(ANSI: New York) -- The Association Française de Normalisation (AFNOR) has submitted a new work item proposal to the International Organization for Standardization for a standard on performance requirements for purpose-built anticounterfeiting tools. As the U.S. member body to ISO, the American National Standards Institute invites all interested stakeholders to submit comments by August 1, 2008.

AFNOR’s proposed project seeks to specify performance objectives for anticounterfeiting systems. The standard would strive to achieve market transparency regarding the reliability and robustness of these systems, and would facilitate integration and processing of anticounterfeiting measures in product design.

The standard proposed would address a number of performance requirements for anticounterfeiting systems, including:

• Data acquisition, data processing, and data storage
• Interoperability systems and subsystems dedicated to protection against counterfeiting
• Capability to facilitate controls in any circumstance, location, and condition of usage, without generating specific constraints
• Authorization and monitoring of data access for different actors concerned
• A high level of reliability to all interested actors
• Specific requirements for security, including a tracking process

AFNOR intends that the standard will give users the means to evaluate systems dedicated to preventing the counterfeiting of products, while also allowing vendors of anticounterfeiting systems to improve their products with respect to intellectual property rights, regulations against counterfeiting, and the needs of legal authorities.

The proposed standard will be applicable to all stages of a product’s life cycle, and will be relevant to any industry sector. Standardization related to specific technologies such as RFID, optical devices, and DNA fall outside the scope of this proposal.

Comments received by the August 1 deadline will be compiled for consideration by the ANSI Identity Theft Standards Panel (IDSP). The Panel will develop a recommended position and comments, which will then be presented to the ANSI ISO Council (AIC) for formal approval.

Click here to read the AFNOR proposal.

For more information, visit http://www.ansi.org/news_publications/news_story.aspx?menuid=7&articlei….