For the rubber industry, there currently are 346 ASTM International stan- dards and 441 ISO standards in use globally. This paper will review the scope of these ASTM International and ISO standards used throughout the rubber world, briefly comparing them by categories such as rubber processing tests, chemical tests, physical tests of vulcanizates, specifications for compounding materials and a variety of product tests including automotive products, hose and latex, among others.
This paper will review the extent to which ASTM International standards harmonize with ISO standards and how they differ. The process through which a new standard is developed will be compared for ASTM vs. ISO and CEN. Also, the importance of ASTM International standards in the world economy will be reviewed and how they relate to ISO and CEN. Future directions in standard- ization also will be discussed.