ISO – www.iso.org – is the world’s largest devel-oper of standards for business, government

and society. Although ISO’s principal activity isthe development of technical standards, ISO stan-dards also have important economic and socialrepercussions. ISO standards make a positive dif-ference, not just to engineers and manufacturersfor whom they solve basic problems in productionand distribution, but to society as a whole.

Who ISO is

ISO is a network of the national standards insti-tutes of 146 countries, on the basis of one memberper country, with a Central Secretariat in Geneva,Switzerland, that coordinates the system.

ISO is a non-governmental organization: itsmembers are not, as is the case in the UnitedNations system, delegations of national govern-ments. Nevertheless, ISO occupies a special posi-tion between the public and private sectors. Thisis because, on the one hand, many of its memberinstitutes are part of the governmental structureof their countries, or are mandated by their gov-ernment. On the other hand, other members havetheir roots uniquely in the private sector, havingbeen set up by national partnerships of industryassociations.

Therefore, ISO is able to act as a bridgingorganization in which a consensus can be reachedon solutions that meet both the requirements ofbusiness and the broader needs of society, such asthe needs of stakeholder groups like consumersand users.

Why Standards MatterWhat if Standards did not Exist?

If there were no standards, we would soon notice.Standards make an enormous contribution tomost aspects of our lives – although very often,that contribution is invisible. It is when there isan absence of standards that their importance isbrought home. For example, as purchasers orusers of products, we soon notice when they turnout to be of poor quality, do not fit, are incom-patible with equipment we already have, areunreliable or dangerous. When products meetour expectations, we tend to take this for granted.We are usually unaware of the role played bystandards in raising levels of quality, safety, relia-bility, efficiency and interchangeability – aswell as in providing such benefits at an economi-cal cost.

The International Standards which ISO devel-ops are very useful. They are useful to industrialand business organizations of all types, to govern-ments and other regulatory bodies, to trade offi-cials, to conformity assessment professionals, tosuppliers and customers of products and servicesin both public and private sectors, and, ultimate-ly, to people in general in their roles as consumersand end users.

ISO standards contribute to making the devel-opment, manufacturing and supply of productsand services more efficient, safer and cleaner.They make trade between countries easier andfairer. They provide governments with a technicalbase for health, safety and environmental legisla-tion. They aid in transferring technology to devel-oping countries. ISO standards also serve tosafeguard consumers, and users in general, ofproducts and services – as well as to make theirlives simpler.

When things go well – for example, whensystems, machinery and devices work well and

International Organization forStandardization (ISO)†

International Organization for Standardization (ISO), 1, rue de Varembé, Case postale 56, 1211 Geneva 20,Switzerland, www.iso.org

Published in 2004 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Qual Assur J 2004; 88, 198–206. DOI: 10.1002/qaj.287

*Correspondence to: Roger Frost, International Organization forStandardization (ISO), 1, rue de Varembé, Case postale 56, 1211Geneva 20, Switzerland.E-mail: frost@iso.org; Web: www.iso.org†Copyright is held by the International Organization forStandardization (ISO).

safely – then often it is because they conform tostandards. And the organization responsible formany thousands of the standards which benefitsociety worldwide is ISO.

What ISO’s Name Means

Because ‘International Organization forStandardization’ would have different abbrevia-tions in different languages (‘IOS’ in English,‘OIN’ in French for Organisation internationalede normalisation), it was decided at the outset touse a word derived from the Greek isos, meaning‘equal’. Therefore, whatever the country, whatev-er the language, the short form of the organiza-tion’s name is always ISO.

How it all Started

International standardization began in theelectrotechnical field: the International Electro-technical Commission (IEC) was established in1906. Pioneering work in other fields was carriedout by the International Federation of theNational Standardizing Associations (ISA), whichwas set up in 1926. The emphasis within ISA waslaid heavily on mechanical engineering. ISA’sactivities came to an end in 1942.

In 1946, delegates from 25 countries met inLondon and decided to create a new internation-al organization, of which the object would be ‘tofacilitate the international coordination and uni-fication of industrial standards’. The new organi-zation, ISO, officially began operations on 23February 1947.

