Standards Development

Scope

Scope statement of the proposed new committee (The scope shall precisely define the limits of the field of activity. Scopes shall not repeat general aims and principles governing the work of the organization but shall indicate the specific area concerned).

Standardization in the field of cold chain logistics.

The scope will include, but is not limited to;

- terms and conditions for carriage/storage service of refrigerated goods, physical handling of refrigerated goods (acceptance, loading, transshipment, storage, sorting, transportation and delivery),

- maintenance and control methods of temperature-controlled facilities, quality control methods throughout the cold chain (e.g. temperature monitoring and control, prevention of damage, loss and delay),

- hygiene management during carriage/storage service to prevent contamination of goods,

- facilitation of logistical efficiency

- manpower management, staff education and training, safety management for staff and workplaces,

- safety and reliability of carriage/storage services,

- information management and data processing such as customer management and cargo/parcel tracking, as well as terminology

Excluded:

- Standardization covered by ISO/TC 34, ISO/TC 122, ISO/TC 283 and ISO/TC 304

Purpose

Purpose and justification for the proposal. (The purpose and justification for the creation of a new technical committee shall be made clear and the need for standardization in this fieldshall be justified. Clause C.4.13.3 of Annex C of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1 contains a menu of suggestions or ideas for possible documentation to support and purpose and justification of proposals. Proposers should consider these suggestions, but they are not limited to them, nor are they required to comply strictly with them. What is most important is that proposers develop and provide purpose and justification information that is most relevant to their proposals and that makes a substantial business case for the market relevance and the need for their proposals. Thorough, well-developed and robust purpose and justification documentation will lead to more informed consideration of proposals and ultimately their possible success in the ISO IEC system.)

Logistics is a foundation of economic activities and a part of social infrastructure which plays an important role in our life. Especially, cold chain logistics, a transportation method to keep temperature steady through the whole supply chain from production to delivery, is a significantly effective measure to achieve safe transportation of essential goods such as foods and pharmaceutical goods.

Countries and regions in the world have been facing food poisoning and food loss problems during transportation due to damages caused by inappropriate temperature control. Standardization of cold chain logistics will help improving this situation; it contributes to resolution of food loss and hygiene problems, quality improvement and expansion of sales opportunity for manufacturers and distributors. These match SDGs goal 2 and 12, especially to meet Target 2.3 (secure food producers' access to opportunities for value addition) and 12.3 (reducing food losses along supply chains).

Goal 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns. In addition, the volume of food products traded via EC and food delivery services has increased, especially due to behavioural changes to stay home under the COVID-19 pandemic. With the expectation that EC market of food products will grow steadily under the state of new normality and even afterwards, cold chain logistics has been becoming ever more important. Therefore, it is necessary to standardize the appropriate operation method for cold chain logistics including hand hygiene, disinfection and sterilization of equipment and facilities from the perspective of prevention of infectious diseases such as COVID-19.

Furthermore, as the demand for contactless delivery (e.g. non face-to-face delivery) grows, it is also important to develop standards keeping in mind that there are new, efficient measures such as manpower saving utilizing artificial intelligence and robots, contactless operation methods between person and person as well as between person and goods, etc.

Japan has led the development of ISO23412:2020 regarding refrigerated delivery service which was published in May 2020, less than 3 years from the proposal. In light of the situation described above, Japan is willing to make further contribution through activities in the new TC to promote the standardization of cold chain logistics.