ISO uses the following working definition in the Business Plan of its technical committee TC229 (p. 3)
Nanotechnology is the application of scientific knowledge to control and utilize matter at the nanoscale, where size-related properties and phenomena can emerge. The nanoscale is the size range from approximately 1nm to 100 nm)".
Nico Jaspers, "How to Avoid International Trade Conflicts", 2 European Journal of Risk Regulation (2010), p. 167
Sonia Desmoulin-Canselier, "La définition des notions fondamentales: mise en perspective juridique. Les difficultés terminologiques de l'encadrement juridique des activités scientifiques et des objets techno-scientifiques", in Stéphanie Lacour, La régulation des nanotechnologies. Clair-obscur normatif (Brussels: Larcier, 2010), p. 19
most notably, the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies at the Woodrow Wilson Centre for Scholars recently updated its inventory of nano-enabled and nano-manufactured consumer products, which now includes more than 1.300 references, available on the Internet at (last accessed on 8 July 2011).
Brice Laurent, Les politiques des nanotechnologies. Pour un traitement démocratique d'une science émergente (Paris: Charles Léopold-Mayer, 2010)
Joel D'Silva and Diana Bowman, "To Label or Not to Label? - It's More than a Nano-sized Question", 4 European Journal of Risk Regulation (2010), p. 2.
European Commission, Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies: An action plan for Europe 2005-2009 (Brussels: Commission of the European Communities, 2005), pp. 8-10.
Diana Bowman and Graeme Hodge, "A Small Matter of Regulation: An International Review of Nanotechnology Regulation", VIII The Columbia Science and Technology Law Review (2007), p. 12.
Susan L. Star and Geoffrey Bowker, Sorting things out. Classification and its consequences (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2000), pp. 5-6.
Stefan Timmermans and Steven Epstein, "A World of Standards but not a Standard World: Toward a Sociology of Standards and Standardization", The Annual Review of Sociology, pp. 69-89, at p. 69.
European Commission, "Communication on the Integration of Environmental Aspects into European Standardisation", COM(2004) 130 final. It states that "Standards, as voluntary tools, are crucial and it is vital that all the stakeholders involved in their development maximise their potential and thus enhance their role in protecting the environment" (p. 3).
ISO once defined what is a "technical norm", see ISO/CEI 2/2004 on Standardisation and related activities
ISO/TC 229 Business Plan, p. 2, available on the Internet at (last accessed on 8 July 2011).
Technical Reports - TR, Technical Specifications - TS, or Publicly Available Specifications - PAS
Peter Hatto, "Panel discussion: What should be the role of ISO in the governance of nanotechnologies?", Workshop organized jointly by Standard No (the Norvegian NSB), the Work Research Institute (WRI) and the University of Maastricht (UM), held in Maastricht, May 18th, 2010. Peter Hatto chairs ISO/TC229 on nanotechnology.
Virginie Tournay and Dominique Vinck, "Avant-propos: la régulation des nanotechnologies, un enjeu de standardisation historiographique et politique", 61 Quaderni, pp. 5-11
Philippe Larédo, "La recherche européenne et les enjeux des nouvelles sciences dominantes", in Jean-Philippe Leresche, Philippe Larédo and Karl Weber (eds), Recherche et enseignement supérieur face à l'internationalisation. France, Suisse et Union européenne (Lausanne: Presses Polytechniques et Universitaires Romandes, 2009).
Communication from the EC, which is not legally binding but may turn out to have legal implications, i.e. in Court.
European Commission, "Communication on the role of European standardisation in the framework of European policies and legislation", COM(2004)674 final. It states that "Standardisation is an integral part of the Council's and the Commission's policies to carry out "better regulation", to increase competitiveness of enterprises and to remove barriers to trade at international level".
European Commission, "Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies: An action plan for Europe 2005-2009. Second Implementation Report 2007-2009", COM(2009)607 final, pp. 5-6.
European Commission, "Commission Recommendation on a code of conduct for responsible nanosciences and nanotechnologies research", COM(2008)424 final
European Commission, Science, Economy and Society Highlights 2009 (Brussels: Commission of the European Communities, 2010), p. 65.
According to Black's definition of regulation, cf. Diana Bowman and Geert Van Calster, "Smoke that Thunders: Risk, Confusion and Regulatory Frameworks", in Kamilla Lein Kjølberg and Fern Wickson, Micro meets Nano. Social Perspectives on Nanoscale Sciences and Technologies (Bergen: Pan Stanford, 2010), pp. 359-386, esp. the quote p. 365.
National Science and Technology Council, "National Nanotechnology Initiative. The Initiative and Its Implementation Plan", Washington D.C., 2000.
