the country.
ISO Focus January 2006 31
Main Focus
Future plans
• Develop national standards for tour-
ism sectors, in order to enhance the
quality of our tourism industry and
to get ready for global trade in tour-
ism services ;
• Use standards in the ‘ Tourism Invest-
ment Zone ’ (designated areas to
encourage foreign tourism invest-
ment in which incentives are pro-
vided) in services such as, hotels,
food and beverage, tour operators,
tour guides and public restrooms ;
• Develop standards at the regional level
through the ASEAN Tourism Stand-
ard Task Force, which Thailand cur-
rently chairs.
Figure 2 : Advantages of tourism standards.
Tourism standard in
services : From planning
to practice
1. Home stay is one of the tourism sec-
tors for which we have developed a
standard, in view of its popularity
in Thailand and in the region. Our
standard emphasizes safety (structure
of the accommodation), guest serv-
ices and hygiene (cleanliness of food
32 ISO Focus January 2006
and sanitation). Presently there are
a number of home stay services in
Thailand, which have been encour-
aged to participate in our programme.
The certified home stay will be mon-
itored on a regular basis, in order
to ensure that it meets the required
standard at all times within the val-
idation period.
We are now in the process of
launching the programme and working
with the Agriculture and Cooperative
Bank to give certified home stay a loan
for improving its operation and services,
for example, by buying life jackets and
safety equipment. This will be seen as
one of the major incentives provided in
order to encourage home stay participa-
tion in the certification system.
© ISO
2. We emphasize the need for standards
for public restrooms that deal with con-
venience, health, safety and hygiene.
In a tropical country like Thailand,
health and hygiene are very impor-
tant issues. Currently, the Thai gov-
ernment provides special funds for
the Office of Tourism Development
(OTD) so that public restrooms meet
the required standard in major tour-
ist destinations such as natural parks,
beach areas, historic parks, etc. Our
goal is to provide good quality serv-
ices, environmental friendliness and
energy-saving facilities.
3. From the examples mentioned ear-
lier, the Thai government is plan-
ning to diversify tourism attrac-
tions/activities, in order to accom-
modate the increasing number of
tourists coming to the country and
the region. There are a number of
attractions and large areas that are
owned by government authorities
like the military, Ministry of Natural
Resources and Environment, Minis-
try of Culture and local administra-
tion authorities. Apart from these, a
zoning scheme will be enforced in
the areas to be designated for tourism
activities, accommodation, residential
for locals, fishing etc. Domestic and
foreign investment will be encour-
aged in the zoning areas and all tour-
ism-related activities taking place in
these areas will be required to fol-
low national standards set for each
tourism sector such as hotels, food
and beverage, tour operators, pub-
lic restrooms, destinations and also
tourism activities. The application of
tourism standards will help to ensure
that activities occur in a way that
does not create any adverse impacts
on natural and cultural resources and
the local community. This will help
us reach our goal to become a sus-
tainable tourism destination.
One of the main lessons learned
from the tsunami disaster in Decem-
ber 2004, was the lack of preparedness.
Therefore, tourism standards can be used
as a tool to better control tourism devel-
opment in destinations. In the tsunami
affected areas, we have developed the
following measures to :
• Build at least 50 metres back from
the coast ;
• Re-plant ;
• Not build bedrooms on the ground
floor of hotels and other accommo-
dation ;
• Establish sand dunes and walkways
along the beaches ;
• Build refuges higher than 12 metres,
accessible within 15 minutes ;
• Build warning towers and a warning
system ;
• Run disaster management drills ;
• Widen roads and footpaths for rapid
evacuation ;
• Develop human resources ;
• Give occupation training for beach
service providers and zoning.
Thailand tourism
standards and global
trade in services
Given the fact that our govern-
ment has a policy on liberalization for
tourism services, we are now focus-
ing on increasing our standards for all
tourism sectors, including destinations,
services and tourism-related enterpris-
es, in order to get ready for global trade
in services. In addition to the develop-
ment of national tourism standards, we
have been supporting the establishment
of the ASEAN tourism standards and
the task force responsible for develop-
ing ASEAN tourism standards with a
roadmap, whose ultimate goal will be
to become an ASEAN Economic Com-
munity (AEC) by the year 2010.
Thailand also supports the estab-
lishment of an ISO technical committee
and has a national committee for tour-
ism standards. We realize the impor-
tance of standards on tourism services
which can help us to be more compet-
itive in global trade. With an increas-
ing number of visitors to Thailand,
our tourism policy emphasizes not
only income generation and foreign
exchange, but also the preservation of
resources and quality services.
The challenge Service sectors turn
to standards
of standardizing
water services
I
SO entered a new area in the provi-
sion of service standards when ISO/
TC 224, Service activities relating
by Laurence Thomas, Secretary to drinking water supply systems and
of ISO/TC 224, Service activities wastewater systems - Quality criteria
of the service and performance indica-
relating to drinking water supply
tors was created in 2001. This technical
systems and wastewater systems committee was one of the first to deal
– Quality criteria of the service with service standards and remains a
and performance indicators pioneer in this field.
Where are we today ?
The following three draft standards are being devel-
oped according to a single scheme and contain common
elements mainly related to the evaluation of service and
performance indicators :
ISO/CD 24510, Service activities relating to drink-
ing water and wastewater – Guidelines for the improvement
and for the assessment of the service to users ;
ISO/CD 24511, Service activities relating to drink-
ing water and wastewater – Guidelines for the management
of wastewater utilities and for the assessment of wastewa-
ter services ; and,
ISO/CD 24512, Service activities relating to drink-
ing water and wastewater – Guidelines for the manage-
ment of drinking water utilities and for the assessment of
drinking water services.
ISO/CD 24510 is directed at users and defines the
following elements of the service:
• description of the components of the service for the
user ;
• objectives of the service based on the user’s needs and
expectations, considered to be globally relevant at the
broadest level (such as access to water and sanitation
services, provision of services, contract management
and billing, relationship with users, environmental pro-
tection, water quality, etc.) ;
• guidelines for the actions to be taken in order to satisfy
the user’s needs ;
• service assessment criteria ;
• range of possible performance indicators linked to the
criteria, that may be used for assessing performance of
the service.
ISO/CD 24511 and ISO/CD 24512 focus more on
the management of drinking water services and wastewa-
ter services. ISO Focus January 2006 33

