ISO/IEC 24700:2004 specifies product characteristics for use in an original equipment manufacturer's or authorized third party's declaration of conformity to demonstrate that a marketed product that contains reused components performs equivalent to new, meeting equivalent to new component specifications and performance criteria, and continues to meet all the safety and environmental criteria required by responsibly built products. It is relevant to marketed products whose manufacturing and recovery processes result in the reuse of components. Annex C has a description of how reuse relates to other recycling processes. ISO/IEC 24700:2004 is applicable to:
- A situation in which a government requires a neutral benchmark to evaluate the quality, safety and performance of equipment that contains reused components and to demonstrate the environmental responsibility of the supplier. When regulations mandate a neutral benchmark for equipment, ISO/IEC 24700:2004 provides the benchmark for proving compliance with such regulations.
- A situation in which a commercial supplier requires a neutral benchmark to demonstrate and communicate the quality, safety and performance of equipment that contains reused components and to demonstrate the environmental responsibility of the supplier.
- Situations in which consumers require a neutral benchmark to identify or distinguish environmentally responsible products.
ISO/IEC 24700:2004 reflects the world's current approaches that yield products from many manufacturing processes including the reuse of components, with the equipment's warranties and guarantees playing an important role in market acceptance. In today's procurement processes, technical equipment definitions used by regulators must be addressed and, in that sense, ISO/IEC 24700:2004 will be useful in procurement and in the trade facilitation area, to communicate with regulators. ISO/IEC 24700:2004 specifically addresses office equipment. However, in the future it may provide valuable directions for other industries and industrial sectors.