What ‘InternationalStandardization’ Means

When the large majority of products or servicesin a particular business or industry sector con-form to International Standards, a state of indus-try-wide standardization can be said to exist. Thisis achieved through consensus agreementsbetween national delegations representing all the

economic stakeholders concerned – suppliers,users, government regulators and other interestgroups, such as consumers. They agree on speci-fications and criteria to be applied consistently inthe classification of materials, in the manufactureand supply of products, in testing and analysis, interminology and in the provision of services. Inthis way, International Standards provide a ref-erence framework, or a common technologicallanguage, between suppliers and their customers– which facilitates trade and the transfer oftechnology.

How ISO Standards BenefitSociety

For businesses, the widespread adoption ofInternational Standards means that suppliers canbase the development of their products and serv-ices on specifications that have wide acceptancein their sectors. This, in turn, means that busi-nesses using International Standards are increas-ingly free to compete on many more marketsaround the world.

For customers, the worldwide compatibility oftechnology which is achieved when products andservices are based on International Standardsbrings them an increasingly wide choice of offers,and they also benefit from the effects of competi-tion among suppliers.

For governments, International Standardsprovide the technological and scientific basesunderpinning health, safety and environmentallegislation.

For trade officials negotiating the emergenceof regional and global markets, InternationalStandards create ‘a level playing field’ for allcompetitors on those markets. The existence ofdivergent national or regional standards can cre-ate technical barriers to trade, even when there ispolitical agreement to do away with restrictiveimport quotas and the like. InternationalStandards are the technical means by which polit-ical trade agreements can be put into practice.

For developing countries, InternationalStandards that represent an international con-sensus on the state of the art constitute an

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important source of technological know-how. Bydefining the characteristics that products andservices will be expected to meet on export mar-kets, International Standards give developingcountries a basis for making the right decisionswhen investing their scarce resources and thusavoid squandering them.

For consumers, conformity of products andservices to International Standards provides assur-ance about their quality, safety and reliability.

For everyone, International Standards cancontribute to the quality of life in general byensuring that the transport, machinery and toolswe use are safe.

For the planet we inhabit, InternationalStandards on air, water and soil quality, and onemissions of gases and radiation, can contributeto efforts to preserve the environment.

The Hallmarks of the ISOBrand

Equal footing

Every participating ISO member institution hasthe right to take part in the development of anystandard which it judges to be important to itscountry’s economy. No matter what the size orstrength of that economy, each participating mem-ber in ISO has one vote. ISO’s activities are thuscarried out in a democratic framework where eachcountry is on an equal footing to influence thedirection of ISO’s work at the strategic level, as wellas the technical content of its individual standards.

Voluntary

ISO standards are voluntary. As a non-governmen-tal organization, ISO has no legal authority toenforce their implementation. A certain percentageof ISO standards – mainly those concerned withhealth, safety or the environment – has been adopt-ed in some countries as part of their regulatoryframework, or is referred to in legislation for whichit serves as the technical basis. Such adoptions aresovereign decisions by the regulatory authorities orgovernments of the countries concerned; ISO itselfdoes not regulate or legislate. However, although

ISO standards are voluntary, they may become amarket requirement, as has happened in the case ofISO 9000 quality management systems, or ofdimensions of freight containers and bank cards.

Market-driven

ISO develops only those standards for whichthere is a market requirement. The work is car-ried out by experts on loan from the industrial,technical and business sectors which have askedfor the standards, and which subsequently putthem to use. These experts may be joined by oth-ers with relevant knowledge, such as representa-tives of government agencies, consumer organiza-tions, academia and testing laboratories.

Consensus

Although ISO standards are voluntary, the factthat they are developed in response to marketdemand, and are based on consensus among theinterested parties, ensures widespread applicabil-ity of the standards. Consensus, like technology,evolves and ISO takes account both of evolvingtechnology and of evolving interests by requiringa review of its standards at least every five yearsto decide whether they should be maintained,updated or withdrawn. In this way, ISO standardsretain their position as the state of the art, asagreed by an international cross-section ofexperts in the field.

Worldwide

ISO standards are technical agreements whichprovide the framework for compatible technologyworldwide. Developing technical consensus on thisinternational scale is a major operation. In all,there are more than 2 850 ISO technical groups(technical committees, subcommittees, workinggroups etc.) in which some 30 000 experts partici-pate annually to develop ISO standards.

ISO and world trade

ISO – together with International Electro-technical Commission (IEC) and International

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Telecommunication Union (ITU) – has built astrategic partnership with the World TradeOrganization (WTO) with the common goal ofpromoting a free and fair global trading system.The political agreements reached within theframework of the WTO require underpinning bytechnical agreements. ISO, IEC and ITU, as thethree principal organizations in internationalstandardization, have the complementary scopes,the framework, the expertise and the experienceto provide this technical support for the growthof the global market.