Main Focus
Beyond the globalization of the
services market, several factors bring to
the forefront the need to have tools at an
international level to improve the gov-
ernance of water services :
• water has become a major worldwide
challenge, in terms of managing avail-
able water resources, the provision of
access to drinking water and sanita-
tion for the world’s population ;
• the world consumer movement is
increasingly demanding and con-
cerned with the quality of water serv-
ice and more sensitive to the transpar-
ency of the management and quality/
price ratio of the service ;
• several local initiatives or surveys
were carried out, like the develop-
ment of French standards published
between 2000 and 2002, describing
good practices and a methodology
for assessing the quality of service
provided to users and the efficiency
of the management of drinking water
and wastewater systems.
These various elements, com-
bined with the will expressed by ISO
to develop international standardiza-
tion in the field of services, led ISO’s
French member, Association française
de normalisation (AFNOR), to propose
in 2001 the establishment of a techni-
cal committee, for preparing ISO stan-
dards supplying guidelines for service
activities for drinking water supply sys-
tems and wastewater systems. About fif-
teen countries expressed interest in the
work and management of ISO/TC 224
while leadership of the TC was allocat-
ed to France.
The objectives of the technical
committee are to :
• facilitate dialogue among stakehold-
ers including users, local or national
water authorities, public or private
water operators, non governmental
organizations (NGOs) etc., so that the
users’ expectations are better taken
into account and the management of
water utilities by the relevant author-
ities is more transparent ;
• specify good practices for better man-
agement of water resources and the
patrimony of services ;
34 ISO Focus January 2006
Millennium
development goals
The UN Millenium Declaration was
adopted by 189 world leaders at the
UN Millenium Summit in Septem-
ber 2000, who committed to “ free
all men, women and children from
the abject and dehumanizing condi-
tions of extreme poverty ” by 2015.
One of the eight development goals
for this purpose is to reduce by half
the proportion of people without sus-
tainable access to safe water.
• define quality
q alit assessment criteria
and performance indicators enabling
the results of the service delivered
to be measured and compared with
the objectives agreed upon between
stakeholders ;
• facilitate the monitoring of perform-
ance within a water utility.
Globally relevant, locally
applicable
The standards being developed by
ISO/TC 224 are different from the usual
product or analysis methods standards.
They are intended to be used by water
services operators as well as by all stake-
holders. This implies that many differ-
ent stakeholders participate in this work,
such as representatives from national
water authorities, local water authori-
ties, consumer organizations, NGOs.
National mirror committees of ISO/TC
224 participating member bodies have
been invited to broaden the representa-
tion of their stakeholders.
ISO/TC 224 is developing, in
accordance with ISO’s global relevance
policy, standards that permit the broad-
est possible use of them, while respect-
ing cultural, socio-economic and cli-
matic variations in different countries
and regions of the world. The organiza-
tion of water utilities falls within a legal
and institutional framework specific to
each country. The standards are designed
to be flexible enough to allow them to
be adapted by authorities that may be
involved in the provision of water serv-
ices at regional, national or local lev-
els. Therefore, they do not prescribe the
respective roles of various institutions/
stakeholders nor define required proc-
esses. More importantly, these standards
do not interfere with the local authori-
ty’s general organization and manage-
ment of their utilities.
Assessing and improving
services
Performance indicators are critical
for assessing and improving services and
ensuring the proper monitoring of imple-
mentation. Stakeholders may establish
an appropriate number of performance
indicators (PI’s), a possible tool used for
improvement, or other methods for check-
ing compliance with requirements. The
stakeholders may select the PIs from giv-
en examples or develop other relevant PIs,
which consider the principles described
in the standards. The methodology does
not impose any specific indicator or any
minimum value or performance range;
it respects the principle of adaptability
to local contexts, thus facilitating local
implementation.
Relationship with ISO
management systems
standards
Implementation of ISO/TC 224
standards does not depend on the adop-
tion of ISO 9000 for quality manage-
ment and/or ISO 14000 for environmental
management. Nevertheless, these guide-
About the author
Laurence
Thomas, holds
an MSc in Inno-
vation (materials
option), joined
AFNOR in
December 1987
as a standards
engineer. From
1990 to 2004
she worked in the field of environmental
analysis and more particularly that of
water. During this time she was in charge
of standardization of water quality at
French national, CEN and ISO levels, and
was Secretary of ISO/TC 147/SC 5, Water
quality – Biological methods. Since Janu-
ary 2004, Ms. Thomas has been Secretary
of ISO/TC 224, while continuing to deal
with all aspects of microbiological analy-
sis of water.
lines are consistent with and supportive Service sectors turn
of ISO’s management system standards. to standards
Implementation of an overall ISO 9001
and/or ISO 14001 management system
may facilitate the implementation of these
guidelines, and conversely, these guide-
lines may help achieve the technical pro-
visions of ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 for
organizations choosing to implement
them. It has also to be noted that these
guidelines are consistent with the princi-
ple of the “plan-do-check-act” approach,
which proposes a step-by-step process,
from objectives to assessment.

