International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is an independent, international non-governmental and non-profit organization established in 1947. 167 national standardization bodies of the world are represented in the organization. The main function of ISO is the development of voluntary, consensus-based, market-oriented international standards.

ISO standards guarantee the safety, reliability and quality of products and services. Being a strategic tool for business, they enable increasing production capacity and offering competitive service by minimizing production costs, using resources more economically and efficiently, and harming the environment less. This, in turn, means gaining access to new markets, promoting fair and free trade in the world, and gaining equal economic development opportunities for all countries by eliminating technical barriers to trade. To date, 24,713 international standards have been developed by ISO, while 813 technical committees and subcommittees operate.

ISO organizes the "World Standards Cooperation" - WSC (World Standards Cooperation) together with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), which develops international standards in the field of electrotechnics and electronics, and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the author of standards in the field of telecommunications.

The main executive bodies of ISO are the following:

• The ISO General Assembly holds its Annual Meeting once a year with the participation of representatives of national standardization bodies of member countries and other cooperating organizations.

• The ISO Council is a permanent body of the organization and consists of representatives of 20 member countries and members of a special committee.

• The ISO Secretariat carries out the activities of the organization related to current affairs.

The following special committees of ISO operate:

• The Presidential Committee is an advisory body of the ISO Council and supervises the implementation of the decisions of the General Assembly.

• Technical Management Bureau (TMB) – deals with solving other technical and organizational issues by exercising general control over the activities of Technical Committees. Currently, 250 Technical Committees of ISO are operating in all spheres of the economy.

• CASCO – Conformity assessment Committee

• COPOLCO – Consumer policy Committee;

• DEVCO – Committee of developing countries;
• Council Standing Committees – Standing Committees on financial and strategic issues;

• Ad hoc Advisory Committees – Special advisory groups.

ISO headquarters are located in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Republic of Azerbaijan has been represented in ISO as a full member since July 7, 2003 through the State Committee for Standardization, Metrology and Patents (the State Agency for Standardization, Metrology and Patents in 2003-2008).

Currently, Azerbaijan Standardization Institute, which is a national standardization body, represents our country in ISO.

At the same time, our local experts participate in 20 Technical Committees of ISO as observers and full members.

Azerbaijan Standardization Institute is a full member of ISO since December 2017.

https://www.iso.org/member/1690.html