The Process of Developing Standards

1. The process of developing a Ghana Standard can be summarized into a four-stage process as shown in the following Table 1:

       Table 1:     Elaboration of the Stages of a Ghana Standard Development Process

   Stage	Process
   Proposal stage	The first step in the development of a Ghana Standard is to receive a request from stakeholders (both external and internal)  who have determined a need for a particular Ghana Standard. A new work item proposal (NWP) is initiated. The request is then submitted for formal approval. Upon approval of the request, the project is assigned to the relevant existing Technical Committee (TC) or Working group (WG) or Sub-Committee (SC) or a new TC or WG may be established to undertake the project.
   Preparatory stage	Deliberation of a project is carried out by the Working Group, Sub-Committee and Technical Committee and the Draft Ghana Standard (DGS) is finalized for Public Comments for a period of sixty working days. The DGS is circulated to relevant Stakeholders both internal and external.  The final draft is also reviewed internally by the other Technical Divisions of the Ghana Standards Board.
   Approval stage	Following the period for Public comments, the Final Draft Ghana Standard (FDGS) is reviewed by the T.C to address any comments received. Upon acceptance by the TC, it is forwarded to the Clearing Houses for editing.
   Publication stage	Once a FDGS has been edited, it is sent for printing and gazetting in the National Gazette.