Introduction
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is
a worldwide federation of national standards bodies from some
130 countries, one from each country.
ISO is a non-governmental organization established in 1947.
The mission of ISO is to promote the development of standardization
and related activities in the world with a view to facilitating
the international exchange of goods and services, and to developing
cooperation in the spheres of intellectual, scientific, technological
and economic activity.
ISO's work results in international agreements which are
published as International Standards.
ISO's name
Many people will have noticed a seeming lack of correspondence
between the official title when used in full, International
Organization for Standardization, and the short form, ISO.
Shouldn't the acronym be "IOS"? Yes, if it were
an acronym ?which it is not.
In fact, "ISO" is a word, derived from the Greek
isos, meaning "equal", which is the root of the
prefix "iso-" that occurs in a host of terms, such
as "isometric" (of equal measure or dimensions)
and "isonomy" (equality of laws, or of people before
the law).
From "equal" to "standard", the line
of thinking that led to the choice of "ISO" as the
name of the organization is easy to follow. In addition, the
name ISO is used around the world to denote the organization,
thus avoiding the plethora of acronyms resulting from the
translation of "International Organization for Standardization"
into the different national languages of members, e.g. IOS
in English, OIN in French (from Organisation internationale
de normalisation). Whatever the country, the short form of
the Organization's name is always ISO.
The existence of non-harmonized standards for similar technologies
in different countries or regions can contribute to so-called
"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 of the establishment of ISO.
International standardization is 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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Worldwide progress in trade liberalization |
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Today's free-market economies increasingly encourage
diverse sources of supply and provide opportunities for
expanding markets. On the technology side, fair competition
needs to be based on identifiable, clearly defined common
references that are recognized from one country to the
next, and from one region to the other. An industry-wide
standard, internationally recognized, developed by consensus
among trading partners, serves as the language of trade.
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Interpenetration of sectors |
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No industry in today's world can truly claim to be completely
independent of components, products, rules of application,
etc., that have been developed in other sectors. Bolts
are used in aviation and for agricultural machinery; welding
plays a role in mechanical and nuclear engineering, and
electronic data processing has penetrated all industries.
Environmentally friendly products and processes, and recyclable
or biodegradable packaging are pervasive concerns. |
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Worldwide communications systems |
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The computer industry offers a good example of technology
that needs quickly and progressively to be standardized
at a global level. Full compatibility among open systems
fosters healthy competition among producers, and offers
real options to users since it is a powerful catalyst
for innovation, improved productivity and cost-cutting. |
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Global standards for emerging technologies |
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Standardization programs in completely new fields are
now being developed. Such fields include advanced materials,
the environment, life sciences, urbanization and construction.
In the very early stages of new technology development,
applications can be imagined but functional prototypes
do not exist. Here, the need for standardization is in
defining terminology and accumulating databases of quantitative
information. |
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Developing countries |
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Development agencies are increasingly recognizing that
a standardization infrastructure is a basic condition
for the success of economic policies aimed at achieving
sustainable development. Creating such an infrastructure
in developing countries is essential for improving productivity,
market competitiveness, and export capability. |
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:
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enhancedproduct quality and reliability at a reasonable
price; |
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improved health, safety and environmental protection,
and reduction of waste; |
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greater compatibility and interoperability of goods
and services; |
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simplification for improved usability; |
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reduction in the number of models, and thus reduction
in costs; |
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increased distribution efficiency, and ease of maintenance.
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Users have more confidence in products and services that
conform to International Standards. Assurance of conformity
can be provided by manufacturers' declarations, or by audits
carried out by independent bodies.
ISO is made up of its members which are divided into three
categories:
A member body of ISO is the national body "most representative
of standardization in its country". Thus, only one body
in each country may be admitted to membership of ISO.
A member body takes the responsibility for:
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informing potentially interested parties in their country
of relevant international standardization opportunities
and initiatives; |
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ensuring that a concerted view of the country's interests
is presented during international negotiations leading
to standards agreements; |
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providing their country's share of financial support
for the central operations of ISO, through payment of
membership dues. |
Member bodies are entitled to participate and exercise full
voting rights on any technical committee and policy committee
of ISO.
