STANAG 2906 field type steam sterilizer agreement

What it is

STANAG 2906 is a NATO standardization agreement, not the technical specification itself. It is the agreement by which participating nations commit to implementing AMedP-1.13, Edition B, the Allied Medical Publication that sets the essential physical requirements and performance characteristics of field type high pressure steam sterilizers. The specification lives in AMedP-1.13; this cover is what gives it force among NATO nations.

Why the agreement exists

The aim is interoperability: to let "different NATO nations" entrust sterilization of their equipment or materials "to allied nations sterilization services during multinational missions," by harmonizing sterilization processes, the performance characteristics of sterilizers, and verification methods so that sterilization done by one ally is "acceptable by all allied nations." A field sterilizer qualified against AMedP-1.13 is, in other words, meant to be usable by more than the nation that fields it.

What participating nations agree to do

Nations agree to implement AMedP-1.13, Edition B, as the standard, and to use it "as a standard for minimum physical characteristics and performances of the campaign sterilizators and to match the future devices to them." They also agree not to change a sterilizer's essential characteristics "without preliminary consultation with other participating nations." Each sterilizer goes through what the cover calls the entire validation process, recorded in a validation file signed by the sterilization manager, and afterwards, "during its use," it is "subject ... to routine checks of its performances."

This edition supersedes STANAG 2906, Edition 4, dated 8 January 2015. It sets no NATO Effective Date of its own ("Not applicable"): force runs from each nation's own ratification and implementation, reported through NATO's electronic reporting tool, and from there through whatever contract or tender clause invokes it. Review of the STANAG itself follows AAP-03, with the result recorded in the NATO Standardization Document Database (NSDD).

The civil standards it names

Implementing AMedP-1.13 "requires compliance with civil standards": EN ISO 17665-1:2006 and CEN ISO/TS 17665-2:2009. The cover also lists a further set of civil standards under the heading "OTHER RELATED DOCUMENTS," without making them a compliance requirement: EN ISO 14937:2009, the EN ISO 11140 series (parts 1, 3 and 4), EN 13060:2018 and EN 285:2018. None of these sit in our catalogue, so they are named here rather than linked.

Getting the document

STANAG 2906 is a NATO non-classified document, free of charge and not sold by us or anyone else. NATO retains reproduction rights: it may not be reproduced or used commercially without the publisher's permission. The authoritative source is NATO's Standardization Document Database entry for STANAG 2906.