SC22/WG20 N870 Dear Sir or Madam We are pleased to announce the availability of the electronic versions of the fourth editions of the ISO/IEC Directives, Parts 1 and 2, and the new supplement: * Part 1: Procedures for the technical work * Part 2: Rules for the structure and drafting of International Standards * Supplement - Procedures specific to ISO (the "ISO Supplement") The provisions in Part 1 of the new Directives are for application with immediate effect. The application of Part 2 will be mandatory for the registration of all enquiry drafts (DIS - stage 40.00) by the Central Secretariat after 1 January 2002 and for the registration of final drafts (FDIS - stage 50.00) after 1 July 2002. However, it is recommended that the provisions in Part 2 are also applied from now on. A summary of the application dates, together with information on how each document replaces its predecessor(s), is given in ISO/IEC Directives, 4th edition -- Revision table and implementation dates and the associated document Summary of principal changes (available in the folder Associated documents at www.iso.ch/sdis/directives ). An important aspect in the preparation of these new editions was the consolidation of the previous three parts of the ISO/IEC Directives into two new parts. Furthermore, Part 1 was reviewed to differentiate between the common ISO/IEC procedures and those procedures unique to ISO or IEC. The former "common" procedures remain as the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1; the unique procedures are now in separate supplements to be used in conjunction with Part 1. The ISO Supplement thus includes the ISO forms and model letters (published in English only). The procedures described in Part 1 and the ISO Supplement do not necessarily apply to the work of ISO/IEC JTC 1, for which reference should instead be made to the latest version of the ISO/IEC Directives, Procedures for the technical work of ISO/IEC JTC 1 on Information technology (). Details concerning the revisions are given in the Foreword of each document. For convenience, a combined summary table is available in the folder Associated documents at www.iso.ch/sdis/directives . With respect to Part 1, particular attention is drawn to subclause 2.1.6, where new target dates are considered, some of which are shorter than was the previous case. What is important is that these are no longer mandatory time limits, but proposed limits to be used as guidance when establishing target dates. This is a significant change in philosophy that reflects the view that it is reasonable to expect a committee itself to define the pace of a work item, and thus associated target dates, but that at the same time that such target dates need to be realistic (i.e. considered timescales based on various aspects, including priority and resources) and must be monitored and managed effectively. [Note that the only mandatory time limits specified for development relate to stagnant projects (automatically cancelled if it has not advanced within a period of 36 months) and to apparently moribund projects (automatically cancelled if from the date of inclusion in the programme of work, it has not reached the publication stage within 84 months).] Complementing these new publications is an associated improvement in how future changes will be notified. Agreements of the ISO Technical Management Board that result in changes to these documents will now be notified as soon as possible to the ISO members and committees as ISO Change Notifications. All these documents are accessible directly at www.iso.ch/sdis/directives , or via the Standards Developers' Information Site (www.iso.ch/sdis ). (These documents will be published on paper later in the year. Appropriate details will be provided at that time.) The same sites also provide access to * the ISO forms and model letters (published in English only) - also available directly at www.iso.ch/sdis/forms , * a consolidated text comprising the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1, the ISO Supplement, and all relevant ISO Change Notifications (electronic format only), * this message, * powerful search functions of the ISO document management system to locate information using a users' own search criteria, and * for authorized users (typically committee secretariats and chairmen), the complete texts of normative references cited in the Directives themselves, or in the ISO Supplement. New releases of the automated ISO template (STD) which include a number of functional improvements as well as the provision for the creation of new document types will be made available soon: the first release (STD 2.0) is conformant with the rules of the old Part 3; the second release, to be made available soon after, will be conformant with the 2001 edition of Part 2. Finally, but not the least important, also launched with this new edition is a new ISO Directives Helpdesk (directives@iso.ch). Questions and comments on any aspect of the directives or the ISO Supplement (including any matter raised in this letter) should be submitted to this helpdesk. Use this easy way to contribute to the evolution of the procedures under which ISO's publications are developed. Given that this message contains information that is of potential interest to all participants in ISO's work, please feel free to forward copies of it to any interested parties. Yours sincerely Mike Smith Director ________ This mailing list may not be used for unlawful purposes. All postings should be relevant, but ITI accepts no responsibility for any posting and may terminate access to any subscriber violating any policies of the Association. Please review the JTC 1 TAG Antitrust Guidelines at .