Environmental Quality Management ISO14000

The ISO 14000 family of International
Standards on environmental management
is a relative newcomer to ISO's portfolio -
but environment-related standardization is
far from being a new departure for ISO.
In fact, ISO has a two-pronged
approach to meeting the needs of business,
industry, governments, non-governmental
organizations and consumers in the field of
the environment.
On the one hand, it offers a wideranging
portfolio of standardized sampling,
testing and analytical methods to deal
with specific environmental challenges.
It has developed more than 350 International
Standards (out of a total of more
than 12 000) for the monitoring of such
aspects as the quality of air, water and soil.
These standards are a means of providing
business and government with scientifically
valid data on the environmental
effects of economic acitivity. They also serve
in a number of countries as the technical
basis for environmental regulations.
On the other hand, 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, administrations,
public utilities). To spearhead this strategic
approach, ISO established a new technical
committee, 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.
ISO's direct involvement in environmental
management stemmed from an intensive
consultation process, carried out within the
framework of a Strategic Advisory Group on
Environment (SAGE), set up in 1991, in
which 20 countries, 11 international
organizations and more than 100 environmental
experts participated in defining the
basic requirements of a new approach to
environment-related standards.
This pioneering work was consolidated
with ISO's commitment to support the
objective of "sustainable development"
discussed at the United Nations Conference
on Environment and Development
in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.
Today, delegations of business and
government experts from 55 countries
participate actively within TC 207, and
another 16 countries have observer status.
These delegations are chosen by the
national standards institute concerned and
they are required to bring to TC 207
a national consensus on issues being
addressed by the committee. 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 and the environment

	The International Organisation for Standards web site has details of the ISO standards ISO web site

Please close this page to return