Standards Development

Here, we summarise how two of the most important International Standards Organisations, ISO and IEC, develop standards:

  • ISO’s members are national standards bodies, with one per country; and EC’s members are national committees, with one per country.
  • Both organisations:
  • Use the same rules for conducting standards development work;
  • Have published a joint guidance on adopting and referencing ISO and IEC standards to support public policy;
  • Have jointly carried out training for developing countries;
  • Speak in one voice on many matters related to standards and conformity assessment at the WTO/TBT Committee meetings, where both organisations are observer members; and
  • Have special consideration for developing country members.

For both the ISO and IEC, the process of developing a standard follows a series of key steps, each serving a specific function.

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