INTRODUCTION           

ISO/TC 176 is the "umbrella" committee under which the ISO 9000 series of quality management and quality assurance standards are being developed. There are three Subcommittees (SC), 1 Working Group and 3 Task Groups under ISO/TC 176 that are producing standards and guidance documents in the areas of:

ISO/TC 176 has a Chair's Strategic Advisory Group (CSAG) to achieve a number of objectives associated with our Strategic Vision

1. General

The ISO 9000:2000 family of Standards was developed to assist organizations, of all types and sizes, to implement and operate an effective quality management system (QMS). It is made up of four core standards:

a) ISO 9000:2005, entitled Fundamentals and Vocabulary, describes the fundamentals of a QMS and specifies the terminology for a QMS. It replaces the previous edition published in 2000

b) ISO 9001: 2008, Quality management systems - Requirements specifies requirements for a QMS where an organization needs to demonstrate its ability to provide products that meet customer requirements and applicable regulatory requirements and aims to enhance customer satisfaction. .

c) ISO 9004: 2000 Quality management systems - Guidelines for performance improvements, QMS, Guidelines for performance improvement, which replaces ISO 9004-1: 1994, provides guidelines for both the effectiveness and efficiency of the QMS. The aim of this standard is the improvement of the performance of an organization and the satisfaction of customers and other interested parties. ISO 9004: 2000 Quality management systems - Guidelines for performance improvements, although considerably rewritten, was developed using the format and structure of ISO 9001: 2000 Quality management systems - Requirements -- Under Revision.

d) ISO 19011 Guidelines for quality and/or environmental management systems auditing provides guidance on auditing quality and environmental management systems, and is presently being jointly developed by ISO/TC 176 and ISO/TC 207. ISO/TC 207 is responsible for the ISO 14000 family of environmental management standards (EMS). This standard replaces ISO 10011 Parts 1, 2, and 3, used for QMS auditing, and the EMS auditing standards in the ISO 14000 family, namely ISO 14010, lS0 14011, and ISO 14012 -- Under Revision,

Together the four standards (ISO 9000, ISO 9001, ISO 9004, and ISO 19011) form a coherent set of QMS standards facilitating mutual understanding in national and international trade.

2. Rationale for QMS

A QMS assists organizations in enhancing customer satisfaction. Customers require products with characteristics that satisfy their needs and expectations. These needs and expectations, expressed in product specifications, are collectively referred to as "customer requirements". Customer requirements may be specified contractually by the customer or may be determined by the organization itself. In either case, the customer ultimately determines the acceptability of the product. Because customer needs and expectations tend to change, organizations are driven to continually improve their products and processes.

The QMS approach encourages organizations to analyze customer requirements, define the processes that contribute to the provision of a product that meets the specified requirements, and to keep these processes under control. A QMS can provide the framework for continual improvement to enhance the satisfaction of customer and other interested parties. It provides confidence to the organization and its customers that it can provide products that consistently fulfill requirements.

The Scope of ISO/TC 176, Quality management and quality assurance is:
Standardization in the field of generic quality management, including quality systems, quality assurance, and generic supporting technologies, including standards which provide guidance on the selection and use of these standards.

Note: TC 176 has been entrusted by the ISO Technical Management Board with the function of consultant to all ISO/TCs in the application of quality management and quality assurance in their specific technologies to ensure the integrity of the generic quality system standards, and prevent proliferation of sector-specific ISO quality systems standards that may lead to fragmentation of the quality systems of companies in multiple assessments and thus to increased costs.

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VISION, MISSION KEY STRATEGIES           

The vision of ISO/TC 176 is that, through its worldwide acceptance and use, the ISO 9000 family of standards will provide an effective means for improving the performance of individual organizations and providing confidence to people and organizations that products (goods and services) will meet their expectations thereby enhancing trade, global prosperity and individual well-being.

ISO/TC 176's mission is to:

• identify and understand user needs in the field of quality management;
• develop standards that respond effectively to the expectations of users;
• support implementation of these standards; and
• facilitate meaningful evaluation of the resulting implementations using the ISO process to achieve international consensus and compatibility with other ISO/IEC management standards.

The ISO/TC 176 Key Strategies to achieve this vision and mission are:

1. Provide for a clear understanding of the role of quality in relation to the management (leading and operating) of an organization and the application of related concepts and principles.
2. Minimize proliferation of standards within the ISO 9000 family.
3. Work towards minimizing the proliferation of standards in the field of quality management developed externally to TC 176 using a joint and cooperative approach with the ISO/IEC TCs and other bodies involved.
4. Ensure the integrity of the ISO 9000 family of standards and provide for the integrity of their implementation and of the evaluation of their implementation.
5. Maximize usefulness of the ISO 9000 family of standards, facilitating effective implementation together with other ISO/IEC management system standards, using a joint and cooperative approach with the other TCs involved.

The Procedures for the technical work describes the basic procedural rules to be followed by ISO committees for the development and maintenance of International Standards and other ISO deliverables.

For the convenience of users a consolidated text is available (electronic format only) comprising the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1, the ISO Supplement, and all relevant ISO Change Notifications.

Complete directives can be found in the following ISO website www.iso.ch/sdis/forms.

Details concerning the major differences between this edition and the previous edition are given in the Foreword of Part 1.

In conjunction with the revision of the ISO/IEC Directives, ISO has instigated a system whereby agreements of the ISO Technical Management Board that result in changes to these documents will be notified as soon as possible to the ISO members and committees as ISO Change Notifications.

Rules for the Structure and Drafting of International Standards: Part 2, 2004 5th edition — specifies rules for the structure and drafting of documents intended to become International Standards, Technical Specifications or Publicly Available Specifications. As far as practicable, the rules also apply to documents intended to become Technical Reports or Guides. The rules are intended to ensure that such documents are drafted in as uniform a manner as practicable, irrespective of the technical content.

In conjunction with the revision of the ISO/IEC Directives, ISO has instigated a system whereby agreements of the ISO Technical Management Board that result in changes to these documents will be notified as soon as possible to the ISO members and committees as ISO Change Notifications.

Membership in ISO/TC 176, like that of every ISO technical committee, is made up of Participating (P) members, Observing (O) members, and Liaison (L) organizations. Countries are usually represented by their respective national standards organizations. Application for member status must be made to the ISO Central Secretariat. ISO/TC 176 Membership

"P" members represent countries who wish to vote, participate actively in discussions and have access to all relevant documentation.

"O" members members represent countries not wishing to vote, but rather only to participate in discussions and receive all relevant information.

"L" organizations are international or broadly based regional organizations who are invited to take part in discussions and are permitted to receive all information from the TC but are not granted voting status.

The secretariat of ISO/TC 176 is held by the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) and administered by the Canadian Standards Association (CSA):