PROPOSED UNDERSTANDING ON MTO-ISO STANDARDS INFORMATION SYSTEM

      Ministers recommend that the MTO Secretariat reach an understanding 
with the ISO to establish an information system under which:

      1.   ISONET members shall transmit to the ISO/IEC Information Centre 
           in Geneva the notifications referred to in paragraphs C and J of 
           the Code of good practice for the preparation, adoption and 
           application of standards in Annex 3 to the Agreement on Technical 
           Barriers to Trade, in the manner indicated there;

      2.   the following (alpha)numeric classification systems shall be used 
           in the work programmes mentioned above:

           (a)   a standards classification system which would allow 
                 standardizing bodies to give for each standard mentioned in 
                 the work programme an (alpha)numeric indication of the 
                 subject matter;

           (b)   a stage code system which would allow standardizing bodies 
                 to give for each standard mentioned in the work programme 
                 in paragraph J of Annex 3 an (alpha)numeric indication of 
                 the stage of development of the standard;  for this 
                 purpose, at least five stages of development should be 
                 distinguished:  (1) the stage at which the decision to 
                 develop a standard has been taken, but technical work has 
                 not yet begun;  (2) the stage at which technical work has 
                 begun, but the period for the submission of comments has 
                 not yet started;  (3) the stage at which the period for the 
                 submission of comments has started, but has not yet been 
                 completed;  (4) the stage at which the period for the 
                 submission of comments has been completed, but the standard 
                 has not yet been adopted;  and (5) the stage at which the 
                 standard has been adopted;

           (c)   an identification system covering all international 
                 standards which would allow standardizing bodies to give 
                 for each standard mentioned in the work programme an 
                 (alpha)numeric indication of the international standard(s) 
                 used as a basis;

      3.   the ISO/IEC Information Centre shall promptly convey to the MTO 
           Secretariat copies of any notifications referred to in paragraph 
           C of the Code of good practice;

      4.   the ISO/IEC Information Centre shall regularly publish the 
           information received in the notifications made to it under 
           paragraphs C and J of the Code of good practice;  this 
           publication, for which a reasonable fee may be charged, shall be 
           available to ISONET members and through the MTO Secretariat, to 
           the Members of the MTO.