A WFAS meeting for a standard for acupuncture needles was held in Suzhou, China on September 16, 2010. A delegate from the Department of International Affairs of JSAM accompanied by three experts from an acupuncture needle manufacture (Seirin Corporation) attended the meeting with the purpose of requesting modifications of the draft.
Suggestions from Japan included;(1) clearly define type of needle as 'Sterile filiform acupuncture needles for single-use', (2) not to limit the materials used for the needle body, (3) not to define upper/lower limitations in the size of the needle, (4) add some tests to guarantee safety such as limits for acidity or alkalinity and limits for extractable metals and an endotoxin test, (5) elimination of unnecessary tests regarding needles including hardness, puncture performance, strength, (6) change the term 'normative'in the quality testing method to 'informative'.
According to the suggestions from Japan, modifications in the 'Scope'(defining type of needle as 'filiform') and in the 'Material'section (any kind of materials in accordance with ISO/TS 15510:2007) were annexed to the resolution. However, there is still a need to continue requesting modification of other issues to develop a better draft of the WFAS standard, which will be submitted to an ISO/TC 249 meeting in the near future.