ISO confirms international standard on social responsibility.

Press Release Summary:



ISO has announced that ISO 26000, Guidance on Social Responsibility, has been confirmed and registered as Final Draft International Standard. This is the final stage in development of ISO standard before it is published as ISO International Standard. ISO 26000 is intended to assist in ushering companies, government agencies, and other organizations toward more sustainable global economy by establishing common guidance on social responsibility concepts, definitions, and methods of evaluation.



Original Press Release:



ISO Confirms International Standard on Social Responsibility as Final Draft



The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has announced that ISO 26000, Guidance on social responsibility, has been confirmed and registered as a Final Draft International Standard (FDIS). This is the final stage in the development of an ISO standard before it is published as an ISO International Standard.

ISO 26000 is intended to assist in ushering companies, government agencies, and other organizations toward a more sustainable global economy by establishing common guidance on social responsibility concepts, definitions, and methods of evaluation.

In mid-February, ISO's national standards body (NSB) members voted in favor of moving the Draft International Standard (DIS) version of ISO 26000 to FDIS status. At that point leadership of the ISO Working Group (WG) on Social Responsibility (ISO SR) reviewed the views and comments of the 42 international liaison organizations participating in the WG. This review process resulted in the confirmation that support is strong enough for ISO 26000 to be registered as ISO/FDIS 26000.

ISO SR will now focus on addressing the 2,650 comments received from ISO members and liaison organizations during the voting process to further increase the level of consensus and the quality of the document. The WG's drafting task force will prepare proposed ways to address the key topics identified, to be discusses at the ISO SR's next meeting in Copenhagen in May 2010. With those issues addressed, a revised document will then be finalized and circulated for a two-month ballot. If that vote is positive, ISO 26000 will likely be published as an International Standard by the end of 2010.

ISO SR is made up of experts from 94 ISO member countries, plus 42 participating liaison organizations including inter-governmental and non-governmental associations representing business, industry, society, and consumers. These organizations do not have voting rights, but have actively and directly participated in developing ISO 26000 and commenting on the document.

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI)-accredited U.S. Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to ISO SR is administered by the American Society for Quality (ASQ). In this capacity, ASQ staff provides administrative facilitation for all aspects of the TAG's work.

For more information, contact Steven P. Cornish, ANSI senior director for international policy (scornish@ansi.org).

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