Come here to see updates on the progress of ISO TC/334 as it converts the existing ISO/REMCO Guides into the corresponding ISO Standards and Technical Reports, as appropriate.
In addition, here we will publish any other ISO TC/334 reference documents which are freely available:
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The next meeting of ISO/TC 334 will be held in conjunction with the International Symposium for Biological and Environmental Reference Materials (BERM-16) in Halifax, Canada, during the week of 1 to 6 June 2025.
Program of work of ISO/TC 334
The program of work of ISO/TC 334 have now been updated based on the decisions taken at the fifth meeting and are listed below. The program includes the transformation of the existing ISO/REMCO Guides as well as the new work items of the committee that have been transformed into international standards. ISO/TC 334 currently has two (2) remaining projects in hand in the development of the ISO 33400 series of standards. During the fifth meeting of the committee, a decision was taken to launch committee internal ballot (CIB) questions to enquire from the committee members what the future of the technical reports published by ISO/REMCO and, now, fall within the scope of work of ISO/TC 334, should be. The outcomes of the CIB ballots will be discussed during the sixth meeting of ISO/TC 334.
Figure 1 below depicts the relationships between the different documents previously developed and currently being developed by ISO/TC 334.
- ISO/DIS 33400 (previously ISO Guide 30) – Reference materials – Vocabulary
- ISO 33401 (previously ISO Guide 31) – Reference materials – Contents of certificates, labels and accompanying documentation
- ISO/TR 33402 (previously ISO Guide 80) – Good practice in reference materials preparation
- ISO 33403 (previously ISO Guide 33) – Reference materials – Requirements and recommendations for use
- ISO 33405 (previously ISO Guide 35) – Reference materials – Guidance for the characterization and assessment of homogeneity and stability
- ISO 33406 (previously WD/ISO Guide 85) – Guidance for the production of reference materials having one or more assigned qualitative property values
- ISO 33407 (previously WD/ISO Guide 86) – Guidance for the production of pure organic substance certified reference materials
- ISO/DIS 33408 (previously AWI/ISO Guide 87) – Guidance for ‘pure’ reference materials for metals and metalloids
Figure 1: Schematic diagram of the ISO 33400 series of standards for the transformation of the ISO/REMCO Guides 30 to 35 to international standards as well as the other projects of ISO/TC 334
March 2025 - Update on the progress with the transformation of the ISO/REMCO Guides into the ISO 33400 series of standards
Five of the new standards of the ISO 33400 series were published in 2024. ISO 33400 for the terms and definitions related to reference materials has progressed to the draft international standard (DIS) stage. Within the working group there have been some discussions about including new terms in the standard, such as operationally defined measurand. There is also strong support in the working group to refer to a certified reference material as a reference material with one or more certified property value and to specify the characteristics of a certified value, such as the requirement for a value with an associated uncertainty and established metrological traceability in the definition of certified value.
The strong liaison relationship between ISO/TC 334 and JCGM/WG2 working on the revision of the International Vocabulary for Metrology (VIM) also continues. The 2nd committee draft of the VIM4 was launched for balloting during 2023 and the ISO/TC 334 members provided comments on the draft. ISO/TC 334 also sent a letter to JCGM/WG2 to keep the group abreast of the developments related to the vocabulary for reference materials in ISO 33400.
ISO 33408 for the production of high purity reference materials of metals and metalloids is at the draft international standard (DIS) stage. ISO 33406 for the production of qualitative reference materials has been received very well by the chemical and biological testing communities. In September 2024, a very successful joint workshop between EURACHEM and CITAC was held to introduce the standard. The programme of the workshop included a brief introduction to the standard. Several producers of qualitative reference materials were invited to present how the guidance from ISO 33406 was incorporated in the production of their qualitative reference materials.
Annual meeting of ISO/TC 334 in June 2024
The fifth meeting of ISO/TC 334 was held as an on-line meeting during the first week of June 2024. The number of participants who joined the meeting ranged between 60 to 70 with representatives from 16 member bodies (57% of the P-members) and 2 O-members also participated in the meeting. Representatives from 10 international organisations attended the meeting representing 56% of the external liaisons, and 9 of the ISO internal liaisons (other technical committees) representing 69% of the ISO/TC 334 membership attended the meeting. Currently, ISO/TC 334 has 13 internal (ISO) liaisons in force, 14 category A liaisons and 4 category C liaisons with external organisations. There are also three liaisons managed at ISO level (JCGM/WG1 responsible for the Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (GUM), JCGM/WG2 responsible for the International Vocabulary for Metrology (VIM) and JCTLM responsible for measurement traceability in laboratory medicine).
Some specific liaison activities of ISO/TC 334 during 2024 included working with ISO/TC 212 on the revision of ISO 15193 for the requirements for reference measurement procedures for in vitro diagnostic medical devices and ISO 15194 for the requirements of reference materials (RMs) for in vitro diagnostic medical devices. The 2nd committee draft of the fourth edition of the VIM (VIM4) was launched for balloting during 2023 and ISO/TC 334 commented extensively on the terminology related to RMs. ISO/TC 334 also wrote a letter to JCGM/WG2 about the developments related to terminology for reference materials in working group 10 (WG10) that is working on the revision of ISO 33400 – Reference materials - Vocabulary.