Key New Standards for Terminology, Documentation, and AI Transparency – November 2025

The month of November 2025 marks a significant milestone in the field of terminology, documentation, and standardization practices. Five new international standards have been released, setting clearer definitions and procedural frameworks across industries ranging from food and minerals to information technology and artificial intelligence. These updates address a growing need for harmonized vocabulary, improved data transparency, and robust frameworks that support automatic identification, digital resource management, and responsible AI.

For professionals in quality management, compliance, IT, engineering, research, and procurement, these standards offer both fresh guidance and practical solutions to complex documentation and interoperability challenges. Below, we explore the core aspects and business implications of each standard.

Overview / Introduction

Terminology, documentation, and standardization are foundational disciplines impacting virtually every modern industry. The clarity of technical vocabulary and standardized approaches to resource management and digital systems underpin international trade, regulatory compliance, and innovation alike.

In November 2025, five newly published international standards set higher bars, bringing:

• Unified sensory vocabulary for coffee quality and product evaluation
• Up-to-date barcode symbology for automated data capture
• Harmonized lithium terminology critical for batteries and materials supply chains
• Groundbreaking frameworks for artificial intelligence (AI) transparency
• Next-gen morphosyntactic annotation for linguistic and digital resource management

In this article, you’ll discover:

• Who needs to comply with each new standard
• Notable updates and changes for each specification
• Practical implementation guidance
• The compliance, business, and technical impacts across sectors

Detailed Standards Coverage

ISO 18794:2025 - Vocabulary for Coffee Sensory Analysis

Coffee — Sensory analysis — Vocabulary

ISO 18794:2025 standardizes terminology for the sensory assessment of coffee, encompassing green, roasted, and ground coffee, as well as coffee extracts and soluble coffee. This new edition not only consolidates basic terms of sensory analysis but also adds specialized vocabulary related to coffee odours, tastes, and practitioner terms. Key updates include definitions for “intensity”, “over-extracted”, “stewed”, “past crop”, “old crop”, “concentrated”, “thick”, and “dense”.

Scope and Application:

• Covers comprehensive sensory definitions, ensuring consistent communication among coffee producers, quality testers, traders, buyers, and researchers.
• Terminology applies to evaluation protocols, training, quality control, product labeling, and trade documentation.
• Recommended for use in food product standardization, coffee industry organizations, trade bodies, and research labs.

Key requirements and practical implications:

• Aligns with global sensory analysis standards (ISO 5492:2008), enhancing interoperability.
• Provides a lexicon for flavor, aroma, and texture parameters, enabling objective product profiling.
• Facilitates harmonization in international coffee trading and quality assurance.
• Reduces ambiguity for procurement contracts and regulatory filings.
• Revised edition reflects modern coffee evaluation, including newer specialty coffee terms and technical definitions.

Key highlights:

• Expanded definitions for critical sensory terms
• Integration of industry-specific coffee vocabulary
• Direct impact on quality evaluation, training, and product marketing

Access the full standard:View ISO 18794:2025 on iTeh Standards

ISO/IEC 15420:2025 - Specification for EAN/UPC Bar Code Symbology

Information technology — Automatic identification and data capture techniques — EAN/UPC bar code symbology specification

This updated global standard specifies the design, structure, dimensions, data encodation, and quality criteria for EAN/UPC barcode symbology—the de facto backbone for automated retail scanning and product identification. The third edition aligns with the latest GS1 General Specifications, ensuring global interoperability for manufacturers, retailers, logistics providers, and developers of barcode equipment and software.

Scope and Application:

• Requirements for EAN-13, EAN-8, UPC-A, and UPC-E symbols
• Definition of bar and space patterns, module width, check digit calculation, and quiet zones
• Guidance for both hardware manufacturers and commercial users integrating barcoding into supply chain management
• Governed by cross-industry applicability: retail, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, logistics, and distribution

Notable changes from previous editions:

• Updated terminology and dimensional tolerances
• Clarifications distinguishing this document's scope versus broader application requirements
• Barcode examples now use reserved GS1 company prefixes
• Barcode verifier lighting specification updated from 670 nm to 660 nm

Key highlights:

• Fully updated for latest GS1 and industry guidelines
• Applicable to AIDC (automatic identification and data capture) professionals and compliance managers
• Ensures compatibility for retail and logistics systems worldwide

Access the full standard:View ISO/IEC 15420:2025 on iTeh Standards

ISO 7819:2025 - Standardized Lithium Vocabulary

Lithium — Vocabulary

As the foundation for communications across the lithium sector—spanning mining, material processing, batteries, and recycling—ISO 7819:2025 unifies terminology for lithium minerals, metals, compounds, alloys, and scrap recycling. This standard demystifies critical concepts related to chemical and physical properties, supporting more seamless collaboration and procurement across the global lithium supply chain.

Scope and Application:

• Defines lithium-related concepts: from mineral grades (spodumene, lepidolite, petalite) to compounds, alloy forms, recycling terms, and impurity characterization
• Ensures clarity in technical documents, material certifications, product labeling, and specifications
• Wide relevance for mining companies, battery producers, recyclers, traders, R&D, and regulatory authorities

Practical impacts:

• Reduces disputes in materials procurement by providing precise, harmonized definitions
• Critical for writing technical documentation, contracts, and supply agreements
• Supports global trade by aligning language across continents and industrial sectors
• Improves communication for new product development, battery manufacturing, and compliance

Key highlights:

• First comprehensive standard for lithium terminology
• Includes physical and chemical attribute definitions
• Enables international trade and supports scientific research documentation

Access the full standard:View ISO 7819:2025 on iTeh Standards

ISO/IEC 12792:2025 - AI Transparency Taxonomy

Information technology — Artificial intelligence (AI) — Transparency taxonomy of AI systems

Transparency is a cornerstone of responsible and trustworthy artificial intelligence. ISO/IEC 12792:2025 introduces a taxonomy of information elements that aids stakeholders—from developers to regulators—in defining and assessing transparency requirements for any AI deployment.

