ISO is the short name for the international organization for standardization, a worldwide organization whose goal is to promote the development of standardization to facilitate the international exchange of goods and services. ISO sets operational quality and environmental issues control standards for businesses in over 125 countries around world.

This organization has established ISO-9000 series for quality management & ISO-14000 for environmental issues where ISO-14001 is the core part of the series is known as environmental management system (EMS).

ISO certification is important because it is recognized world wide as an accepted standard of quality. When companies can accurately document their systems, they can compare their systems against a recognized environmental standard and improve. Also, because ISO certification is an understood standard, company can use it to gauge and select the vendors or subcontractors they work with.

Representatives from some 50 countries around the globe have agreed to the draft international standard (DIS) on environmental management system (ISO/DIS 14000) issued by the international organization for standardization (ISO) and formally adopted in 1996. It is intended that the implementation of an environmental management system (EMS) based on this standard will result in improved environmental performance.

In 1995 the world trade organization (WTO) encouraged development of the ISO 14000 series of international standards as the “level playing field” as required by international trade agreements so it can facilitate free and open trade.

An environmental management system (EMS) (ISO-14001) is as “that part of overall management system that includes organizational structure, planning activities, responsibilities, practices, procedures, process and resources for developing, implementing, achieving, reviewing and maintaining environmental policy”. An EMS provides frameworks by which an organization can systematically and consistently applies its environmental policy, disciplined control over all aspects of their environmental impact and meets its legal obligation.