ISO standards

ISO or the International Organisation for Standardisation is a world wide federation of national standards bodies from some 100 coun tries, one from each country.

It is a non-govemmental organisation established in 1947 and its mission is to promote the development of standardisa tion 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.

So what are standards?

Standards are documented agreements containing technical specifications or other precise criteria to be used consistently as rules, guidelines, or definitions of charac teristics, to ensure that materials, products, processes and services are fit for their pur pose.

For example, the format of the credit cards, phone cards and "smart” cards that have become commonplace is derived from an ISO International Standard.

Adhering to the standard, which defines such features as an optimal thickness means that the cards can be used world wide.

International Standards thus contribute to making life simpler, and to increasing the reliability and effectiveness of the goods and services we use.

International standardisation: What does it achieve?

Industry-wide standardisation is a con dition existing within a particular industri al sector when the large majority of prod ucts of services conform to the same stan dards.

It results from consensus agreements reached between all economic players in that industrial sector - suppliers, users and often governments.

They agree on specifications and crite ria to be applied consistently in the choice and classification of materials, the manu

facture of products and the provision of services.

The aim is to facilitate trade, exchange

and technology through:

• enhanced product quality and reliabil ity at a reasonable price; • improved health, safety and environ mental protection and reduction of waste; • greater compatibility and inter pretability of goods and services; • simplification of improved usability; • reduction in the number of models and thus reduction in costs; • increased distribution efficiency and ease of maintenance.

Users have confidence in products and services that conform to International Standards. Assurance of conformity can be provided by manufactures’ declarations, or by audits carried out by independent bod ies.

Why is international standardisation

necessary?

The existence of non-harmonised stan dards 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 stan dards to help rationalise the international trading process.

This was the origin of the establishment of ISO.

International standardisation is now well established for very many technolo gies in such diverse fields as information processing and communications, textiles, packaging, distribution of goods, energy production and utilisation, shipbuilding, banking and financial services. It will con tinue to grow in importance for all sectors of industrial activity in the foreseeable future.

The main reasons Worldwide progress in trade liberalisa tion; interpenetration of sectors; world wide communications systems; global standards needs for emerging technologies and developing countries. ■