ISO Regulations

Setting the standard for standard-setting

Founded in 1947, the Geneva, Switzerland-based International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is a non-governmental, independent consortium of 165 member countries working toward a common set of goals:

  • Developing voluntary international standards covering a gamut of industry sectors including (among others):
    • Technology
    • Manufacturing
    • Agriculture
    • Food Safety
    • Healthcare
  • Facilitating global trade by providing common standards among nations
  • Facilitating creation of quality products and services that are safe and reliable
  • Helping businesses increase productivity and operational efficiency
  • Encouraging fair global trade
  • Protecting end-users by certifying that products/services conform to established international standards

ISO's work, including its publishing of more than 22,000 standards to date, influences a range of areas where international standardization helps clear up potential confusion and advance the organization’s stated goals, such as:

  • Units of measurement
  • Alphabetization and translation
  • Specifications for materials, tools, parts, processes and testing methods
  • Formats in which specifications are presented

Each of ISO's 165 members is recognized as the entity "most representative of standardization in its country." This can be a private organization — such as the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) or the British Standards Institution (BSI) — or a governmental organization, as it is in most ISO member nations.

References

"Public-Private Partnerships in Healthcare - HealthManagement.Org." HealthManagement, https://healthmanagement.org/c/it/issuearticle/public-private-partnerships-in-healthcare.

Helping researchers and labs maintain compliance with standards

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