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ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is the world's largest developer and publisher ofInternational Standards.

ISO is a network of the national standards institutes of 162 countries, one member per country, with a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that coordinates the system.

ISO is a non-governmental organization that forms a bridge between the public and private sectors. On the one hand, many of its member institutes are part of the governmental structure of their countries, or are mandated by their government. On the other hand, other members have their roots uniquely in the private sector, having been set up by national partnerships of industry associations.

Therefore, ISO enables a consensus to be reached on solutions that meet both the requirements of business and the broader needs of society.

Since it was founded in 1918, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has coordinated the development of voluntary consensus standards in the United States and has represented the needs and views of U.S. stakeholders in standardization forums around the globe. ANSI is the U.S. member body to ISO and, via its U.S. National Committee, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). ANSI is also a member of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF).

ANSI does not write standards; rather the Institute accredits standards developers that will establish consensus among qualified groups. It's guiding principles - consensus, due process and openness - are followed by the more than 200 distinct entities currently accredited to develop and maintain nearly 10,000 American National Standards (ANSs). Though all ANS are developed as voluntary documents, U.S. federal, state or local bodies are increasingly referring to ANS for regulatory or procurement purposes. Many ANS are also national adoptions of globally relevant international standards.

The Institute's membership is comprised of a broad range of businesses and industrial organizations, standards setting and conformity assessment bodies, trade associations, labor unions, professional societies, consumer groups, academia and government organizations for the purpose of enhancing global business competitiveness and improving the quality of life for the world's citizens. The interests of more than 125 000 companies and 3,5 million professionals are represented through ANSI's headquarters in Washington, DC and its operations office in New York City.

DIN Deutsches Institut für Normung is a private, non-profit-making association and was founded in 1917. Relations between DIN and Government, both on the Federal and the Länder levels, are regulated by contracts.DIN standards are recognized by industry, trade, labour unions, consumers, Government and jurisprudence as accepted rules of technology. DIN standards are established according to the following eight principles:

Internationalist in spirit, DIN strives towards world trade that is free of technical barriers.

To promote the implementation of standards, DIN organizes training courses, regular exchange of experience among standards practitioners. DIN's publishing house, Beuth Verlag, provides 52 % of DIN's total budget through its sale of standards and associated technical literature in printed form, on microform and on electronic media.

The British Standards Institution (BSI) was established in 1901 as the Engineering Standards Committee. A Royal Charter was granted in 1929, with the organization's aims and objectives including:

The British Standards Institution was adopted as the organization name in 1931. BSI has a Memorandum of Understanding with the UK Government, which establishes the position of BSI as the recognized UK National Standards Body. Working as an integral part of BSI, the British Electrotechnical Committee (BEC) is the national committee of the IEC for the UK.

BSI offers global services in the linked fields of standardization, systems assessment, product certification, training and advisory services.

With the development through China's reforms and opening up, in April of 2001, the State Council of China decided to set up the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection & Quarantine of the People's Republic of China (AQSIQ), by merging the former CSBTS and the former State Bureau of Import & Export Inspection and Quarantine (CIQ SA) and, at the same time, to establish the Standardization Administration of the People's Republic of China (SAC) and Certification and Accreditation Administration of the People's Republic of China (CNCA) under AQSIQ.

The functions of the SAC authorized by the State Council are 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 unified national system of industrial standardization began to function with the establishment of JESC (the Japanese Engineering Standards Committee) in 1921. JESC undertook the adoption of national standards (JES).

In 1949, the Industrial Standardization Law was promulgated, and the Japanese Industrial Standards Committee (JISC) was newly set up under the Law, as an advisory organization to competent Ministers in charge of the elaboration of Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS) and the designation of the JIS Mark to products.

The committee consists of the Council, two Boards and Committees, which have as members all concerned parties among producers, dealers, users, consumers and academic circles. Standards cover all fields of industrial and mineral products except medicines, agricultural chemicals and chemical fertilizers, which are established under other laws.

The Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS) is a government agency which has been leading national and international standards in the Republic of Korea since it was founded in 1883 as Analysis and Testing Laboratory of the Mint Office. After several changes and developments over the last several decades, KATS was reformed under Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy in 1999. KATS is an active member of ISO, IEC and it is also participating in PASC.

KATS tries to contribute to international standardization with the following objectives: