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International items of interest for August 2015 are as follows:

1. WTO: Ninety sessions are to be held at 2015 Public Forum from 30 Sept to 2 Oct More>>

2. WTO: Nicaragua has become the 11

th WTO member to ratify the new Trade Facilitation Agreement More>>

3. CEN, CENELEC and ETSI exchanged Q&A documents with their US counterpart ANSI More>>

ISO items of interest for August 2015 are as follows: 1. A conference on using and referencing international standards to support public policy will be held on 2 Nov 2015 More>> 2. ISO 21504:2015 Project, program and portfolio management—Guidance on portfolio management is published

More>> 3. ISO celebrated 2015 World Standards Cooperation (WSC) Academic Day on 26 August 2015 More>> 4. ISO 4217:2015 Codes for the representation of currencies is now published More>> 5. ISO 52000-1 Energy performance of buildings—Overarching EPB assessment, Part 1: General framework and procedures has reached DIS stage More>>

6. ISO 24518:2015 Activities relating to drinking water and wastewater services—Crisis management of water utilities has been published More>>

IEC items of interest for August 2015 are as follows:

1. Four Australian recipients of the IEC 1906 Award More>> 2. New IRENA platform supports renewable energy innovation, quality and collaboration More>> 3. The 9

th Energy Storage World Forum will be held in Sydney, Australia on 14-17 September More>>

4. New IEC Public Commenting service goes live on 1

st September More>>

General items of interest for August 2015 are as follows:

1. Updates to SG-015 Australian Involvement in International Standardisation and information on the nomination and funding application process to attend international meetings More>>

August 2015

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International

1. WTO: Ninety sessions are to be held at the 2015 Public Forum

A total of 90 sessions will be held at the 2015 WTO Public Forum from 30 September to 2 October at

the WTO’s headquarters in Geneva. Entitled “Trade Works”, the Forum will focus on how and why trade

works, and for whom.

The sessions will be organized by a wide range of participants, including WTO members, businesses,

non-governmental organizations, academia, law firms and international organizations. Topics for debate

include how trade can help reduce economic gaps between developed and developing countries, how

trade provides legal guarantees for traders, how trade fosters global integration, and how intellectual

property rights function for global trade.

The Forum will also feature two high-level plenary debates on 30 September. For the first time, a

women-only panel will open the Public Forum to discuss “Making Trade Work More Inclusively”. The

debate will look at how international trade can close the gaps between countries, how trade contributes

to socio-economic development, and how trade policy should be shaped at the multilateral level.

In the second plenary debate, entitled “Making Trade Work for Business”, the speakers will exchange

views on how trade policy should be used to address global challenges, how trade can work better and

where the WTO can do more for the private sector, now and in the next 20 years.

The Forum will feature a number of book launches associated with the WTO's 20th anniversary.

All participants must complete an online application form available on the Public Forum website:

www.wto.org/pf15. Registration will remain open until 20 September 2015.

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2. WTO: Nicaragua ratifies Trade Facilitation Agreement

Nicaragua has become the 11th WTO member to ratify the new Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA). The

newly appointed Nicaraguan ambassador to the WTO, Hernán Estrada Román, presented the

instrument of acceptance of the TFA to the Director-General, Roberto Azevêdo on August 4th

.

The TFA will only enter into force once two-thirds of the WTO membership has formally accepted the

Agreement. In addition to Nicaragua, the following members have ratified the Agreement: Trinidad and

Tobago, the Republic of Korea, Hong Kong China, Singapore, the United States, Mauritius, Malaysia,

Japan, Australia and Botswana.

Concluded at the WTO’s 2013 Bali Ministerial Conference, the TFA contains provisions for expediting

the movement, release and clearance of goods, including goods in transit. It also sets out measures for

effective cooperation between customs and other appropriate authorities on trade facilitation and

customs compliance issues. It further contains provisions for technical assistance and capacity building

in this area.

The TFA broke new ground for developing and least-developed countries in the way it will be

implemented. For the first time in WTO history, the requirement to implement the Agreement was

directly linked to the capacity of the country to do so. In addition, the Agreement states that assistance

and support should be provided to help them achieve that capacity.

A Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility (TFAF) was also created at the request of developing and least-

developed country members to help ensure that they receive the assistance needed to reap the full

benefits of the TFA and to support the ultimate goal of full implementation of the new agreement by all

members.

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3. CEN, CENELEC and ETSI exchange Q&A documents with ANSI Moving forward in their continued efforts to foster transatlantic cooperation in standardization matters,

CEN, CENELEC, ETSI (the ESOs) and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) are releasing

new deliverables aiming to facilitate a better understanding of the workings of their respective systems:

Questions and Answers about the US standardization system (pdf format)

ftp://ftp.cencenelec.eu/CEN/News/Headlines/Brief/QA-US-system-072115.pdf

This working document presents a list of questions prepared by the three European Standardization

Organizations (ESOs) – CEN, CENELEC, and ETSI – in order to gain a better understanding of the U.S.

standardization system. It was developed in the framework of the discussion between the ESOs and

ANSI about a possible formalization of their cooperation.

Questions and Answers about the European standardization system (pdf format)

ftp://ftp.cencenelec.eu/CEN/News/Headlines/Brief/ANSI-CEN-CENELEC-

ETSI_Q%26As_ESS_Updated_June2015.pdf

In support of continued education and awareness of the standards systems supporting the US and the

EU, ANSI and the European Standardization Organizations (CEN, CENELEC and ETSI) offered to

answer questions posed by the other side on their respective systems. This document contains those

Questions and Answers.

The intent of this initiative is to facilitate a better understanding of the workings of each system, in

particular the main principles and policies underpinning market-led standardization in Europe and the

US, and to help guide the reader to sources of additional information. Accordingly, it will be a “living

document,” with new questions being added if and when they are posed by the constituents in one

region or the other.

This initiative is a logical new step in the longstanding dialogue between the ESOs and ANSI, initiated

about 25 years ago. The documents may be updated in the future to cover additional points raised in the

context of the ongoing ESOs-ANSI cooperation.

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ISO 1. Conference on Using and referencing international standards to support public policy An international conference on using and referencing international standards to support public policy,

hosted by UNECE is to be held at the UN Headquarters in Geneva on 2 November. On 3 November, a

half-day training course, hosted by ISO, is to be held at the ISO Central Secretariat offices in Geneva.

The conference intends to show the ways in which International Standards can support public policy

goals. It will cover how to reference standards in regulations, how standards can help implement policy

commitments taken at the global level (e.g. sustainability, resilience and development goals), and much

more.

This is a unique opportunity to connect national and international policymakers with standards

developers, in order to share experience and best practices.

2. ISO 21504:2015

ISO 21504:2015 Project, program and portfolio management—Guidance on portfolio management is

now published. It provides guidance on the principles of project and programme portfolio management,

which is relevant to any type of organization including public or private and any size organization or

sector.

The guidance presented in ISO 21504:2015 is intended to be adapted to suit the specific environment of

the project and programme portfolio.

Miles Shepherd, Chair of ISO/TC 258, explains the intension of this standard: “We need an International

Standard to draw attention to global best practice. ISO brings together subject matter experts from

countries around the world, so that they can agree and put together the best guidance. ISO standards

give both credibility and confidence."

What’s unique about the standard is that it will help an organization make sure that it is ready to

implement a portfolio, as well as manage it. Its principled-based approach (as opposed to process-

based) provides added flexibility so that organizations of all types and sizes can easily use it.

The ISO/TC 258 secretariat is managed by the ISO member for the USA, ANSI. ISO 21504 is part of a

wider family of standards for project, programme and portfolio managers, including ISO 21500 on

project management and ISO 21503 on programme management.

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3. World Standards Cooperation (WSC) Academic Day

ISO celebrated World Standards Cooperation (WSC) Academic Day on 26 August 2015. The theme for

this year’s WSC Academic Day was ‘Knowledge of Standards: The Added Value’. It was hosted by the

Korean Standards Association (KSA) and the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS) in

Seoul, Republic of Korea. As in previous years, the event was held in conjunction with the International

Cooperation for Education about Standardization (ICES) workshop.

The World Standards Cooperation (WSC) was established in 2001 by the International Organization for

Standardization (ISO), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and the International

Telecommunication Union (ITU), in order to strengthen and advance the voluntary consensus-based

international standards systems of, ISO, IEC and ITU.

