Wiesenthal Centre Request to International Standardization Organization (ISO): "Provide the Procedure Whereby the ISO Registers The Names of Countries and Territories"

January 3, 2019

"The 2007 ISO Palestinian entry was 'Palestinian Occupied Territory', while in 2013, this was 'officially changed' to the 'State of Palestine', rather than the more commonly depoliticized formula, 'Palestinian Authority' ".

Paris,

In a letter to the Geneva-based International Standardization Organization (ISO) Secretary, Jose Baltar, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations,Dr. Shimon Samuels, requested to learn the procedure by which the ISO registers the name of member-countries.

"Our members have noted that formulas used in pre-defined country lists prepared for airlines, travel and sales outlets differ from those of ISO"...."For example, FYROM (Former Yugoslavia Republic of Macedonia) appears in ISO despite its identity as claimed by its government is 'Macedonia'," stated Samuels.

The Centre noted that "ISO apparently has no entry for 'Tibetan Chinese Occupation' nor 'Northern Cyprus as Turkish Occupied'. On the other hand, from 2007, ISO's Palestinian entry was 'Palestinian Occupied Territory', while in 2013, this was 'officially changed' to the 'State of Palestine', rather than the more commonly depoliticized formula, 'Palestinian Authority'."

"Please inform us as to the requirements and procedure for such ISO inscriptions, especially in regard to territories without defined borders or sovereignty in highly politicized conflicts."

For further information contact Shimon Samuels at 0033147237637, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter feed.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).