Bringing onboard all

stakeholders
ISO/TC 224 work is progressing
well and arousing a growing interest within
the international community. The number
of participating countries has increased
since 2001 ; the numerous comments
received during the enquiry stage (about
350 pages) show the interest taken in this
work. Several international organizations
such as the department of Economy and
Social Affairs of the United Nations, the
World Health Organization, the Interna-
tional Water Association and Consumers
International are involved in the discus-
sions. Professional international organi-
zations like the Inter-American Associa-
tion of Sanitary and Environmental Engi-
neering (AIDIS) and the African Water
Going public – ers and workforces, which can lead to
misunderstandings or breakdowns, like
Association (AfWA), were mobilized and a Consumers in the major water contracts in La Paz-
El Alto, Dar-es-Salaam, and Buenos
now play an important role in this work.
A topic session devoted to ISO/TC 224 International Aires. Over 40 % of private water con-
activities, organized by AIDIS and ISO/
TC 224 will take place at the 4th World
viewpoint tracts are currently ‘distressed’ and pri-
vate investment is running at about half
of 1997 level, intensifying public skep-
Water Forum in Mexico in March 2006,
ticism over their suitability.
with presentations of successful local
action based on these draft or proposed Secondly, to achieve the Millen-
by Robin Simpson, Consumers
ISO guidelines. nium Development Goals, (see box on
These standards establish a general International representative to
page 34) represents a global commit-
framework, which responds to all existing ISO/TC 224, Drinking water and ment to putting the goals into practice.
situations, but which will require further wastewater services. There is a real worry that governments
development to meet local specifications may only meet 50% of the water and san-

and needs. ISO draft standards will be
tested in large cities in developing coun-
tries. One or several specific documents
of application for developing countries are
expected to be produced. The ISO suite of
standards for drinking water supply sys-
tems and wastewater supply services is
expected to be published in 2007.
T
here are essentially two reasons,
in my opinion, for the develop-
ment of a General Agreement on
public services (GAPS).
Firstly, to address imbalanc-
es between the global scale of some
funders and providers, such as compa-
nies, and bi- or multi-lateral donors and
the local scale of governance, consum-
itation goals, unless a more progressive
approach where everyone benefits from
some kind of improvement “some for all
not more for some” is undertaken.
There have been 11 UN declara-
tions since 1990 on the right to water,
but these need to be turned into practi-
cal steps, which is a reason for my par-
ISO Focus January 2006 35
Main Focus
ticipation in ISO/TC 224. Political com-
mitment is also required for implement-
ing guiding principles.
What about GATS ?
The World Trade Organization
(WTO) General Agreement on Trade in
Services (GATS) is restricted to cross-
border trade in services, and services
provided under government authority
are excluded (Art 1.3). The point where
GATS provisions and WTO rules govern-
ing government procurement overlap is
unclear. Concession contacts may come
under GATS while management contracts
would come under government procure-
ment rules, but this has yet to be tested.
GATS depend on “ positive listing ”1),
where governments choose which sec-
tors to offer up for commitments to lib-
eralizing, resulting in a limited impact.
No commitments have been made under
GATS for drinking water. There are some
1) Under a positive list, a sector is not included in
commitments unless it is specifically listed.
“ International Standards
must be developed for
water services.”
36 ISO Focus January 2006
commitments in sewerage but mainly in
engineering contracts and consultancy
rather than in service provision.
So what should a GAPS
include?
Consumers International has pub-
lished a document called “ Bridging the
Gaps ”, about its work to develop a new
international General Agreement on Pub-
lic Services (GAPS), together with a coa-
lition of civil society organizations.
Discussion of proposals for a
GAPS should include consideration of
the following :
• Signatories : the list could include
consumers, governments, funders (eg
multilateral or bilateral donors), work-
ers, investors and environmental pro-
tection etc. ; or should it be restricted
to governments ?
• Legal standing : options range from
moral commitments to increasingly
binding instruments like standards,
loan conditions, WTO reference
papers, etc. ;
Below are some ideas discussed in
Bridging the GAPS. We envisage that a
GAPS would attempt neither to impose
a structure of ownership nor of tariffs ;
• Priority on service extension as the
most effective way to help the poor ;
• Equitable management of supply,
where it exists ;
• Contracts for provision capable
of being understood by the world’s
illiterate population (one sixth of all
adults) ;
• Transparency and disclosure of
information for consumer education,
clear public reporting, trust-building
between service providers and the pub-
lic, protection against corruption, self-
reporting of information, since many
services are unsure of how they oper-
ate and spend their own resources.
A clear statement of fundamen-
tal consumer rights regarding water and
sanitation, electricity and telecommuni-
cations with the ultimate goal of promot-
ing universal service.
rsimpson@consint.org
bmartin@publicworld.org
www.gapscampaign.org
See www.consumersinternational.
org for a free copy of “ Bridging the
GAPS ”.
About the author
Robin Simpson
is Senior Policy
Adviser at Con-
sumers Interna-
tional – a feder-
ation of con-
sumer organiza-
tions with a
membership of
over 250 organi-
zations in 115 countries. He is a member
of ISO technical committee ISO/TC 224
and is involved in dialogues with busi-
nesses and trade unions in this sector,
including the multi-stakeholder ‘ scoping
review ’ of private sector participation in
the water industry. He is currently advis-
ing the World Bank and Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD) on utility issues.
 Service sectors turn
to standards