The WTO’s Agreement on Technical Barriersto Trade (TBT) includes the Code of GoodPractice for the Preparation, Adoption andApplication of Standards. The TBT Agreementrecognizes the important contribution thatInternational Standards and conformity assess-ment systems can make to improving efficiency ofproduction and facilitating international trade.Therefore, where International Standards existor their completion is imminent, the Code statesthat standardizing bodies should use them as abasis for standards they develop. The Coderequires that standardizing bodies that haveaccepted its terms notify this fact to the ISO/IECInformation Centre located at the ISO CentralSecretariat. Standardizing bodies having accept-ed the Code must publish their work programmesand also notify the existence of their work pro-grammes to the ISO/IEC Information Centre. Onbehalf of the WTO, ISO periodically publishes adirectory of standardizing bodies that haveaccepted the WTO TBT Standards Code.

ISO and Developing Countries

ISO standards represent a reservoir of technolo-gy. Developing countries in particular, with theirscarce resources, stand to gain from this wealth ofknowledge. For them, ISO standards are animportant means both of acquiring technologicalknow-how that is backed by international consen-sus as the state of the art, and of raising theircapability to export and compete on global mar-kets. In addition to this general benefit of ISO

standards, ISO has a specific programme fordeveloping countries which consists of trainingseminars, sponsorships/fellowships and publi-cations. ISO also has a policy committee ondeveloping country matters, DEVCO, with a mem-bership of nearly 100 standards institutes fromboth industrialized and developing countries.

How to Recognize an ISOStandard

An ISO standard can be anything from a four-page document to one several hundred pages’long and, in the future, will increasingly be avail-able in electronic form. It carries the ISO logoand the designation, ‘International Standard’. Inmost cases, it is published in A4 format – which isitself one of the ISO standard paper sizes.

The Big, Wide World of ISOStandards

Between 1947 and the present day, ISO publishedmore than 14 300 International Standards. ISO’swork programme ranges from standards for tra-ditional activities, such as agriculture and con-struction, through mechanical engineering, tomedical devices, to the newest information tech-nology developments, such as the digital coding ofaudio-visual signals for multimedia applications.

Standardization of screw threads helps to keepchairs, children’s bicycles and aircraft togetherand solves the repair and maintenance problemscaused by a lack of standardization that wereonce a major headache for manufacturers andproduct users. Standards establishing an interna-tional consensus on terminology make technologytransfer easier and can represent an importantstage in the advancement of new technologies.

Without the standardized dimensions offreight containers, international trade would beslower and more expensive. Without the stan-dardization of telephone and banking cards, lifewould be more complicated. A lack of standardi-zation may even affect the quality of life itself: forthe disabled, for example, when they are barred

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access to consumer products, public transportand buildings because the dimensions of wheel-chairs and entrances are not standardized.

Standardized symbols provide danger warn-ings and information across linguistic frontiers.Consensus on grades of various materials give acommon reference for suppliers and clients inbusiness dealings.

Agreement on a sufficient number of varia-tions of a product to meet most current applica-tions allows economies of scale with cost benefitsfor both producers and consumers. An example isthe standardization of paper sizes.

Standardization of performance or safetyrequirements of diverse equipment makes surethat users’ needs are met while allowing individ-ual manufacturers the freedom to design theirown solution on how to meet those needs.

Standardized protocols allow computers fromdifferent vendors to ‘talk’ to each other.Standardized documents speed up the transit ofgoods, or identify sensitive or dangerous cargoesthat may be handled by people speaking differentlanguages. Standardization of connections andinterfaces of all types ensures the compatibility ofequipment of diverse origins and the interoper-ability of different technologies.

Agreement on test methods allows meaningfulcomparisons of products, or plays an importantpart in controlling pollution – whether by noise,vibration or emissions. Safety standards formachinery protect people at work, at play, atsea... and at the dentist’s.

Without the international agreement containedin ISO standards on quantities and units, shop-ping and trade would be haphazard, sciencewould be – unscientific – and technological devel-opment would be handicapped.

More than half a million organizations in more150 countries are implementing ISO 9000 whichprovides a framework for quality managementthroughout the processes of producing and deliv-ering products and services for the customer.

