International Organization for Standardization

NPES Standards Bluebook – May 2005 8

The Committee for Graphic Arts Technologies Standards (CGATS) and the B65 Committee for Safety Standards are the two ANSI-accredited committees developing national standards for the printing, publishing and converting industry. The U.S. Technical Advisory Group (US TAG) to ISO TC 130 provides input into the ISO standards activities relating to the industry. NPES serves as the Secretariat for those committees.

Information on CGATS, B65 and US TAG is contained in this booklet, and further information can be obtained by contacting Mary Abbott, Director of Standards Programs at NPES via Tel: 703-264-7200; Fax: 703-620-0994; or E-mail: mabbott@npes.org.

International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies from some 147 countries, one from each country, consisting of 97 member bodies, 35 correspondent members, and 15 subscriber members. This book provides contact information for ISO member bodies. ISO, a non-governmental organization, was established in 1947. Its mission is to promote the development ofstandardization and related activities in the world with a view toward facilitating the international exchange of goods and services, and to developing cooperation in the spheres of intellectual, scientific, technological and economic activity. ISO's work results in international agreements that are published as international standards.

"ISO" is not an acronym, but is a word, derived from the Greek "isos" meaning "equal." This is the root of the prefix "iso-" that occurs in may terms, such as "isometric" (of equal measure or dimensions - Shorter Oxford English Dictionary) and "isonomy" (equality of laws, or of people before the law - ibid). From "equal" to "standard," the line of thinking that led to the choice of "ISO" as the name of the organization is easy to follow. In addition, the name has the advantage of being valid in each of the organization's three official languages, English, French and Russian. The confusion that would arise through the use of an acronym is thus avoided.

The scope of ISO covers standardization in all fields except electrical and electronic engineering standards, which are the responsibility of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). Together, ISO and IEC form the specialized system for worldwide standardization: the world's largest non-governmental system for voluntary industrial and technical collaboration at the international level.

The work in the field of information technology is carried out by a joint ISO/IEC technical committee (JTC 1). The results of ISO technical work are published in the form of international standards. There are nearly 10,000 international standards and technical reports covering hundreds of industry fields. ISO work is decentralized, being carried out by 2,850 technical committees, subcommittees and working groups organized and supported by technical secretariats in 35 countries. In these committees, qualified representatives of industry, research institutes, government authorities, consumer bodies and international organizations from all over the world come together as equal partners in the resolution of global standardization problems.

The Central Secretariat in Geneva assists in coordinating ISO operations, administers voting and approval procedures, and publishes the international standards. Developers of international standards are an estimated 30,000 engineers, scientists and administrators. They are nominated by ISO members to participate in the committee meetings and to represent the consolidated views and interests of industry, government, labor and individual consumers in the standards development process. Approximately 500 international organizations are in liaison with ISO technical committees, including nearly all of the UN specialized agencies

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