The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies from some 140 countries, one from each country.
AIM:
Industry-wide standardization is a
condition existing within a particular industrial sector when the large
majority of products or services conform to the same standards. It results
from consensus agreements reached between all economic players in that
industrial sector - suppliers, users, and often governments. They agree on
specifications and criteria to be applied consistently in the choice and
classification of materials, the manufacture of products, and the
provision of services. The aim is to facilitate trade, exchange and
technology transfer through:
- Enhanced
product quality and reliability at a reasonable price
- Improved
health, safety and environmental protection and reduction of waste
- Greater
compatibility and interoperability of goods and services
- Simplification
for improved usability
- Reduction
in the number of models, and thus reduction in costs
- Increased
distribution efficiency, and ease of maintenance
Users have more confidence in products and services that conform to international Standards. Assurance of conformity can be provided by manufacturer's declarations, or by audits carried out by independent bodies.
The Need For International
Standardization:
The existence of non-harmonized standards
for similar technologies in different countries or regions can contribute
to "technical barriers” to trade. Export minded
industries have long sensed the need to agree on world standards to help
rationalize the international trading process. This was the origin for ISO.
International standardization is now well established for many technologies in such diverse fields as information processing and communications, textiles, packaging, distribution of goods, energy production and utilization, shipbuilding, banking and financial services. It will continue to grow in importance for all sectors of industrial activity for the foreseeable future. The main reasons are:
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