What it is
The agreement, not the specification
STANAG 2128 is not itself a technical specification. It is the NATO Standardization Agreement by which member nations commit to implement one: "the enclosed NATO Standardization Agreement (STANAG), which has been ratified by member nations, as reflected in the NATO Standardization Document Database (NSDD), is promulgated herewith." The standard it covers is AMedP-1.12, the Allied Medical Publication that actually sets out the exchange, labelling and marking procedures for medical and dental supply. This page covers the agreement; the substantive requirements live on the AMedP-1.12 page.
What nations agree to adopt
The STANAG exists "to facilitate the necessary cross-servicing amongst the Medical Services of the NATO nations", built on standardizing three things: procedures for exchanging non-expendable medical and dental property between nations, the information required on medical and dental supplies and pharmaceuticals, and a method of identifying the contents of syrettes, packages and self-injection devices. Participating nations then agree to adopt, for their own Medical Services, standardized procedures for exchanging non-expendable equipment that accompanies a patient during evacuation from the battlefield to a medical or dental facility, the metric system for dosage information on supply labels, and a standardized way of identifying self-injection device contents. The document names these as the subjects to be standardized rather than spelling out the procedures, units or identification scheme themselves - that detail is AMedP-1.12's, not this cover's.
How it comes to bind
Ratification and implementation are two separate national decisions, and this STANAG is where they are recorded: "the national decisions regarding the ratification and implementation of this STANAG are provided to the NSA," which holds them in the NSDD. A nation can ratify without having fully implemented, which is why the document separately asks nations to "examine their ratification... and, if they have not already done so, advise the NSA of their intention regarding its implementation." Once ratified, the standard is "effective upon receipt and ready to be used by the implementing nations and NATO bodies." Partner nations are handled differently: they are "invited to adopt this STANAG" rather than asked to ratify it. For anyone outside a nation's own Medical Services, the practical trigger is a national specification or a defence contract that names AMedP-1.12 or STANAG 2128, not the STANAG's existence in NATO's catalogue.
Current edition and review
This is edition 6, dated 21 January 2014, superseding "STANAG 2128, Edition 5, dated 9 June 2009." The document is to be reviewed at least once every three years, with the outcome recorded in the NSDD. It is a NATO non-classified document, issued free of charge; NATO does not sell it and neither do we.
Reporting implementation
Nations report their effective implementation using the form in Annex H to AAP-03(J); partner nations use Annex G to the same publication. Beyond that reporting cycle and the three-year review, the document says nothing about how a supplier's own compliance with AMedP-1.12's procedures is checked once a nation has ratified.
Related documents named in the cover
The cover names two other STANAGs alongside AMedP-1.12: STANAG 2939, covering minimum requirements for blood, blood donors and associated equipment, and STANAG 2061, covering procedures for disposition of Allied patients by medical installations.