ABSTRACT
ISO’s leaders have, at times, spoken about the organization as if it were almost part of the United Nations (UN) family,1 but current practice is to call it “a non-governmental organization [NGO] that forms a bridge between the public and private sectors … [M]any of its member[s] … are part of the governmental structure of their countries … [O]ther members have their roots uniquely in the private sector, having been set up by national partnerships of industry associations.”2 About two-thirds of ISO’s 158 member organizations are part of their country’s central government; the rest are NGOs.3
