(ISO: Geneva) -- Any organization may claim to have developed a standard, but “not all standards are created equal,” according to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in a new brochure clarifying the distinctions between international standards of the type developed by the ISO system, using well described and accepted principles and disciplines, and private standards developed by industry consortia and other groups.

The context for the brochure, “International Standards and ‘private standards,’” is the concern regarding the potential for increasing numbers of private standards for creating technical barriers to trade and confusion in the marketplace as to which standards should be used.

The ISO warns that the existence of a growing number of private standards in such fields as information and communication technologies, agri-food, and on social and environmental issues, may ultimately confuse users and consumers, thereby diminishing their important market, safety, social, or environmental effect.

“In addition, claims of conformance, using potentially inconsistent methodologies for their assessment, may also undermine the intended impacts of such private standards,” notes ISO. 

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