Can insight and governments, and make doing busi-

ness, virtually impossible.
be standardized ? Market research by
A new ISO Spend per capita the numbers
standard for Country
USD per capita Market research is a fast-grow-
market, opinion United Kingdom 39.86 ing global industry. By 2004, the indus-
try was worth USD 21.5 billion. This
and social Sweden 34.77 14% increase from the previous year of

research France
Switzerland
30.52
25.47
USD18.9 billion, represents an estimated
real growth of 7.5 %, when adjusted for
inflation and currency exchange. Market
Germany 25.26 expenditure per capita in the most devel-
USA 24.89 oped countries is above USD 30 billion.
by Enrique Domingo, Chair The United Kingdom heads the list with
Finland 24.63
of ISO/TC 225, Market, Opinion USD 39.86 (see Table 1). The distribu-
and Social Research Denmark 23.34 tion of market shares is highly concen-
Australia 23.11 trated at 86 % in Western Europe and

H
ow would our modern information North America (see Table 2), although
society, institutions and businesses Norway 21.48
growth is expected to be concentrated in
function without market research? New Zealand 20.87 developing markets (see Table 3).
In all its forms, market research contrib- Netherlands 20.81
utes to the functioning of modern life,
Ireland 19.87 “ This standard will be
from products we buy, to how we vote
and nearly every aspect of our behaviour Canada 16.96 a huge step towards
and thought processes. Belgium 15.83 repositioning this service
Individuals and organizations
Austria 13.2 sector.”
speak different languages. Market research
is a privileged feedback mechanism, Italy 11.68 It is also estimated that the top
which reveals the desires and preferences Spain 11.49 1 000 companies account for 80 % of
of consumers, and makes their opinions world expenditure, in terms of invest-
and motivations understandable to organ- Singapore 10.62 ment in market research. Three quarters
izations, thereby facilitating the interplay Japan 10.14 of projects are country-specific in scope,
between supply and demand. and international multi-country projects
Without this mechanism, deci- Table 1 : Top 20 countries with highest market account for 26 % of turnover.
sions based solely on intuition, for exam- research spent per capita. The number of research serv-
ple, would be too risky for companies Source : ESOMAR 2004 – Global Market Research Study ice suppliers in the industry is becoming
ISO Focus January 2006 37
 Expected
growth
Main Focus Country for
2005
%
2003 2004
Venezuela 30
Turnover in
USD million Share of Share of Argentina 25
Turnover and market share recalculated Turnover in
global global Russian Fed. 25
per region with 2004 USD million
market % market %
exchange rate Ukraine 20
15 European member 8 391 42 8 827 41.1 Poland 19
countries (EU) Turkey 17
New EU member 270 1.4 299 1.4 Kenya 15
countries
Lithuania 15
Other Europe 483 2.4 534 2.5 Mexico 15
Total Europe 9 144 45.7 9 660 44.9 Singapore 12.5
North America 7 173 35.9 7 853 36.5 Brazil 10
Central and South America 723 3.6 830 3.9 Cyprus 10
Asia Pacific 2 689 13.4 2 863 13.3 USA 9.5
Middle East & Africa 271 1.4 294 1.4 Slovenia 8

Total World 20 000 100 21 501 100 Czech Rep. 7.5

Estonia 7.5
Table 2 : Regional market shares at constant
2004 exchange rate
Slovakia 6
more concentrated, with the top 25 com-
Source : ESOMAR 2004 – Global Market Research Study panies accounting for 62 % of total turn- Bangladesh 5
over in 2004. El Salvador 5
“ The systematic
collection and Setting standards Hungary 5
treatment of market in the intangible world Latvia 5
data is used as Two dimensions intermix to make Nicaragua 5
feedback for sound the sector’s self-perception more com- Portugal 5
plex and difficult to deal with from a
decision-making.” standardization point of view. On the Romania 5
one hand, the systematic collection Spain 5
and treatment of market data is used
About the author as feedback for sound decision-mak- Germany 4
Enrique
ing (the control function). On the oth- Honduras 3.5
Domingo is er hand, the analysis and interpretation
of this feedback, in relation to the envi- Australia 3
Chair of ISO/TC
225, Market, ronmental or competitive circumstances Denmark 3
opinion and of the client’s activity, is used to gain
social research. insight, ideas and inspiration in order Italy 3
He is CEO of to find a better way forward (the inno- Japan 3
Synovate Iberia vation function).
and a member The latter is a critical and grow- Switzerland 3
of the Board and ing demand from the client, especial-
Vice President of EFAMRO. With a back-
Greece 2.5
ly when the discovery factor becomes
ground in political sciences and sociolo-
imperative to the continual and rapid Peru 2
gy, and an MBA from the Instituto de
Empresa, Mr. Domingo began his career consumption and dilution of new product Netherlands 0
in market research twenty years ago. He ideas, initiatives and information for the
is a member of several market research markets. This creative analysis phase of
associations and has published numerous each project is the key to the industry’s Table 3 : Growth expectations for 2005.
conference papers within the industry. successful delivery of its services. Source : ESOMAR 2004 - Global Market Research Study

