World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies

The International Organization Standards are standards made by international organizations other than three main International Organizations for Standardization ISO, IEC and ITU,. Currently, more than 300 international and regional organizations have established standards or technical regulations. With the advent of era of network economy, the demands for international standards and standardization become increasingly prominent, which provides great opportunity for the development of International Organization Standards.

A. International Institutions for Standardization and variety of International Standards

(a) International Institutions for Standardization

a. ISO: ISO is the world’s largest International Institution for Standardization. Founded in 1947, its Central Secretariat was located in Geneva. It’s a non-governmental organization, not affiliated to the United Nations.

b. IEC: IEC is a non-governmental international standards organization that prepares and publishes International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies. Founded in London, England in 1906, IEC was merged into ISO and moved to Geneva in 1947. In 1976, it separated from ISO and became two complementary international organizations with ISO.

c. ITU: ITU is an international inter-governmental organization, dealing with telecommunications issues in the United Nations. Its headquarters is in Geneva.

d. Other International organizations related with standardization: some international organizations with solid foundations and relatively mature conditions are recognized by ISO. Among these, more than 40 ones are published on the website of ISO as international organizations related with standardization, such as FDI, FID, IDF, WHO and WMO. Some others have not been recognized by ISO, such as IWS, IIW and so on.

e. Regional standardization Institutions includes CEN, PASC, COPANT, ARSO and so on

(b)Variety of International standards

a. International standards: They are composed of two parts. One is the standards made by ISO, IEC and ITU. The other is the standards made by other international organizations recognized by ISO and published on the standards catalog of ISO website.

b. International Organization Standards: they also consist of two parts. One is standards made by over 40 recognized organizations which are not included in the list of ISO standards, The other is standards made by those more than 200 unrecognized international organizations.

c. Regional standards are ones made by regional standardization organizations.

d. International standard can be divided into many categories. For example, they are divided into standards, criterion, and technical reports and so on in terms of style. In terms of field, they are divided into universal, basic, scientific, health, safety and environmental standards and so on. In terms of administering, they are divided into compulsory and recommended standards.

B. The relationship of Standards of International Organization of TCM with that of ISO and WHO

Standards of International Organization of TCM are made by TCM International Organizations. Since TCM International Organization was an alliance, its standards are jointly made and respected by all members Although these standards primarily apply to its own members, they can be universal, applicable to all regions and countries, for the healthy development of TCM in the world.

ISO is the world’s most authoritative organization for Standardization. Its standards are the highest level of international standards. The establishment of technical committee for TCM under ISO made it possible for TCM standards to elevate to higher level of international standards. However, the higher the level is, the greater the difficulty is and the longer the cycle is, and thus it doesn’t affect the function of international organization standards. As field standards can not be replaced by national standards, Some international organization standards can serve as “trial standards” for ISO standards. When the international organization standards are published, they may go through ISO technical procedures and be adopted as ISO standards finally.

As a government agency, WHO an international organization recognized by ISO as one related with standardization. The standards it make are not regarded as international standards until written on the ISO directory. Thus, International Organization Standards may be adopted by ISO or WHO according to their different field.

It ought to say, some international organizations can be recognized as one related with standardization if their standards represent the development level of contemporary science and technology, if their standards pass some strict scientific trials, and if they meet the needs of all parties concerned.

C. The relationship between Standards of International Organization of TCM and various national laws, regulations and standards

(a) In the market economy, there are subjects and objects. The market subjects mainly refer to legal and natural persons, while the market object means product. Laws and regulations manage people and the market actors. The object of the market actors is the product, which was mainly regulated by the quality standards. Because the object of the International Organization Standards is different from that of various national laws, regulations and standards, it doesn’t affect the implementation of various national laws, regulations and standards.

(b) TCM has been introduced to more than 120 countries and regions. Due to different cultural background, the widespread extent and the professional level, national standards of various countries vary. Because the basic principle of standard is “Consensus”, the standard it forms must be “basic measurement rule” which is approved by most countries. Some countries’ standards may be higher than this one, and then such countries will enjoy the reputations and form its own characteristics and brand. Some countries’ standards may be lower than this one, then those countries may try hard to reach this one. As time goes on, standards keep up with the time and the overall level will be improved. Besides, international organization standard belongs to the recommended standard. So, it won’t be conflict with various national standard systems.

D. market mechanism drives the implementation of international organization standards.

Market mechanism is the inner power for adopting international standards. If any unit, any organization or any individual wants to top the market in the competition, it has to make sure its services or products meet the required standards. The one in line with the standards will win the credibility and grab the market,. The main method of implementing international standard is CAB.

E. As an international academic organization of TCM, World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies work for constituting international organization standards of TCM.

(a) WFCMS is an international academic organization of TCM with its secretariat located in China. Currently, WFCMS has 195 societies in 57 countries and regions. The total membership is about 300 thousand.

(b) From its inception, WFCMS has always been devoted to constituting, publishing and implementing International Organization Standards of TCM.

(c) it has made and published three international organization standards:

a. working principle of WFCMS for making and publishing its standards

b. The standard Chinese and English TCM nomenclature

c. The standards for undergraduate education of TCM

(d) Currently, WFCMS is drafting Chinese-French, Chinese-Spanish and Chinese- Portuguese version of standard TCM nomenclature.