ANSI Seeks Comments on ISO Proposal for Machinery for Foodstuffs

Please submit comments by August 16, 2019

To help ensure safer food production for consumers and to better protect food machinery operators on an international level, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) encourages its members and relevant stakeholders to submit comments on a proposed new International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee (TC) to focus on machinery used with foodstuffs.

DIN, the national standards body for Germany, submitted the proposal, which explains that over the years, food machinery, highly automated appliances, and system components have become more complex. With these changes, machinery standardization needs an appropriate structure to comply with evolving technical developments. However, the proposal asserts, there is a lack of international standards describing the requirements for occupational health and safety and hygiene of machinery for use with foodstuffswhich are vital to support food quality and machinery operator safety.

According to DIN, the work of the proposed ISO/TC would:

• be of benefit to manufacturers and operators of such machinery and any associated equipment;
  
• help occupational health and safety authorities and institutions, since the standards would serve as benchmarks for setting common, globally acknowledged, safety levels;
  
• help to ensure the production of safe food with the machinery concerned; and
  
• help to minimize food losses and ensure that food does not pose health risks to consumers.

All interested U.S. parties are invited to review the proposal, which features related existing ISO work and relevant affected stakeholders.

Submit comments to Steven Cornish, ANSI senior director of international policy and strategy, at [email protected], by close of business on Friday August 16, 2019. ANSI is the U.S. member body to ISO.

Based on the input received from U.S. stakeholders, a recommended ANSI position and comments will be developed and presented to the AIC for approval, before the ISO voting deadline on October 10, 2019.

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.