Since 2010, the WSC Academic Day has been conceived by ISO, IEC and ITU as an annual

appointment to promote dialogue between universities and the international standards community, to

raise awareness and to foster cooperation and joint initiatives.

The central theme covered by the WSC Academic Day 2015 concerns the added value that knowledge

of standards and standardization brings to professions. Speakers and panelists from standards bodies,

universities and other organizations presented different perspectives, inviting all participants to

contribute to the discussion by sharing experiences, lessons learned and recommendations.

Participants received the annual progress report on the relationships between standards organizations

and academia.

4. ISO 4217:2015

ISO 4217:2015 Codes for the representation of currencies is now published. It specifies the structure for

a three-letter alphabetic code and an equivalent three-digit numeric code for the representation of

currencies. For those currencies having minor units, it also shows the decimal relationship between

such units and the currency itself.

The scope of this International Standard also includes funds and precious metals. It is intended for use

in any application of trade, commerce and banking, where currencies and, where appropriate, funds are

required to be described. It is designed to be equally suitable for manual users and for those employing

automated systems.

ISO 4217 codes—such as USD for the US dollar and CHF for the Swiss franc—are essential for

avoiding any confusion that can arise with translated currency names or unclear symbols, including on

airline tickets and international train tickets.

The recent review of the standard was undertaken by ISO technical committee, ISO/TC 68/SC 7, which

is led by AFNOR, ISO's member in France, with SNV as convenor. It addressed a number of issues,

including those related to the ever-increasing number of applications for new currencies and improving

efficiencies.

The new standard states that only applications from central banks or other government authorities will

be processed, as opposed to the previous version that allowed applications from private organizations.

This means that the new standard applies only to 'sovereign money', i.e. that issues by a state authority,

and no longer includes codes requested by private companies whose currency can never be recognized

as legal tender.

In addition, its scope now focuses purely on the methods for defining a code and not the codes

themselves; therefore, the list of currencies and the guidelines have been removed to avoid any

confusion. They are still, however, available from the maintenance agency.

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5. ISO 52000-1 has reached DIS stage

ISO 52000-1 Energy performance of buildings—Overarching EPB assessment, Part 1: General

framework and procedures has reached DIS stage.

Energy expenditures account for around 40% of a building’s total operating costs. The ISO 52000 series

of standards will enable to assess the overall energy performance of a building. This means that any

combination of technologies can be used to reach the intended energy performance level, at the lowest

cost.

Due to this 'competition' between different technologies, the holistic approach is a key driver for

technological innovation and change. In general, the holistic approach means that the energy

performance is assessed as the total energy used for heating, cooling, lighting, ventilation, domestic hot

water, and, in some cases, appliances.

Countries using the approach for several years—take, for instance, the Netherlands—have experienced

large scale implementation and cost savings on a variety of new technologies. This includes thermal

insulation concepts, windows, heating, cooling, lighting, ventilation or domestic hot-water systems,

building automation and control, and renewable energy sources.

The energy assessment of buildings is carried out for various purposes, such as:

Judging compliance with building regulations expressed in terms of limited energy use or a related

quantity;

Increasing transparency in real-estate transactions through an energy performance certification

and/or display of the level of energy;

Monitoring the energy efficiency of the building and its technical building systems; and

Helping to plan retrofit measures through predicting energy savings that would result from various

actions.

One of the main purposes of the EPB standards is to enable their use in laws and regulations and, in

some cases, make them compulsory. This has led to the development of a systematic, clear,

comprehensive and unambiguous set of energy performance procedures.

What’s more, differences in national and regional climate, culture and building tradition, as well as policy

and legal frameworks are taken into account. Different options are given for procedures, input data and

boundary conditions. For each option, a clear template is provided that can be used to tailor the energy

performance assessment to a specific situation. An informative ("default") set of choices is also

suggested.

Finally, the modular structure set out by the EPB standards maximizes the possibilities for a step-by-

step implementation at the national or regional levels. Different policy priorities and practical constraints

may need to be balanced out on a case-by-case basis. This includes taking into account well-

established existing practices and procedures, at least during a transition period.

