Anna Board to Discuss ISO Registration Authority Agreement

The Association of National Numbering Agencies (Anna) is reviewing a new registration authority agreement from the International Organization for Standards (ISO) for the ISIN standard, officials tell Inside Reference Data.

Anna, the registration authority for the ISIN standard, and ISO were working on a new agreement last year, but the process was stopped at the beginning of the year. ISO has since carried out a legal review of the various agreements it has with organizations that act as registration authorities for the implementation of ISO standards. The agreements have been revised to clarify a number of ambiguities that arose during the legal review, and ISO is now sending them out to the organizations concerned.

Geneva-based Mike Smith, senior advisor, technical policy, ISO, says the new version is based on a basic template that is “adapted for each particular organization and standard.” The changes to the agreement are “fairly cosmetic,” he says.

Anna received a draft version of the new ISO Registration Authority Agreement in June, and ISO is yet to hear back from Anna. Anna will discuss the new version at the board meeting in August, but Anna members have raised concerns about the changes after the draft agreement was presented at a general meeting and circulated afterwards.

London-based Anna chairman Dan Kuhnel says the new agreement tries to address intellectual property rights. “There are a number of aspects relating to handing over the numbering agency role if ISO is not happy with the processes being undertaken,” he says, adding that Anna sees the new agreement as giving ISO the right to assume or delegate the numbering agency role for a particular jurisdiction.

ISO’s Smith says ISO can always step in if an organization has not fulfilled the terms of the registration authority agreement, but ISO would not resume the role of a numbering agency. “Our job would be to ensure the system is working under Anna,” he says, adding that it would be up to Anna to appoint registration agencies and delegate in the event of any problems.