LibGuides: Standards: International Standards (General)

International Standards (General)

Some of the major non-U.S. standards organizations are linked below. For more national standards organizations, see the Society of Standards Professionals list of standards organizations.

ISO: International Organization for Standardization (in English): The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies from some 100 countries, one from each country. The mission of ISO is to promote the development of standardization and related activities in the world.

British Standards Institution (BSI): BSI grew from a British engineering stardards effort started in 1901, to a worldwide souce of certification and standards, especially for business methods.

DIN - Deutches Institut für Normung (German Institute for Standardization): DIN, the German Institute for Standardization, develops norms and standards as a service to industry, the state and society as a whole. A registered non-profit association, DIN has been based in Berlin since 1917. By agreement with the German Federal Government, DIN is the acknowledged national standards body that represents German interests in European and international standards organizations. Ninety percent of the standards work now carried out by DIN is international in nature.

European Committee for Standardization (CEN): The European Committee for Standardization (CEN) is a business facilitator in Europe, removing trade barriers for European industry and consumers. Its mission is to foster the European economy in global trading, the welfare of European citizens and the environment. Through its services it provides a platform for the development of European Standards and other technical specifications. These standards have a unique status, since they also are national standards in each of its 30 Member countries.

FreeSTD (http://www.freestd.us/): FreeSTD is a resource for standards from a variety of organizations, including American, British and other worldwide standards. Most are available for free donload as PDF or .doc files.

Japanese Industrial Standards Committee: JIS covers industrial and mineral products with the exception of medicines, agricultural chemicals, chemical fertilizers, silk yarn, foodstuffs and agricultural and forest products designated under the Law Concerning Standardization and Proper Labelling of Agricultural and Forestry Products. JIS may be classified by their nature into three categories; product standards, working method standards, and basic standards. Roughly speaking; there are some 4,000 product standards, 1,600 working method standards, and 2,800 basic standards.

Standards Council of Canada: The Standards Council of Canada (SCC) is a federal Crown corporation. Its mandate is to promote efficient and effective standardization in Canada. They do not directly supply copies of their standards, but rather sell them through most standards supply outlets.