The ISO 52000 series is being developed in close collaboration with the European Committee for

Standardization (CEN) and other standards organizations (e.g. ASHRAE). In Europe, the EPB

standards are being developed to support national implementation of the Energy Performance of

Buildings Directive (EPBD).

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6. ISO 24518:2015 Water crisis management published

ISO 24518:2015 Activities relating to drinking water and wastewater services—Crisis management of

water utilities has recently been published. It provides general guidance to water utilities to develop and

implement a crisis management system.

Lack of potable water can become a huge problem in an emergency. Similarly, safely removing and

disposing of sanitary wastewater and drainage storm water is vital to prevent epidemics, general

contamination of people and the environment, and urban flooding. ISO 24518 will help water utilities to

ensure adequate quantity and quality of water supply, sanitation, operation of supply and sewage

systems, and response and recovery in emergencies.

The new standard lists the steps utilities have to take in order to be ready for any crisis situation. It also

looks at what to do during an emergency, and how to re-establish services and learn from the situation.

It outlines the fundamentals of a crisis management system using the Plan-Do-Check-Act approach to

prepare water utilities so they can:

cope with crisis situations to be able to ensure water supply and the removal and treatment of

wastewater;

cooperate with all the authorities concerned;

consider the natural environment as well as the impact on the health and well-being of the

population; and

effectively communicate with the public to mitigate or prevent panic.

ISO 24518 can be used by water authorities and departments at various levels, water corporations and

other bodies dealing with water supply, crisis management organizations, water engineers and

consultants. It has recommendations for water utilities and examples of relevant national authorities’

experience in crisis management.

The standard was developed by ISO technical committee ISO/TC 224 on service activities relating to

drinking water supply systems and wastewater systems. It is the first international standard on crisis

management in water utilities.

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IEC 1. Australian recipients of the IEC 1906 Award The IEC 1906 award was established in commemoration of the foundation of IEC and honours technical

experts around the world whose work is fundamental to the IEC.

For the 2015 nominations, TC chairmen and secretaries and Conformity Assessment (CA) System

chairmen were invited to send names of candidates for the award by the end of March 2015. Nominees

were chosen by TC officers taking into account advice from subcommittee officers and by CA system

chairmen. TC officers could nominate up to five experts per TC including project leaders and working

group conveners, and CA system chairmen – up to five experts per system including its sub-groups.

A total of 142 experts from 49 technical committees (ISO/IEC JTC 1 included) and 15 experts from 4 CA

systems, from 21 National Committees, have been nominated to receive this year’s 1906 Award, which

recognizes exceptional recent achievements related to the activities of the IEC and which contribute in a

significant way to advancing the work of the Commission.

Congratulations to the four Australian recipients of the 1906 Award from TCs and from CA system. They

are as follows:

Expert nominated by TC Dependency

Jean Cross 56 AU

Adam Murdoch 61 AU

Keith Jones 100 AU

Max Carstedt 121 AU

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2. New IRENA platform supports renewable energy innovation, quality and collaboration

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is mandated as the global hub for renewable

energy cooperation and information exchange by 141 Members (140 States and the European Union).

Roughly 31 additional countries are in the accession process and actively engaged. IRENA promotes

the widespread adoption and sustainable use of all forms of renewable energy, including bioenergy,

geothermal, hydropower, ocean, solar and wind energy in the pursuit of sustainable development,

energy access, energy security and low-carbon economic growth and prosperity.

Policy makers and other energy sector players can now access the world’s largest collection of global

renewable energy standards and patents, thanks to a new online platform launched in August by the

International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The International Standards and Patents in

Renewable Energy platform, also known as INSPIRE, is the first and most complete solution of its kind,

helping users search through, locate and analyse 400 international standards and more than 2 million

patents for renewable energy technology.

“The INSPIRE platform provides insight on where renewable energy technology is developing the

quickest, and which countries and companies are active in which technologies,” said IRENA Director-

General Adnan Z. Amin. “It consolidates vast collections of renewable energy patents and standards,

which can foster collaboration between innovators, spur improvement through product comparison and

benchmarking and help identify partners, matching domestic energy needs to innovative energy

solutions.”