38 ISO Focus January 2006


Building upon relevant
background
International self-regulation in market
research (MR) goes back more than 50
years with the appearance of the ICC/
ESOMAR Code of Conduct 1) after
World War II. Fully in line with this
tradition, an Interviewer Quality Con-
trol Scheme (IQCS) was developed in
the 1980s in the United Kingdom and
was at the heart of a first quality stand-
ard that began with British standard BS
7911:1998, Specification for organi-
zations conducting market research.
Various countries developed their own
national standards in parallel, but a
move towards an International Stand-
ard began with the introduction of the
first research quality management prin-
ciples set by EFAMRO 2) in the form
of a European market research quality
standard (EMRQS) in the late 1990s,
following a detailed study of all exist-
ing national standards.
With the full or partial adoption of the
standard by a number of countries,
EFAMRO proposed that an ISO Inter-
national Standard be developed based
on the EMRQS model. In its proposal
in 2001 to establish the technical com-
mittee, EFAMRO recommended that
AENOR, ISO’s member for Spain,
The creation of the new ISO Service sectors turn
standard for market opinion and social to standards
research is challenging for the indus-
try, which is repositioning itself around
knowledge management in order to
answer its own client’s expectations.
For some people, standardization con-
tradicts the intangible dimension of the
industry; however, the sector has been
able to develop ISO 20252 Market,
opinion and social research – Vocabu-
lary and service requirements, which
deals with all the factory elements of
our production processes, and is keen
to approve and implement it.
Market research is a global indus-
try with an increasing proportion of the
expenditure dedicated to multi-country
research projects. This International
Standard will enable research clients
and service providers to work with a
single consistent standard, rather than
with a mass of differing national ones.
It will create transparency, facilitate
harmonization of standards in devel-
oping countries, where a model will
be available immediately for imple-
mentation, and be a huge step forward
for the repositioning of this relevant
service sector.
© ISO

lead and provide the secretariat for TC

225. With the technical committee’s
business plan drawn up – explaining
the need for this International Stand- Best business
ard and what value it would bring to
the research service providers indus-
practice for market
try – ISO/TC 225, Market, opinion and and opinion
social research was established.
A series of intensive meetings following
research
the committee’s first plenary meeting
in Madrid, Spain, in July 2003, brought
together experts from all corners of by Erich Wiegand, German
the world that forged agreement on
delegate in ISO/TC 225, Market,
the contents of the first International
Standard for the industry. opinion and social research

Most recently, the committee has
established a new working group to
deal with the problems of Online and
internet access panels.
1) International Chamber of Commerce/
European Society for Market and Opinion
Research
2) European Federation of Associations of
Market Research Organizations
M
arket, opinion and social
research is now a global indus-
try with a rapidly increas-
ing proportion of the money spent on
research concerned with expenditure on
multi-country studies. Clients need to be
ISO Focus January 2006 39
Main Focus
able to evaluate the results of their stud-
ies when developing their market strate-
gies for the product and the services they
offer, and this is the reason for making
such studies (for the same client) in dif-
ferent countries.
The position and tradition of mar-
ket and opinion research, however, differ
from country to country. A major result-
ing benefit of the first ISO International
Standard for market, opinion and social
research – ISO 20252, Market, opinion
and social research – Vocabulary and
service requirements – will be to har-
monize the national standards already
in existence. It will unify the criteria of
the work procedures, establish the lev-
el of requirements of the service pro-
vision, and that the quality of work is
the same across countries. The stand-
ard is expected to become a milestone
for assuring and improving the research
quality in market and opinion research
worldwide.
Another benefit of the standard
is the added value it will give to devel-
oping countries. In developed countries
© ISO
points will help research agencies based
in these countries to overcome national
barriers and participate in the interna-
tional research business.
“ Market and opinion
research plays an
important role in the
economic, political and
social development of
modern information
societies.”
Market and opinion research agen-
cies face the problem that an increasing
number of studies are not commissioned
by research departments, but by the pur-
chasing departments of their clients. As a
consequence, the clients’ ability to assess
whether a certain research proposal is fit-
for-purpose and to understand the cor-
responding differences between vari-
ous research proposals, is decreasing.
The result is competition based purely
on price instead of competition, where
the quality, price and speed of research
are weighed up adequately.
Regardless of whether a research
agency is working in an international
or national context, a number of stake-
holders will benefit from ISO 20252. It
is envisaged to help a market and opin-
ion research agency improve its work,
increase efficiency in terms of how each
research step is carried out, and allow it
to provide its clients with an even bet-
ter quality research, for the same price
as before.
The future of market and opinion
research depends crucially on high-qual-
ity work and the corresponding awareness
of the research providers and clients. The
publication of the International Stand-
ard will greatly contribute to achieving
this goal by providing the best business
practice for the sector.

market and opinion research has become

a mature industry, while in a number
of developing countries this industry is
still in its infancy. In these countries an
International Standard will contribute
towards increasing professionalism of the
research industry as well as improving
the quality of the research. Both these

About the author

Erich Wiegand
is Head of the
German delega-
tion for ISO
technical com-
mittee ISO/TC
225, Market,
opinion and
social research,
as well as Chair
of the DIN Deutsches Institut für Normung
working group on service requirements
for market, opinion and social research.
He is also Managing Director of the Ger-
man Association of Market and Social
Research Organizations (ADM) and Pres-
ident of the European Federation of Asso-
ciations of Market Research Organisations A major benefit of the first ISO International Standard for market, opinion and social research will
(EFAMRO). be to harmonize the national standards already in existence.
.
40 ISO Focus January 2006
Developments and Initiatives
ISO offers systematic approach
to security management in global
supply chains
by Elizabeth Gasiorowski-Denis, Journalist, Editor of ISO Focus, ISO Central Secretariat

W
ith billions of dollars worth
of goods moving at any giv-
en time along global sup-
ply chains, the newly published ISO/
PAS 28000:2005 for security manage-
ment systems will help combat threats
to the safe and smooth flow of interna-
tional trade.
“ The publication of ISO/PAS
28000:2005 is a major security initia-
tive,” says Captain Charles Piersall,
Chair of the ISO technical commit-
tee ISO/TC 8, Ships and marine tech-
nology. “ It is designed to enable better
monitoring of freight flows, to combat
smuggling and to respond to the threat
of piracy and terrorist attacks as well as
to create a safe and secure international
supply chain regime.”
Supply chain describes an overall
process that results in goods being trans-
ported from the point of origin to final
destination and includes the movement
of the goods, the shipping data, and the
associated processes as well as the series
of dynamic relationships. It involves
many entities such as producers of the
goods, logistics management firms, con-
solidators, truckers, railroads, air carri-
ers, marine terminal operators, ocean
carriers, cargo/mode/customs agents,
financial and information services, and
buyers of the goods being shipped. For
example, a company may employ more
than one logistics firm, trucking com-
panies may subcontract to operators or
other companies, and vessel operating
companies may divert the cargo to oth-
er carriers for various reasons.
As security hazards can enter the
supply chain at any stage, adequate con-
trol throughout is essential. Security is
a joint responsibility of all the actors in

