"The Armenian standardization body takes its roots from former Soviet times. As a State Government body the Institute ""Armstandard"" was established in 1998. Then due to Public Sector reforms initiated in Armenia in 2004 the Decision of the Government of Armenia has recognized the National Institute of Standards as a national standardization body, which is a state Cross-Jurisdictional Steering Committee (CJSC) under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Trade and Economic Development of Armenia.
Works on development, research, publication and dissemination of national (AST), interstate (GOST) and international (ISO, EN, CEN) standards as well as scientific and methodical works in the field of standardization occupy an important place in the institute's activity. The institute coordinates activities of six standardization technical committees in the Republic of Armenia.

The national accreditation body accredited the institute as a certification body in the fields of food and non-food products, services, quality management systems (ISO 9001) and environmental management systems (ISO 14001). Recently, the institute has been enlarged and, in addition to the center in Yerevan city, it incorporates three regional branches in the Northern, Eastern and Southern regions of Armenia, with about 10 different testing laboratories, allowing it to ensure the highest quality and efficiency in the provision of conformity assessment services in Armenia.

The National Institute of Standards maintains a national fund of standards of the Republic of Armenia which contains International (ISO), Interstate (GOST), Regional (EN), Armenian (AST) and other state standards.
An electronic database system of implemented standards enables organizations and persons to obtain normative documents needed for their business.

International cooperation is one of the most important activities of the institute. The institute has been a member body of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) since 1997. It participates in works of 13 ISO technical committees and 17 ISO subcommittees. The institute has been a partner standardization body (PSB) of the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) since 1 January 2007, an affiliate member since 1 January 2008 and participates in works of 3 CEN technical committees: TC 233 (Biotechnology), TC 234 (Gas supply), TC 340 (Anti-seismic devices). The institute participates in works of the Interstate Council for Standardization, Metrology and Certification operating in the framework of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

The National Institute of Standards operates the Training Center with the top rated trainers-experts in Armenia, which provides with best training services for Armenian experts and checks their qualification levels in the fields of standardization, metrology and conformity assessment."