The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has submitted a proposal for a new field of activity on vape and vapor products. As the U.S. member body to ISO, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) invites all interested stakeholders to submit comments on the proposal by the end of the business day on Friday, August 14, 2015.
The new work item proposal, submitted by AFNOR, the Organization of the French Standardization System, notes that the work program would focus on the following:
The development of ISO standards on vapor products (devices and consumables) and emissions during use;
The development of ISO standards on general terminology; and
Other deliverables and work addressing risks related to the use of vapor products in view of the safety of the user and surrounding persons.
"Vape" or vapor products—an emerging technical and economic field—refers to devices used to transform consumables (which include liquids and gels composed of glycerol and propylene glycol) into an inhalable aerosol, and also refers to the e-liquids intended for transformation into an aerosol. This encompasses a wide range of devices including electronic cigarettes, e-cigars, e-pipes, and e-chichas, which may be disposable or refillable by means of a refill container and a tank, or rechargeable with single-use cartridges.
The proposal emphasizes that some of the stakeholders on the new Technical Committee (TC) may intersect with some of those already involved in ISO TC 126, Tobacco and tobacco products, though AFNOR acknowledges that the vaping community is widely distinct from the tobacco companies in the countries where the practice of vaping is common.
The views of AFNOR and ISO TC 126 leadership regarding potential overlaps between the new proposal and the work of the current committee are documented in the proposal. Interested parties are invited to review the proposal here and submit comments to Steven Cornish, ANSI director of international policy ([email protected] ), by Friday, August 14, 2015.
All comments received will be compiled and used in the development of a recommended ANSI position and comments on this proposal, which will be submitted to the ANSI ISO Council (AIC) for approval prior to ISO's October 3 deadline for voting.
ANSI has published an explanatory information document outlining the process used to develop U.S. positions on issues and activities under consideration by ISO and IEC. Click here to download the document.