Why standards matter  与标准有关的事

What if standards did not exist? 如果标准不存在将会是怎样的？

If there were no standards, we would soon notice. Standards make an enormous contribution to most aspects of our lives，- although very often, that contribution is invisible. It is when there is an absence of standards that their importance is brought home. For example, as purchasers or users of products, we soon notice when they turn out to be of poor quality, do not fit, are incompatible with equipment we already have, are unreliable or dangerous. When products meet our expectations, we tend to(注意)take this for granted. We are usually unaware of the role played by standards in raising levels of quality, safety, reliability, efficiency and interchangeability - as well as in providing such benefits at an economical cost.

如果没有标准，我们不久就会注意到标准在我们的生活中则起着巨大贡献，尽管这种贡献常常不被我们所看到。只有在没有标准的时候，它的重要性才会被人们认识到。例如：在生产日用产品时，当生产出劣质产品、不符合规格的产品或与我们已有的产品不相符合时，我们马上会注意到这些产品的不可靠性和危险性。当产品面对我们的需求时，我们就会注意到这些情况。我们通常会忽略标准在产品质量、安全性、可靠性、功效性、可交换性方面所起的重要作用。

ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is the world's largest developer of standards.  Although ISO's principal activity is the development of technical standards, ISO standards also have important economic and social repercussions. ISO standards make a positive difference, not just to engineers and manufacturers for whom they solve basic problems in production and distribution, but to society as a whole.

ISO是世界上最大标准开发者，虽然ISO主要的任务是开发技术标准，但是ISO标准确实有着它的不同点，它不仅在工程、制造等方面，他能解决产品生产和分类方面的具体问题，而且在社会的许多其它方面也是如此。

The International Standards which ISO develops are very useful. They are useful to industrial and business organizations of all types, to governments and other regulatory bodies, to trade officials, to conformity assessment professionals, to suppliers and customers of products and services in both public and private sectors, and, ultimately, to people in general in their roles as consumers and end users.

ISO所开发的国际标准是非常有用的，他们适用于各类工业和商业机构。他也适用于政府和其它规范机构，官方贸易机构，产品厂商和客户，公共和私人的服务者，并且，最终对于一般人来说，他们也是一个消费者和最终使用者。

ISO standards contribute to making the development, manufacturing and supply of products and services more efficient, safer and cleaner. They make trade between countries easier and fairer.

ISO标准在产品的发展、生产、蓄存和服务等方面做出了贡献，也使得产品更加有效、安全和公正。他们也使两个国家之间的贸易变得更加的容易和公平。

 They provide governments with a technical base for health, safety and environmental legislation. They aid in transferring technology to developing countries. ISO standards also serve to safeguard consumers, and users in general, of products and services - as well as to make their lives simpler.

它为政府在制定健康、安全、环境等方面的法律规定提供技术依据。他们在移动技术方面对发展中的国家起到了帮助作用。ISO对一般的消费者或者使用者在安全指导方面也提供了服务，因为它对产品的各个方面的服务，使得他们的生活愈加的简单。

When things go well - for example, 如when systems, machinery and devices work well and safely - then often it is because they conform to standards. And the organization responsible for many thousands of the standards which benefit society worldwide is ISO.

当事情变得不错的时候，如系统、机器和程序的运作都变得顺利和安全时，那通常是因为他们符合质量标准。遍布于世界各地的数千个负责质量标准的组织机构就是ISO。

Who ISO is　什么是ISO？

ISO is a network of the national standards institutes of 147 countries, on the basis of one member per country, with a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that coordinates the system.

ISO是一个民间标准组织。它的成员遍布147个国家，每个国家只有一个主要成员，为了组织的协调，在瑞士的日内瓦设立一个中央秘书处。

ISO is a non-governmental organization: its members are not, as is the case in the United Nations system, delegations of national governments. Nevertheless, ISO occupies a special position between the public and private sectors.  This is because, 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.

ISO是一个非政府性的机构，他的成员则不同，如联合国体制一样，必需是国家政府的代表。尽管如此，ISO在公利和私人部门都占据着特殊的地位。这是因为一方面许多协会的成员是国家政府机构的一部分，他们受制于政府，而另一方面，一些成员则具有他们稳定的私人地位，这是因为他们是工作协会的国家股东。

Therefore, ISO is able to act as a bridging organization in which a consensus can be reached on solutions that meet both the requirements of business and the broader needs of society, such as the needs of stakeholder groups like consumers and users.

因此，当买卖双方和社会更加广泛的需求时，如消费者和使用者需要风险保障时，ISO则在解决这方面的问题起着桥梁机构的作用。

What ISO's name means　ISO是什么含义

Because "International Organization for Standardization" would have different abbreviations in different languages ("IOS" in English, "OIN" in French for Organisation internationale de normalisation), it was decided at the outset to use a word derived from the Greek isos, meaning "equal". Therefore, whatever the country, whatever the language, the short form of the organization's name is always ISO.

