The General Assembly is the ultimate authority of the Organization. It is composed of ISO members, and considers any matter submitted by the ISO Council.
The proposals put to the General Assembly are developed by the Council, which is drawn from the ISO membership. The Council, which resembles the board of directors of a business organization, meets three times per year to discuss key matters relating to ISO strategy and policy, financial as well as operational and statutory matters. ISO Council membership rotates regularly to ensure that it is representative.
Operations are managed by a Secretary-General, who is appointed for five-year term. The Secretary-General reports to a President who is a prominent figure in standardization or in business, elected for two, or three years. To learn more, see our section on structure and governance.
While we work together with United Nations (UN) specialized agencies on some standardization projects, ISO is an independent not-for-profit organization and is not part of the UN.