ISO 4874:2020

Overview

ISO 4874:2020 - Tobacco: Sampling of batches of raw material - General principles sets out the general principles and procedures for sampling batches of raw tobacco to assess either the mean values of one or more characteristics or the heterogeneity of those characteristics. The standard applies to raw leaf and pretreated tobaccos (flue-cured, air-cured, sun-cured, fire-cured and several pretreated forms). Manufactured tobacco products (ready-for-sale items) are explicitly excluded.

Key topics and technical requirements

• Scope and purpose: Sampling aimed at estimating mean values or assessing heterogeneity of physical, chemical, botanical or organoleptic characteristics.
• Contractual arrangements: Contracts should specify sampling stages, responsible parties, characteristics to be measured, designated laboratories, and maximum time between sampling and analysis.
• Sampling units and definitions: A sampling unit is a separately packaged part of a consignment (bale, sack, case). For bulk tobacco, a consignment mass m kg can be notionally divided into m/100 sampling units.
• Selection methods:
  • Random sampling - each unit has equal selection probability.
  • Periodic systematic sampling - select units h, h+k, h+2k, … where nk ≤ N