National Science and Technology Council, "National Nanotechnology Initiative. Strategic Plan", Washington D.C., 2011, see pp. 1-2.
The International Electrotechnical Commission's Technical Committee 113 (IEC/TC113), ASTM International's Committee E56, or the OECD's Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials
CEN/TC352, missions and business plan available on the Internet, (last accessed on 8 July 2011).
European Commission, "Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies: An action plan for Europe 2005-2009. Second Implementation Report 2007-2009", COM(2009)607 final, p. 6.
Diana Bowman, Joel D'Silva and Geert Van Calster, "Defining Nanomaterials for the Purpose of Regulation within the European Union", European Journal of Risk Regulation (2010), pp. 115-122.
CEN/TC352 Business Plan, pp. 4-5, available on the Internet at (last accessed on 8 July 2011).
ISO/TC34 Business Plan, available on the Internet at (last accessed on 8 July 2011), p. 27.
ISO/TC217 Business Plan, available on the Internet at (last accessed on 8 July 2011).
ISO, "ISO launches work on Nanotechnology Standards", available on the Internet at (last accessed on 8 July 2011).
ISO/TC229 Business Plan current version is the 4th draft and was released on 12 January 2011
IEC/TC113, "Nanotechnology Standardization for Electrical and Electronic Products and Systems in the Field of Nanotechnology"
ISO/TC229 Business Plan, p. 7.
Except when there is clear demand and there is no existing committee with expertise in the area, see ISO/TC229 Business Plan, p. 1 and p. 6.
As ISO/TC229 Business Plan refers to the different generations of nanotechnologies as they are expected to occur, arguably, it might be that standards would adapt, possibly by making their scope more precise, to new situations (p. 4).
ISO/TC229 Business Plan, p. 5.
In extenso: "1. Support the sustainable and responsible development and global dissemination of these emerging technologies; 2. Facilitate global trade in nanotechnologies, nanotechnology products and nanotechnology enabled systems and products; 3. Support improvement in quality, safety, security, consumer and environmental protection, together with the rational use of natural resources in the context of nanotechnologies; 4. Promote good practice in the production, use and disposal of nanomaterials, nanotechnology products and nanotechnology enabled systems and products". ISO/TC229 Business Plan, p. 7.
ISO/TC229 Business Plan, p. 1.
Released standards are available on the Internet at (last accessed on 8 July 2011).
Most important is ISO/TS 27687:2008 on Terminology and definitions for nano-objects: Nanoparticle, nanofibre and nanoplate, see also ISO/TS 80004-1:2010 on Vocabulary (Part 1: Core terms)
Nico Jaspers, "How to Avoid International Trade Conflicts", 2 European Journal of Risk Regulation (2010), pp. 167-173.
Geert Van Calster, "The regulation of nanotechnologies in the EU", Symposium The Governance of Nanotechnologies in Belgian and European contexts, Université Catholique de Louvain, held in Louvain-la-Neuve, March 18th, 2011
Howard E. Aldrich and Marlene Fiol, "Fools rush in? The Institutional Context of Industry Creation", 19(4) Academy of Management Review, pp. 645-670.
However, it is unclear how ISO defines and applies democracy
Ellen-Marie Forsberg, "Standardisation in the Field of Nanotechnology: Some Issues of Legitimacy", Online First Science and Engineering Ethics, esp. p. 2.
A complete list of participants is available on the Internet at (last accessed on 8 July 2011).
In his classical study, Scharpf distinguishes input and output legitimacy, to which Forsberg adds "throughput"
Fritz Scharpf, Governing in Europe: effective and democratic? (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999)
These might be difficult to afford if one intends to gather all nanorelated standards. For instance, the most emblematic one (ISO/ TS 27687:2008, Terminology and definitions for nano-objects - Nanoparticle, nanofibre and nanoplate) costs about 45
Friends of the Earth Australia report, FoEA, "Discussion paper on nanotechnology standardisation and nomenclature issues", December 2008, available on the Internet at (last accessed on 8 July 2011). This paper expresses concerns about the firstly released standards of TC229.
ISO/TC229 Business Plan, p. 6.
With 15 P-members and 5 O-members
With only 5 P-members total. See ISO/TC229 Business Plan, p. 6.
ISO/TC229 Business Plan, p. 4.
Such as those described by Rip and Von Amerom, who sometimes refer to "emerging irreversibilities
Arie Rip and Marloen Von Amerom (2009), "Emerging de facto Agendas Around Nanotechnology: Two Cases full of Contingencies, Lock-outs, and Lock-ins", in Mario Kaiser et al. (eds), Governing Future Technologies. Nanotechnology and the Rise of an Assessment Regime (Netherlands: Springer), Sociology of Science Yearbook, Vol. 27.
