About 2007: Standardization activity at a national level

The Central Technical Commission followed the indications of the Chair Committee, in the following lines of intervention.
Concerning the problem of standardisation methods in the area of safety in the workplace, SICURIS, the UNI Strategic and Coordination Body concerning Health and Safety, began activities coordinated by INAIL and with the participation of Confindustria, the trade unions, a Vice-Chairman of CCT and a representative of the Federate Bodies, to deal with the following issues:

• examination of the standardisation projects being studied in the field of health and safety at work;
• identification of standards issues following the issue of Decree 123 on 3/8/2007;
• coordination of standardisation activities with the Consultative Commission of the Italian Ministry of Labour.

As far as the monitoring of the technical commission activities is concerned, a study carried out by the Technical Directorate highlighted a number of critical cases of low activity, according to performance indicators in the preparation of standards, in terms of projects under study at national, CEN and ISO level. It was therefore decided to dissolve 7 technical commissions ("Advanced technical ceramics", "Colourimetry", "Containers", "Gemmology", "Graphics", "Construction processes" and "Graphic signs and signposting"), incorporating any remaining issues within other existing commissions.

The Technical Management concluded the review of about 2000 standards in force, published more than 30 years ago. The results of this investigation, involving almost all of the technical commissions and Federate Bodies, led to the withdrawal of 1,283 old standards, the confirmation of 318 and the review of 133 standards still considered to be of use to the current national market.

STATE OF PLAY...
Here below is a summary of the main standards issues dealt with in 2007 in the technical management field, divided into the relative divisions.

CONSUMER GOODS AND MATERIALS
CONSTRUCTION
ENTERPRISE AND SOCIETY
MECHANICAL

Food products
In 2007 the “Food processing” Commission began the study of new standards works in the field of public catering, formally establishing the “Non-domestic catering” sub-commission. Following the publication of the standard UNI 11233 “Integrated Production Systems in the food processing chain - General principles for the design and implementation of vegetable processing chains”, the works are underway in this technical agricultural sector to reduce the general principles to three vegetable processing chains: tree crops, horticultural crops, seed crops. The study also began for a future UNI standard on fresh ready-for-consumption horticultural products (the so-called IV gamma products). A study is also underway for a national standard for acacia honey (Robinia pseudacacia L.) aiming to define the sensorial, chemical-physical and microscopic characteristics of single-flower acacia honey.
Many important European technical standards have been adopted and published, such as the UNI EN 12331 on meat mincing machines, UNI EN 13621 on salad spinners, UNI EN 12463 on bagging machines. The technical specification UNI CEN/TS 15568 was adopted: this is very important in the field of analysis methods for the detection of genetically modified organisms and derivates, in order to establish sampling strategies for food products subjected to testing.
At international ISO level, two issues have been presented that are of interest to UNI: the method for determining the consistency of rice grains following cooking and the biometric characteristics of rice grains.

Sport and free time
The UNI commission “Sports and recreational facilities” completed the study on the terms used in the field of fitness, publishing the first terminological standard, UNI 11234.
Important European standards have also been adopted, including UNI EN 14960 on inflatable play equipment, UNI EN 15312 on freely accessible sports facilities and their combinations, used for permanent installations of equipment for sports such as badminton, basketball, football, handball, hockey, table tennis, tennis, volleyball.
Concerning sports flooring, UNI EN 15306 was published on surfaces for external sports facilities and the response of synthetic turf to simulated wear. European standards activities on bicycles, managed by TC 333 “Cycles” obtained a further result following the publication of UNI EN 14764 standard on city and trekking bikes, UNI EN 14766 on mountain bikes, UNI EN 14781 on racing bikes: these standards obtained recognition in Europe for having interpreted the general security requirements laid down in Directive 2001/95/EC on the general safety of products and their references were cited in the EU Official Journal. In the swimming pools field, works were completed under CEN/TC 136 concerning the study of safety regulations for the design (prEN 15288 series) and studies are being defined for a national standard for minipools and the methods of analysis to be used to control the microbiological requirements of water.

