Standards and Quality

The International Standards Organization (ISO) www.iso.org is the international authority on this issue. All information necessary on international standards is published on the ISO website:

- Why standards matter
- Who ISO is
- What ISO's name means
- How it all started
- What 'international standardization'
means
- How ISO standards benefit society
- The hallmarks of the ISO brand
- ISO and world trade
- ISO and developing countries
- How to recognize an ISO standard
- The big, wide world of ISO standards
- What makes ISO 9000 and ISO 14000
so special
- What makes conformity assessment
so important

- Where to find information on
standards
- Who can join ISO
- How the ISO system is managed
- How the ISO system is financed
- How ISO decides what standards to
develop
- Who develops ISO standards
- How ISO standards are developed
- When speed is of the essence
- ISO's international partners
- ISO's regional partners
- Special products

What makes ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 so special
The ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 families are among ISO's most widely known standards ever. ISO 9000 has become an international reference for quality requirements in business to business dealings, and ISO 14000 looks set to achieve at least as much, if not more, in helping organizations to meet their environmental challenges.

The vast majority of ISO standards are highly specific to a particular product, material, or process. However, the standards that have earned the ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 families a worldwide reputation are known as "generic management system standards". "Generic" means that the same standards can be applied to any organization, large or small, whatever its product - including whether its "product" is actually a service - in any sector of activity, and whether it is a business enterprise, a public administration, or a government department. "Management system" refers to what the organization does to manage its processes, or activities. "Generic" also signifies that no matter what the organization is or does, if it wants to establish a quality management system or an environmental management system, then such a system has a number of essential features which are spelled out in the relevant standards of the ISO 9000 or ISO 14000 families.

ISO 9000 is concerned with "quality management". This means what the organization does to enhance customer satisfaction by meeting customer and applicable regulatory requirements and continually to improve its performance in this regard. ISO 14000 is primarily concerned with "environmental management". This means what the organization does to minimize harmful effects on the environment caused by its activities, and continually to improve its environmental performance.

Regional and National Standard Authorities

Every country has its own Standardization Authority. Take contact with this authority and get the main national documents on standards and quality. This will be the first step for information on this issue.

Website on European Standards www.newapproach.org/

Quality and Standards Authority Ethiopia (QSAE) www.qsae.org

The Ghana Standards Board www.ghanastandards.org

Association Sénégalaise de Normalisation (ASN)
www.senegal-entreprises.net/standards.htm

Handbook for download

EBDSN, Addis 2004
Standards and Quality in Ethiopia
standards-quality-27-2-04.pdf 190 KB

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