International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee (TC) 285, Clean cookstoves and clean cooking solutions, recently announced that it will hold its next official meeting in Antigua, Guatemala, from October 13 to October 16, 2014. The event - which will be attended by experts nominated by participating ISO member nations, as well as other related staff - marks the first meetings of four new Working Groups (WGs) recently created by ISO TC 285. In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Smart Aid for the World's Poor, indoor air pollution associated with traditional cookstoves and open fires was identified as "one of the world's most pressing health problems" and an important and cost-effective area for global health investment and focus. The regular use of these unsafe tools to prepare meals has been linked to millions of annual injuries and deaths worldwide, demonstrating the pressing need for effective criteria for clean, safe, and efficient cookstoves. ISO TC 285 provides governments, industry, and organizations around the world with the opportunity to become involved in the process of designing, implementing, and updating standards dealing with this critical topic.
ISO TC 285 recently established four WGs to focus on the potential development of standards and other essential documents in subject areas associated with clean cookstove technology. Those new WGs are:
These new WGs - which were initially proposed at ISO TC 285's February 2014 meeting in Nairobi [see related news item] - are expected to advance current efforts in these important areas, including by harmonizing and updating existing test protocols for field and lab testing, creating guidelines for social impact studies, and establishing a conceptual framework for cookstove assessment methods. ISO TC 285 also oversees two related Task Groups (TGs): TG 1, Communications Task Group; and TG 2, Review of Existing ISO Standards on Fuels.
As the U.S. member body to ISO, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) serves as the ISO TC 285 secretariat in partnership with the Kenyan member body to ISO, the Kenya Bureau of Standards. ANSI also serves as the U.S. Technical Advisory Group (TAG) administrator to ISO TC 285, with technical and financial support from the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, part of the United Nations Foundation.
For information about becoming involved with ISO TC 285 and its U.S. TAG, please contact Sally Seitz, ANSI senior manager for standards facilitation, by email at [email protected], or by calling 212-642-4918.