Health and cosmetics
In the health sector - managed by the “Biomedical and Diagnostic technologies” commission - the sterilisation area is in great turmoil. Many European technical standards are being replaced by new references studied at international ISO level. A new entry is seen in the UNI EN ISO 17664 standard concerning the information that must be provided by the manufacturer for re-sterilisable medical device processes. The series of standards on washing and disinfection equipment in the UNI EN ISO 15883 series is soon to be completed with the publication of part 4 concerning the requirements and tests for washer-disinfectors employing chemical disinfection for thermolabile endoscopes. The standards on large steam sterilisers (published in their second edition of EN 285 with modification 1), small sterilisers (EN 13060) and standards concerning the labelling of medical equipment that must carry the indication “sterile” (UNI EN 556 series) are now only European. All of the above-mentioned standards are recognised by Directive 93/42/EEC on medical equipment. The important UNI EN ISO 11607-1 standard on the packaging of terminally sterilised medical devices is being adopted.
In the sub-commission “Apparatus for anaesthetics and pulmonary ventilation” a review was carried out of the national standard UNI 11100 “Guide to acceptance tests and periodical safety and performance tests of medical devices - Medical gas and vacuum distribution systems” following the future replacement of the standards in the UNI EN 737 series concerning medical gas systems.
The sub-commission “Dental devices” has increased the participation of its experts to the ISO meetings of the TC 106 “Dentistry”. At European level, a new standardisation activity has started in the field of cosmetics, and the CEN/BT WG 188 “Cosmetics” has been established. This working group has the task of identifying the standardisation priorities, and among the possible studies, standards are being considered for the protection from UVA and UVB rays, good manufacturing practices (GMP) and on some methods of analysis for the identification of bacteria in cosmetics. In this field some standards have already been published, in particular on the analysis methods such as the UNI ISO 21148 on the general instructions for microbiological analysis, UNI ISO 21149 on the count and research of aerobic mesophilic bacteria, UNI ISO 21150 on the research of Escherichia coli; furthermore, UNI ISO 22715 on packaging and labelling has been published, applicable to all cosmetic products.

Materials: wood, leather, paper, rubber and nanotechnologies
The activities of the “Wood” commission was intensified with the participation in the works of the CEN/TC 175 “Roundwood and lumber”; nationally, standard UNI 11265 “Wood flooring - Laying - Competencies, responsibilities and contractual conditions” was published, identifying the 16 With fitness terminology coded by UNI 11234, we can now understand what hard work it is competencies and responsibilities of the various operators involved in the wood flooring manufacturing process, limited to new constructions. The wood-based panels sector saw an increase in international activity with the last plenary meeting of the ISO/TC 89 “Woodbased panels” in Mestre with the participation of the Italian delegation supported by UNI.
Finally, the harmonised standard on panels EN 13986, has been placed under review.
The “Leather, skins and leather goods” commission has not only adopted several European and international standards, but has also published the national standard UNI 11239 which lays down the guidelines for the definition of requirements that allow for the designation of origin of finished leather and skins. the document responds to precise market needs both nationally and, indirectly, internationally. The European activity of the CEN/TC 289 “Leather” proceeds with the study and implementation of various test methods, both physical - mechanical and chemical, destined to characterise leather as a material.
2007 saw the publication of several standards under the “Paper” commission; among these, the European standard UNI EN 648 which specifies the test procedures relative to the solidity of paper and cardboard treated with fluorescent whiteners destined for contact with food products. As far as national standards are concerned, reviews of the following standards were published: UNI 7627 “Tests on coated paper and cardboard - absorbency evaluation of porometric inks” and UNI 7628 “Tests on coated paper and cardboard - Determination of surface uniformity”. The standardisation activities of the “Rubber” commission focused above all on the adoption of European and international standards. Particularly important was the review work done on national standards, following which more than ten new projects were implemented to study test methods to characterise different types of rubber. The commission adopted many ISO standards nationally, confirming the interest for the international standardisation activity which has an intense interfacing role with the ISO/TC 45 technical committee, relative sub-commissions and working groups.
The “Nanotechnologies” commission appointed coordinators for the four working groups (Terminology; Measures, instruments and characterisation; Nanotechnological products and processes; Health, safety and environmental aspects) which will closely follow the development of national, European and international technical standards. The technical specification project ISO TS 27687 concerning the terminology and definitions of nanoparticles was concluded, of which at national level the “Terminology” working group has already arranged for the first translation. This is the first important document that lays the foundations for the use of correct terminology in the field of nanotechnologies.

