The ISO 9000 series are generic standards for quality management and quality assurance. The basic rationale of ISO 9000 is that consistently meeting specifications for quality products and services depends partly on implementing and maintaining a systematic quality system. An effective system helps to ensure consistent results and provide confidence to customer.

A company that has achieved ISO 9000 registration can attest that it has a documented quality system that is fully deployed and consistently followed. The standards in the series that are used for registration, purposes include ISO 9001, ISO 9002, and ISO 9003. ISO 9001 is the most comprehensive and covers all elements, from design and development, through production, installation, and servicing. Other standards, such as ISO 9000 and ISO 9004, provide guidance for using the standards and for implementing their elements internally.

Partly in response to the acceptance of the ISO 9000 quality management and quality assurance standard and partly in response to the proliferation of various environmental standards worldwide. ISO began to look at the environmental management field. In 1991, ISO formed the strategic Action Group on the Environment (SAGE) to make recommendations regarding international environmental standards. SAGE was asked to investigate whether an international environmental standard could achieve the following goals:

The ISO 14000 standards are process, and not performance standards. They focus on setting up a system to achieve internally set policies, objectives, and targets. The standards require that such policies include elements such as compliance with laws and regulations and the prevention of pollution. But the standards do not dictate how the organization will achieve these goals, nor will they prescribe the type or level of performance required.

In short, the ISO 14000 series, like ISO 9000, focus on the processes necessary to achieve results, not the results themselves. The goal is to increase confidence among all stakeholders that an organization has a system in place that is likely to lead to better environmental performance.

A key point to remember is that of the many standards in the developing ISO 14000 family, only ISO 14001, the specification for an EMS system, is designed among for purposes. All other standards are for guidance purposes only. Of course, an organization can also use the ISO 14001 specification standard for internal guidance only or for self-declaration purpose. It may choose not to seek third-party verification of its EMS system. The point is that if the organization chooses to seek registration, the registration audit will focus on conformity to ISO 14001 requirements.