ISO 9000standard is an international standard series relating to quality management system, published by International Organization for Standardization in 1987.It has been widely accepted in more than 100 countries due to its extensive applicability and validity, An ISO 9000 certificate becomes a symbol of credited products and services. The latest version of ISO 9000 standard, ISO9001:2000, was published on Dec.15,2000.There  will be a 3-year transition period for those companies certified with ISO 9001:1994, ISO9002:1994 orISO9003:1994 standards to achieve certification based on ISO 9001:2000 as compared with 1994 version:

Based on 8 principles;

More adaptable for service industries and small enterprises;

A more logical structure;

Clearer requirements on achieving customer satisfaction and continual improvement.

There are 4 standards in this new series;

ISO 9000:2000 Quality management systems – Fundamentals and vocabulary

ISO 9001:2000 Quality management systems – Requirements

ISO 9004:2000 Quality management systems – Guidelines for performance improvement