As the U.S. member body to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) encourages its members and relevant stakeholders to comment on an ISO new work item proposal focused on musical instruments by April 13, 2018.
The proposal, submitted by the Standardization Administration of China (SAC), notes that currently there are no existing technical committees or subcommittees directly related to musical instruments inside ISO or the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). The main work of the new committee would focus on the standardization of musical instruments and related products, including standardization of terminology, classification, test methods, products, and assessment rules.
A new committee would consider systematically, comprehensively, and globally the current situation of musical instruments and related products and develop standards for terminology, methods, and major musical instrument products, thereby providing a valuable guide to relevant stakeholders in this field.
Standardization is proposed to be carried out mainly in three areas:
- The first aspect would focus on common standards, including classification and terminology;
- The second aspect would focus method standards, including the assessment of musical performance and test methods of limits of hazardous substances for musical instruments;
- The final aspect would focus on standards for application-oriented products and accessories, including main musical instrument products like piano, violin family (including violin, viola, cello, double bass), guitar, accordion, aerophones, bow, string.
All interested U.S. parties are invited to review the proposal, which includes an initial proposed work plan as well as information on how it may relate to existing international standardization work as well as relevant stakeholders and organizations.
Please submit comments to Steve Cornish, ANSI senior director of international policy [email protected], by close of business on April 13, 2018. Based on the input received from U.S. stakeholders, a recommended ANSI position and any comments will be developed and presented to the ANSI ISO Committee (AIC) for approval before the ISO voting deadline of May 17, 2018.
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.