Scope and Application:

• Applicable to all organizations and industries utilizing AI systems
• Taxonomy covers technical, organizational, societal, and environmental elements affecting AI transparency
• Offers a structured system for documenting disclosures, process management, data provenance, and risk

Major requirements and guidance:

• Outlines the objectives and needs for transparency in AI, including stakeholder roles and stakeholders' objectives
• Classifies transparency information at context, system, model, and dataset levels
• Drives best practices in AI governance, validation, and accountability
• Assists compliance with ethical and legal mandates for explainability, such as the EU AI Act or ISO/IEC TR 24028
• Important for developers, auditors, compliance officers, procurement, and end-users evaluating AI products

Key highlights:

• Structured approach to transparency across all AI lifecycle phases
• Direct support for ethical, regulatory, and technical compliance
• Facilitates documentation, monitoring, and risk assessment in AI deployments

Access the full standard:View ISO/IEC 12792:2025 on iTeh Standards

ISO 24611-1:2025 - Morphosyntactic Annotation Framework, Part 1: Core Model

Language resource management — Morphosyntactic annotation framework (MAF) — Part 1: Core model

This first part of the revised MAF standard creates a unified, extensible framework for annotating word-sized language units in text, covering tokenization, links to lexical entries, and assignment of morphosyntactic features. It introduces a metamodel that is both theoretically robust and practical—defining data structures, category repositories, and XML serialization compliant with the TEI Guidelines.

Scope and Application:

• Covers the full annotation lifecycle for linguistics, NLP, content management, digital archiving, and language technology
• Applicable to software vendors, lexicographers, computational linguists, and language resource managers
• Enhances interoperability by using persistent, standardized semantic references (data categories)
• XML serialization streamlines integration in digital workflows
• Part 2 (to be published) will expand capabilities to word lattices and further ambiguities

Major changes from prior versions:

• Complete technical overhaul to TEI XML serialization
• Greater clarity in definitions and conformance conditions
• Harmonization with external data category repositories

Key highlights:

• Simplifies multilingual text processing and data interoperability
• Underpins standards-based annotation for digital humanities, translation, and NLP
• Focused on extensibility, interoperability, and compliance

Access the full standard:View ISO 24611-1:2025 on iTeh Standards

Industry Impact & Compliance

These new and updated standards collectively:

• Streamline global trade and procurement by ensuring shared vocabulary and documentation practices
• Enhance product and process quality via unified definitions and clear technical requirements
• Reduce compliance risks through structured frameworks (especially crucial for AI transparency and barcoding)
• Enable technical interoperability—key for digital resource managers, logistics, and automated systems
• Facilitate training, certification, and audit by providing consistent references

Compliance Considerations:

• Early adoption is encouraged to reduce transition costs and training efforts
• Ensure documentation, labeling, and digital resource management are updated for the latest definitions
• AI and data-centric organizations must align transparency frameworks with ISO/IEC 12792:2025 for governance and external audits
• Supply chains involving lithium and food/beverage should audit contracts and quality protocols against the new vocabularies

Non-compliance could result in miscommunication, regulatory issues, or failed quality audits, particularly in regulated sectors (e.g., food safety, medical devices, AI ethics, battery manufacturing).

Technical Insights

Common technical advances across these standards include:

• Adoption of structured, modular frameworks for terminology and annotation (e.g., MAF's XML serialization, AI information taxonomies)
• Alignment with global specifications—for instance, GS1 for barcodes and external data category repositories for linguistic data
• Emphasis on semantic interoperability, persistent identifiers, and conformance requirements

Implementation Best Practices:

1. Conduct a terminology audit: map internal processes and documentation to new definitions
2. Update information systems to handle new XML formats, data structures, and transparency reporting (especially for AI)
3. Train staff on new vocabulary and compliance requirements—particularly QA, R&D, procurement, and digital resource managers
4. For automated systems (e.g., AIDC, AI), validate encoding, data capture, and transparency features against the latest standards

Testing and Certification:

• Leverage certified testing for barcode quality (as per ISO/IEC 15416), product evaluations, and digital asset conformance
• Use reference datasets and templates for AI systems (per ISO/IEC 12792:2025) and annotate resources using the MAF standard
• Prepare for third-party audits by maintaining full documentation and traceability in line with each standard's requirements

Conclusion / Next Steps

November 2025 introduces a robust new foundation for general vocabulary, documentation, and AI transparency. The updated standards streamline communication, improve technical interoperability, and enhance compliance across food, minerals, information technology, and digital content sectors.

Key Takeaways:

• Thoroughly review and align with the vocabulary and documentation standards for your sector
• Adopt best practices for transparency in AI and data systems
• Integrate updated frameworks and XML serialization in digital resource management
• Stay ahead of compliance demands by proactive implementation and staff training

Next Steps for Organizations:

• Review your current documentation, procurement, and digital workflows against the updated standards
• Engage with professional training and certification as needed
• Monitor iTeh Standards for further updates (including Part 2 in this series and future extensions)

Explore and access the full suite of standards (iTeh Standards) to ensure your organization leads in compliance, innovation, and operational excellence.