(ISO: Geneva) -- The ISO Annual Report 2008 highlights the ability of International Standards to provide confidence during the current global financial crisis.

"Refined to its essence, the objective of ISO standards is to provide confidence," the report states. "When a product or service meets the specifications or requirements of an ISO standard, this provides confidence that they incorporate essential features. These features can include quality, ecology, safety, reliability, interoperability efficiency, and effectiveness. ISO standards also help to ensure such benefits at an economical cost."

The report, entitled "ISO standards. Integrated confidence," says that for organizations, implementing ISO standards is a means of integrating confidence with their offering and adds, "More and more organizations highlight the conformity of their products or services with ISO standards as an added value. In other words, ISO is well on its way to becoming a powerful, international brand which is a synonym for confidence."

"This ISO Annual Report shows how in both times of stability and times of risk, ISO and its work provide practical tools for providing confidence, reducing uncertainty and managing risk in a globalized world," ISO secretary-general Rob Steele comments.

The report states that during 2008, the ability of ISO standards to ensure and instill confidence became even more important as the repercussions of the global financial crisis made themselves felt across business sectors and economies worldwide.

As the crisis bit in 2008, falling consumption and slim order books made reduced activity the norm—except for ISO, underlining the confidence of public and private sector stakeholders in the organization and the global relevance of its standards.

At the end of the year, the ISO system comprised of 157 national members (which has since increased to 161), representing 98 percent of the world economy and 97 percent of its population. In 2008, the organization published 1,230 standards, bringing its portfolio to 17,765 by the end of the year.

ISO experienced a surge in activity, launching two new technical committees—to develop standards respectively for solid biofuels and industrial furnaces and associated thermal processing—as well as an increasing scope, launching seven project committees (PCs) to develop standards for the following areas:
 

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  1. Network services billing
   2. Product recall
   3. Road-traffic safety management
   4. Energy management
   5. Consumer product safety
   6. Cross-border trade of second-hand goods
   7. Anti-counterfeiting tools.

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The ISO Annual Report 2008 goes on to give examples of ISO standards published during the year, which helped to provide confidence in areas such as business continuity, e-business, the environment, governance, health, innovation, measurement, safety and sustainability. These are completed by a round-up of the results achieved by ISO in 2008.###