ISO Focus January 2006 41

Developments and Initiatives
the supply chain and requires their com-
bined efforts.
ISO/PAS 28000:2005, Specifi-
cation for security management sys-
tems for the supply chain, outlines the
requirements to enable an organiza-
tion to establish, implement, maintain
and improve a security management
system, including those aspects criti-
cal to security assurance of the supply
chain. These aspects include, but are
not limited to, financing, manufactur-
ing, information management and the
facilities for packing, storing and trans-
ferring goods between modes of trans-
port and locations.
ISO/PAS 28000:2005 can be used
by a broad range of organizations – small,
medium and large – in the manufactur-
ing, service, storage and transportation
sectors at any stage of the production or
supply chain. Its implementation will
reassure business partners that securi-
ty is taken seriously within the organi-
zations they deal with.
“ As security hazards
can enter the supply chain
at any stage, adequate
control throughout is
essential.”
ISO/PAS 28000:2005 integrates
the process-based approach of ISO’s
management system standards – ISO
9001:2000 and ISO 14001:2004 – includ-
ing the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA)
cycle and requirement for continual
improvement, as well as the risk manage-
ment elements of ISO 14001:2004.
While ISO/PAS 28000 can be
implemented on its own, it is designed to
be fully compatible with ISO 9001:2000
and ISO 14001:2004 and companies
already using these management sys-
tem standards may be able to use them
as a foundation for developing the secu-
rity management system of ISO/PAS
28000. To help users to do so, ISO/
PAS 28000 includes a table showing
the correspondence of its requirements
with those of ISO 9001:2000 and ISO
14001:2004.
“ISO/PAS 28000, completed in
less than one year, was truly remarkable
42 ISO Focus January 2006
and its success marks the deep spirit of sification Societies, the International
cooperation and energies of all stake- Innovative Trade Network, the World
holders,” further noted Captain Pier- Shipping Council, the Strategic Coun-
sall. “It was an extraordinary effort of cil on Security Technology, which has
cooperation and proves that standards a Memorandum of Understanding with
can and will be accomplished to meet ISO/TC 8, and the US-Israel Science
market needs ‘on time’.” and Technology Foundation.
ISO/PAS 28000:2005 is one of ISO/PAS 28000:2005 is avail-
several developments underway for able from ISO national member insti-
intermodal supply chain security being tutes and from ISO Central Secretariat.
undertaken by ISO/TC 8 that includes The new document is the work of ISO
the following documents: technical committee ISO/TC 8, Ships
and marine technology, in collaboration
• ISO/PAS 20858:2004, Ships and with other TCs responsible for specific
marine technology – Maritime port nodes of the supply chain.
facility security assessments and secu-
rity plan development, which was Note: An ISO/PAS (Publicly
published in June 2004, is designed Available Specification) is one of
to assist in the implementation of several alternatives to fully fledged
the International Maritime Organ- International Standards offered by
ization’s International Ship &Port ISO for cases where swift development
Security (ISPS) Code. and publication takes priority. All
• ISO/PAS 28001, Best practices for Publicly Available Specifications are
custody in supply chain security, will reviewed every three years to deter-
assist industry to meet best prac- mine if the document should be recon-
tices as outlined in the World Cus- firmed as a PAS for another three-year
toms Organization Framework. It is period or whether it should be further
developed to become an ISO Interna-
expected to be published in the sec-
ond quarter of 2006. tional Standard.
• ISO/PAS 28004, Security manage-
ment systems for the supply chain For more information:
– General guidelines on principles,
systems and supporting techniques,
will assist users of ISO 28000. It will
reference ISO 19011:2002, Guide-
lines for quality and/or environmental
management systems auditing, and
the future ISO/IEC 17021, Confor-
mity assessment – Requirements for
bodies providing audit and certifica-
tion of management systems.
ISO/PAS 28000 is the output of
ISO technical committee ISO/TC 8, CAPT. Charles H. Piersall
Ships and marine technology, in collab- Chair of ISO/TC 8
oration with other technical committee
Tel. + 717-252- 4222
chairs. Fourteen countries participated
Fax + 717-252-4223
in its development, together with several
E-mail amadis@olg.com
international organizations and regional
bodies. These included the International
Maritime Organization, the International