ISO 14 000 environmental management sys-tems are helping organizations of all types toimprove their environmental performance at thesame time as making a positive impact on businessresults.

What Makes ISO 9000 andISO 14000 so Special

The ISO 9000 and ISO 14 000 families are amongISO’s most widely known and successful standardsever. ISO 9000 has become an international refer-ence for quality requirements in business to busi-ness dealings, and ISO 14 000 looks set to achieveat least as much, if not more, in helping organiza-tions to meet their environmental challenges.

The vast majority of ISO standards are highlyspecific to a particular product, material, orprocess. However, the standards that have earnedthe ISO 9000 and ISO 14 000 families a world-wide reputation are known as ‘generic manage-ment system standards’. ‘Generic’ means that thesame standards can be applied to any organiza-tion, large or small, whatever its product –including whether its ‘product’ is actually aservice – in any sector of activity, and whether itis a business enterprise, a public administration,or a government department. ‘Management sys-tem’ refers to what the organization does to man-age its processes, or activities. ‘Generic’ also sig-nifies that no matter what the organization is ordoes, if it wants to establish a quality managementsystem or an environmental management system,then such a system has a number of essential fea-tures which are spelled out in the relevant stan-dards of the ISO 9000 or ISO 14 000 families.

ISO 9000 is concerned with ‘quality manage-ment’. This means what the organization does toenhance customer satisfaction by meeting cus-tomer and applicable regulatory requirementsand continually to improve its performance inthis regard. ISO 14 000 is primarily concernedwith ‘environmental management’. This meanswhat the organization does to minimize harmfuleffects on the environment caused by its activi-ties, and continually to improve its environmentalperformance.

Health Care Standards

Fifteen of ISO’s 188 standards-developing techni-cal committees (TCs) address different aspects ofthe health care sector. (Box 1)

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Many other ISO technical committes con-tribute to health, safety and environment-relatedaspects, with standards ranginf from classifica-tion of plastics for recycling, to the safety of chil-dren’s equipment and toys, and safety andergonomics in the work place

What Makes ConformityAssessment so Important

At its simplest, ‘conformity assessment’ meanschecking that products, materials, services, sys-tems or people measure up to the specifications ofa relevant standard. Today, many productsrequire testing for conformance with specifica-tions or compliance with safety, or other regula-tions before they can be put on many markets.Even simpler products may require supportingtechnical documentation that includes test data.With so much trade taking place across borders,conformity assessment has become an importantcomponent of the world economy. Over the years,ISO has developed many of the standards againstwhich products are assessed for conformity, aswell as the standardized test methods that allowthe meaningful comparison of test results so nec-essary for international trade. ISO itself does not

carry out conformity assessment. However, inpartnership with IEC (InternationalElectrotechnical Commission), ISO developsISO/IEC guides and standards to be used byorganizations which carry out conformity assess-ment activities. The voluntary criteria containedin these guides and standards represent an inter-national consensus on what constitutes best prac-tice. Their use contributes to the consistency andcoherence of conformity assessment worldwideand so facilitates trade across borders.

Where to Find Informationon Standards

ISO’s entire portfolio of standards is listed inthe ISO Catalogue which can be accessed online:www.iso.org. The site also provides access to theWorld Standards Services Network (WSSN)which is a network of publicly accessible Webservers of standards organizations around theworld. It contains links to international, region-al and national standardization bodies, and alsoto other international and regional organizationswhich develop standards in their specializedsubject area, in addition to their principalactivity.

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ISO Technical Committees in the Health Care Sector

TC 48 Laboratory glassware and related apparatusTC 76 Transfusion, infusion and injection equipment for medical and pharmaceutical useTC 84 Medical devices for injectionsTC 106 DentistryTC 121 Anaesthetic and respiratory equipmentTC 150 Implants for surgeryTC 157 Mechanical contraceptivesTC 168 Prosthetics and orthoticsTC 170 Surgical instrumentsTC 173 Technical systems and aids for disabled or handicapped personsTC 194 Biological evaluation of medical devicesTC 198 Sterilization of health care productsTC 210 Quality management and corresponding general aspects for medical devicesTC 212 Clinical laboratory testing and in vitro diagnostic test systemsTC 215 Health informatics.

