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ISO 26000 on Social Responsibility is Approved for Release as Final Draft International Standard

5/27/2010
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has announced that ISO 26000, Guidance on social responsibility, has been approved for release as Final Draft International Standard (FDIS). The standard is slated for publication by year end.

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.

The draft was approved for processing as an FDIS by the multi-stakeholder ISO Working Group on Social Responsibility (ISO/WG SR) at its 8th plenary meeting on May 17-21, 2010. The Working Group is made up of experts from 99 ISO member countries including the United States, 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.

Prior to the plenary meeting, the WG received 2,650 comments from ISO members and liaison organizations during the voting process. Key topics identified in these comments were addressed at the plenary to increase the level of consensus and the quality of the document.

The document is now being edited to take account of the consensus reached at the Copenhagen meeting. ISO 26000 will be released for a two-month FDIS vote by ISO member countries in August, and is expected to be published as an International Standard by November.

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 ([email protected]).

To learn more about ISO 26000, see the related ISO news item.


To track the development history of ISO 26000, see these related ANSI news items:

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