Association of Ports and Harbours, the
International Chamber of Shipping, the
World Customs Organization, the Bal-
tic and International Maritime Council,
the International Association of Clas-
New this month
ISO publishes
WorldSID :
the world's smartest
crash test dummy to
improve vehicle
design and increase
passenger safety
by Elizabeth Gasiorowski-Denis,
Journalist, Editor of ISO Focus,
ISO Central Secretariat
A
new suite of ISO standards is
now available to provide the auto-
motive industry with the most
advanced human crash test dummy for
improving vehicle design and increas-
ing passenger safety.
The new crash test dummy, known
as WorldSID (for World Side Impact
Dummy), was developed to allow a sin-
gle, universally-accepted test device to
be used for side impact testing in any
regulation around the world.
To ensure that the WorldSID is
available to the worldwide research com-
munity, the design details have been doc-
umented in ISO 15830:2005, which con-
sists of four parts under the general title,
Design and performance specifications for
a 50th percentile male side impact dummy
(WorldSID). This documentation, which
consists of nearly 500 pages plus 400 fab-
rication drawings and CAD files, includes
all of the design details, material specifica-
tions, and performance standards required
for the fabrication of the WorldSID.
Designed by hundreds of engineers
and scientists from over 45 organizations
in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas
with over 1 000 tests performed, World-
SID represents a major breakthrough in
worldwide harmonization of side impact
occupant protection.
Edmund Hautmann, European
Chair of the ISO task group oversee-
ing its development (ISO WorldSID
Task Group), explains its significance :
“WorldSID heralds a significant improve-
ment in the ability of crash dummies to
duplicate human motions and respons-
es in side impact tests – known as the
dummy’s biofidelity. It is the best of any
side impact crash dummy to date and far
exceeds that of others.
“ In addition, as a major benefit
of harmonization, introduction of a sin-
gle universal dummy into regulations
and consumer testing in all regions will
enable manufacturers to focus and coor-
dinate resources to improve worldwide
occupant safety, rather than engineer-
ing different safety designs for differ-
ent dummies.”
Developed by ISO technical com-
mittee ISO/TC 22, Road vehicles, sub-
committee SC 12, Passive safety crash
protection systems, working group WG 5,
Anthropomorphic test devices, the suite
of standards results from recent advances
in electronic miniaturization and micro
circuitry that provide the test engineer
with a wide range of sensors and date
recording instrumentation.
WorldSID’s 224 sensors capture
data more than 10 000 times per second
and store the information in special memo-
ry boards inside the dummy, making it the
most advanced (and probably the smart-
est) crash test dummy in the world.
Edmund Hautmann explains : “ No
matter how advanced and needed a tool
is, it must be available, repeatable, dura-
ble, and compatible with practical day-
to-day use. The WorldSID meets all such
requirements. In addition, users report
excellent ‘ user friendliness ’ of the dum-
my and good durability during both lab
and vehicle testing.”
This first-of-its-kind project was
funded by a worldwide consortium at a
cost of about USD 14 million and designed
by the ISO WorldSID Task Group, con-
sisting of experts from industry and gov-
ernments from three regional advisory
groups : Europe, Asia-Pacific and the
Americas. The Task Group is chaired,
in turn, by each of the chairpersons of
the three regional groups.
The standards are available from
ISO national member institutes and from
ISO Central Secretariat (sales@iso.org).
For more information :
Ken Wiley
WorldSID Program Manager
Principal Engineer
Dynamic Research, Inc.
E-mail KDW@DYNRES.COM
Tel . +1 310-212-5211
Fax +1 310-212-5046
ISO releases
new CD-ROM
of ISO 14000
environmental
management
standards
by Antoinette Price, Journalist,
ISO Central Secretariat
T
he collection on one CD-ROM
of the ISO 14000 standards for
environmental management is a
practical tool that ISO has developed to
meet the needs of businesses for a strate-
gic approach addressing all aspects of the
environmental challenges they face.
The CD-ROM contains 20 pub-
lished standards of the ISO 14000 fam-
ily, plus drafts nearing completion, and
ISO Guide 64:1997, which deals with
the inclusion of environmental aspects
in product standards.
The CD-ROM includes :
• ISO 14001:2004 and ISO 14004:2004
on, respectively, environmental man-
agement system requirements and gen-
eral guidelines, principles and system
support techniques ;
ISO Focus January 2006 43