Box 1

In fact, there are several hundred thousandstandards and technical regulations in the worldcontaining special requirements for a particularcountry or region. Finding information aboutthese, or about related conformity assessmentactivities, can be a heavy task. ISONET, the ISOInformation Network, can ease the problem. Thisis a worldwide network of national standardsinformation centres which have cooperativelydeveloped a system to provide rapid access toinformation about standards, technical regula-tions, and testing and conformity assessmentactivities in operation around the world. TheWorld Trade Organization’s Agreement onTechnical Barriers to Trade (WTO/TBT) callsupon its signatory countries to establish a nation-al enquiry point to answer questions on thesesame areas in relation to that country. In manycountries, the ISONET and WTO enquiry pointsare one and the same.

Who can Join ISO

Membership of ISO is open to national standardsinstitutes or similar organizations most represen-tative of standardization in their country (onemember in each country). Full members, knownas ‘Member bodies’, each have one vote, whateverthe size or strength of the economy of the countryconcerned. In addition, ISO also has two cate-gories of membership for countries with fewerresources. They pay reduced membership fees.Although such members do not have a vote, theycan remain up to date on standardization devel-opments. ‘Correspondent members’ are usuallyorganizations in countries which do not yet havea fully developed national standards activity.Correspondent members do not take an activepart in the technical work, but are entitled to bekept fully informed about the work of interest tothem. ‘Subscriber members’ are institutes fromcountries with very small economies that never-theless wish to maintain contact with internation-al standardization.

Although individuals or enterprises are not eli-gible for membership, both have a range ofopportunities for taking part in ISO’s work, or in

contributing to the development of standardsthrough the ISO member in their country.Individuals may be selected by member institutesto serve on national delegations participating inISO technical committees, or may provide theirinput during the process of developing a nationalconsensus for presentation by the delegation.International organizations and associations,both non-governmental and representing indus-try sectors, can apply for liaison status to a tech-nical committee. They do not vote, but can par-ticipate in the debates and the development ofconsensus.

How the ISO System isManaged

All strategic decisions are referred to the ISOmembers, who meet for an annual GeneralAssembly. The proposals put to the members aredeveloped by the ISO Council, drawn from themembership as a whole, which resembles theboard of directors of a business organization. ISOCouncil meets three times a year and its member-ship is rotated to ensure that it is representativeof ISO’s membership. Operations are managed bya Secretary-General, which is a permanentappointment. The Secretary-General reports to aPresident who is a prominent figure in standard-ization or in business, elected for two years. TheSecretary-General is based at ISO CentralSecretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, with a com-pact staff which provides administrative andtechnical support to the ISO members, coordi-nates the decentralized standards’ developmentprogramme, and publishes the output.

How the ISO System isFinanced

ISO’s national members pay subscriptions thatmeet the operational cost of ISO’s CentralSecretariat. The subscription paid by each mem-ber is in proportion to the country’s GrossNational Product and trade figures. Anothersource of revenue is the sale of standards.

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However, the operations of ISO CentralSecretariat represent only about one fifth of thecost of the system’s operation. The main costs areborne by the member bodies which manage thespecific standards’ development projects and thebusiness organizations which loan experts to par-ticipate in the technical work. These organizationsare, in effect, subsidizing the technical work bypaying the travel costs of the experts and allowingthem time to work on their ISO assignments.

How ISO Decides whatStandards to Develop

Working through the ISO system, it is the sectorswhich need the standards that are at the origin oftheir development. What happens is that the needfor a standard is felt by an industry or businesssector which communicates the requirement toone of ISO’s national members. The latter thenproposes the new work item to ISO as a whole. Ifaccepted, the work item is assigned to an existingtechnical committee. Proposals may also be madeto set up technical committees to cover newscopes of technological activity. In order to useresources most efficiently, ISO only launches thedevelopment of new standards for which there isclearly a market requirement.

The focus of the technical committees is neces-sarily specialized and specific. In addition, ISOhas three general policy development committeeswith a more horizontal approach. Their job is toprovide strategic guidance for the standards’development work on cross-sectoral aspects. Theyare: CASCO (conformity assessment); COPOLCO(consumer policy), and DEVCO (developing coun-try matters). These committees help to ensure thatthe specific technical work is aligned with broadermarket and stakeholder group interests.

