Developing countries
What does ISO do for developing countries?
ISO standards in general represent a reservoir of technology. Developing countries in particular, with their scarce resources, can benefit from this wealth of knowledge. So for them, ISO standards are an important means both of acquiring technological know-how that is backed by international consensus as the state of the art, and of raising their capability to export and compete in global markets. In addition to this general benefit of ISO standards, ISO has a specific programme for developing countries which consists of training seminars, sponsorships/fellowships and publications. ISO also has a policy committee on developing country matters with a membership of nearly 100 standards institutes from both industrialized and developing countries. See also the pages on ISO and developing countries of the Communities and markets section, and the ISO Action Plan for developing countries 2005-2010.
Can individuals or companies from developing countries obtain direct funding from ISO's development programme?
No: any requests for funding of projects in standardization and related issues must be channelled through the national standards institutes which are members of ISO.
As an individual from a developing country, whom should I contact on standardization issues in my country?
The ISO member in your country. If there is no ISO member in your country, then you can contact the Director, ISO Programme for developing countries: dev@iso.org
Do International Standards apply equally to industrialized and developing countries?
ISO standards are voluntary, but they "carry the same weight" in both industrialized and developing countries. With the globalization of trade, products manufactured to "lower standards" may just not be acceptable to customers. However, ISO has a whole series of development manuals and publications to assist developing countries in putting into place a standardization infrastructure that will enable their products to meet the requirements of International Standards.