• ISO 14050:2002 on the vocabulary used
in environmental management ;
• ISO 14015:2001 on the environmental
assessment of sites and organizations.
The new drafts include (ISO
14064 parts 1, 2 and 3) on greenhouse
gases (GHG). The underlying objec-
tive and principles for the development
of these standards are to support market
development by providing an auditable,
credible, standardized process for faster,
better, cheaper quantification and verifi-
cation while maintaining :
• Neutrality towards specific policies
and programmes ;
• Compatibility with the UNFCCC Kyoto
Protocol rules and provisions ; and,
• Compatibility with the WRI/WBCSD
GHG Protocol (Corporate and Proj-
ect).
ISO Secretary-General Alan
Bryden commented : “ The ISO 14000
series of standards offers a complete
tool box to address the various aspects
of environmental management. The new
CD-ROM contains its latest develop-
ments in a user friendly configuration,
including those related to the account-
ing and verification of GHG emissions.
It is a timely contribution to assisting in
meeting the challenges of sustainable
development.”
Other new drafts included are :
• ISO 14025 on environmental labels
and declarations ;
• ISO 14040 dealing with principles and
requirements for conducting and report-
ing life cycle assessment studies;
• ISO 14044 specifies requirements and
guidelines on life cycle assessment of
environmental aspects and their poten-
tial impacts throughout a product’s life
cycle ;
• ISO 14063, which gives organizations
guidance on general policies and strat-
egies with examples, to help improve
internal and external environmental
communication.
44 ISO Focus January 2006
New this month
Today, the management of envi-
ronmental aspects and impacts is a top
priority and has established itself as a
cornerstone of effective organizational
practice alongside the management of
quality, security, and health and safety
issues. ISO/TC 207 was established in
1993 and is the committee responsible
for developing the ISO 14000 series of
environmental management standards.
The ISO CD-ROM ISO 14000,
Environmental management, is available
from ISO national member institutes and
from ISO Central Secretariat.
For more information see www.
iso.org
ISO launches
work on
nanotechnology
standards
by Roger Frost, Press
and Communication Manager,
ISO Central Secretariat
T
he new ISO technical committee
established to develop Internation-
al Standards for nanotechnologies
has got off to a flying start with a produc-
tive first meeting at which it defined the
scope of its future tasks and agreed on
the initial structure for the work.
ISO/TC 229, Nanotechnolo-
gies, held its inaugural meeting on 9-11
November 2005 in London, hosted by the
ISO member for the United Kingdom,
the British Standards Institution (BSI),
which provides the Chair and Secretar-
iat of the new committee. The national
standards institutes of 24 ISO member
countries are participating, while anoth-
er eight have observer status.
Specific tasks before it include
developing standards for : terminology
and nomenclature; metrology and instru-
mentation, including specifications for
reference materials; test methodologies;
modelling and simulation; and science-
based health, safety, and environmen-
tal practices.
ISO Secretary-General Alan
Bryden commented: “The productive
and successful first meeting of ISO/
TC 229 augurs well for its future work
which will play a crucial role in facili-
tating and sharing innovation in an excit-
ing new field of technology.”
The committee tackled a full
working agenda, including agreement
on the following initial working group
(WG) structure:
– WG 1, Terminology and nomencla-
ture – convened by Canada ;
– WG 2, Measurement and character-
ization – convened by Japan ; and
– WG 3, Health, safety and environ-
ment – convened by the USA.
The committee also agreed on the
following scope for its work :
“ Standardization in the field of
nanotechnologies that includes either or
both of the following :
1. Understanding and control of matter
and processes at the nanoscale, typi-
cally, but not exclusively, below 100
nanometres in one or more dimen-
sions where the onset of size-depend-
ent phenomena usually enables novel
applications,
2. Utilizing the properties of nanoscale
materials that differ from the proper-
ties of individual atoms, molecules,
and bulk matter, to create improved
materials, devices, and systems that
exploit these new properties.”
Nanotechnology is the science
of engineering matter at the atomic and
molecular scale, about 10 000 times
smaller than the thickness of a human
hair. The global nanotechnology mar-
ket is expected to reach USD 29 bil-
lion by 2008.
Coming up
Main Focus
Innovation and standardization
Standards stimulate innovation and pro-
vide support for businesses from con-
cept to market. They have the power to
shape the way sectors work by sharing
knowledge and creating effective syn-
ergies that accelerate the speed to mar-
ket for products and services.
Standards contribute GBP 2.5 per annum
to the UK economy according to a new
study published by the Department of
Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Brit-
ish Standards Institution (BSI). Compa-
nies identified many reasons for using
standardization to encourage innova-
tion to achieve product and service dif-
ferentiation: knowledge transfer, cost
and risk reduction, faster time to mar-
ket, set expectations through high val-
ue innovations which then provide the
platform for further innovation.
The preferred strategy will depend on
market position, size of company, busi-
ness objectives and whether the compa-
ny has first-mover advantage. A good
example from the case studies is that
of Arup, a company which specializes
in designing business solutions, project
management and engineering consultan-
cy. Standardization is a key management
tool in their efforts to create differen-
tiation in the provision of high quality
information and consultancy.
In an exclusive interview in the Feb-
ruary 2006 issue of ISO Focus, Arup
Chair Terry Hill, explains how stand-
ards provide the platform of informa-
tion that then allows time for innova-
tion and creativity.
The issue brings together a portfolio of
articles where standards provide support
for innovation, from original concept
through to market, together with con-
crete examples illustrating how Inter-
national Standards help to reduce costs
and associated risks.
Articles cover such topics as radio fre-
quency identification (RFID) technology
and bar coding, digital and audio video,
ebXML, nanotechnologies, biometrics
and hydrogen technologies as well as
STEP – the standard for the exchange
of product model data.
The issue also reviews how creating and
applying standards when developing new
products allows a business to increase
speed to market, shape a new market,
create interoperability and focus devel-
opment on most valuable areas.
Developments and
Initiatives
ISO prevents misuse of its name on
Internet ISO has recently scored new
successes in its fight to prevent its
name being misused on the Internet to
mislead people into buying products or
services that they believe are endorsed
by ISO.
The article explains the ruling by the
Arbitration and Mediation Center of
WIPO (World Intellectual Property
Organization) that the following Internet
domain names, which had been regis-
tered by companies with no connection
to ISO, be transferred to ISO : iso1stop.
com, iso9000commerce.com, isoeasy.
com, isoeasy.org, isoeasy.info, isonet.
net and isotraining.net.
Why fine
ceramics ? –
examining
the need for
standards
Fine ceramics
are a class of
very important
materials, although seldom noticed by
the general public. They help most
things in life function (orthopedic joint
replacements, central heating pump
rotors, shower faucet), support most of
manufacturing industry in some way
(cutting tools, nozzles, paper making
equipment, coatings for tools and rolls),
our security (ballistic protection), and
our environment (water purifiers, cata-
lysts and catalyst supports), as well as
being the backbone of electronics (spark
plugs, insulating substrates).
This article explains the importance and
historical development of standards for
fine ceramics, including the work of ISO
technical committee ISO/TC 206.
Information Management Security
Systems Organizations that do not
take the appropriate measures to ensure
flawless information security can expect
increased financial losses and disrupted
business operations. Thanks to the new-
ly published, ISO/IEC 27001:2005 for
information security management sys-
tems, existing gaps can be filled and
future risks avoided.
The coming edition takes an in-depth
look at this new standard and how it will
strengthen an organization’s information
security system to ensure its users an effi-
cient and safe working environment.
ISO Focus January 2006
Fight fires

before they break out.

ISO/IEC 27001:2005.
The systematic approach to managing information security.
People. Processes. Information Technology.

www.iso.org
www.iso.org
sales@iso.org