ISO/CASCO initiates the revision of the international standard "Conformity Assessment Good Practice Guidelines"

Recently, the domestic counterpart working group of ISO/CASCO Working Group 56 (WG56) held its first meeting via online conference to discuss the draft committee draft (CD) of the revised ISO/IEC 17060 "Conformity Assessment - Good Practice Guidelines" and reached a consensus on how to input China's experience into the international standard revision working group.

Globally consistent conformity assessment procedures and systems are increasingly accepted as an effective tool to promote international trade development. Using unified international standards for conformity assessment helps eliminate trade barriers, reduce corporate burdens, promote market competition, and build confidence among all social parties. ISO/IEC Guide 60 "Conformity Assessment - Good Practice Guidelines" first edition was published in 2004. This standard has been referenced by many countries and international organizations, including the World Trade Organization (WTO) Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreement. The standard is positioned as a top-level standard in the conformity assessment field, covering all areas of conformity assessment. It provides an overview of various principles and good practices in conformity assessment, aiming to promote openness, transparency, fairness, confidentiality, consistency, and effectiveness in conformity assessment work. China adopted it as a recommended national standard GB/T 27060-2006 "Conformity Assessment - Good Practice Guidelines" in 2006. The main reason for this revision is that the standard was published a long time ago (2004), and the content needs updating to reflect the current status of the conformity assessment field, maintain coordination with related standards to preserve its influence, and strive to provide more useful guidance for conformity assessment users.

ISO/CASCO Working Group 56 (WG56) is responsible for the revision of the international standard ISO/IEC Guide 60 "Conformity Assessment - Good Practice Guidelines." The National Certification and Accreditation Standardization Technical Committee (SAC/TC261), as the domestic counterpart technical committee of ISO/CASCO, recommended experts to participate in the WG56 international standard revision working group and officially established the ISO/CASCO/WG56 domestic counterpart working group in August 2020. The revised standard number will be adjusted to ISO/IEC 17060, with the name remaining "Conformity Assessment - Good Practice Guidelines." The domestic counterpart working group will continue to track the work at all stages of the international standard revision. According to the current project progress announced by ISO/CASCO, the standard will be published in June 2022.

The National Certification and Accreditation Standardization Technical Committee (SAC/TC261) is mainly responsible for the formulation and revision of national standards in the field of certification and accreditation, corresponding to the International Organization for Standardization Conformity Assessment Committee (ISO/CASCO), with its secretariat located at the China Certification and Accreditation Association. Up to now, SAC/TC261 has managed the release of 77 national standards, with 36 standards being 100% identical adoptions of ISO/CASCO standards.