Furniture and cultural heritage
The “Furniture” commission concentrated its attention on European activity in the management of the CEN/TC 207 “Furniture”. In 2007, 7 important standards were published, including EN 15373 on requirements for non-domestic seating, EN 581-3 on safety requirements and test methods for external tables and EN 15187 on the evaluation of the effects of exposure to light on furniture surfaces. Both for men and women, cosmetics packaging will be clearer from now on, under UNI ISO 22715 The “Cultural heritage” commission reviewed its own structure, a decision that was necessary to provide the right support to the European activity through the creation of corresponding national working groups . This action will lead to a reduction in the number of existing working groups to create a “mirror” structure to the existing CEN/CT 346 “Conservation of cultural heritage”. At European level, the first inquiries on projects concerning the specifications of temperature and relative humidity to limit mechanical damage caused by environmental and climatic conditions on organic hygroscopic materials, the general principles for the control of microclimates inside churches and, finally, the specifications relative to the procedures and instruments for measuring air and surface temperatures of cultural goods.

Structural Eurocodes
2007 saw the completion of the conversion process of the Eurocodes from experimental European standards (ENV) to definitive European standards (EN). Eurocodes are European technical standards drawn up by CEN on specific mandate of the European Commission, which lay down the calculation rules for structural design (buildings and civil engineering works) and the relative structural elements, as well as the rule for verifying the compliance of structural products to the Essential Requirements no.1 (mechanical resistance and stability) and no. 2 (fire design) of the Directive 89/106 on construction products. They are based on solid scientific studies and represent the result of the step towards the state of the art of the knowledge acquired through research in the structural field. They therefore constitute the convergence of science and technical elements of the many design traditions and practices in the countries of the European Union in a set of design standards that cover the whole spectrum of construction techniques and design criteria.
In its recommendation of 11th December 2003, the European Commission recommended the adoption of the Eurocodes in national legislation, in order to facilitate the liberalised provision of civil engineering and architectural services and to create the conditions for a harmonised system of general rules, reminding that their use is obligatory for contracting authorities when they describe technical specifications, under the terms of the EU regulations concerning public tendering.
At national level, the review of the Ministerial Decree of 14th September 2005 “Technical Construction Standards”, applied definitively as Ministerial Decree of 14th January 2008, recognises that the Eurocodes, with their relative National Appendices, constitute instructions of proven validity to assure quality in construction and provide a systematic applicative support for the Technical Standards.

Construction products
At European level, there are more than 450 harmonised standards under Directive 89/106, of which around 120 fall under the CE marking system 18 that came into force in 2007. The main product families involved are pre-fabricated concrete products, flexible membranes for waterproofing, structural supports, chimneys and flues, geo-synthetic products, fixed fire fighting systems, smoke and heat control systems, road equipment, piping, tanks and accessories that do not come into contact with water destined for human consumption, construction glass, heating equipment, road materials and internal and external wall and ceiling finishing products.
2007 was also a year of intense activity for the “Products, processes and systems for building” commission which incorporated the working groups that were still active from the previous “Construction process” commission. It closely followed the European and international developments in standardisation, but above all concentrated on national activities, in the field of which the first standards on photocatalytic products were published, in particular the two parts of UNI 11238 relative to the determination of catalytic degradation of volatile organic micropollutants, and UNI 11247 which describes a method aiming to assess the photocatalytic activity of inorganic materials, also dispersed in concrete or ceramic matrices, the removal of nitrogen monoxide and/or nitrogen dioxide.
Again in the field of sustainability in construction, UNI 11277 was finalised for publication, the first of a series of standards aiming to develop a national reference method for eco-compatibility needs assessment and the relative requirements for building projects, relative to the phases of the construction process (production of functional materials, components and elements on and off site), with reference to the whole building life cycle.
Works also continued and were intensified in national standards projects concerning instructions for the design, laying and maintenance of stone and ceramic coverings.

Construction "barcodes"
In 2007 the activities of the “Coding of construction products and processes for building” working group of the “Products, processes and systems for building” commission, kept on defining the UNI standardisation project relative to coding criteria, description, measuring and financial pricing of products and processes. The project - which must necessarily be coordinated with similar initiatives in other fields, such as: Chamber of Commerce, Public Works Supervisory Authorities, etc - will deal with the harmonisation of every resource, process and element in the building chain through a system of unique codes, in order to assure their certain and unambiguous identification and, consequently, facilitate the transmission of information within the process and among the parties working in it. The topic has aroused particular interest in the sector, confirming the common and widespread need for reference standards in the construction field.

