ISO and the environment
The ISO 14000 family of International Standards on environmental management is a relative newcomer to ISO,s portfolio
- but enviroment-related standardization is far from being a new departure for ISO.
In fact, ISO has two-pronged approach to meeting the needs of business, industry, governments, non-governmental
organizations and consumers in the field of the environment.
ISO is leading a strategic approach by developing environmental management system standards that can be implemented
in any type of organization in either public or private sectors (companies, administration, public utilities). To
spearhead this strategic approach, ISO establish a new technical commitee, ISO /TC 207, Environmental management, in
1993. This followed ISO's successful pioneering experience in management system standardization with the ISO 9000 series for quality management.
Today, delegations of business and government experts from 55 countries have participate actively within TC 207,
and another 16 countries have observer status. These delegations are chosen by the national standars institute
concerned and they are required to bring to TC 207 a national consensus on issue being addressed by the commitee.
This national consensus is derived from a process of consultation with interested parties.
From its beginning, it was recognized that ISO/TC 207 should have close cooperation with ISO/TC 176, Quality management and quality assurance, in the areas of management systems, auditing and related terminology. Active efforts are under way to ensure compatibility of ISO environmental management and quality management standards, for the benefit of all organizations wishing to implement them.
ISO in brief
ISO is the International Organization for
Standardization. It is made up of national standards
institutes from countries large and small,
industrialized and developing, in all regions of
the world. ISO develops voluntary technical
standards which add value to all types of business
operations. They contribute to making the
development, manufacturing and supply of
products and services more efficient, safer and
cleaner. They make trade between countries easier
and fairer. ISO Standards also serve to safeguard
consumers and users in general of products and
services - and to make their lives simpler.
ISO develops only those standards which are
required by the market. This work is carried out by
experts on loan from the industrial, technical and
business sectors which have asked for the
standards, and which subsequently put them to
use. These experts may be joined by others
with relevant knowledge, such as representatives
of government agencies and testing laboratories.
Published under the designation of International
Standards, ISO standards represent an
international consensus on the "state of the art"
in the technology concerned.
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