Established in 1947, the International Organization for Standardization is a non-governmental federation of national standards bodies from 162 countries worldwide, one from each country. ISO’s work results in international agreements which are published as International Standards. The first ISO standard was published in 1951 with the title ‘Standard reference temperature for industrial length measurement’.

Some 19,500 ISO International Standards are available on subjects in such diverse fields as information technology, textiles, packaging, distribution of goods, energy production and utilization, building, banking and financial services. ISO standardization activities include the widely recognized ISO 9000 family of quality management system and standards and the ISO 14000 series of environmental management system standards. Standardization programmes are now being developed in completely new fields, such as food safety, security, social responsibility and the service sector.

Mission. 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 co-operation in the spheres of intellectual, scientific, technological and economic activity.

  • Headquarters: 8 Chemin de Blandonnet, CP 401, CH-1214 Vernier, Geneva, Switzerland.

  • Website: http://www.iso.org

  • Email: central@iso.org

  • President: John Walter (Canada).