Fire prevention, heating and gas systems
The standard UNI EN 12845 on fixed sprinkler systems was published in Italian, specifying the requirements and describing the recommendations for design, installation and maintenance - as well as the expansion and modification - of automatic sprinkler systems in buildings and industrial premises. Together with the Italian publication of this European standard, UNI 9489 and UNI 9490, which have been an indispensable technical and regulatory reference for sectorial designers for many years, were withdrawn. Furthermore, the third edition of the UNI 10779 standard on hydrant systems in fire extinguishing systems was UNI 11265: the solution to wood floor laying problems 20 published, which specifies the minimum requirements to be satisfied in the design, installation and operation of permanently pressurised water systems destined to supply hydrants and fire fighting hoses. The review and extension of the field of application of UNI 10412 relative to the safety requirements of hot water heating systems have continued. The standard has been redesigned taking into consideration the fact that there are now various types of hot water heating systems in use which require additional specifications compared to those actually in force. The new UNI 10412 will have four parts, the first of which replaces the current edition, while the others extend the field of application to other types of systems. The review of UNI 5364 on the rules for presenting quotations and the testing of hot water heating systems also continues, which due to the evolution of the sectorial standards, aims to extend the application of the standard to all verifications of the compliance with the provisions currently in force.
As far as the gas sector is concerned, the review of UNI/TS 11147 on copper pressfittings was completed, in order to overcome the limits of use of this type of coupling to outside of buildings. At the same time, the pressfittings family has grown to include two other types: steel pressfittings and whiteheart annealed cast iron pressfittings. Concerning the inspection of operating systems, the revision of the UNI 10738 standard containing the guidelines for the verification of the functional characteristics of gas fuelled systems for domestic use in force since 13th March 1990 has almost been completed. The review project has also proceeded to transform the standard into a rule for the verification of the functionality of all domestic systems, whenever they were commissioned. Specifically, information is being exchanged with foreign partners aiming to change already consolidated models, for the correct evaluation of cases of non conformity relative to the protection of personal and collective safety.

Safety
The legislative debate following the issue of law no. 123/07 was followed with extreme interest, as the government has been appointed to draw up an amalgamated law concerning health and safety in the workplace. At the proposal of the “Safety” Commission, at the end of the year a national public inquiry began on the standardisation project called “Management System of health and safety in the workplace - Terminology and requirements” which specifies the requirements of a management system that allows an organisation to establish a health and safety policy and objectives, considering the legal requirements and the knowledge provided as a result of technical and scientific progress.

Business management
Concerning quality management, the UNI ISO 10014 standard was published in Italian, providing the top management of companies with guidelines to obtain economic and financial benefits from the application of the management principles of UNI EN ISO 9000. Over the year the technical reports on quality terminology (UNI/TR 11220), the application of ISO 9001 to public administrations (UNI/TR 11217) and the use of statistical techniques (UNI ISO/TR 10017) were also published. UNI 11155 on UNI EN 15217: expresses energy performance of systems for the energy certification of buildings measuring the operational performance of businesses was also updated.
Furthermore, UNI 11230, the first standard covering risk management and a terminological document that the market had been long looking forward to, was published. On this issue, the participation of the members of the UNI working group continues to be strong also in international projects to draw up the ISO 31000 standard, which will provide a guide to the principles and implementation of risk management.
Finally, within the ISO working group on social responsibility the third working draft (WD3) of the future ISO 26000 was completed, on the principles and guidelines for social responsibility, thanks also to the contribution of an Italian delegation comprising representatives of various stakeholders.

Services
The activities of the new “Tourism” commission, created in 2006, have continued. The Italian delegation hosted a meeting in Rome dedicated to spa tourism by the “Spa” working group of the ISO/TC 228 committee “Tourism and related services”. Concerning management consulting, UNI 11251 was published, containing the guidelines relative to the contracting of consulting services and organisational and management training by central and local public administrations. Italian versions of UNI EN 15038 on translating services, and UNI ISO 20252 on market research, were made available. The work of the CEN BT TF 182 task force on contact centres continued, to which Italy - which chairs this activity - provided its own contribution with the content of the UNI 11200 standard.