因为“International Organization for Standardization”有不同的文字使用不同的缩写形式，所以最后决定采用最初的希腊文ISOS，它的意思是“平等”。所以，不论什么国家、什么语言，该组织的缩写名字将为ISO。

How it all started　　ISO是怎样发展起来的

International standardization began in the electrotechnical field: the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) was established in 1906. Pioneering work in other fields was carried out by the International Federation of the National Standardizing Associations (ISA), which was set up in 1926. The emphasis within ISA was laid heavily on mechanical engineering. ISA's activities came to an end in 1942.

国际标准化开始只是在电工领域。国际电工委员会成立于1906年。在其它领域里最初的运用是国家标准协会的国际同盟会，它成立于1926年。在机构工程方面国际标准协会主要是在机构工程中加以强调。在1942的国际标准协会宣布解散。

What 'international standardization' means

“国际标准”是什么含义？

When the large majority of products or services in a particular business or industry sector conform to International Standards, a state of industry-wide standardization can be said to exist. This is achieved through consensus agreements between national delegations representing all the economic stakeholders concerned - suppliers, users, government regulators and other interest groups, such as consumers. They agree on specifications and criteria to be applied consistently in the classification of materials, in the manufacture and supply of products, in testing and analysis, in terminology and in the provision of services. In this way, International Standards provide a reference framework, or a common technological language, between suppliers and their customers - which facilitates trade and the transfer of technology.

特别是商业或工业方面有大量的产品和服务项目需要与国际标准保持一致时，因此更加广泛人工业标准规范呼之欲出。为了达到此事的成功，需通过由作为国家代表的经济财团和供应商、使用者、国家管理者还有其它一些利益组织如消费者的关心才能做到这一点。他们同意把这些规范和标准不断的应用于不同类别；的产品中，如在制造业和产品的供应方面，在测试和分析方面，在术语和服务产业方面。在某种意思上来看，国际标准提供了一个参考的框架，或者说是一个公共的技术语言，它即能满足于厂商又能满足于消费者，同时又便于贸易的技术的交流。

How ISO standards benefit society　　ISO对社会有怎样的益处

For businesses, the widespread adoption of International Standards means that suppliers can base the development of their products and services on specifications that have wide acceptance in their sectors. This, in turn, means that businesses using International Standards are increasingly free to compete on many more markets around the world.

对商业来说：更加广泛的采用国际标准就意味着厂商以此为依据来促进他们的产品或服务，使其在本产业中得到广泛的接受。另一方面，也意味着商业采用国际标准将会使其在世界贸易市场更具竞争力。

For customers, the worldwide compatibility of technology which is achieved when products and services are based on International Standards brings them an increasingly wide choice of offers, and they also benefit from the effects of competition among suppliers.

对顾客来说：当产品或服务基于国际标准时，将会使其与国际技术保持一致，增加更广泛的选择性，同时在商家的竞争中使顾客受益。

For governments, International Standards provide the technological and scientific bases underpinning health, safety and environmental legislation.

对政府来说：国际标准将对环境、安全、健康等方面的立法提供了技术和科学依据。

For trade officials negotiating the emergence of regional and global markets, International Standards create "a level playing field" for all competitors on those markets. The existence of divergent national or regional standards can create technical barriers to trade, even when there is political agreement to do away with restrictive import quotas and the like. International Standards are the technical means by which political trade agreements can be put into practice.

对官方贸易来说：在地区或国际贸易进行谈判时，国际标准对于市场所有的竞争者来说，它是一个“水平标准”。当地方标准和国际标准发生分歧时，它将阻碍贸易的发展，甚至于当官方已废除配额出口的时候也如此。国际标准技术则意味着官方贸易也可付之实践。

For developing countries, International Standards that represent an international consensus on the state of the artconstitute an important source of technological know-how. By defining the characteristics that products and services will be expected to meet on export markets, International Standards give developing countries a basis for making the right decisions when investing their scarce resources and thus avoid squandering them.

对发展中国家来说：国标标准就意味着是国际标准技术发展水平，是他们建立实际科学技术的重要参考来源。并以此来确定他们的产品和服务的特性来符合国际市场的需求。当发展中国家在投资稀缺项目或为了防止浪费时，国际标准则给发展中国家提供做出正确决定的依据。

For consumers, conformity of products and services to International Standards provides assurance(保证) about their quality, safety and reliability.

对于消费者来说：产品或服务符合国际标准就意味着它们在质量、安全和可靠性方面得到了保证。

For everyone, International Standards can contribute to the quality of life in general by ensuring（保证） that the transport, machinery and tools we use are safe.

对每个人来说： 一般来说国际标准在运输、机器、工具的使用上得到了安全的保证，因此它对我们的生活质量做出了巨大的贡献。

For the planet we inhabit, International Standards on air, water and soil quality, and on emissions of gases and radiation, can contribute to efforts to preserve the environment.

对于我们居住的地球来说：国际标准在水、空气、土地的质量、气体的排放、辐射物等方面都做出了巨大的贡献，尽最大的努力保护了我们的环境。