The American National Standards Institute is a private nonprofit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States. The organization also coordinates U.S. standards with international standards so that American products can be used worldwide.
The International Bureau of Weights and Measures is an intergovernmental organisation, through which its 59 member-states act together on measurement standards in four areas: chemistry, ionising radiation, physical metrology, as well as Coordinated Universal Time. It is based in Saint-Cloud, near Paris, France. The organisation has been referred to as IBWM in older literature.
Metrology is the scientific study of measurement. It establishes a common understanding of units, crucial in linking human activities. Modern metrology has its roots in the French Revolution's political motivation to standardise units in France when a length standard taken from a natural source was proposed. This led to the creation of the decimal-based metric system in 1795, establishing a set of standards for other types of measurements. Several other countries adopted the metric system between 1795 and 1875; to ensure conformity between the countries, the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) was established by the Metre Convention. This has evolved into the International System of Units (SI) as a result of a resolution at the 11th General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) in 1960.
ISO 14000 is a family of ‘standards’ - the standard (14001) + guidelines - related to environmental management that exists to help organizations (a) minimize how their operations negatively affect the environment ; (b) comply with applicable laws, regulations, and other environmentally oriented requirements; and (c) continually improve in the above.
The Standards Council of Canada (SCC) / Conseil Canadien des Normes (CCN) is a Canadian organization with the mandate to promote voluntary standardization in Canada. The SCC is responsible for:
The Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) is a government agency responsible for governing and maintaining the standards and practices of metrology in Kenya. It was established by an Act of Parliament of Kenya's National Assembly, The Standard Act, and Chapter 496 of the Laws of Kenya. The Bureau started its operations in July 1974. It has main offices in Nairobi and regional offices throughout Kenya.
The Spanish Association for Standardization and Certification (AENOR) is an entity dedicated to the development of Standardization and Certification in all Spanish industrial and service sectors.
An environmental audit is a type of evaluation intended to identify environmental compliance and management system implementation gaps, along with related corrective actions. In this way they perform an analogous (similar) function to financial audits. There are generally two different types of environmental audits: compliance audits and management systems audits. Compliance audits tend to be the primary type in the US or within US-based multinationals.
A technical standard is an established norm or requirement for a repeatable technical task which is applied to a common and repeated use of rules, conditions, guidelines or characteristics for products or related processes and production methods, and related management systems practices. A technical standard includes definition of terms; classification of components; delineation of procedures; specification of dimensions, materials, performance, designs, or operations; measurement of quality and quantity in describing materials, processes, products, systems, services, or practices; test methods and sampling procedures; or descriptions of fit and measurements of size or strength.
The Standardization Administration of China is the standards organization authorized by the State Council of China to exercise administrative responsibilities by undertaking unified management, supervision and overall coordination of standardization work in China. The SAC represents China within the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and other international and regional standardization organizations; the SAC is responsible for organizing the activities of the Chinese National Committee for ISO and IEC; the SAC approves and organizes the implementation of international cooperation and the exchange of projects on standardization.
The Colombian Institute of Technical Standards and Certification is a non-profit private organization in Colombia that oversees the compliance of national and international standards. It is an open organization with members from the Colombian government, private sector and any individuals interested in the compliance of standards in Colombia. Icontec works closely with other international organizations for standardization such as ANSI and DIN. Icontec accredits organizations, companies and individuals that engage in the manufacturing or development of products and industrial processes. Icontec is a member of the International Organization for Standardization ISO and is an active partner in regional standards organizations such as COPANT and IEC. Icontec is present in different countries of the Americas and the Caribbean. Its headquarters are in Bogota, Colombia.
The National Institute of Metrology, Standardization and Industrial Quality (INMETRO) is a Brazilian federal autarchy, linked to MDIC, the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade.
The State Committee on Standardization, Metrology and Patents of Azerbaijan Republic is a governmental agency within the Cabinet of Azerbaijan in charge of Azerbaijani technical regulations, metrology, valuation of technical compliance, accreditation, quality standardsin Azerbaijan Republic. The committee is headed by Ramiz Hasanov.
The Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) formerly Ghana Standards Board (GSB) is a Government of Ghana agency responsible for the maintenance of acceptable standards for product and services and sound management practices in industries and public institutions in Ghana.
The National Standardization Agency of Indonesia is the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) member body for Indonesia. BSN is a non-ministerial Indonesian government agency with the main task of carrying out governmental tasks in the field of standardization and conformity assessment in Indonesia.
The Cyprus Organisation for Standardisation, or CYS, is the national standardisation body of Cyprus, whose principal activity is the production of standards and the supply of standards-related services.
Harmonization is the process of minimizing redundant or conflicting standards which may have evolved independently. The name is also an analogy to the process to harmonizing discordant music.
The National Quality Management Commission, formerly the State Administration of Quality Management of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (SAQM) is the North Korean standards organization. It oversees standards and metrology, including application of both the metric system and traditional Korean units, in accordance with the 1993 Law on Metrology. It is located at 1 Inhung-Dong in Moranbong District, Pyongyang.
The Dirección General de Normas is an administrative unit under the Normativity, Competitiveness, and Competition Unit of the Secretariat of Economy in Mexico. It is responsible for exercising the powers conferred by the Federal Law on Metrology and Standardization (repealed), the Law on Quality Infrastructure, the Federal Law on Consumer Protection, the Hydrocarbons Law, the Federal Law on Telecommunications and Broadcasting, as well as the regulations and other applicable provisions in the field of standardization, metrology, and conformity assessment, including international agreements and treaties in that regard.