Who Develops ISOStandards

ISO standards are developed by technical com-mittees comprising experts on loan from theindustrial, technical and business sectors which

have asked for the standards, and which subse-quently put them to use. These experts may bejoined by others with relevant knowledge, such asrepresentatives of government agencies, testinglaboratories, consumer associations, environmen-talists, and so on. The experts participate asnational delegations, chosen by the ISO nationalmember institute for the country concerned.These delegations are required to represent notjust the views of the organizations in which theirparticipating experts work, but of other stake-holders too. According to ISO rules, the memberinstitute is expected to take account of the viewsof the range of parties interested in the standardunder development and to present a consolidated,national consensus position to the technicalcommittee.

How ISO Standards areDeveloped

The national delegations of experts of a techni-cal committee meet to discuss, debate and argueuntil they reach consensus on a draft agreement.This is then circulated as a Draft InternationalStandard (DIS) to ISO’s membership as a wholefor comment and balloting. Many members havepublic review procedures for making draft stan-dards known and available to interested partiesand to the general public. The ISO membersthen take account of any feedback they receivein formulating their position on the draft stan-dard. If the voting is in favour, the document,with eventual modifications, is circulated to theISO members as a Final Draft InternationalStandard (FDIS). If that vote is positive, thedocument is then published as an InternationalStandard.

Every working day of the year, an average of12 ISO meetings are taking place somewhere inthe world. In between meetings, the experts con-tinue the standards’ development work by corre-spondence. Increasingly, their contacts are madeby electronic means and some ISO technical bod-ies have already gone over entirely to electronicworking, which speeds up the development ofstandards and reduces travel costs.

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When Speed is of theEssence

ISO standards are developed according to strictrules to ensure that they are transparent and fair.The reverse side of the coin is that it can take timeto develop consensus among the interested partiesand for the resulting agreement to go through thepublic review process in the ISO member coun-tries. For some users of standards, particularlythose working in fast-changing technology sec-tors, it may be more important to agree on a tech-nical specification and publish it quickly, beforegoing through the various checks and balancesneeded to win the status of a full InternationalStandard. Therefore, to meet such needs, ISO hasdeveloped a new range of ‘deliverables’, or differ-ent categories of specifications, allowing publica-tion at an intermediate stage of developmentbefore full consensus: Publicly AvailableSpecification (PAS), Technical Specification (TS),Technical Report (TR), International WorkshopAgreement (IWA).

ISO’s International Partners

ISO collaborates with its partners in internation-al standardization, the IEC (InternationalElectrotechnical Commission), whose scope ofactivities complements ISO’s. In turn, ISO andthe IEC cooperate on a joint basis with the ITU(International Telecommunication Union). LikeISO, the IEC is a non-governmental body, whilethe ITU is part of the United NationsOrganization and its members are govern-ments.The three organizations have a strong col-laboration on standardization in the fields ofinformation technology and telecommunications.

ISO’s Regional Partners

Many of ISO’s members also belong to regionalstandardization organizations. This makes it eas-ier for ISO to build bridges with regional stan-

dardization activities throughout the world. ISOhas recognized regional standards organizationsrepresenting Africa, the Arab countries, the areacovered by the Commonwealth of IndependentStates, Europe, Latin America, the Pacific area,and the South-East Asia nations. These recogni-tions are based on a commitment by the regionalbodies to adopt ISO standards – whenever possi-ble without change – as the national standards oftheir members and to initiate the development ofdivergent standards only if no appropriate ISOstandards are available for direct adoption.

Specialist Liaisons

ISO also liaises with some 570 international andregional organizations interested in aspects ofISO’s standardization work. These include the 28or so international standards-developing bodiesoutside the ISO/IEC system, usually with a UnitedNations mandate. Those members of the UN sys-tem that develop standards in a specific area,notably the WHO, ILO and UN/ECE have estab-lished close links with ISO, as has the WTO, whosefair trade objectives are advanced by ISO stan-dards and guides. This illustrates the high degreeof institutional recognition that ISO has achieved.ISO and the IEC together produce about 85% ofall International Standards, and these other spe-cialized bodies account for the rest.

Special Products

In addition to International Standards and the‘new deliverables’, ISO develops guideline docu-ments, manuals for developing countries, stan-dards compendia – as paper products and CD-ROM’s – handbooks and a whole range of stan-dards-related publications. ISO also publishestwo magazines: the monthly ISO Focus whichpresents an overview of ISO’s activities, and ISOManagement Systems – The InternationalReview of ISO 9000 and ISO 14 000, publishedsix times a year.

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