Each country has its own National Standards Body responsible for developing its country's national position to be represented at the international level. Not all of them have a Standards Web Page associated with them, however, most of their mailing addresses can be found on the ISO web page. The following list of National Standards Bodies will link to their home page (if they have one) or to their mailing address maintained by ISO. Those with a mailing address only are indicated by an *.   The links in this page were verified 00/5/24.

In general, each country or economy has a single recognized Standards Body (NSB). Examples include ABNT, ANSI, BSI, DGN, DIN, IRAM, JISC, KATS, SABS, SAC, SCC, SIS, SNZ. An NSB is likely the sole member from that economy in ISO.

NSBs may be either public or private sector organizations, or combinations of the two. For example, the three NSBs of Canada, Mexico and the United States are respectively the Standards Council of Canada (SCC), the General Bureau of Standards (Dirección General de Normas, DGN), and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). SCC is a Canadian Crown Corporation, DGN is a governmental agency within the Mexican Ministry of Economy, and ANSI is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with members from both the private and public sectors. The determinates of whether an NSB for a particular economy is a public or private sector body may include the historical and traditional roles that the private sector fills in public affairs in that economy or the development stage of that economy.