Environment
The new standards on recyclable materials saw the reactivation of the European task force on used tyres in 2007, as UNI took on both the chairmanship and secretariat, to draw up the technical specification CEN/TS 14243, and the consequent establishment of the UNI GL14 group of the “Environment” commission. With the publication of UNI ISO 14065, which accompanies the other three parts of UNI ISO 14064, the family of standards on measuring instruments and validation of greenhouse gas emissions was completed, a possible support to the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol and other projects aiming to reduce climate-changing emissions. A bilingual version of UNI EN 14662 was published, which is important for the consequences of atmospheric emissions of particularly hazardous substances, which defines a standard method for measurement of benzene concentrations: it is divided into 5 parts which define the various sampling methods to support the EU directives on ambient air quality.

Metrology
The translation of the IMV, the “International Metrology Vocabulary” has begun, and the WG “Reference material” was established to adopt the ISO/REMCO guides with an Italian translation. Concerning the geometrical product specifications (GPS), in addition to the publication of Guidelines UNI ISO/TS 23165 for the evaluation of coordinate measuring machine (CMM) test uncertainty and UNI EN ISO 2692 Geometrical tolerancing - Maximum material requirement (MMR), least material requirement (LMR) and reciprocity requirement (RPR)- the activity of ISO/TC 213 has increased in the field of technical drawings and tolerancing.

Lift systems
The commission dedicated plenty of resources to updating the application methods of EN 81-80 “Safety rules for the construction and installation of lifts - Existing lifts - Rules for the improvement of safety of existing passenger and goods lifts” considering the experience gained in the two years of application of the standard. The document is therefore now ready for publication. As far as existing electric lifts are concerned, the review of UNI 10411-1 was completed and the new UNI 10411-2 drawn up: both will be published in early 2008.

Vibration risk
The reduction of risk due to mechanical vibration is a requirement of Directive 2002/44/EC; an important contribution to the protection of workers from the harmful effects that can be caused by mechanical vibrations can be offered by appropriate machine design. In this view, in 2007 the two parts of the technical report UNI/TR 11232 (part 1 “Technical design methods for machine design” and part 2 “Measures of prevention in the workplace”) were published, corresponding to the two parts of CEN CR 1030, which proposes guidelines for the reduction of risk of hand-arm vibration. Additional help comes from UNI EN ISO 8041, of which an Italian version was published last year, which defines the performance specifications and the limits of tolerance for vibration measuring instruments, in order to assess the human response to vibrations transmitted to the handarm system or the whole body.

Noise pollution
2007 saw the “Acoustics” commission work both on the application of the Directive 2002/49/EC relative to the determination and management of environmental noise, and that relative to noise in the workplace 2003/10/EC. This activity, which was developed by several groups and the results of which will be seen next year, has for now resulted in the publication of UNI 11252 which describes a procedure for the conversion of the continuous equivalent level for day-night noise indicators and the assessment index of day-evening-night airport noise indicators and night noise indicators as described in Annex I of Directive 2002/49/EC. The adoption of this Directive introduces two new environmental noise indicators, both based on the continuous equivalent and used to assess respectively annoyance caused to the population and the interference of noise on sleep. The conversion procedure applies to data, obtained through experimental readings or numerical models and processes, concerning the noise produced by road, rail and airport traffic, and industrial sites included in Annex I of Decree no. 372 of 4th August 1999 to implement Directive 96/61/EC relative to the integrated prevention and reduction of pollution.
2007 also saw the publication of a bilingual version of UNI EN ISO 16032, which specifies the engineering method for measuring noise pressure levels of technical systems in buildings. Technological systems are very often a source of noise and vibrations, transmitted both inside and outside buildings. Controlling the noise generated by systems often means controlling not just their operation but also their interaction with the rest of the building, and this is often one of the most problematic and least well known aspects of passive noise protection in buildings, whether measuring noise in running systems or aiming to estimate noise levels in the design phase. Today this problem is regulated by Law 447/95 “Framework law on noise pollution” and implemented by the Presidential Decree of the Council of Ministers of 5th December 1997 “Passive acoustic requirements of buildings”.
This highlights the possible presence of noise sources that could cause pollution as defined 22 in the above framework law in continuous systems (heating, air conditioning, mechanical ventilation) and discontinuous systems (hygiene facilities, domestic water systems including piping, waste water drainage, lifts). The test method proposed in UNI EN ISO 16032 consists in measuring noise during a specific operating cycle. For continuous systems, the operating cycle is intuitive, during the normal system operation, while for discontinuous systems this is defined in the standard itself.

