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Swiss court backs Taiwan’s ISO stance

September 10, 2010

ROC Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Sept. 9 that it will continue its efforts to protect Taiwan’s legal rights in the case against the International Organization for Standardization.

A Swiss federal court reaffirmed in a decision announced Sept. 9 that Taiwan meets the prerequisites for being designated as a country and has the right to sue the ISO over its incorrect reference to Taiwan in its country code list, the foreign ministry said in a news release.

However, the five-member panel of judges also decided in its ruling not to handle the case, determining that the civil suit is beyond its jurisdiction as the suit is politically motivated, according to the MOFA.

The government filed the lawsuit against the ISO with a court in Geneva, Switzerland in July 2007, claiming the organization was violating Taiwan’s name rights by using “Taiwan, Province of China,” instead of “Republic of China (Taiwan)” in its ISO 3166 country code list.

The suit was officially filed in the name of the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) after the ISO failed to respond positively to its repeated requests to rectify Taiwan’s designation.

The lawsuit marked the first time that Taiwan took legal action against a major international organization over the name issue.

The ISO is an international body that sets worldwide industrial and commercial standards. It is headquartered in Geneva.

Write to Taiwan Today at ttonline@mail.gio.gov.tw

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