A correspondent member is usually an organization in a country
which does not yet have a fully developed national standards
activity. Correspondent members do not take an active part
in the technical and policy development work, but are entitled
to be kept fully informed about the work of interest to them.
ISO has also established a third category, subscriber membership,
for countries with very small economies. Subscriber members
pay reduced membership fees that nevertheless allow them to
maintain contact with international standardization.
The technical work of ISO is highly decentralized, carried
out in a hierarchy of some 2 850 technical committees, subcommittees
and working groups. In these committees, qualified representatives
of industry, research institutes, government authorities,
consumer bodies, and international organizations from all
over the world come together as equal partners in the resolution
of global standardization problems. Some 30 000 experts participate
in meetings each year.
The major responsibility for administrating a standards committee
is accepted by one of the national standards bodies that make
up the ISO membership - AFNOR, ANSI, BSI, CSBTS, DIN, SIS,
etc. The member body holding the secretariat of a standards
committee normally appoints one or two persons to do the technical
and administrative work. A committee chairman assists committee
members in reaching consensus. Generally, a consensus will
mean that a particular solution to the problem at hand is
the best possible one for international application at that
time.
The Central Secretariat in Geneva acts to ensure the flow
of documentation in all directions, to clarify technical points
with secretariats and chairmen, and to ensure that the agreements
approved by the technical committees are edited, printed,
submitted as draft International Standards to ISO member bodies
for voting, and published. Meetings of technical committees
and subcommittees are convened by the Central Secretariat,
which coordinates all such meetings with the committee secretariats
before setting the date and place. Although the greater part
of the ISO technical work is done by correspondence, there
are, on average, a dozen ISO meetings taking place somewhere
in the world every working day of the year.
Each member body interested in a subject has the right to
be represented on a committee. International organizations,
governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also
take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the International
Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical
standardization.
The publication ISO Memento provides information on the scope
of responsibility, organizational structure and secretariats
for each ISO technical committee. Detailed rules of procedure
for the technical work are given in the ISO/IEC Directives.
A list of the 500 international organizations in liaison with
ISO's technical committees and subcommittees is given in the
publication ISO Liaisons.
ISO standards are developed according to the following principles:
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Consensus |
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The views of all interests are taken into account: manufacturers,
vendors and users, consumer groups, testing laboratories,
governments, engineering professions and research organizations. |
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Industry-wide |
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Global solutions to satisfy industries and customers
worldwide. |
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Voluntary |
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International standardization is market-driven and therefore
based on voluntary involvement of all interests in the
market-place. |
There are three main phases in the ISO standards development
process.
The need for a standard is usually expressed by an industry
sector, which communicates this need to a national member
body. The latter proposes the new work item to ISO as a whole.
Once the need for an International Standard has been recognized
and formally agreed, the first phase involves definition of
the technical scope of the future standard. This phase is
usually carried out in working groups which comprise technical
experts from countries interested in the subject matter.
Once agreement has been reached on which technical aspects
are to be covered in the standard, a second phase is entered
during which countries negotiate the detailed specifications
within the standard. This is the consensus-building phase.
The final phase comprises the formal approval of the resulting
draft International Standard (the acceptance criteria stipulate
approval by two-thirds of the ISO members that have participated
actively in the standards development process, and approval
by 75 % of all members that vote), following which the agreed
text is published as an ISO International Standard.
It is now also possible to publish interim documents at different
stages in the standardization process.
Most standards require periodic revision. Several factors
combine to render a standard out of date: technological evolution,
new methods and materials, new quality and safety requirements.
To take account of these factors, ISO has established the
general rule that all ISO standards should be reviewed at
intervals of not more than five years. On occasion, it is
necessary to revise a standard earlier.
To date, ISO's work has resulted in some 12 000 International
Standards, representing more than 300 000 pages in English
and French (terminology is often provided in other languages
as well).
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