Protection against excessive pressure
In 2007 all the works were completed for the publication - in early 2008 - of part 7 of UNI EN ISO 4126 relative to common data on safety devices for protection against excessive pressure. This standard, with all its various parts, lists the requirements for the design, application and marking of these products that are used for safety valves whatever fluid they have been designed for, for protection against excessive pressure in pressurised recipients, piping and other containers.
A further contribution against excessive pressure is provided in UNI EN 12516, composed of four parts, of which the first two published in Italian in 2007. These specify the methods for determining the thickness of steel valve shells. The tabular method in part 1 has the same approach as ASME B16.34, while the calculation method of part 2 is the same as the approach used in DIN 3840.

Release of hazardous materials into the environment
The issue of Directive ELV 2000/53/EEC, relative to end-of-life vehicles, and the Directives RoHS 2002/95/EC and WEEE 2002/96/EC, have aroused particular interest in the market of companies and operators who apply trivalent passivation post-treatments and recycling, as the RoHS directive forbids and limits the use of lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chrome in electrical and electronic equipment, while the WEEE tends to prevent and limit the flow of equipment waste destined for dumping, obliging the recovery and recycling of the materials the equipment and relative components are made from. The objective of these directives is, right from the moment of design, to reduce the presence of hazardous substances in order to prevent and avoid the exposure of the operators working in recycling oprations. To support the application of this directive, UNI EN 15205 describes (currently the only) test method for the analysis and qualitative determination of the presence of hexavalent chrome, forbidden under the aforementioned directives, in trivalent passivation and corrosion-proofing coatings, applied as a replacement for chrome passivation.

Corrosion in closed water circulation systems
At the end of 2007 the bilingual version of UNI EN 14868 was published, concerning the assessment of corrosion probability in closed water circulation systems: it accompanies the previous UNI EN 12502, which concerned hot water recirculation systems. The extent of the corrosion can only be expressed in terms of probability, as it is the result of complex interactions among the Graffiti may be an art form, but surfaces that conform to UNI 11246 (permanent anti-graffiti standard) will put them to task various influencing factors. Although cases of serious damage (and/or incrustation) from corrosion are generally very rare, certain precautions should be taken to avoid long-term operating problems. UNI EN 14868 must therefore be considered as a guideline on which decisions may be made during design, installation and operation in order to reduce the probability of corrosion damage to a minimum for:

• heating systems (with operating water temperatures of up to 110 °C),
• cooling and refrigeration systems, both filled with drinking water or water of a similar composition according to Directive 98/83/EC.
• The above is based above all on research carried out and experience gained in the field of corrosion of metallic materials generally present in water circulation systems in buildings (non-alloy or low-alloy steels, cast iron, aluminium, copper and copper alloy, stainless steels).
  
  

Vehicles with limited environmental impact
In the field of road transport, increasing attention is paid to the construction of vehicles with limited environmental impact. The main areas of technological development identified by the automobile industry to achieve this objective intend to pursue the increased spread of biofuels, gas fuel systems and electrical and hybrid systems. The draft standard prEN 15376 concentrates on biofuels, dealing with the specifications of bioethanol for use in petrol (max. 5% volume) and the standard EN 14214 on biodiesel specifications is currently being updated, making it possible in future to increase the fraction in volume in diesel above the current 5%.
For gas fuel systems, a technical updating programme began for the standards of the ISO 15500 series on safety requirements and test methods for components of NCG (natural compressed gas) fuelled systems.
Concerning electric and hybrid systems, the standard ISO 23274 was published, relative to measuring the consumption of fuel in hybrid vehicles that cannot be recharged on the mains. Parallel to this, a standard is being developed for hybrid vehicles that can be charged from the mains (so-called plug-ins). Again for hybrid vehicles, but with a view to possible future applications also for purely electrical vehicles, ISO/TC22/SC21 began studies to develop a standard relative to the performance and test specifications of electrical in-car storage systems, based on lithium-ion batteries.
Finally, to demonstrate the increasingly widespread interest in alternative propulsion, Italy was appointed to the secretariat of the new ISO/TC22/SC23/WG9 working group for “Electrical mopeds and motorcycles”, which began the study for a complete programme of harmonisation relative to the safety and performance of 2 and 3-wheeled vehicles with electrical propulsion (pure and hybrid). The programme foresees the publication of standards relative to terminology and classification (leadership appointed to Japan), electrical and operational safety (leadership appointed to France), and performance (leadership appointed to Italy).