Thanks to collaboration between IRENA, the European Patent Office (EPO) and the International

Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the INSPIRE platform has multiple functionalities. The standards

section enables users to search through a database of more than 400 internationally used standards

and generate reports as needed. It also explains what standards are, how they can be used and why

they are important for quality assurance, investor confidence and technology trading. The patents

section houses the world’s most comprehensive global patent database for carbon mitigation

technologies, the EPO’s PATSTAT, which contains nearly two million patent documents.

The combination of resources on INSPIRE will help users analyse various aspects of renewable energy

policy and innovation. It can help indicate the effectiveness of policies to promote renewable energy

innovation through the analysis of trends in patent activity. Users can also perform metadata analysis of

technology trends, comparing development within, or between, different technologies. For example, the

number of patents filed for renewable energy technology has increased annually by more than 20% in

recent years, while the average increase for other technologies is around 6%.

“By linking the technical information in IEC International Standards to practical applications in renewable

energy, INSPIRE will be a precious resource for energy regulators,” said IEC General Secretary CEO

Frans Vreeswijk. “It will assist policy makers in finding relevant international standards faster and more

efficiently. It will also help educate stakeholders about the strategic role of international standards and

conformity assessment for the cost-efficient expansion of renewable energy generation.”

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3 The 9th Energy Storage World Forum will be held in Sydney, Australia

The 9th

Energy Storage World Forum will be held in Sydney, Australia from 14 to 17 September. Global

industry experts will discuss the business case for solar with energy storage, introducing renewables

and maintaining power quality, mapping projects and deployments worldwide, choosing the ideal mix of

energy storage technologies and more.

The Energy Storage World Forum was the first 3-day dedicated conference on stationary storage to

take place in Europe and in Asia since 2010. Over 2000 delegates (in total) and a total of 340 speakers,

including more than 80 different utilities/TSOs/DSOs/DNOs from 28 countries attended the past seven

Energy Storage World Forums. These events took place in Beijing, Tokyo, Berlin, Paris, Barcelona,

Rome and London bringing together an international array of speakers combined with local knowledge.

4. New IEC Public Commenting service goes live on 1st September The global launch of the IEC Public Commenting service is planned for September 1

st. This new service

will give IEC National Committees an additional method for outreach to stakeholders in their territories

and to encourage more national input to IEC drafts.

IEC Public Commenting will allow anyone to create an account on the IEC website giving them the

ability to view and comment on IEC CDV drafts. Comments will automatically be submitted to the

appropriate National Committee (determined by the commenter’s country) and NCs can then decide

whether to share these comments with IEC national mirror committees. Commenters could be contacted

and invited to participate actively in the national standardization work.

More information is available at: http://itnet.iec.ch/public-commenting/

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General 1. An updated SG-015 and Guide Standards Australia has recently released an updated SG-015 Australian Involvement in International Standardisation. Updates have been made to ensure the guide is up-to-date and current with ISO and IEC requirements and also to better reflect SA’s current operations. The main changes are as follows:

Clause 4.2 was update to reference Systems Committees which now operate within IEC.

Clause 6.2 was updated to reflect recent changes made to the ISO/IEC Directives regarding downgrading of membership for members who fail to vote on drafts.

Annex A was updated to include information about attendance by delegates via online videoconference/ teleconference (Clause A.2.7).

Annex C was updated to remove the table showing timeframes on international deliverables as it was out of date.

References to the new Guide for nomination and funding application process to attend international meetings have also been included which allowed the deletion of Annex B as it was a duplication.

A new ‘Guide to the nomination and funding application process to attend international meetings’ has also been published. This guide replaces SDO Procedure 3 (and Annex B of SG-015). This guide provides information to National Mirror Committees on the application process for a delegate to attend an ISO or IEC meeting and guidelines on the provision of subsidies under the Support for Industry Service Organisations (SISO) Scheme. Updated information about the application of GST to these subsidies has also been included. The template provided by Standards Australia for delegates to use when preparing their reports on international standardisation meetings attended has also been updated for easier use. The following documents are located on our website at http://www.standards.org.au/InternationalEngagement/Coordination_and_Information/Pages/default.aspx:

SG-015: Australian Involvement in International Standardisation

Guide to nomination and funding application process to attend international meetings

International Delegates Meeting Report Template